Water soluble polyamides may be produced by reacting two different dicarboxylic acids with at least one low molecular weight poly(alkylene glycol) diamine and at least one relatively high molecular weight polyoxyalkylene diamine. One dicarboxylic acid may be of low molecular weight, such as adipic acid and the other of relatively high molecular weight such as C.sub.36 dimer acid. In one embodiment, some dimer acid proportion is preferred. The poly(alkylene glycol) diamine may include triethylene glycol diamine and tetraethylene glycol diamine. The polyoxyalkylene diamine should have at least some ethylene oxide residue therein; for example it may be a polyoxyethylene/polyoxypropylene diamine. The resulting polyamides have a desirable combination of properties, including high strength with water solubility, the latter making the materials easier to work with and very useful.

The versatility of polyamides has led to their use in applications ranging from structural components to hot melt adhesives. Part of this versatility arises from the fact that the composition of the backbone of the polymer can be varied to yield specific properties by adjusting the components from which the polymer is synthesized. Currently, several nylon manufacturers incorporate polyoxyalkyleneamines into their products to modify the final properties. The polyether backbone of these components improves the comfort feel, wickability and dyeability of textile grades. In general, polyetheramines improve impact and antistatic properties of nylon.
A. Hardy, "Polyester, Polyamide and Polyurethane Melt Adhesives," Crit. Prep. Appl. Chem., Vol. 16, 1987, pp. 31-58 gives an overview of a number of adhesive types. The descriptions of polyamides begins on page 45 and polyether-containing polyamides are mentioned on page 49. It is noted that polyamide resins can also be made water soluble, but it is not described how this is done. This survey gives a brief description of technology described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,128,525; 4,162,931 and 4,182,845. These patents involve thermoplastic adhesive components, prepared from inexpensive and readily available synthetic materials, having melting points between about 20.degree. C. to about 180.degree. C. and broad ranges of hardness, flexibility and compatibility. The thermoplastic compounds useful in adhesive formulations are comprised of a resinous polyamide reaction product of a polyoxypropylene polyamine having an average molecular weight of from about 190 to about 3,000 and being selected from diamines, triamines or mixtures thereof, piperazine and an aliphatic or aromatic dicarboxylic acid, ester or anhydride having from about 4 to about 20 carbon atoms per molecule. The resinous polyamide reaction product is prepared by mixing and reacting the polyoxypropylene polyamine, piperazine and dicarboxylic acid materials in a total amine:acid molar ratio within the range of from about 0.25:1.0 to about 4.0:1.0 at a temperature of from about 175.degree. to about 270.degree. C. The thermoplastic polyamides can be formulated with compatible plasticizing agents to prepare a useful adhesive to which can also be added other components, such as a minor amount of a polyepoxide resin having an epoxide equivalent weight of about 150 to about 600, fillers and the like to produce thermoplastic adhesive formulations having desired hardness, flexibility and compatibility that are capable of bonding together a variety of substrates.
Block copolyetheramides were prepared by incorporating polyether into polyamide through melt polycondensation of polyetherdiamine, piperazine, dimer acid and .epsilon.-caprolactam, according to A. T. Hu, et al., "Preparation of Block Copolyetheramides and their Properties as Hot Melt Adhesives," Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol. 37, pp. 1863-1876 (1989). Bulk properties of block copolyetheramide, such as tensile strength, tensile modulus, elongation at break, hardness and impact strength, were evaluated with respect to composition. Investigation on the lap shear strength and T-peel strength of block copolyetheramide hot melt adhesive showed that the lap shear strength was more composition-dependent.
G. Russel in "Water Soluble Hot Melts," Materiaux et Techniques, March-April 1990, pp. 57-58 mentions the need for adhesives which are affected by water including total solubility thereof, and goes on to describe polyvinylpyrrolidine/vinyl acetate copolymers, some of which are water soluble.
Patents of particular interest include U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,567 which discusses that copolyamides derived from a mixture of short-chain and long-chain saturated aliphatic dicarboxylic acids, piperazine and a polyoxyalkylene diamine are excellent hot melt adhesives useful with a variety of substrates. These thermoplastic copolyamide resins are particularly useful adhesives for vinyl materials and are resistant to creep.
A hot-melt adhesive comprising copolyamides obtained from (a) .epsilon.-caprolactam, (b) diamine salts of adipic acid, sebacic acid and/or azelaic acid and (c) alkylenedicarboxylic acid salts of polyether-diamines gives e.g. textile laminates which are particularly resistant to washing and dry cleaning, according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,116.
Other relevant patent literature includes U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,983 which describes a process for the production of an anchoring agent of copolyamide resin by condensing certain amounts of polyalkylene polyamines, dicarboxylic acids and at least one member of the group of diamine, .epsilon.-caprolactam and amino caproic acid, and then reacting the secondary amino groups of the copolyamide partially with epichlorohydrin for crosslinking.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,678 discusses a hot melt adhesive which comprises a copolyamide consisting essentially of (1) .epsilon.-caprolactam, (2)(a) hexamethylenediamine and (b) at least one straight chain, saturated aliphatic dicarboxylic acid having 6 to 20 carbon atoms in a substantially equimolar ratio and (3)(a) at least one of 2,2,4-trimethylhexamethylenediamine and 2,4,4-trimethylhexamethylenediamine and (b) at least one straight chain, saturated aliphatic dicarboxylic acid having 6 to 20 carbon atoms in a substantially equimolar ratio; all being within certain proportions.
The flow characteristics and rheological properties of high molecular weight thermoplastic polyamides are significantly improved by blending therewith a small amount of a polyamide derived from high molecular weight dibasic acids as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,819. In addition to improving the processability of the thermoplastic resin, the blends and manufactured articles produced therefrom have other desirable properties.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,002 mentions polyamides and polyesteramides having melt viscosities from 25 to 600 Pa.s at 220.degree. C. and useful as melt adhesives for textiles. The materials are condensation products formed between (a) a dimerized fatty acid component containing at least 70 percent of dimeric acid; (b) a C.sub.6 -C.sub.13 aliphatic straight-chain codicarboxylic acid; (c) a C.sub.6 -C.sub.12 aliphatic straight-chain diprimary diamine; and (d) caprolactam and/or .epsilon.-aminocaproic acid. The polyesteramides additionally contain a further component (e) which is caprolactone and/or .epsilon.-hydroxycaproic acid.
A polyamide adhesive for bonding fabrics, particularly fusible interliners for fabrics, which are cleanable by laundering and/or dry cleaning is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,217,256. The polyamide adhesive is a terpolyamide of caprolactam and hexamethylene diamine with a mixture of polymeric fat acids and an aliphatic co-dicarboxylic acid having 20-22 carbon atoms.
Flexible, homogeneous and transparent copolyamides comprise the polycondensation products of adipic acid, fatty acid dimer and hexamethylenediamine according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,974, where the molar ratio of weight of adipic acid to weight of total acid in each ranges from about 0.5 to 0.99. The copolyamides are prepared either by polycondensing a homogenized prepolymer thereof, or by directly copolycondensing a homogeneous, inert solvent solution of monomers. The homogeneous and transparent copolyamides exhibit improved flexibility and high tenacity coupled with good resistance to hydrolysis and good heat resistance, with the copolyamides being useful for providing shaped articles such as moldings, films or filaments of marked uniformity via injection molding, extrusion or spinning.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,162 to Texaco Chemical Company describes novel polyether amides produced by reacting at least one polyalkylene glycol diamine with at least two dicarboxylic acids or esters thereof. The polyethylene glycol diamine has the formula NH.sub.2 --(CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 O).sub.x CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 NH.sub.2 where x ranges from 2 to 6, and at least one of the dicarboxylic acids is an aromatic dicarboxylic acid. Suitable dicarboxylic acids include adipic acid, azelaic acid, sebacic acid, dodecanedioic acid, terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid, t-butyl isophthalic acid and mixtures thereof. Suitable diamines include triethylene glycol diamine (JEFFAMINE.RTM. EDR-148 amine) and tetraethylene glycol diamine (JEFFAMINE.RTM. EDR-192 amine), among others. The resulting polyether amides are useful to make polymers, including fibers, with unusually good water absorbancy properties. The described methods successfully incorporated triethylene glycol diamine and aromatic dibasic acids, where this cannot be accomplished directly.
Polyether amides may be produced by reacting aromatic dicarboxylic acids with tetraethylene glycol diamine according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,785, also to Texaco Chemical Co. This discovery was noted as surprising since aromatic dicarboxylic acids, such as terephthalic acid cannot readily be reacted with triethylene glycol diamine. Suitable dicarboxylic acids include terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid, t-butyl isophthalic acid and mixtures thereof. The resulting polyether amides are useful to make polymers, including fibers, with unusually good water absorbancy properties.
Dimer acids, obtained by the dimerization of C.sub.18 acids such as oleic acid and linoleic acid are especially useful for the preparation of water insoluble hot melt adhesives. These dimer acids have as their main components C.sub.36 dicarboxylic acids and C.sub.54 tricarboxylic acids. Polyamides made from these acids for the hot melt industry are used in laminating metals, plastics and shoe soles to uppers. The resin is applied in liquid melted form and adhesion occurs almost instantly; cooling results in a strong adhesive bond.
It would be desirable to make water soluble polyamides from dimer acid so that one could take advantage of the desirable properties this dibasic acid brings to such products.

