A low profile catheter for increasing lumen size of a blood vessel includes a catheter shaft which carries an inflatable balloon at its distal end. A guide wire is positioned in the catheter shaft to extend beyond the balloon, and the guide wire defines a keyed portion having a cross-sectional shape which is other than round. A keyed coupling number is carried by the catheter shaft and coupled to the keyed portion of the guide wire to transmit torque from the catheter shaft to the guide wire while permitting relative axial movement between the catheter shaft and the guide wire. Alternately, wound coil springs are mounted to the catheter shaft by a spyder. The coil springs seize the guide wire in response to rotation, but allow longitudinal movement of the guide wire in the absence of rotation.

This invention relates to a low profile catheters such as balloon catheters used to increase the lumen size of a blood vessel, and to guide wires used with such catheters.
Catheters such as balloon catheters have used for some time to increase the lumen size of vessels such as coronary blood vessels. Typically, a flexible guide wire is inserted into a selected vessel, and the guide wire then guides the balloon catheter to the treatment site. Packard U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,742 describes one prior art balloon catheter used in an angioplasty procedure. A coil spring guide wire passes through the catheter, beyond the distal end of the catheter and the balloon. Fogarty U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,347 and Samson U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,654 (FIG. 1b) show other balloon catheters which utilize such guide wires. In the catheter shown in the Fogarty patent a seal is provided near the distal end of the catheter between the catheter and the guide wire.
This prior art approach requires that the guide wire itself be sufficiently rotationally rigid to transmit rotation from its proximal to distal ends when it is rotated to steer the distal end of the guide wire into a desired vessel. As catheters and guide wires are designed for use with increasingly smaller diameter blood vessels, it may be difficult to ensure that the wire has an adequately small diameter yet is adequately torsionally rigid.
Another approach of the prior art is illustrated in the systems described in Mar U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,778, Mar U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,350, Samson U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,181, and Samson U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,654 (FIG. 1a). In these catheters the guide wire is secured to the distal end of the catheter, distally of the balloon, such that a fixed length of the guide wire extends beyond the distal end of the catheter. With this approach, the guide wire is formed as a permanent part of the catheter, and it is therefore not possible to remove the catheter from the blood vessel without simultaneously removing the guide wire. In certain medical procedures it is preferred to leave the guide wire in place at the treatment site while a first catheter is removed from the guide wire. Then a second catheter, possibly different in shape or function from the first, can be guided by the guide wire back to the original treatment site quickly and reliably. Of course, such procedures cannot be performed with a catheter in which the guide wire is permanently affixed to the catheter.
Horzewski U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,959 discloses a vascular dilation catheter which receives a removable guide wire. The catheter shaft defines an annular portion which may be inflated to releasably secure the catheter to the guide wire to allow the two to be advanced as a single unit. The torque transmitting characteristics of the annular inflatable portion are not discussed. However, it is clear that the inflatable portion must be inflated from the distal end of the catheter to secure the catheter to the guide wire and then deflated from the distal end of the catheter to release the catheter from the guide wire. The time required to inflate and deflate the annular portion may limit the speed with which the guide wire can be shifted between the secured and released modes of use.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved low profile catheter for increasing the lumen size of a blood vessel, which utilizes the catheter shaft to transmit torque to the guide wire at a point near the distal end of the guide wire.
It is another object of this invention to provide such a catheter in which torque is transmitted from the catheter shaft to the guide wire while permitting relative axial movement therebetween.
It is another object of this invention to provide such a catheter in which torque is automatically transmitted from the catheter to the guide wire when the catheter is rotated with respect to the guide wire, and wherein the guide wire is automatically permitted to move longitudinally when the guide wire is advanced with respect to the catheter.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide such a catheter in which the guide wire is shaped to allow the catheter to be removed from the guide wire, in order to allow the guide wire to be left in place at the treatment site while the first catheter is removed and replaced with a second.

Low profile catheter for increasing lumen size of a blood vessel and guide wire therefor


A closing unit associable with a keg type container suitable to contain a beverage, and consisting of two cooperating coaxial containers, wherein the external container has anchoring means, or a threaded portion, comprising a valve assembly and a closing device, which can be stably anchored to the threaded portion and configured to reciprocally position with respect to each other the valve assembly and the containers.

Upper closing units of these types of containers are known.
It is known that the closing device, and/or the valve assembly, must be equipped to connect both with the means to introduce the beverage and also with the means to dispense the beverage present inside the internal container.
Examples of valve assemblies and closing devices are known, for example, from GB-A-2481465, U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,645 and WO-A-2018/225109.
The known systems have a plurality of disadvantages.
A first disadvantage is that the kegs cannot be recycled in a single body, but must be at least partly disassembled and some components broken down to be recycled in different ways.
This entails considerable additional labor costs, problems with separate transportation, costs for separate storage with specific designated areas and further investment and management costs and recycling costs.
A second disadvantage is the number and complexity of the components, which entail considerable sourcing, storage, assembly, installation and maintenance costs, as well as cleaning and sanitizing costs.
In addition to these, the spring of the valve assembly is normally made of steel and therefore can release components into the beverage that some people are intolerant to.
In known solutions, furthermore, there can be the danger of mold forming if beer stagnates, even in small quantities, in the valve assembly, or between the latter and the closing stopper.
One purpose of the present invention is to provide a container, with the connected closing unit, which is recyclable as a whole and therefore uses a single function to shred the whole, and also to store, transport and recycle it.
Another purpose is also to drastically reduce the components, reducing sourcing, storage, management, cleaning, assembly, and maintenance costs and costs to replace used parts.
Another purpose is also to provide a valve assembly made of plastic material which can be recycled with the remaining components of the keg, also allowing a distinct reciprocal male-female union with an equal and uniform pressure throughout the entire circumferential area.
Another purpose is to simplify the valve assembly.
Another purpose is also to improve the functioning of the operations to fill and close the container.
Another purpose is to improve the functioning of the operations to tap the beverage, obtaining a flow that is as constant and uniform as possible.
To obtain all these advantages, the invention has set itself two specific problems:                drastically reduce the number of components;        make all the components of recyclable plastic that belongs to the same recycling category.
Where the need arises to use a plastic which is normally not recyclable with all the remaining parts, the invention provides to produce this part of the closing unit with a total weight that is lower than the tolerated limit of incompatible components in the whole mass of recycled material of the container, or keg.
The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.