Water soluble polyamide from polyalkylene glycol diamines and polycarboxylic acids


A numerical controller which, after once stopping a slave axis during superposing control, can easily resume the superposing control. In the superposing control, a motion amount for a master axis and a motion amount for the slave axis are added to a workpiece coordinate value of the master axis and a workpiece coordinate value of the slave axis, respectively, to update their present position data (I2, II2). These motion amounts are supplied also to servo processing (I3, II3) for the master axis and the slave axis, where an amount obtained by superposing a motion amount δzIm for the master axis ZIm on a motion amount δzIIs for the slave axis ZIIs is supplied to the servo processing for the slave axis ZIIs. When a slave axis motion stop command is issued, the motion of the slave axis is stopped and a motion amount δzIm for the master axis ZIm is subtracted from the workpiece coordinate value of the slave axis ZIIs. This makes it possible to retain the positional relationship between the master axis and the slave axis, and hence easily resume the superposing control when the motion of the slave axis is restarted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a numerical controller for controlling machine tools and various types of industrial machines, and more particularly to a numerical controller for performing superposing control in which a motion command for a master axis is superposed on a motion command for a slave axis.
2. Description of Related Art
Control in which motion of an axis is superposed on motion of another axis is known as superposing control. Let us suppose that in an example of a machine tool having two control systems, a workpiece 1 fixed to a headstock 2 is machined with a tool TI and a tool TII, as shown in FIG. 1. As the headstock 2 is moved in a ZIm axis direction, the tool TI is moved in an XI axis direction perpendicular to the ZIm axis direction to machine the workpiece 1, and the tool TII is moved in a ZIIs axis direction parallel to the ZIm axis direction and in an XII axis direction perpendicular to the ZIIs axis direction to machine the workpiece 1. Here, the XI axis and the ZIm axis are called as first-system axes and an XI-ZIm coordinate system is called as a workpiece coordinate system for the first-system. Further, the XII axis and the ZIIs axis are called as second-system axes and a XII-ZIIs coordinate system is called as a workpiece coordinate system for the second-system.
In this machining, if the ZIIs axis is moved with the motion of the ZIm axis, the position of the ZIIs axis relative to the workpiece 1 does not change. Hence, when the workpiece 1 is to be machined with the tool TII, a machining program is created on the assumption that motion of the workpiece 1 in the ZIm axis direction is stopped. In actual machining, the ZIIs axis is moved by superposing control in which a motion command for the ZIm axis is added to a motion command for the ZIIs axis. As a result, the tool TII moves and machines the workpiece 1 as instructed by the program. By performing this superposing control, the workpiece 1 can be machined with the XI and ZIm axes and with the XII and ZIIs axes simultaneously. In this superposing control, the ZIm axis is called a master axis while the ZIIs axis is called a slave axis.
An example where the superposing control is performed according to commands of programs will be described.
For example, for the first system, the following program O1000 is conceivable:                O1000;        . . .        . . .        G01 X0 Z0; motion command        G01 X100. Z100.; motion command        . . .        . . .
For the second system, the following program O2000 is conceivable:                O2000;        . . .        . . .        M80; ZIm-axis and ZIIs-axis superposing control start command        G01 X0 Z0; motion command        G01 X100. Z100.; motion command        . . .        M83; ZIm-axis and ZIIs-axis superposing control terminate command        . . .        . . .In this example, the superposing control start/terminate command are provided in the program O2000 for the second system.
FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing position control by this superposing control. While the superposing control is being performed (in one example, from the time when a superposing control start command is read from a program till the time when a superposing control terminate command is read), a motion amount δzIm based on a motion command (I1) for the master axis ZIm, which is obtained by the numerical controller in each distribution period, is added to a present value register for the master axis ZIm to update the stored coordinate value of the ZIm axis in a workpiece coordinate system for the first-system (I2). The motion amount δzIm is also inputted to a first-system servo processing section (I3). Meanwhile, a motion amount δzIIs based on a motion command (II1) for the slave axis ZIIs is added to a present value register for the slave axis ZIIs to update the stored coordinate value of the ZIIs axis in the workpiece coordinate system for the second system (II2). For the slave axis ZIIs, a motion amount (δzIIs+δzIm) obtained by adding the motion amount δzIm based on the motion command for the master axis ZIm to the motion amount δzIIs based on the motion command for the slave axis ZIIs is inputted to a second-system servo processing section (II3). The above-mentioned superposing control is performed this way. The superposing control like this is already known to the public (see JP 10-27013A, for example). There are such cases that while the above-mentioned superposing control is being performed, over-travelling of the slave axis happens and an alarm is sent out, or a tool or the like moved by the slave axis interferes with another part, due to superposition of a motion command for the master axis on a motion command for the slave axis.
As a way to prevent trouble like this, it is effective to cancel the superposing control in advance when trouble like this is expected. However, when the superposing control is cancelled, a motion command for the master axis is no longer delivered for the slave axis. As a result, recognition of positional relationship between the master axis and the slave axis is lost, and hence recognition of positional relationship between the workpiece, which is moved by the master axis, and the slave axis is lost.
When the superposing control once cancelled is to be restarted in the positional relation before the termination of the superposing control, it is necessary to calculate the positional relationship between the master axis and the slave axis again and set a slave-axis workpiece coordinate system on the basis of the obtained positional relationship, again. This however requires complicated calculations on the basis of various kinds of machine and workpiece data such as the workpiece coordinate value of the master axis and the workpiece coordinate value of the slave axis at the time the superposing control was cancelled and is to be start again. It is very difficult for an operator to perform the required calculations.


Methods and devices for producing plasmas of more uniform density and greater height than plasmas generated by previously known magnetron-type plasma-generating devices. The present invention utilizes electrodes containing multiple magnets positioned such that like magnetic poles of the magnets are all facing in substantially the same direction.

This invention relates to plasma-generating devices. More specifically, this invention relates to magnetron-type plasma-generating devices (that is, magnetrons) capable of sustaining plasmas of more uniform density than plasmas generated by previously known magnetron-type plasma-generating devices.
Magnetrons have been known in the art for a long time and have been used, for example, in etching, surface modification, and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition ("PECVD"). PECVD devices are also known in the art. Examples of PECVD devices can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,298,587; 5,320,875; 5,433,786; and 5,494,712, (collectively "Hu et al.") the teachings of which are herein incorporated by reference.
As explained in Chapter 6 of the Handbook of Plasma Processing Technology, Noyes Publications 1990, magnetrons are a class of cold cathode discharge devices generally used in a diode mode. A plasma is initiated between the cathode and the anode at pressures in the mTorr range by the application of a high voltage, which can be either dc or rf. The plasma is sustained by the ionization caused by secondary electrons emitted from the cathode due to ion bombardment which are accelerated into the plasma across the cathode sheath. What differentiates a magnetron cathode from a conventional diode cathode is the presence of a magnetic field. The magnetic field in the magnetron is oriented such that a component of the magnetic field is parallel to the cathode surface. The local polarity of the magnetic field is oriented such that the ExB drift paths of the emitted secondary electrons form a closed loop. Due to the increased confinement of the secondary electrons in this ExB drift loop compared to a dc or rf diode device, the plasma density is much higher, often by an order of magnitude or more, than a conventional rf or dc diode plasma. The result of the high plasma density and its proximity to the cathode is a high current, relatively low voltage discharge.
Hu et al. teaches a method of forming a protective abrasion resistant coating onto a substrate surface. In the method taught in Hu et al., a PECVD method utilizing a magnetic confined electrode is used to initiate the polymerization reaction of an organosilicone compound and excess oxygen employing a power density ranging from 10.sup.6 to 10.sup.8 Joules (J)/Kilogram (Kg), in the presence of a substrate having a suitable surface to cause the polymerization product of the plasma process to adhere to the substrate surface. In Hu et al., the magnetic confined electrode utilizes magnets having sufficient strength to provide at least 100 gauss.
It is also known in the art, that when using a magnetron in a process to coat a substrate such as in a PECVD process, it is difficult to obtain a coating of uniform thickness and quality. One aspect of quality is uniform chemical composition of the coating both in thickness and width directions. To get a coating of uniform thickness and quality the substrate must be moved relative to the electrodes. This is especially true for large substrates. Moving the substrates relative to the electrodes causes a decrease in throughput.
The present invention allows for more uniform (thickness and quality) coatings to be obtained more easily than do devices of the prior art, especially on large substrates. In one aspect, the present invention is an electrode containing multiple magnets positioned such that like magnetic poles of said magnets are all facing in substantially the same direction. Each magnet produces a magnetic field between the opposite magnetic poles on the same magnet. Each magnetic field has a component parallel to the surface of the electrode. Electrodes of the present invention have a higher number of closed loop ExB drift paths per number of magnets than electrodes of the prior art. Electrodes of the present invention are capable of producing a more uniform plasma across the surface of an electrode. In addition, electrodes of the present invention produce plasmas of greater height than electrodes of the prior art. According to the present invention, large numbers of magnets (that is, two or more) can be aligned in various configurations so as to create large electrodes capable of producing large, more uniform, plasmas.
In another aspect, the present invention is an improved plasma-generating device utilizing electrodes of the present invention. In yet another aspect, the present invention is an improved method of forming a plasma and an improved method for coating various substrates.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the electrode is a planar electrode comprising two or more magnets positioned such that like poles of said magnets are in a single geometric plane parallel to the geometric plane of the planar electrode and the polarity of said magnets is perpendicular to the geometric plane of the planar electrode, each magnet producing a magnetic field having a component parallel to the geometric plane of the electrode.