A ski boot of the kind comprising a substantially rigid outer shell and a cuff articulated to the shell is provided and further includes a locking device which can be switched between a first configuration, in which the rotation of the cuff relative to the shell is allowed, and a second configuration, in which the rotation of the cuff relative to the shell is prevented. The locking device of the ski boot also includes deadlocking means which prevents the locking device from being accidentally moved from the configuration in which it is, specifically when it is in the second configuration.

The present invention refers to a ski boot, of the kind comprising a substantially rigid outer shell and a cuff articulated to said shell. More particularly, the present invention refers to a ski boot comprising a locking device, intended to lock the shell and the cuff articulated thereto relative to each other or leave them free from each other. The present invention may be applied, particularly, though not exclusively, to the field of boots for ski mountaineering.
According to prior art, ski boots usually comprise an inner liner made of substantially soft material and an outer shell made of a substantially rigid material. Still according to prior art, the substantially rigid shell of ski boots, which is shaped to accommodate the user's foot, is associated with a cuff suitable for accommodating the ankle and the lower part of the calf of the user.
In general, said cuff is articulated to the shell at the malleolar region, so as to allow—if desired—a rotation of the cuff relative to the shell.
This possibility is particularly important in the case of boots for ski mountaineering: when the user has to walk during the ascent, it is obviously preferable that the cuff is free to rotate relative to the shell, in order to make walking more comfortable; on the other hand, when the user descends while skiing, it is preferable that the cuff is locked with respect to the shell, both for safety reasons and for obtaining satisfactory performance, ensuring that movements—even minimal ones—of the user's leg are rigidly transmitted to the ski boot, and from this to the ski.
Locking devices are known from prior art, which devices allow to switch from a first configuration in which the cuff can rotate relative to the shell (configuration suitable for walking) to a second configuration in which the rotation of the cuff relative to the shell is prevented (configuration suitable for skiing), and vice versa.
These locking devices generally include a male element connected to the cuff and a female element connected to the shell, or vice versa, at least one of said elements being arranged to be movable. In this way, the movable element can be brought to engage with the other element or to disengage from it, for example by means of a rotation or translation movement: when the male and female elements are engaged with each other, the rotation between the shell and cuff is prevented, whereas when the male and female elements are disengaged, the cuff is free to rotate relative to the shell.
Driving means are usually provided for actuating the rotation or translation movement of the movable element, for switching the ski boot from one configuration to the other one. Said driving means may comprise, for example, a lever that can be moved by the user to actuate a rotation movement of said movable element. Usually, said lever is moved by overcoming the resistance of an elastic element, such as a spring.
More particularly, when the ski boot is in the above-mentioned first configuration (with the male and female elements of the locking device disengaged from each other), the spring is in a rest condition and it is necessary to overcome the resistance of said spring to switch to the above-mentioned second configuration.
Once the ski boot is in said second configuration, the engagement between the male and female elements of the locking device keeps it stably in said configuration, and said elements must be manually disengaged from each other by the user to switch back the ski boot to the first configuration.
However, it is to be considered that during skiing the ski boot is subject to considerable stresses, and it is likely to be subjected to impacts, even of considerable entity. It is therefore possible that accidental disengagement of the male element from the female element of the locking device may occur. This is obviously undesirable, as the user would suddenly have a ski boot in which the cuff is no longer locked relative to the shell and, on the contrary, it is free to move relative to it.
Therefore, the problem arises of eliminating the risk of sudden and unwanted movements of the cuff relative to the shell when the ski boot is used while skiing (i.e., during the descent phase).
The object of the present invention is therefore to overcome the drawbacks of prior art by providing a ski boot provided with an improved locking device capable of effectively avoiding accidental disengagement of the male element from the female element of said locking device. This and other objects are achieved by the ski boot as claimed in the appended claims.

Ski boot, more particularly boot for ski mountaineering


The present invention is directed to a path searching device and a CDMA receiver employing the same, having a reduced circuit scale and operating to carry out a smaller number of operations. For a direct spreading CDMA communication system, a CDMA receiver includes a reception demodulator including an antenna, a high-frequency amplifier a band-pass filter, demodulators, etc. The CDMA receiver also has despreading units, a determination unit, and a path search device. The path search device has a sampling unit for sampling an input signal by low-speed oversampling based on an integer multiple of a chip rate and by high-speed oversampling that is faster than the low-speed oversampling, a first circuit for finding a correlative value between a spreading code and a signal provided by the low-speed oversampling and finding timing corresponding to a maximum correlative value. A second circuit for finding despreading timing according to correlative values between a signal provided by the high-speed oversampling and a spreading code corresponding to the timing provided by the first circuit.