In MPEG, most video frames are encoded in inter mode. Every now and than a video frame is encoded in intra mode in order to limit error propagation and to enable access points for starting decoding of the video sequence. According to the invention, however, it is sufficient to encode in an intra frame only those pixel blocks in intra mode of which at least one pixel is used for predicting some future picture content information, whereas the other blocks can be encoded in inter mode. In order to check which blocks in the intra frame can be encoded in inter mode, a motion compensation pre-analysis of the following P-frame is performed, in order to find those blocks that need not be encoded in intra mode because no pixel in such blocks is used for the prediction of that following P-picture.

In known video compression systems, e.g. in MPEG, most video frames or fields are encoded in an inter-frame or inter-field mode by using e.g. discrete cosine transform (DCT) coding. To increase coding/decoding efficiency, in some video compression systems intra frame prediction is used, see MPEG-4 AVC for example.
In many video compression systems, e.g. in MPEG, every now and than a video frame is encoded in an intra-frame mode, for instance the first frame of a GOP (group of pictures) in MPEG. A GOP normally contains intra, inter or predicted, and bi-directionally predicted (I, P, B) pictures. The pictures are divided into e.g. 8*8 luminance pixel blocks or into 16*16 luminance pixel macroblocks to each of which corresponding chrominance-pixel blocks are assigned. A macroblock may represent a set of four 8*8 luminance blocks and two related 8*8 chrominance blocks. In such case the coding and the decoding is based on macroblocks and blocks.

Method and apparatus for encoding a picture sequence using predicted and non-predicted pictures which each include multiple macroblocks


An aircraft and an aircraft wing assembly for an aircraft. The wing assembly includes a wing body assembly including a wing body; and at least one protruding portion connected to the wing body. The protruding portion extends aftwardly from an aft side of the wing body assembly, a leading edge of the wing body assembly defining a leading edge line, a trailing edge of the wing body assembly defining a trailing edge line extending between the inboard end and the outboard end, the trailing edge including a trailing edge of the protruding portion, the trailing edge line being a smooth line, a chord distance being defined longitudinally from the leading edge line to the trailing edge line, the chord distance at a center of the protruding portion being greater than the chord distance inboard of protruding portion and outboard of the protruding portion.

In certain aircraft, nacelles extending down from wing assemblies provide the aircraft's propulsion. The presence of a pylon supporting the nacelle and connecting the nacelle to the wing assembly reduces lift locally however, changing the span load across the aircraft and increasing drag over the wing assemblies.
One approach to counteracting these disadvantages has been to the reshape the wing airfoil near the pylon to recover local lift. This approach can be limited by the flow separation caused along the trailing edge by local variation in the airfoil.
In order to compensate for the disadvantages of this solution, additional "carrot" fairings are also added. The fairings are added at the junction of the wing trailing edge and the pylon, in order to at least partially recover from the flow separation induced by reshaping the airfoil. As such, multiple changes/additions to the wings are necessary in order to combat the disruption caused by the nacelle pylon.
There is therefore a desire for wing assemblies that address some of the inconveniences described above.


Doll making process includes steps of positioning the certain person in front of a video camera, adjusting the position of the person and the camera so that the face fills certain boundaries on a monitor screen, transferring the signal from the video camera to a color transfer printer and printing the resulting image on a wax layer supported on a substrate. The wax layer is pressed and heated against a layer of natural fabric to transfer the wax layer onto the layer of fabric. The fabric layer is secured, image outward, onto the facial area of the doll.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for producing a doll having a facial similarity to a certain person. More specifically, this invention relates to a process for producing a doll having a face which is a wax transfer made by directing a video camera at the certain person and printing the image on a wax layer by color transfer printer means.
2. Description of Related Art including Information Disclosed under .sctn..sctn.1.97 to 1.99
There are in the prior art a number of patents relating to manufacture of dolls having a facial appearance like a certain person. An example is the U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,987 which issued Feb. 19, 1991 to Hull et al and teaches the idea of making a doll by using a color photograph, scanning the photograph to produce components of the three basic colors, cutting a stencil for each of the colors and using an offset printer for each of the three colors to produce a paper having a coating of each color using heat cured inks. The printing paper is then held against the doll's face using a pressing iron at approximately 400.degree. so that the photograph image is sublimated into the material.
The U.S. Pat. No. 2,199,049 to Greenberg which issued Apr. 30, 1940 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,466 which issued Aug. 25, 1992 to Catizone both show means for holding photographs or pictures in the facial area of a doll to make the doll appear like a certain person.
The old De Vall et al U.S. Pat. No. 933,448 which issued Oct. 14, 1906 placed photographic film in the facial area of a doll and then exposed it somehow so that the image of a certain person appeared on the film.
Finally, the Blair U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,648,188 issued Mar. 10, 1987 and 4,659,319 which issued Apr. 21, 1987 describe the idea of attaching a photograph to a pliable mass that will be the doll's head so that the photograph can be used as a guide to shaping the underlying mass to cause the mass, when the photograph is removed, to have the facial contours depicted in the photographs. One of the Blair patents also teaches the idea of making a sack with a printed image on the outside and filling the sack with a pliable mass and shaping the mass and sack.


A device for measuring the power of a laser beam includes an electrically actuable measuring wire (10) having a temperature-dependent electrical resistance which is subjected to a relative reciprocatory movement transversely over the beam cross-section. A compensation wire having a temperature-dependent electrical resistance is disposed parallel to and closely adjoining the measuring wire (10), with each of the two wires (10, 11) having a different degree of absorption of laser radiation. A current source (12) connected to each of the two wires (10, 11), supplies a steady current thereto. A measuring device (13) is connected to each of the two wires (10, 11) and a dividing circuit (31) with a connected display device (33) is coupled to each measuring device (13) for processing the measured values of the measuring devices (13).

The invention relates to a process for measuring laser power, wherein an electrically actuable measuring wire or the like having a temperature-resistant electrical resistance is subjected to a relative reciprocatory movement transversely over the beam cross-section.
To measure laser power, it is generally known to provide a detector to absorb the whole beam. During the measuring period it is impossible to process a workpiece using the laser beam. It is also generally known to measure a portion of the laser beam using a reflecting element or a partially transmissive optical system, so that the measurement can in principle be performed even during the processing of the workpiece. However, the reflecting element or the partially transmissive optical system may have an adverse effect on the laser beam or itself be destroyed or damaged by excessive radiation powers or intensities. For this reason as a rule it is impossible; to perform measurement between the focusing optical system of the laser beam and the workpiece.
EP B1 0050159 discloses a process having the steps mentioned hereinbefore. That process uses the temperature dependence of the electrical resistance of the measuring wire to obtain a measured value for the power of the laser beam. However, the measured value is adversely affected by interferences, for example, different heat transfer resistances depending on convection.

Process and apparatus for measuring laser power


A demonstration system of an electronic equipment. The electronic equipment includes first and second operation units which are arranged on a front panel of the electronic equipment. In the first operation unit, there are provided display device, various operation keys, demonstration key, light receiving part, and opening/closing key. In the second operation unit, there are provided an operation key and a display device. The demonstration key is an input key for giving a command to start a demonstration of the electronic equipment. A display demonstration, in which the display devices are used, and a movable section demonstration, in which the first and the second operation unit are operated, are continuously conducted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a demonstration system and method of an electronic equipment attached to a moving body such as a vehicle, wherein a plurality of movable operation units are arranged on a front panel of the electronic equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, various car audio apparatus such as a CD (Compact Disc) player, a DVD player, an MD (Mini Disc) player and an AM/FM tuner mounted in an instrument panel of a vehicle, and a car audio apparatus in which these are combined integrally or in which these are integrated with a navigation apparatus are used as electronic equipments. Also, there is a type having means for operating the electronic equipment by remote control.
In these car audio apparatus, operation functions tend to increase and the operation tends to become complicated, and many operation functions need be attached on an instrument panel, the area of which is limited. As a measure to this, various proposals have been made. For example, a system in which a plurality of operation units having operation keys are provided oppositely backward and forward in the front of a car audio apparatus and operation functions or display functions are distributed and provided to the respective operation units has been proposed. Further, a system for performing operation by remote control in addition to such an apparatus has been proposed.
However, in the system in which a plurality of operation units are provided as described above and further those operation units are movable, it is difficult to make a user understand the functions of the electronic equipment sufficiently by using a display section for explaining the functions. Further, it is difficult to make the user understand how the movable operation units are operated.

Demonstration system of electronic equipment and demonstration method for electronic equipment


In an example embodiment a convenience outlet includes a housing, a face plate configured to receive an electrical plug, a terminal assembly within the housing, and a tamper-resistant module enclosed within the housing between the faceplate and the terminal assembly. The housing may be configured to install within an aperture of an outlet assembly housing. The housing may include a notch for engaging a protrusion on the aperture of the outlet assembly housing. The convenience outlet may be installed in a variety of different outlet assembly housings. The convenience outlet provides multiple methods to electrical connection with a power source.