The present invention relates to a path searching device for a direct sequence CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) communication system and to a CDMA receiver employing the path searching device.
A CDMA receiver for the direct sequence CDMA communication system includes a path searching device (or a path searcher) for finding despread timing. Although the path searching device can be a sliding correlator, it is usually a matched filter. However, it would be desirable to reduce the circuit scale of these devices.
FIG. 5 shows a CDMA receiver. Reference numeral 101 designates an antenna, 102 a reception demodulator, 103 an AD converter, 104 a searcher (a path search device), 105 a despreading unit, and 106 a determination unit. Although the searcher 104 may be a matched filter or a sliding correlator, it is usually a matched filter. The despreading unit 105 has a code generator for despreading.
The antenna 101 is either installed in a base station or a mobile station of a direct sequence CDMA communication system. The antenna 101 receives a spread and modulated signal. The reception demodulator 102 demodulates the signal, the AD converter 103 converts the signal into a digital signal, the despreading unit 105 despreads the digital signal, and the determination unit 106 reproduces a received bit string. In order to synchronously generate spreading codes for a despreading operation carried out by the despreading unit 105, the searcher 104 provides a timing signal.
FIG. 6 shows a prior art searcher. Numerals 1111-111n designate delay elements (DLs) that form a shift register, 1121-112n+1 multipliers, 113 an adder, 114 a memory, and 115 a controller. The delay elements 1111-111n serve as a shift register, while the multipliers 1121-112n+1, and adder 113 constitute a matched filter.
If the AD converter 103 of FIG. 5 carries out a sampling operation according to a particular chip rate, the delay elements 1111-111n of FIG. 6 serves as a shift register that provides a time delay based on the chip rate. In order to carry out oversampling that is several times faster than the chip rate, the delay elements provide a time delay corresponding to an oversampling interval. In this case, the number of the delay elements must comply with a multiple related to the oversampling.
The shift register made of the delay elements 1111-111n receives an input signal xe2x80x9cinxe2x80x9d which is a digital signal sampled and converted by the AD converter 103. Output signals from the taps of the delay elements are multiplied in the multipliers 1121-112n+1 by spreading codes cd1-cdn+1 provided by a code generator (not shown). Further, output signals from the multipliers are then combined in the adder 113.
An output signal from the adder 113 represents correlation values between spreading codes of the spread and modulated signal, and spreading codes for despreading. An average of the correlation values from the adder 113 is obtained with the use of the memory 114, and according to the average, the controller 115 provides a timing signal to the despreading unit 105. According to the timing signal, the despreading unit 105 controls the timing of the code generator (not shown) for generating spreading codes.
The shift register that forms the matched filter of the searcher 104 for a CDMA receiver must have a number of stages that is sufficient to cover the length of spreading codes. In order to enable oversampling, the shift register must have taps whose number corresponds to an oversampling multiple. In particular, the number of stages of the shift register must be equal to the product of the length of spreading codes and the oversampling multiple. This raises a problem since circuit scale of the matched filter is greatly increased.
An object of the present invention is to provide a path searching device that has a reduced circuit scale.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a path searching device that operates to execute a reduced number of processes.
These and other objects are met by a path searching device according to the present invention that determines despreading timing in a direct sequence CDMA communication system. FIG. 1 shows the searching device which includes a sampling unit that samples an input signal by low-speed oversampling based on an integer multiple of a chip rate and by high-speed oversampling that is faster than the low-speed oversampling. A first circuit of a matched filter structure is included that finds a correlation value between a spreading code and a signal provided by the low-speed oversampling. Further, the first circuit finds timing corresponding to a maximum correlation value. A second circuit 17 is also included that finds despreading timing according to correlation values between a signal provided by the high-speed oversampling and spreading codes generated according to the timing provided by the first circuit.
The second circuit of the path search device receives a spreading code generated according to the timing provided by the first circuit. The second circuit also shifts the phase of the spreading code by an interval of the high-speed oversampling and, finds a correlative value between the spreading code and a signal provided by the high-speed oversampling. Further, the second circuit integrates such correlation values and finds a despreading timing according to a phase that provides a maximum integrated value.
The second circuit of the path search device consists of a delay element for receiving a spreading code generated according to the timing provided by the first circuit and shifting the phase of the spreading code by an interval of the high-speed oversampling. A multiplier is also included that finds a correlation value between the spreading code passed through the delay element and a signal provided by the high-speed oversampling. An adder and a delay element that integrates an output signal of the multiplier, and a timing signal output unit that finds despread timing according to a maximum value found in the integrated output signal.
The second circuit of the path search device according to the present invention may also consist of a matched filter that receives approximately one chip length of a signal provided by the high-speed oversampling and finds a correlative value accordingly.
The path search device according to the present invention may also consist of a matched filter serving as the first and second circuits. A switch is also included that switches a signal provided by the high-speed oversampling and a signal provided by the low-speed oversampling from one to another in time division so that the signals are supplied to the matched filter in time division. An arrangement is further providing despreading timing when the high-speed oversampling provides a signal.
The present invention also consists of a CDMA receiver having a reception demodulator, an AD converter, a despreading unit, a determination unit, and a path search device. The path searching device can consist of a sampling unit for sampling an input signal by low-speed oversampling based on an integer multiple of a chip rate and by high-speed oversampling that is faster than the low-speed oversampling. A first circuit of a matched filter structure for finding a correlative value between a spreading code and a signal provided by the low-speed oversampling, further, finding timing corresponding to a maximum correlative value. A second circuit is also included for finding despreading timing according to correlative values between a signal provided by the high-speed oversampling and spreading codes generated according to the timing provided by the first circuit.

Path searched device and CDMA receiver with the same


A wrist-carried radiotelephone (10) comprises a housing (12), radiotelephone circuitry (90) and a bracelet (16). The radiotelephone circuitry (90) is disposed in the housing (12). The bracelet (16) is connected to the housing (12) and secures the housing (12) to a user's wrist. The bracelet (16) further comprises a plurality of links (18, 20, 22, 24). Each link (18, 20, 22, 24) of the plurality of links (18, 20, 22, 24) has a battery (26, 28, 30, 32) disposed therein. Adjacent links (18, 20, 22, 24) of the plurality of links (18, 20, 22, 24) are mechanically coupled together using a hinge (72, 74). Adjacent batteries (26, 28, 30, 32), disposed in respective adjacent links (18, 20, 22, 24) of the plurality of links (18, 20, 22, 24), are electrically coupled together using electrical conductors (50, 52, 58, 60). The batteries (26, 28, 30, 32) disposed in the links (18, 20, 22, 24) provide power to the radiotelephone circuitry (90). The distribution of the batteries (26, 28, 30, 32) among the links (18, 20, 22, 24) provide a reasonable amount of power for cellular type radiotelephone circuitry (90) while providing an aesthetically pleasing design.

Recent progress in microelectronics has promoted the miniaturization of portable telephone components such as transmitters and receivers. This miniaturization has permitted the integration of these components into wrist-carried portable radiotelephones. Batteries are required to provide power for the components in a wrist-carried portable radiotelephone, because it is indeed portable.
Batteries are known to power other wrist-carried portable devices, such as wrist watches. Typically only one small battery is needed to power a wrist-carried portable watch because of low power requirements of wrist-carried portable watches. U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,206 shows two batteries, which power watch circuitry, located in a recess of a continuous flexible band.
Radiotelephones, however, have much higher power requirements. For example, a typical portable cellular radiotelephone is specified to operate at a maximum of 0.6 W. The majority of the power in a radiotelephone is consumed by a radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry. The radiotelephone must have enough power for a transmitter to transmit RF signals to a remote base station. The radiotelephone must also have enough power for the receiver to receive RF signals from a remote base station and to wait to receive RF signals in a standby mode of operation. Therefore, radiotelephones need more batteries or larger batteries to provide more power.
In wrist-carried portable radiotelephones, a battery which powers the radiotelephone circuitry is generally shown to be located either in a main case or in a hollow wrist band. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,265,265 and 5,008,864 each show a battery located in a main case attached to a wrist strap. U.S. Pat. No. 3,032,651 shows several batteries located together in a single hollow wrist clip.
At the present state of development of cellular radiotelephone circuitry, in particular, one battery located in the main case or a few small batteries located together in a single hollow wrist clip does not provide sufficient power to operate the radiotelephone circuitry over a reasonable amount of time. Solving this problem by adding more batteries or larger batteries is difficult to do without adversely affecting the aesthetic appearance of the wrist-carried portable radiotelephone.
Accordingly, there is a need for a battery arrangement suitable for a wrist-carried radiotelephone which provides a reasonable amount of power to operate the radiotelephone circuitry and also has an aesthetic appearance.

Battery arrangement for a wrist-carried radiotelephone


There is provided a low-battery detection reference voltage table for memorizing the correspondence between current values and low-battery detection reference voltage values, which is obtained from battery voltage characteristic curves corresponding to different current values. Further, there is provided a low-battery reference voltage correction table for correcting the low-battery detection reference voltage in accordance with a voltage variation. Referring to the low-battery detection reference voltage table on the basis of the value of current output from the battery, the low-battery detection reference voltage corresponding to the current value is obtained. The voltage variation is found from the currently measured battery voltage and the previously measured battery voltage which is memorized. On the basis of the voltage variation, the correction voltage is found with reference to the low-battery reference voltage correction table. The found correction voltage is added to the low-battery reference voltage, thereby correcting the low-battery reference voltage. When the measured battery voltage is lower than the corrected low-battery detection reference voltage, the low-battery stated is determined.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a low-battery state detecting system and method for suitable use in a personal computer using a battery as a power source.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known a personal computer using a battery as a power source and including a power controller capable of monitoring the residual capacity of the battery. The power controller normally includes a 1-chip microcomputer and performs data communication with a host CPU through a serial line, thereby supplying necessary power.
In the prior art, the state ("low-battery state"), wherein the residual capacity of the battery so decreases that it may be difficult to normally operate the personal computer, is detected when the current output from the battery and the battery voltage are monitored and found to fail in a predetermined condition.
The method of detecting the low-battery state will now be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1 or a graph showing battery characteristics. FIG. 1 illustrates how the battery voltage varies with the lapse of time. The ordinate indicates battery voltage, and the abscissa indicates time. In FIG. 1, three curves I, II and III represent the variations of battery voltages when electric currents of 200 mA, 400 mA and 600 mA are output from the battery. As is obvious from FIG. 1, the greater the output current from the battery, the sooner the battery voltage lowers.
Point A on the ordinate represents the minimum voltage for normal operation of the personal computer. Point C on the abscissa represents the time when the battery voltage lowers to point A in the case where the current is 600 mA. Point B on the abscissa represents a reference point for determining whether the battery is in the low-battery state. When the maximum value of the electric current output from the battery is 600 mA, the normal operation of the personal computer is ensured at least in the time period of points C-B after the low-battery state is determined.
In the prior art, the current output from the battery and the battery voltage are monitored, and when the battery voltage reaches point B (B'-I, B'-II, B'-III), the low-battery state is determined. In the battery-powered personal computer, the longer the time of the battery-powered operation, the more desirable the computer. For this purpose, it is an essential factor to exactly detect the low-battery state. This enables the battery to be used up to a maximum capacity, thereby lengthening the time of the battery-powered operation. In a conventional technique, the low-battery state cannot be detected precisely, because of battery variations. This problem will now be explained with reference to FIG. 2 of a graph of battery characteristics.
FIG. 2 shows variations in battery voltages when the battery is charged in different charge time periods. Point A on the ordinate represents the minimum voltage for normal operation of the personal computer. Point B' on the abscissa represents a reference point for determining whether or not the battery is in the low-battery state. The time period (Cn-Bn, n=1, 2, 3, 4) between the determination of the low-battery state and the failure of the normal operation of the personal computer, increases with as the charge time of the battery. Thus, in the conventional technique, the battery remains sufficient for normal operation of the personal computer, in some cases, despite the fact that the low-battery state has been determined. However, the battery cannot be used efficiently.