Electrical outlets provide power to electrical plugs of various devices. For example, wall electrical outlets installed in the walls of homes and other structures are typically adapted to receive a standard three-pronged grounded plug having hot, neutral, and ground tines. Wall outlets are typically connected to the wiring of the home and housed within an insulative housing having a faceplate adapted to receive an electrical plug. Convenience outlets have housings configured as stand alone devices, referred to as power strips, or configured for non-wall mounting, such as an under-cabinet luminaire in the floor, or, in window sill as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,601,977. Because convenience outlets are often installed in areas with less available mounting space, the housings are often smaller and more compact than those of traditional wall outlets. In addition, convenience outlets may require different wiring techniques than those traditionally employed in wiring wall outlets.
While electrical outlets are desirable because they make electrical power readily available at convenient locations, accessibility raises safety concerns, such as the possibility that a child may insert an object into the outlet and be shocked. To prevent such incidents, tamper resistant (TR) electrical wall outlets, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,607, have been developed. TR outlets are increasingly used in new construction to comply with new building codes. In addition, there is growing interest in upgrading existing outlets with TR capability. Providing tamper-resistant capability to convenience outlets has proven difficult, however, due to the smaller housing and the wiring techniques employed in such arrangements.
Numerous desktop lamps and other electrical items in use today in homes and hotels today contain convenience outlets. As owners upgrade their electrical installations to satisfy safety codes, many owners will prefer to replace the current convenience outlet with a tamper resistant one, rather than replacing the entire desktop lamp or other electrical item. It would be desirable if this exchange could be accomplished by replacing the existing outlet with a tamper resistant convenience outlet within the desktop lamp or other electrical item without requiring modifications to the desktop lamp or other electrical item.
It is also often desirable to provide electrical power and lighting under cabinets, such as kitchen cabinets. For example, under-cabinet lighting is popular in contemporary kitchens, along with tile, granite or stainless-steel on the backsplash walls between the cabinets and the countertops. Electrical codes often require that electrical receptacles, rated for a minimum of 15 amp operation, be placed so that no spot on a kitchen counter, measured along the wall line, is more than 24″ from a receptacle. Receptacles installed in the backsplash wall may interfere with the clean appearance of the back splash wall and obstruct the design thereof. Additionally, the added thickness of tile, granite, or other material complicates the installation of the receptacles in the backsplash wall.
A common solution to the dilemma of providing both power and light under-cabinet is to install a multiple outlet-strip underneath the cabinet and track or rope lighting parallel to the outlet-strip. For example, in prior art arrangements, power may be provided by outlets mounted in the backsplash of the cabinets and lights attached beneath the cabinets. Some prior art teaches outlet assemblies mounted beneath a cabinet, such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,156,694 or light assemblies mounted under cabinets, such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,566. While fit for their intended purposes, these prior art arrangements are difficult to install and fail to provide both convenient plug outlets and lights that can be easily installed and wired. While the end result provides lighting under the cabinets and removes the outlets from the backsplash wall, the installation is cumbersome, and labor intensive.
Alternatively, many under-cabinet light fixtures are available with a single convenience outlet incorporated in the housing. However, because the convenience outlet is powered by the same circuit as the under cabinet light itself, these convenience outlets are limited to operation at 12 amps or less; and thus the single outlet within the fixture's housing will not satisfy the code requirement as described above.


Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for providing mobility information to the network. In one aspect there is provided a method. The method may include determining mobility information representative of a mobility of a user equipment during an idle state and a connected state of the user equipment (204); and sending, when in a connected mode, mobility information to a node of a wireless network (210). Related apparatus, systems, methods, and articles are also described.

A user equipment may determine its degree of mobility. The degree of mobility for a given user equipment may be useful to the network to allow adjusting various values associated with, for example, handover target cell selection, discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration, changing user equipment to an idle state, and the like. For example, a user equipment that is highly mobile may move through a cell at a high rate of speed. This high mobility may impact the service provided to the user equipment with respect to the handover (when the user equipment is in a connected state). To illustrate further with an example, if the network decides to use a target handover cell for a highly mobile user equipment and use the same cell for a less mobile user equipment, the network may command a handover to a cell which no longer serves the highly mobile user equipment. Indeed, these concerns are only exacerbated in so-called heterogeneous networks that include macro cells, picocells, femtocells, or a combination thereof.


A closed loop fiber optic gyro features signal processing wherein square wave phase modulation is added to a modulation drive signal after overflow logic so that the square wave modulation will not cause a phase modulation ramp to exceed overflow/underflow logic limits. The arrangement is such that the phase modulation causes a retrace with each modulation period when the amplitude of the ramp is within predetermined limits. Corrections to the retrace limit are implemented so as to scale a digital output, which enables the determination of accumulated gyro angle with a finer resolution than simple output pulse accumulation as has heretofore been the case.

This invention relates generally to fiber optic gyroscopes (gyros) and particularly to a closed loop fiber optic gyro having a signal processing arrangement which features fine angle resolution.
It is well established that closed loop fiber optic gyro signal processing can be achieved through ramp phase modulation. Arrangements for accomplishing this are described in the following references: Progress In Optical Fiber Gyroscopes Using Integrated Optics, Lefevre, et al, 37th Meeting of the Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Panel of the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (NATO), Istanbul, Turkey, Sep. 23-27, 1985; Double Closed-Loop Hybrid Fiber Gyroscope Using Digital Phase Ramp, Lefevre, et al, Proceedings of the Conference on Optical Fiber Sensors, Optical Society of America, Feb. 11-14, 1985; and Utilization of Fiber Optic Gyros in Inertial Measurement Units, Matthews, The Institute of Navigation Proceedings of the National Technical Meeting, Jan. 23-25, 1990.
The present invention will be described with reference to a "minimum reciprocal configuration" fiber optic gyro which acts as an optical interferometer. The desired optical phase shifts in the interferometer are derived from two sources: (1) the Sagnac phase shift from a rotation rate imposed on a fiber optic coil through which clockwise and counterclockwise light beams travel; and (2) phase shifts imposed by a phase modulator.
The invention uses square wave phase modulation in order to create an output error signal. A square wave is applied to an optical phase modulator. This generates phase signatures for the clockwise and counterclockwise light beams. The difference between the two signatures is applied to a phase difference-intensity transfer function to determine output intensity. If the Sagnac phase shift is constant, the phase difference between the clockwise and counterclockwise beams alternates between two distinct values. These values relate to operating points on a phase difference-intensity transfer function curve. Spikes in the output waveform are a result of tracing out the portion of the transfer function between two operating points. This occurs every (.tau.) seconds, during the fast transitions between operating points. Ignoring the spikes, the peak-peak output square waveform has an amplitude that directly measures the net non-reciprocal phase shift between the clockwise and counterclockwise light beams.

Closed loop fiber optic gyroscope with fine angle resolution


Powertrain, comprising an inverter unit comprising an inverter configured for converting direct current to alternating current and an inverter housing defining an inverter housing interior volume accommodating the inverter, and an electric motor comprising a rotor and a stator, the rotor defining a motor axis and the electric motor being configured for providing torque, and an electric motor housing, and a reducing gear unit comprising a reducing gear and a reducing gear cover surrounding the reducing gear, the reducing gear defining an output reducing gear axis, wherein the output reducing gear axis is parallel to the motor axis, and in that the reducing gear cover and the inverter housing are arranged at opposite ends of the electric motor with respect to the motor axis, and in that the inverter housing comprises a cut-out, wherein the cut-out defines a cut-out region fully contained within the convex hull of the inverter housing, wherein the cut-out region is disjoint from the inverter housing interior volume, and in that the output reducing gear axis passes through the cut-out region without passing through the inverter housing interior volume. Inductive charging module may be rigidly attached to at least one of the inverter housing, the electric motor housing, the reducing gear cover, and the inductive charging module may be configured to utilize electric components of the inverter, and/or the inductive charging module may be configured to be cooled by a liquid cooling circuit cooling the inverter and/or the electric motor and/or the reducing gear unit.

It is often beneficial to provide compact assemblies of powertrains. For example, due to compact packaging, it is possible to save space, and thus to improve packaging of different components of a vehicle. A compact assembly furthermore reduces losses such as power losses in the connection between inverter and electric motor. A compact assembly additionally facilitates a high rotational speed of the electric motor. An electric motor vehicles may additionally comprise an inductive charging module which may be used—paired with an external module outside of the electric motor vehicle—to e.g. charge a battery in the electric motor vehicle. In state of the art electric motor vehicles, the inductive charging module is typically placed apart from the electric motor.
A compact assembly of a powertrain has been disclosed in DE 19714784A1, for example. DE 19714784A1 disclosed a compact arrangement of powertrain components, with an electric motor positioned in between a gear unit and an inverter. The arrangement disclosed in DE 19714784A1 allows for only one output at which an outside mechanical load can be applied.
WO 2017054687A1 discloses a powertrain arrangement, with an electric motor, a gear unit and an inverter positioned in this order along a common axis. Due to the specific arrangement of the powertrain components as disclosed in WO 2017054687A1, the entire powertrain predominantly extends in one direction, namely along the common axis. This leads to a disadvantageously large extension along this axis. This arrangement furthermore leads to relatively long electrical conductor lengths in the electrical connection between inverter and motor, giving rise to increased electrical power losses.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide an improved powertrain arrangement enabling more versatile options for integrating the powertrain arrangement in a vehicle, which, for example, also provides for improved packaging of components within a vehicle, leading to a reduced extension along a main axis of the assembly (installation length). A further objective of the present invention is to provide an improved powertrain arrangement comprising an inductive charging module.