Low-battery state detecting system and method for detecting the residual capacity of a battery from the variation in battery voltage


A method for deforming a plurality of shapes is described wherein each of the shapes comprises a set of parametric curves. The method comprises: providing a parametric surface, and forming a deformed shape for each of the shapes by performing a symbolic composition between the parametric surface and each parametric curve from the set of parametric curves comprising the shape being deformed. The parametric surface is defined by two parameters varying over a parametric domain, such that each of the parametric curves comprising the shapes lies in the parametric domain of the surface.

A large amount of prior art exists in the area of font design and text layout for digital typography. Computer aided font design tools have been created since the 1960's. Fonts were typically rendered in media such as metal slugs or photomasks for phototypesetters. Now, fonts are frequently rendered in digital form for use in digital computers and digital display devices, in order to produce output in a particular typeface design.
A font is typically defined as a set of printable or displayable text characters of specific style and size. A design of a set of fonts is called a typeface. A wide range of character shapes exist for representing given alphanumeric characters or typographic symbols such as numbers, letters, punctuation marks and dingbats. Each such shape is distinguished by its various design features such as underlying geometry, stroke thickness, character height, serifs, joinery, placement and number of contours and ratio of thin-to-thick strokes. Existing digital font-rendering techniques can be classified into bit map type and outline type.
In the bit map rendering technique, the glyphs of the fonts are described and manipulated as explicit bit maps. A bit map representation must be provided for each font point size, as automatic sizing generally cannot be performed for a bit mapped font. Bit map rendering techniques are a direct way to display fonts. Bit mapping representations, however, consume a sizable amount of computer memory for storing the various different varieties of typefaces and the many different point sizes for each typeface. Thus, while bit map rendering techniques are often still used, other techniques are typically preferred in many circumstances, particularly when it is desirable to minimize the usage of computer memory.
An outline font is a font in which the outlines of each character are geometrically defined. Each character of such fonts is described by vector geometry and can be scaled with ease. The curves between the endpoints of the vectors are usually specified by using either cubic or linear Bezier spline curves. Spline curves are smooth piecewise polynomials that can be used to represent functions over large intervals. While the most obvious relevance of text characters is for printing and publications, other applications such as computer animation and computer aided design require text manipulation functions. Spline curves are controlled by a small set of given control points, which are often located on the outline or otherwise associated with the outline as in the case of tangent points. Popular outline fonts in use today are the True Type used by Microsoft Windows, and the Adobe's Type 1 fonts, as described in The True Type font format specification, Microsoft Corporation, 1990, and in Adobe type 1 font format: multiple master extensions, Adobe Developer Support, 1992, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Representing symbol images by outlines not only obviates large memory storage but also permits interactive font editing and text placement.
Many computerized systems employ printing methods that layout text strings along smooth lines and curves. Such algorithms are found in systems that employ outline fonts: for example the PostScript language and the Microsoft Office "WordArt" package.
In V. Ostromoukhov and R. D. Hersch, "Artistic screening", SIGGRAPH '95, (1995), pp. 219-228, the authors describe a two dimensional morphing method in which each elementary sub-screen shape is defined by a letter shape toward half-toning. This technique is applied in artistic screening, which incorporates both full size and microscopic letters into the image reproduction process.
Existing text deformation techniques perform the deformations in one of two ways. The first approach defines a best-suited rigid motion transformation for each symbol, as described in pages 171-173, of the "Program 11/Placing Text Along an Arbitrary Path" in the PostScript Language Tutorial and Cookbook. This approach is also one of the methods used by the "WordArt" package.
The second common technique maps the control points of the Bezier curves comprising the text symbol. Reed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,473 describes a method and apparatus for providing a set of variations of control points of a symbol image, such as a glyph, for display of at least one variation of the symbol image on a display device of a computer controlled display system. The method includes providing a set of control points specifying the outlines of the symbol image and providing variation data for specifying a set of variations for at least one of the control points. The variation data specifies a spatial manipulation of the font control, thereby modifying the outline of the symbol image.
Brock in U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,435 describes a computer-implemented apparatus and method for generating an output digital font from a base font and one or more font descriptor files. The method involves retrieving a file containing instructions and data for a generic base font, retrieving a font descriptor file containing specifications for operating upon the base font to produce the desired output font, and then generating the output font by performing operations upon the base font in accordance with the specifications contained in the font descriptor file. Brock's method produces a character program for each character in the base font.
The control point mapping method is better than rigid motion transformation, since it is more accurate. When there are enough control points to approximate the curve well by its control polygon, the deformed letters will look better. Nevertheless, neither method guarantees that the letters after the deformation will be intersection free. For the second method such intersection artifacts do not occur frequently after control point mapping, but still exist. Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which demonstrates the creation of an intersection due to control point mapping. FIG. 1a comprises straight-line segments 10 and 12, placed relative to base line 14. In FIG. 1a the undeformed linear edges of a character do not intersect each other. FIG. 1b shows the deformed base line 24, with mapped end control points and edges. The straight-line edges, 20 and 22, intersect each other, and the shape expands below the base line 24. The lengths of the dashed lines normal to the base line are unmodified.
Another problem with the control point mapping approach is that all linear segments of the symbol stay linear, with possible displeasing artifacts that affect the continuity of adjacent segments. Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which shows a simple example of this behavior. FIG. 2a comprises a letter 'A' 30, placed along a linear base line 32. The letter 'A' has several linear segments. In FIG. 2b, only the control points of the Bezier curves comprising the symbol 'A' are mapped. The linear segments forming the letter 'A' 40 remain linear, and do not follow the shape of the deformed base line 42.
In T. W. Sedergerg and S. R. Parry, "Free-form deformation of solid geometric models", SIGGRAPH '86, 20(4): 151-160, 1986, a freeform deformation technique is presented for solid geometric models. Given a mapping M from R3 to R3 and an object O from R3, where R3 denotes a three-dimensional space, O can be warped to follow M as M(O). M provides a precise control over the warping process. The volume deformation technique is not directly applicable to font and text design and manipulation, as these require a two-dimensional deformation.
Contents of the above books and articles are hereby incorporated by reference.
There is a need for a deformation technique for manipulation and placement of shapes over a two-dimensional or three-dimensional freeform surface, which provides precise control over all shape segments, and avoids intersections. There is a further need for a technique enabling precise placement of shapes along a specified base line, so that the shapes smoothly follow the base line.