Compact powertrain with an electric motor


The present invention relates to a method of forming a two-layer intermediate film over the inner surface of a cylindrical member, such as a bushing or a cylinder, with a DLC film being formed on the intermediate film with a uniform thickness by using an auxiliary electrode, greatly enhancing of abrasion resistance of the inner surface. The cylindrical member is placed in a vacuum vessel, an auxiliary electrode of a first intermediate film forming material is inserted in the bore of the cylindrical member, a sputtering gas is supplied into the vacuum vessel, keep the auxiliary electrode at ground potential or a negative DC voltage is applied to the auxiliary electrode to produce a plasma around the auxiliary electrode in order that a first intermediate film is formed over the inner surface of the cylindrical member. A gas containing silicon or germanium is supplied into the vacuum vessel in which the cylindrical member and the auxiliary electrode are disposed, and a voltage is applied to the cylindrical member to produce a plasma, thereby forming a second intermediate film on the first intermediate film. Subsequently, a gas containing carbon, such as methane or the like, is supplied into the vacuum vessel in which the cylindrical member and the auxiliary electrode are disposed, and a voltage is applied to the cylindrical member to produce a plasma in the vacuum vessel in order that the DLC film is formed on the previously formed second intermediate film over the inner surface of the cylindrical member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of forming films over the inner circumference (surface) of a cylindrical member and, more particularly, to a method of forming films consisting of intermediate films and a hard carbon film for enhancing the abrasion resistance of the inner surface of a cylindrical member (parts), such as a bushing, a cylinder in which a piston reciprocates or a bearing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A hard carbon film is black and has properties similar to those of diamond. A hard carbon film has advantageous properties including a high mechanical hardness, a small friction coefficient with other materials, a high electrical insulation property, a large thermal conductivity and a high corrosion resistance. Accordingly, there have been proposals for coating various devices, including, medical instruments, magnetic heads, tools and such with a hard carbon film.
A hard carbon film is a hydrogenated amorphous carbon film having properties very similar to those of diamond and hence a hard carbon film is often called a diamondlike carbon film (DLC film) or an i-carbon film.
Proposed in JP-A No. 56-6920 is a film forming method of forming a hard carbon film on a surface of a base member with an enhanced adhesion. This previously proposed film forming method forms an intermediate film of silicon or a silicon compound over a surface of a base member by sputtering using a gas containing argon gas and carbon, and then a hard carbon film is formed on the intermediate film.
Such a prior art method of forming a film consisting of an intermediate film and a hard carbon film over the inner surface of a cylindrical member (base member) of carbon tool steel, such as a bushing, will be described with a figure.
FIG. 9 is showing a method of forming an intermediate film such as under layer of hard carbon film by carrying out the prior art method as a sectional view. A target 30 of an intermediate film forming material, such as silicon or a silicon compound, and a cylindrical member 11 having a bore 11a defined by an inner surface 11b, are disposed opposite to each other in a vacuum vessel 13 as shown in FIG. 9.
Gases are removed through a gas outlet port 17 from the vacuum vessel 13 by an evacuating means, not shown, to evacuate the vacuum vessel 13. Then, argon (Ar) gas, i.e., a sputtering gas, is supplied through a gas inlet port 15 into the vacuum vessel 13. A negative DC voltage is applied to the target 30 by a target power source 39 and a negative DC voltage is applied to the cylindrical member 11 by a DC power source 25.
A plasma is thus produced in the vacuum vessel 13 to make the target 30 sputter by bombarding the surface of the target 30 of the intermediate film forming material with ions. Consequently, particles of the intermediate film forming material sputtered from the target 30 are deposited over the inner surface 11b of the cylindrical member 11 thus forming an intermediate film of silicon or a silicon compound.
After then, a hard carbon film is formed on the intermediate film by a conventional film forming method as shown in FIG. 10.
Referring to FIG. 10, the cylindrical member 11 having its inner surface deposited with the intermediate film is placed in a vacuum vessel 13 provided with a gas inlet port 15 and a gas outlet port 17. The vacuum vessel 13 is evacuated by an evacuating means, not shown. Then, a gas which contains carbon is supplied through the gas inlet port 15 into the vacuum vessel 13 and the pressure in the vacuum vessel 13 is adjusted to a set pressure.
Afterward, a positive DC voltage is applied to an anode 31 placed in the vacuum vessel by an anode power source 27, an AC voltage is applied to a filament 33 by a filament power source 29, and a negative DC voltage is applied to the cylindrical member 11 by the DC power source 25. Thus, a plasma is produced in the vacuum vessel 13 to deposit a hard carbon film on the intermediate film formed over the inner surface of the cylindrical member 11.
The hard carbon film forming method shown in FIG. 10 uses the plasma produced by the DC voltage applied to the cylindrical member 11 and the plasma produced by the filament 33 energized by an AC voltage and the anode 31 energized by the DC voltage. Either the plasma produced around the cylindrical member 11 or the plasma produced around the filament 33 and the anode 31 contributes mainly to hard carbon film formation depending on the pressure in the vacuum vessel 13 during hard carbon film formation.
For example, when the pressure in the vacuum vessel 13 is 3.times.10.sup.-3 torr or above, the plasma produced around the cylindrical member 11 mainly contributes to the decomposition of the gas containing carbon to form the hard carbon film.
Although a hard carbon film can be formed uniformly over the outer surface of the cylindrical member 11 by the dominant contribution of this plasma, a hard carbon film formed over the inner surface 11b defining the bore 11a is inferior in adhesion, hardness and quality. This is because the same voltage is applied to the cylindrical member 11, and the inner surface defines a space in which electrodes of the same polarity are disposed opposite to each other, and the plasma prevailing in the bore 11a causes an abnormal discharge called hollow discharge. A hard carbon film formed by hollow discharge is a polymerlike film inferior in adhesion and apt to come off the cylindrical member 11 and have a relatively low hardness.
When the pressure in the vacuum vessel 13 is below 3.times.10.sup.-3 torr, the plasma produced in the neighborhood of the filament 33 and the anode 31 contributes mainly to hard carbon film formation.
Although a hard carbon film can uniformly be formed over the outer surface of the cylindrical member 11 by the dominant contribution of this plasma, the hard carbon film cannot be formed with a uniform thickness with respect to a direction along the axis of the cylindrical member 11 over the inner surface 11b defining the bore 11a. Carbon ions produced by the plasma produced around the filament 33 and the anode 31 are attracted to the surface of the cylindrical member 11 by the negative DC potential of the cylindrical member 11 to deposit the hard carbon film over the surface of the cylindrical member.
The hard carbon film is formed by a chemical vapor deposition process when the pressure in the vacuum vessel 13 is above 3.times.10.sup.-3 torr, and the hard carbon film is formed by a physical vapor deposition process when the pressure in the vacuum vessel 13 is below 3.times.10.sup.-3 torr. Therefore, the thickness of the hard carbon film formed over the inner surface 11b of the cylindrical member 11 decreases from the open end of the bore 11a downwards with the depth, which occurs when forming a film by a physical vapor-phase epitaxial growth process, such as a vacuum deposition process, when the plasma produced around the filament 33 and the anode 31 contributes mainly to hard carbon film formation. Consequently, the hard carbon film cannot be formed with a uniform thickness over the entire inner surface of the cylindrical member 11.
Similarly, the thickness of the intermediate film formed over the inner surface 11b of the cylindrical member 11 decreases from the open end of the bore 11a downwards with the depth when the intermediate film is formed by the method previously described with reference to FIG. 9.
FIG. 11 is a graph showing a thickness distribution in an intermediate film formed over the inner surface of a cylindrical member, in which distance from the open end of the cylindrical member is measured on the horizontal axis and thickness is measured on the vertical axis. In FIG. 11, curve a indicates the variation of the thickness of the intermediate film formed by the method described in reference to FIG. 9 with the distance from the open end of the bore of the cylindrical member.
As is obvious from curve a, the thickness of an intermediate film formed by the conventional method decreases sharply from 0.5 .mu.m at the open end of the bore to 0.1 .mu.m at a position 30 mm from the open end.
When a hard carbon film is formed on the intermediate film having such a sharply changing thickness, the portion of the hard carbon film formed in the vicinity of the open end of the cylindrical member sticks to the intermediate film with an enhanced adhesion, whereas the adhesion of the portion of the hard carbon film formed in the depth of the bore decreases with the distance from the open end. Therefore, the portion formed in the depth of the bore is apt to come off.
Since the portion of the intermediate film in the depth of the cylindrical member is thin and is unable to withstand stress induced in the hard carbon film, the intermediate film and the hard carbon film come off the cylindrical member. This is a problem.
Thus, the hard carbon film and an intermediate layer formed by the conventional method over the inner surface of a cylindrical member cannot fully exercise advantageous characteristics thereof including high abrasion resistance and high corrosion resistance.

Method of forming DLC films over inner surface of cylindrical member


Logon certificates are provided to support disconnected operation within the distributed system. Each logon certificate is a secure package holding credentials information sufficient to establish the identity and rights and privileges for a user/machine in a domain that is not their home domain. When a user/machine attempts to connect to the system at a domain other than the home domain of the user/machine, the user/machine presents a logon certificate that evidences his credentials. The domain where the user/machine attempts to connect to the system, decrypts and unseals the secure package as required to obtain the credentials information contained therein. If the user/machine has sufficient credentials, the user/machine is permitted to connect to the system. If the user/machine lacks sufficient credentials, the user/machine is not permitted to connect to the system.

Many conventional distributed systems do not support roaming users or roaming machines. A roaming user may wish to logon to the distributed system at domains other than his home domain. Similarly, roaming machines may wish to connect to the distributed system at sites outside of their home domain. The roaming user may use a roaming machine (e.g., a portable computer) to logon or may instead use a connected computer that is available at the logon site. The conventional systems that have supported such roaming users and machines have provided the support at the expense of efficiency and increased vulnerability. For example, certain conventional distributed systems store credentials information at a home domain of the user/machine. The credentials information stored at the home domain is examined when the user/machine tries to connect to the system at a different domain. The credentials information is examined to determine whether the user/machine is permitted to connect to the distributed system. In order to facilitate roaming users and machines, these conventional distributed systems replicate the credentials information to each potential connection domain in the distributed system (i.e., to each domain).
This approach of replicating credentials across the system suffers from several drawbacks. First, the replication of the credentials information is costly and time-consuming. Second, the credentials information must be replicated frequently because credentials must be updated each time that the credentials information of any user or machine changes. Third, the replication of credentials may not be successful due to intermittent failure, and, thus, the proper credentials information may not reach all the targeted destinations in the distributed system. Fourth, this approach poses a security threat because it provides more locations within the distributed system that are susceptible to attack.

Method and system for providing certificates holding authentication and authorization information for users/machines


The present invention relates to a light phased array antenna and a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) including the same. The present invention provides a light phased array antenna including: a light distributing unit configured to receive light from a laser generator and distribute the received light to a plurality of antenna element waveguides; a phase modulating unit configured to modulate a phase of light propagated through the antenna element waveguides by applying an electric field to the plurality of antenna element waveguides; and a light output unit configured to output light modulated in the phase modulating unit, in which the light distributing unit, the phase modulating unit, and the light output unit include a base part and an optical waveguide provided on the base part and including the plurality of antenna element waveguides, and a LiDAR including the same.

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is a technology that uses lasers to measure a distance, and has been widely used in construction or military technologies for the purpose of constructing terrain data for establishing geographic information. Recently, with the application of the LiDAR technology to autonomous vehicles and mobile robots, interest in LiDAR is increasing.
A LiDAR system includes a laser transceiving module and a signal processing module. The LiDAR may be divided into a Time of Flight (ToF) method and a Phase Shift (PS) method according to a modulation method of a laser signal. In addition, the LiDAR may also be divided into a flash method of simultaneously scanning a laser beam to a large area and a scanning method of point mapping a 3D space through a rotation of a laser beam in the vertical and horizontal directions according to a laser emission method.
The LiDAR of the scanning method includes an optical structure rotated by a motor in order to change a radiation angle of a laser beam in the related art. The LiDAR in the mechanical driving method has a problem in weight of a motor and power consumption.
In the meantime, a light phased array antenna distributes an incident laser to each antenna element through several directional couplers, modulates a phase of the distributed laser, and adjusts a travelling direction of the output laser.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 9,753,351 (Title of the invention: PLANAR BEAM FORMING AND STEERING OPTICAL PHASED ARRAY CHIP AND METHOD OF USING SAME) discloses a beam foaming and steering optical phased array chip including a laser, a splitting section including a Y-branch tree and multi-mode interference couplers, an optical phase shifter, and an out-of-plane optical coupler. The related art presents the implementation of the optical phase shifter by using two grouped linear ohmic heating electrodes.
However, under a condition requiring a stable operation regardless of a temperature change, such as an autonomous vehicle, the technology of changing a phase by local heating using the heating electrode as in the related art may not be appropriate.

Optical phased array antenna and LiDAR including same

GWANGJU INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


An apparatus and method are disclosed for limiting the range of motion of a first portion of the body of a user relative to a second portion of the user's body. A body attachable device is secured to the first and second portion of the user's body. At least one elongated member extends between the first and second portions of the user's body for moving longitudinally as the user's body moves. A range of motion limiter restrains further longitudinal movement of the elongated member at the desired terminal end of the range of motion by receiving an adjustable stop secured to the elongated member. A stop adjustment enables the stop to be moved positionally to an adjusted position, whereby the terminal end of a range of motion can be adjusted by the user.

This section describes the background art of the disclosed embodiment of the present invention. There is no intention, either express or implied, that the background art discussed in this section legally constitutes prior art.
Various different devices and methods have been used to facilitate the prevention and treatment of various maladies such as carpal tunnel syndrome which is a nerve disorder in the hands. In the case of carpal tunnel syndrome, wrist splints have been used to fix the wrist in either a neutral or extended position. However, such devices have proven to be less than successful in permanently controlling or relieving symptoms in at least some applications.
For record purposes, the following is a list of US and foreign patents relating to various other attempts to prevent or treat maladies of the body caused by one portion of the body moving relative to another portion of the body such as at various joints or movement of the person's back: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,938,476; 5,042,505; 5,513,651; 6,402,708; 6,852,067; WO/00/076400; and WO/05/055815.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,852,067, issued to the same inventor as the inventor of the present application, there is disclosed devices used for facilitating the prevention and treatment of maladies such as carpal tunnel syndrome. The devices permit limited range of motion to allow the patient to perform normal use of the hands and yet alert the patient to stop further movements when the hands are nearing an unsafe hyper-extended or flexed position. Also, one of the patented devices may provide a mechanically selectively lockable pivot joint to limit mechanically the allowable extension and flexion of a hand piece relative to a forearm piece of a splint. Inner and outer cylinders are mounted at the wrist for receiving locking pins which limit the rotation of the inner cylinder relative to the other cylinder.
While such a device is quite acceptable for some applications, it would be desirable to accomplish the adjustable limits to the user's range of motion without attaching a device to the side of the wrist of the user. In this regard, it would be highly desirable to have a device which is more compact and less bulky, and therefore less restrictive to the user during normal use of the hands.

Method and apparatus for limiting range of motion of the body of the user


This invention generally relates to processes for recovering solubilized noble metals from aqueous process streams, in particular, aqueous process streams generated in the preparation of an N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine product, for example, by noble metal-catalyzed oxidation of an N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid substrate. The process includes contacting the aqueous process stream with a noble metal adsorption media such as an ion exchange resin to remove solubilized noble metal from the process stream.

N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine (known in the agricultural chemical industry as glyphosate) is described in Franz, U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,758. N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine and its salts are conveniently applied as a post-emergent herbicide in aqueous formulations. It is a highly effective and commercially important broad-spectrum herbicide useful in killing or controlling the growth of a wide variety of plants, including germinating seeds, emerging seedlings, maturing and established woody and herbaceous vegetation, and aquatic plants.
Various methods for making N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine products are known in the art. One of the more widely accepted methods of making N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine compounds includes the liquid phase oxidative cleavage of a carboxymethyl substituent from an N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid substrate using an oxygen-containing gas in the presence of a heterogeneous oxidation catalyst. As used herein, "N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid substrates" include N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid (sometimes referred to as PMIDA) and salts thereof, wherein the salt-forming cation is, for example, ammonium, alkylammonium, an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. For example, N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine may be prepared by the liquid phase oxidative cleavage of N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid with oxygen in accordance with the following reaction:

Other by-products also may form, such as formic acid, which is formed by the oxidation of the formaldehyde by-product, and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), which is formed by the oxidation of N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine. The preference for heterogeneous catalysis stems, at least in part, from the ease with which a particulate heterogeneous catalyst can normally be separated from the reaction product mixture for reuse following the oxidation. The literature is replete with examples of heterogeneous catalysis of N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid substrates in the production of N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine compounds. See generally, Franz, et al., Glyphosate: A Unique Global Herbicide (ACS Monograph 189, 1997) at pp. 233-62 (and references cited therein); Franz, U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,402; Hershman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,969,398; Felthouse, U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,650; Chou, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,624,937 and 4,696,772; Ramon et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,228; Ebner et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,417,133 Leiber et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,586,621 and Leiber, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,927,304 and 6,956,005. The entire disclosure of the patents referred to in this paragraph and all other patents and publications referred to throughout this application are incorporated herein by reference.
High concentrations of formaldehyde in the reaction product solution resulting from oxidative cleavage of an N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid substrate are undesirable. The formaldehyde by-product is undesirable because it reacts with N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine to produce unwanted by-products, mainly N-methyl-N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine (NMG), which reduces the N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine yield. In addition, the formaldehyde by-product itself is undesirable because of its potential toxicity. See Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,107.
Franz, U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,402, discloses oxidizing the formaldehyde by-product to carbon dioxide and water simultaneously with the oxidative cleavage of the N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid substrate by using a heterogeneous oxidation catalyst comprising a noble metal deposited on a carbon support. The noble metal on carbon oxidation catalyst may be referred to as "bifunctional" in that the carbon component provides the primary adsorption site for the oxidation of the N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid substrate to form the N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine product and formaldehyde, while the noble metal component provides the primary adsorption site for the oxidation of formaldehyde and formic acid to form carbon dioxide and water, thus giving the following overall reaction:

The noble metal component may also tend to reduce the rate of deactivation of the catalyst (i.e., prolong the useful life of the catalyst). In addition to the N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine product, formaldehyde, formic acid and unreacted N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid substrate, the oxidation product solution may also contain other by-products, such as N-methyl-N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine (NMG), N-formyl-N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine (NFG), aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), methyl aminomethylphosphonic acid (MAMPA), iminodiacetic acid (IDA), glycine, glyoxylic acid, phosphoric acid, phosphorous acid and imino-bis-(methylene)-bis-phosphonic acid (iminobis) and mixtures thereof.
Even though the Franz method produces an acceptable yield and purity of N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine, high losses of the costly noble metal by dissolution into the reaction mixture (i.e., leaching) typically result. Under the oxidation conditions of the reaction, some of the noble metal is oxidized into a more soluble form and organic components of the reaction solution, such as the N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid substrate and the N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine product, may act as ligands that solubilize the noble metal and/or sequester the solubilized noble metal in organic chelate complexes. After the N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine product has been formed and the noble metal catalyst has been separated from the reaction mixture, the oxidation product solution may be concentrated (e.g., by evaporation) to precipitate N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine product crystals and then separate the solid product from the various by-products and impurities retained in the resulting depleted reaction solution or mother liquor. Although a substantial quantity of the mother liquor may be recycled within the process, commercial considerations typically dictate that at least a portion of this residual reaction solution be purged from the system to avoid the build up of undesirable impurities and by-products that may compromise product purity. This purging unavoidably results in the loss of at least some of the solubilized noble metal and thereby undermines the economic feasibility of the process. Furthermore, the presence of solubilized noble metal within the reaction mixture typically results in incorporation of some noble metal into the N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine product resulting in additional loss of the noble metal.
Like Franz, Ramon et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,228, teach using a noble metal deposited on the surface of a carbon support to catalyze the oxidative cleavage of an N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid substrate. To reduce the problem of noble metal leaching (reported to be as great as 30% noble metal loss per cycle) Ramon et al. teach flushing the reaction mixture with nitrogen under pressure after the oxidation reaction is completed to cause re-deposition of the noble metal onto the surface of the carbon support. According to Ramon et al., nitrogen flushing reduces the noble metal loss to less than 1%.
More recently, attention has focused on developing bifunctional noble metal on carbon oxidation catalysts that resist noble metal leaching (i.e., exhibit improved compositional stability) and provide increased activity and/or selectivity, particularly with respect to oxidation of formaldehyde into carbon dioxide and water (i.e., increased formaldehyde activity). Ebner et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,417,133, disclose so-called "deeply reduced" noble metal on carbon catalysts for use in the oxidative cleavage of an N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid substrate and oxidation of other oxidizable reagents and methods for their preparation. Such deeply reduced catalysts exhibit remarkable resistance to noble metal leaching in aqueous, acidic oxidation reaction media. As a result, the catalyst disclosed by Ebner at al. provides for substantially quantitative oxidation of N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid substrates to N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine products, while minimizing noble metal losses and maintaining effective oxidation of the formaldehyde and formic acid by-products of the reaction for a prolonged period and/or over numerous oxidation cycles.
Although the teachings of Ebner et al. are significant and make economically practical the otherwise unavailable advantages provided by noble metal on carbon catalysts in the preparation of N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine products by oxidative cleavage of N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid substrates, noble metal losses in aqueous waste streams purged from the process and noble metal losses in N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine product streams cannot be completely avoided and represent a significant operational cost. That is, despite the improvement in catalyst stability and general resistance to noble metal leaching provided by the deeply reduced catalyst of Ebner et al., overall process economics are still diminished to some extent by the leaching of noble metal under the severe acidic oxidation reaction conditions which include the presence of the N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine product and other organic components that may act as ligands and exacerbate noble metal leaching even from stabilized bifunctional catalyst systems. Accordingly, a need exists for effective techniques for recovering the solubilized noble metal from aqueous process streams produced in the preparation of N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine products by the noble metal-catalyzed oxidation of N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid substrates. The recovered noble metal could be reclaimed and advantageously used in the preparation of fresh catalyst to significantly improve overall economics of the process.

Recovery of noble metals from aqueous process streams


The present disclosure provides methods for screening subjects at a subordinate location within a geographic region, or a subordinate space within the subordinate location for an infectious agent. Such methods may comprise assigning a risk score to each of the one or more subordinate locations or subordinate spaces based on an amount of infectious agent in pooled environmental samples and pooled biological samples in a subordinate location or subordinate space as compared to each other subordinate location or subordinate space, and then screening biological samples from subordinate locations or subordinate spaces that have a higher risk score before screening biological samples from subordinate locations or subordinate spaces that have a lower risk score. Methods for determining a risk of a viral infection in one or more geographic regions are also provided.

COVID-19 has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Emerging viral pandemics such as COVID-19 can place extraordinary and sustained demands on public health systems and on providers of essential services. Inevitably, such demands create the need to ration medical equipment and interventions. And rationing is already here. In the United States, perhaps the earliest example was the near-immediate recognition that there were not enough high-filtration N-95 masks for health care workers, prompting contingency guidance on how to reuse masks designed for single use. Moreover, physicians have proposed directing crucial resources such as intensive care beds and ventilators to patients who can benefit most from treatment.
It is widely recognized that screening is an imperfect barrier to spread of a disease due to the absence of detectable symptoms during the incubation period, variation in the severity and detectability of symptoms once the disease begins to progress, and/or imperfect performance of screening equipment or personnel. Not to mention in the presence of a pandemic there tends to be a great shortage of testing resources. Indeed, three months after SARS-CoV-2 arrived in the United States there is still inadequate access to appropriate diagnostic tests and confusion among healthcare professionals and the public about prioritization of testing and interpretation of results.
Further exacerbating current testing protocols is that in the case of a highly contagious airborne pathogen such as SARS-CoV-2, an infected subject may shed (e.g. exhale) virus into the air which can remain aloft minutes or hours thereafter, infecting unsuspecting subjects who never physically encountered or saw the infected individual. Virus may also be transported through HVAC systems or tidal air movements to other areas within a space or building. Complicating traceability further still, a person is contagious generally one to three days before onset of symptoms, making behavioral preventive measures nearly impossible. As such, there exists a need for improved methods to test and screen for infectious agents such as SARS-CoV-2.

Heat maps of infectious agents and methods of using same to screen subjects and/or determine an infection risk


A pipelined computer system employs a queue stage to receive the output of one pipeline stage when a stall occurs in the next stage or downstream of the next stage. This avoids stalling earlier stages of the pipeline. Subsequently, the pipeline advances through the queue, until a bubble occurs. When a bubble is subsequently generated upstream and enters the queue stage, a multiplexer switches the input of the next stage to receive the output of the one stage instead of from the queue stage, and the content of the queue is overwritten. By this mechanism, the delays inherent in processing branches can be reduced.

This invention relates to computer systems and methods of operating computer systems, and more particularly to a method of reducing branch delay in a computer system of the pipelined type.
Computer systems, as in many systems designed for peak operating efficiency and speed, are often pipelined. The method of pipelining a computer system is analogous to that of a manufacturing assembly line. A specific task is broken into multiple smaller tasks that are performed sequentially by a series of job stations, or pipeline stages. Peak efficiency is achieved when all stages are kept busy doing useful work toward a final product. This implies that all tasks require approximately the same amount of time to complete. In the case of a computer system, the work consists of tasks required to process an instruction in the correct instruction flow for the program being processed.
Computer programs generally contain branch instructions, which can alter the flow of instructions necessary to complete a program. It is the combination of fast arithmetic operations and flexibility provided by branch instructions that produce the power of computer system. There are two forms of branch instruction, unconditional and conditional. Unconditional branches are used when a program is required to change instruction flow regardless of any data condition. Conditional branches require examination of some data before resolving the correct program flow. In either case, when a branch changes the flow of instructions from the sequential path, the branch is said to be taken. Non-taken branches are caused by conditional branches that have failed the branch condition test.
Branch instructions that are taken, or predicted to be taken, create unique problems when applying the principles of pipelining to a computer system. When a computer system encounters a branch instruction, it is typically presented with two possible paths of program execution. Executing both paths is currently prohibitively expensive, but waiting until the branch condition is resolved can idle pipeline stages ahead, which require new input to be kept busy. For this reason, many computer systems implement some form of branch prediction. If the branch is predicted incorrectly, then all instructions fetched down the incorrect instruction path must be canceled and the pipeline restarted down the correct path. If the branch is predicted correctly, then idle time has been minimized and the pipeline can proceed. It is important to note that if the branch instruction itself is used to determine the correct path of program execution, this idle time cannot be eliminated but only minimized.
One way of avoiding the waste of this idle time is a technique referred to as delayed branching and implemented in a RISC processor made by MIPS Computer Systems, Inc., and sold under the part number R2000. This processor is described by Lane in MIPS R2000 RISC ARCHITECTURE, published by Printice-Hall, 1987. The delayed branching technique will be explained as follows.
Assume that the first pipeline unit, or stage, accomplishes the task of fetching instructions. The second pipeline unit serves to decode these instructions and direct the fetch unit with an address of the next instruction to fetch. When the pipeline is processing non-branch instructions, it simply fetches at sequential addresses to supply the next needed instruction. Consider the case of a taken branch instruction; since the branch instruction is needed to determine the address of the next instruction to fetch, there is one time-slot while the decode unit is processing the branch that it cannot direct the fetch unit where to locate the next instruction. Since the instruction fetch unit cannot be redirected until the branch passes through the decode unit, the branch instruction appears to take two time-slots to process. The second time-slot does not have the address of the branch target yet and therefore cannot redirect the instruction flow until the third time-slot. Some computer systems (such as the MIPS R2000, as well as SPARC and HP) attempt to provide useful work in this time-slot by defining the instruction immediately following a branch as always valid. This is the method referred to as delayed-branching. In this way, the time required to redirect the instruction flow is utilized fetching this extra instruction. The challenge of this method comes in finding an instruction that will provide useful work at this program junction. There exist other drawbacks to this approach as well.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,967, issued to William R. Wheeler and George M. Uhler, assigned to Digital Equipment Corporation, a method of pipeline bubble compression in a computer system is disclosed. This method provides a way of compressing bubbles by overwriting a bubble when a stall condition is detected downstream of the bubble. This may be referred to as a bubble squash technique.