Method and apparatus for shape deformation and placement

Technion Research & Development Foundation Ltd.


A recording sheet for ink jet printing is described, which consists of a paper support having coated on the front side of the support at least one ink-receiving layer consisting of fumed silicon dioxide with a positively charged surface and at least one binder, wherein at least one polyolefin layer is coated at the back side of said support and where there is no polyolefin layer between said paper support and the ink-receiving layer. Preferred is a recording sheet, wherein the surface of the fumed silicon dioxide has been modified by a treatment with the reaction products of a compound of trivalent aluminum with at least one aminoorganosilane.

Ink jet printing processes are mainly of two types: continuous stream and non-continuous stream.
In continuous stream ink jet printing, a continuous ink stream is emitted under pressure through a nozzle. The stream breaks up into droplets at a certain distance from the nozzle. If a specific location on the recording sheet has to be printed the individual droplets are directed to the recording sheet, otherwise they are directed to a collecting vessel. This is done for example by charging unnecessary droplets in accordance with digital data signals and passing them through a static electric field which adjusts the trajectory of these droplets in order to direct them to the collecting vessel. The inverse procedure may also be used wherein uncharged droplets are collected in the collecting vessel.
In the non-continuous process, or the so-called "drop-on-demand" process, a droplet is generated and expelled from the nozzle in accordance with digital data signals only in the case where a specific location on the recording sheet has to be printed.
The printing speed of modern ink jet printers is ever increasing for economic reasons. Recording sheets suitable for these printers therefore need to absorb the inks very quickly. Especially suitable are recording sheets containing nanocrystalline, nanoporous inorganic compounds, preferably oxides such as aluminum oxides or silicon dioxide, or oxide/hydroxides such as aluminum oxide/hydroxides. Such recording sheets are known as "nanoporous" recording sheets. For economic reasons, nanoporous recording sheets containing fumed silicon dioxide with a positively charged surface as nanoporous inorganic oxide are particularly preferred.
Nanoporous recording sheets absorb the inks very rapidly (in the microsecond range) by the action of the capillary forces of the nanoporous compounds. Polymer based recording sheets absorb the inks more slowly (in the millisecond range) by swelling of the polymer. Recording sheets on porous paper supports absorb the inks at comparable speeds by swelling of the paper felt.
For economic reasons, it would be desirable that also in the case of high, but not highest quality ink jet printing, cheaper paper supports than paper supports with a polyolefin layer on both sides could be used without a significant quality loss. Such recording sheets would have a slightly lower gloss than the corresponding recording sheets on paper supports with a polyolefin layer on both sides, but they would nevertheless have suitable properties in many fields of application.
Patent application DE 10,020,346 describes a recording sheet for ink jet printing, which contains silicon dioxide with a size of the primary particles of at most 20 nm prepared in the gas phase, wherein the surface of the silicon dioxide has been positively charged by a treatment with polyaluminum hydroxychloride.
Patent application WO 00/20,221 describes a recording sheet for ink jet printing, wherein the ink-receiving layer contains silicon dioxide prepared in the gas phase and wherein the surface of the silicon dioxide has been modified by a treatment with aluminum chlorohydrate. This surface is positively charged.
Patent application WO 02/094,573 describes a recording sheet for ink jet printing, wherein the ink-receiving layer contains silicon dioxide prepared in the gas phase and wherein the surface of the silicon dioxide has been modified by a treatment with aminoorganosilanes. This surface is also positively charged.
Patent application EP 1,655,348 describes a recording sheet for ink jet printing, wherein the ink-receiving layer contains silicon dioxide prepared in the gas phase and wherein the surface of the silicon dioxide has been modified by a treatment with the reaction products of a compound of trivalent aluminum with at least one aminoorganosilane. This surface is also positively charged.


A printer apparatus comprises a housing of a main body of the apparatus, a cover which can be opened and closed relative to the housing, a paper conveyance path configured to convey paper; a rotary component configured to be arranged along the paper conveyance path to convey paper through the friction with paper, a rotary gear arranged in the rotary component, a sensor section configured to detect the rotation of the rotary gear, and a drive section configured to be connected with the rotary component to supply a drive force, wherein the rotary gear is arranged at either side of the housing and the cover, and the drive section, which is arranged at the other side of the housing and the cover where no rotary gear is arranged, is connected with the rotary gear and supplies a drive force for the rotary gear when the cover is closed.

A printer apparatus which carries out a given printing operation on paper and issues the paper is provided with various sensors for detecting various errors. Most of the sensors for detecting various errors are used to detect only one kind of errors, for example, a cover-open sensor merely confirms whether or not the cover of the printer apparatus is closed correctly, and a jam sensor merely confirms whether or not paper jam occurs. Thus, it is considered to use one sensor to realize various detections including the detection on the error opening of a cover and the detection on the double-feeding of paper.
In paper jam detection, if a printer using cut paper and the like finishes the conveyance of the length of a paper, the receiving signal of a detection sensor is changed. Thus, the detection on paper jam can be carried out by confirming the signal. However, it is difficult to detect the jam of paper wound into a roll shape since the paper is continuous until it is cut. It is known that the detection on the paper jam can be realized by using the paper on the back side of which a black mark for detecting the conveyance of paper is arranged, however, in this detection, it is needed to use dedicated paper and sensors, and it is incapable of detecting other errors while detecting paper jam.


An in-line flow control device for a well chokes flow through a conduit while allowing access therethrough.

As is well known to those skilled in the art, certain hydrocarbon producing formations include sand. Unless filtered out, such sand can become entrained or commingled with the hydrocarbons that are produced to the earth's surface. This is sometimes referred to as "producing sand", and can be undesirable for a number of reasons, including added production costs, and erosion of well tools within the completion, which could lead to the mechanical malfunctioning of such tools. Various approaches to combating this problem have been developed. For example, the industry has developed sand screens which are connected to the production tubing adjacent the producing formation to prevent sand from entering the production tubing. In those cases where sand screens alone will not sufficiently filter out the sand, the industry has learned that a very effective way of filtering sand from entry into the production tubing is to fill, or pack, the well annulus with gravel, hence the term "gravel pack" completions.
A drawback to gravel pack completions arises when it is desired to connect a remotely-controllable flow control device to the production tubing to regulate the flow of production fluids from the gravel-packed well annulus into the production tubing, or to regulate the flow of injection fluids from the production tubing into the gravel-packed well annulus. If the flow control device is of the type that includes a flow port in the sidewall of the body establishing fluid communication between the well annulus and the interior of the tool (such as the flow control device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,623), then the presence of gravel pack in the annulus adjacent the flow port may present an obstacle to the proper functioning of the flow control device, to the extent that the gravel pack may prohibit laminar flow through the flow port. As such, it is an object of the present invention to provide a flow control device that will enable the remote control of flow of production fluids and/or injection fluids in well completions where the annulus is packed with gravel. It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a tool that will enable the passage of wireline tools through the tool so that wireline intervention techniques may be performed at locations in the well below the flow control device.

Method and apparatus for selective injection or flow control with through-tubing operation capacity


In one embodiment, a fastener includes an integrated isolation member composed of a resilient material, the isolation member being adapted to isolate a storage media drive to which the fastener is to be mounted from a drive cage in which the drive is to be installed, the isolation member being sized and configured to fit within a slot of the drive cage and to abut a surface of the drive cage.