Reducing stall delay in pipelined computer system using queue between pipeline stages

DIG.
1
MS
File;DIG.
2
MS
File
FSS 375;800


A shift lever assembly of a vehicle comprises: a base member; a shift lever supported by the base member so as to be pivotable around a shifting axis and a selection axis, the shifting axis and the selection axis being at a right angle to each other; an extension extending from the shift lever and connected to a first cable for transmitting a movement of the shift lever around the shifting axis to transmission means, wherein the connection between the first cable and the extension of the shift lever lies on the selection axis. In this shift lever assembly, the selection movements of the shift lever do not cause the bending of the cable connected to the extension of the shift lever for transmitting the shifting movements of the shift lever, and do not apply undesired stress upon the cable. Therefore, with a simple mechanism, it is possible to put the connection between the extension of the shift lever and the cable close to the end of the cable casing for receiving and guiding the cable, thus achieving reduced assembly size and smaller space for installing the shift lever assembly.

A shift lever used in controlling a manual transmission is typically moved in its operation in both longitudinal and transverse directions following a generally H-shaped pattern. In some automatic transmissions, it is desired that the automatic transmissions may be manually shifted by operating a shift lever under proper shift control provided by a guide slot (or a so-called gate-pattern) through which the shift lever extends. Such shift levers are required to be supported so as to be pivotable around two axes at a right angle to each other. The two axes are often referred to as a selection axis and a shifting axis. When a shift lever assembly is installed in a center floor of the vehicle, the selection axis is generally in parallel to the longitudinal (for-and-aft) direction of the vehicle and the shifting axis is generally in parallel to the transverse (lateral) direction of the vehicle.
In some conventional shift lever assemblies, the shifting movements of the shift lever around the shifting axis are transmitted to the transmission as linear movements of a cable connected to the shift lever, with the cable being connected to the shift lever at a point spaced from a pivot point at which the shift lever is pivotably supported. The cable is typically received in a fixed casing or sheath for guiding the linear movements of the cable, and a part of the cable extends out from the casing. In such an arrangement, the selection movements of the shift lever around the selection axis cause the connection between the shift lever and the cable to move transversely, accordingly causing the cable to bend at the end of the cable casing. Generally, repeatedly bending a cable over large angles tends to prematurely degrade the cable. In such conventional shift lever assemblies, in order to achieve a smaller bending angle of the cable, the distance from the connection between the shift lever and the cable to the bending point (or the end of the cable casing) becomes longer. This leads to a larger shift lever assembly which consumes valuable space in the vehicle.


A diode laser excitation sold-state laser amplifier capable of withstanding a mechanical disturbance, is easily fabricated and adjusted, can stably generate a high-efficiency high-quality laser beam and easily realize a large output. A diode laser excitation solid-state laser using this amplifier, including: a solid-state laser rod extending along the optical axis of a laser beam and including an active medium therein; two side plates for supporting both ends of the solid-state laser rod respectively; a flow tube provided to enclose the solid-state laser rod and containing a cooling medium; a plurality of excitation modules each having a flat substrate, with a hole formed at the center thereof through which the solid-state laser rod is passed, and at least one excitation light source, for providing excitation light from the lateral of the solid-state laser rod; and connecting and fixing means and for connecting a plurality of the excitation modules to each other and fixing them to the side plates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a diode laser excitation solid-state laser amplifier and a diode laser excitation solid-state laser, particularly to the excitation section of the laser.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 28 is a block diagram of an excitation module used for a conventional diode laser excitation solid-state laser amplifier shown in, for example, the document "Solid-State Laser Engineering, Springer-Verlag, p. 348". In FIG. 28, two diode laser arrays 3 are fixed to one side of a trigonal-prismatic heat sink 5 by turning its light emitting section 4 to the left of FIG. 28. Moreover, a cylindrical lens 34 for condensing the excitation light emitted from the diode laser arrays 3 is fixed to the heat sink 5 adjacently to the light emitting section 4 of the diode laser arrays 3. An electric cooler 301 for adjusting the temperature of the heat sink 5 is set to the side opposite to the light emitting section 4 of the diode laser arrays 3 of the heat sink 5. Moreover, at the outside of the cooler 301, a heat exchanger 302 for removing heat from the diode laser arrays 3 through the heat sink 5 and the electric cooler 301, is set adjacently to the electric cooler 301.
Cooling water circulates through the heat exchanger 302 to exchange heat with the diode laser arrays 3 through the heat sink 5. The electric cooler 301 is set between the heat exchanger 302 and the heat sink 5 so as to be sandwiched by them. Therefore, by cooling the heat sink 5 by the electric cooler 301, it is possible to quickly adjust the temperature of the diode laser arrays 3 without changing the temperature of the cooling water to be circulated through the heat exchanger 302.
Two diode laser arrays 3 are fixed to the heat sink 5 in the same direction. The cylindrical lens 34 is fixed to the front of the light emitting section 4 of the diode laser arrays 3 and the excitation light emitted from the light emitting section 4 is condensed by the cylindrical lens 34. Moreover, the electric cooler 301 is set between the heat sink 5 and the heat exchanger 302 so as to be sandwiched by them. Therefore, it is possible to adjust the wavelength of the excitation light emitted from the diode laser arrays 3 by adjusting the temperature of the heat sink 5 with the electric cooler 301. An excitation module 90 comprises such components as the heat sink 5, diode laser arrays 3, cylindrical lens 34, electric cooler 301, and heat exchanger 302.
FIG. 29 is a perspective view showing a state in which the excitation module 90 having the structure in FIG. 28 is fixed to a support plate 303 together with the solid-state laser rod 1 and a flow tube 2. In the case of the above structure, four excitation modules 90 are set to one solid-state laser rod 1 around the rod 1. Moreover, each excitation module 90 is set by the fact that an end face of the heat sink 5 is fixed to the support plate 303 and one end of the module 90 is supported. Furthermore, each light emitting section 4 of the diode laser array pair 3 fixed to each of four excitation modules 90 is turned toward the solid-state laser rod 1 and the excitation light emitted from the light emitting section 4 receives an action so that a condensed line is produced in the cross section of the solid-state laser rod 1 by the cylindrical lens 34. Therefore, the flow tube 2 is provided around the solid-state laser rod 1 and a cooling medium is flown to a space formed between the solid-state laser rod 1 and the flow tube 2 to cool the solid-state laser rod 1.
Because a conventional diode laser excitation solid-state laser amplifier and a diode laser excitation solid-state laser using the amplifier are constituted as described above, a problem occurs that only one excitation light applying direction is obtained from one excitation module. Therefore, a problem occurs that, to obtain uniform excitation distribution in the solid-state laser rod 1, a plurality of excitation modules corresponding to the number of applying directions must be prepared to emit excitation light from a plurality of directions.
Moreover, to increase the output of a diode laser excitation solid-state laser, the number of diode laser arrays 3 set to excitation modules is increased. Therefore, the length of the heat sink 5 must be increased along the solid-state laser rod 1. Furthermore, to obtain a uniform excitation distribution in the longitudinal direction of the solid-state laser rod 1, it is necessary to keep the interval between every diode laser array 3 and the solid-state laser rod 1 constant. Therefore, a problem occurs that a higher manufacturing accuracy is required and fabrication of the excitation module 90 as a laser is further increased in size.
Furthermore, because an excitation module is supported at only one end, problems occur that the distances between the diode laser array 3 and the solid-state laser rod 1 are easily changed and it is difficult to keep stable amplification characteristic and laser output. Furthermore, because the uniformity of the excitation distribution in the solid-state laser rod 1 is also deteriorated, a problem occurs that the quality of laser beam is also deteriorated.

Diode laser excitation solid-state laser amplifier and diode laser excitation solid-state laser


A secured grip pet grooming device for use in aiding the de-shedding process while bathing a dog and decreasing stress on the animal. The secured grip pet grooming device includes a brush structure having a top surface, bottom surface, and plurality of sidewalls defining an internal reservoir therein. An adapter is configured to removably secure a water connection line to the brush structure in fluid communication, such as a hose. A plurality of bristles is disposed on the bottom surface of the brush structure, along with at least one vent in the surface having a channel extending into the internal reservoir and allowing liquid to pass therethrough. A handle is affixed to the top surface of the brush structure and includes at least one aperture adapted to receive the fingers of a user therethrough.

The present invention relates to handheld pet grooming devices. More specifically, the present invention provides a secured grip pet grooming device having a hose attachment and adapted handle wherein a plurality of apertures disposed thereon are configured to receive the fingers of a user therethrough.
Many households in many parts of the world possess pets that require constant grooming. Although grooming is often conducted by a professional groomer, the costs associated with professional grooming are usually expensive and require the time-consuming processes of scheduling a date and transporting your pet to the grooming facilities. Furthermore, a significant expenditure of time often occurs before a pet is given a bath wherefore a professional groomer often takes substantial time blowing or brushing out the hair of the pet that is to be groomed. As the time spent in grooming a pet increases, the pet often becomes restless or agitated which could cause added consternation, as well as the possibility of grooming mishaps and injuries. In addition, if the undercoat fails to be brushed or removed, pet owners often experience disappointment.
Devices have been disclosed in the prior art that relate to handheld pet grooming devices. These include devices that have been patented and published in patent application publications. These devices include handheld grooming brushes having a hose connection and flowrate control. Other devices include brushes having an ergonomic palm grip handle. These devices, however, fail to disclose a secured grip pet grooming device having all of the features of the present invention.
In light of the devices disclosed in the prior art, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in design elements from the prior art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing handheld pet grooming devices. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.