There is currently a drive toward reducing the noise generated by computing devices such as personal computers (PCs). Several components of such computing devices generate noise during operation. For example, fans provided within a computing device to cool the processor create noise. Another source of noise is the vibrations that are transmitted to the device chassis, sometimes referred to as structure-borne noise. For instance, vibrations generated by storage media (e.g., hard disk, optical disc) drives can be transmitted to a drive cage in which the drives are housed and can therefore reverberate throughout the computing device chassis.
In many existing computing devices, storage media drives are mounted within the drive cage such that the exterior housing of each drive directly contacts the drive cage. Given that the drive housing and the drive cage are typically constructed of metal, the direct metal-to-metal contact between the drive and the cage facilitates transmission of the vibrations generated by the drive.
In view of that phenomenon, some computing device manufacturers have incorporated grommets into the drive cage that physically isolate the drives so that direct contact is not made between the drives and the drive cage. Although that solution is effective in reducing transmission of vibrations from the drives to the computing device chassis, it creates other problems. For example, given that the grommets must be mounted within the drive cage (prior to drive installation), fasteners that extend from the drive cage, through the grommets, and into the drives can only be fastened after the drive has been positioned within the cage. Because of that fact, the drives must be installed prior to other computing device construction to ensure that the assembler can access the fasteners to secure them to the drives.
In addition to increasing the difficulty of manufacturing, the above-described isolation solution also increases the difficulty of servicing the computing device. Specifically, because the grommets are mounted to the drive cage, the drives cannot be removed from the cage for servicing or replacement without first removing the fasteners from the drive. Because those fasteners cannot be accessed from the front of the drive cage, such removal may require substantial disassembly of the computing device, which would otherwise not be necessary if the drives were more conventionally mounted.

Storage media drive isolation apparatus and methods

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An apparatus for use in directing a flow of air with particles entrained therein toward a workpiece includes a nozzle and a deflector. The nozzle has a passage with a noncircular cross sectional configuration. The deflector has an outer side surface with a circular cross sectional configuration. A flow of air with particles of powder entrained therein is conducted along outer surface areas on the deflector at a first volumetric flow rate. A flow of air with particles of powder entrained therein is conducted along outer surface areas on the deflector at a second volumetric flow rate which is greater than the first flow rate. The deflector includes a porous member which is releasably connected with a main portion of the deflector to facilitate cleaning and provide access to the interior of the deflector. Seal members are provided between an electrode sheet, the porous member, and the main portion of the deflector.

An improved particle spray apparatus and method is used to electrostatically charge particles entrained in a flow of air and to direct the flow of air and particles toward a workpiece.
A known apparatus for directing a flow of air with electrostatically charged particles entrained therein toward a workpiece is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,879. This apparatus includes a spray gun having a central passage along which a flow of air with particles entrained therein is conducted. The flow of air with particles entrained therein is radially expanded by engagement with a conical deflector.
The apparatus disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. patent includes an electrical apparatus which electrostatically charges the particles entrained in the flow of air. The electrical apparatus includes various electrode arrangements which are exposed to the flow of air and particles around an axially outer end portion of the deflector. The electrode arrangement may include a silicon carbide electrode sheet which is mounted on the axially outer end portion of the deflector.
Another known particle spray gun is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,683. The particle spray gun disclosed in this patent includes a nozzle in which an electrode support member is mounted. A needle-shaped charging electrode is disposed in a passage which extends through the support member. Air is conducted to the passage in which the electrode is disposed to blow powder off of the electrode. The air is conducted through a passage in a radially extending spoke or strut which supports the support member in the nozzle.


An apparatus includes a circuit having first, second and third circuit portions, the first and third circuit portions each including at least one semiconductor circuit component. The second circuit portion includes at least one non-semiconductor circuit component, and is free of semiconductor circuit components. A first substrate has the first and second circuit portions disposed adjacent one side thereof. A second substrate is physically separate from the first substrate, and has the third circuit portion disposed adjacent a side thereof which faces the one side of the first substrate. The second and third circuit portions have electrically conductive parts which are coupled by thermo-formed bonds.

In microwave systems such as communication systems and phased array antenna systems, microwave circuitry is often implemented in the form of what is commonly known as a microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC). However, a MMIC is a relatively expensive device. For example, the entire MMIC circuit is implemented in a single substrate, which is typically gallium arsenide (GaAs). Gallium arsenide is a relatively expensive material, which costs approximately ten times as much as silicon. Further, since the entire circuit is implemented in a single substrate, and since the circuit typically includes several circuit components such as transistors for which the production yield is less than ideal, the percentage of chips obtained from a single production wafer without any significant defect can be on the order of only about 50% to 60%. Due to the number of defective chips which must be discarded, the effective production cost for the good chips is higher than would be the case if there was a higher production yield from the wafer.
A well-known alternative approach is commonly referred to as a hybrid circuit. In this approach, a portion of the overall circuit is provided on one substrate, such as a relatively expensive gallium arsenide substrate. The other portion of the circuit is provided on a different substrate, which is typically a cheaper material. The two substrates are then electrically coupled by bond wires that extend between bond pads provided on the substrates. While this hybrid approach has been generally acceptable for some applications, it has not been suitable for all applications. For example, in the case of a high frequency circuit, the bond wires exhibit parasitic inductance, and the bond pads exhibit parasitic capacitance. Consequently, there is still a need for a cheaper alternative to MMICs, which is suitable for applications such as high frequency microwave applications.

Method and apparatus for combining multiple integrated circuits


A precure tread for a tire has surface grooves facing a tread face, rear grooves facing a crown portion of a base tire, and a passage for communication between the rear grooves to atmosphere. The groove bottom of the rear grooves is located at a higher level than a groove bottom of the surface groove in the radial direction. The tire durability can be considerably improved when this precure tread is applied to a new tire or a retread tire.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a precure tread for a tire, pneumatic tires using the same and a method of producing such a pneumatic tire. Particularly, the invention provides a considerable improvement of tread durability when this precure tread is applied to, for example, a new or retreaded tire for truck and bus use.
2. Related Art Statement
In tires, such as a pneumatic tire for truck and bus use and the like, as the running distance increases, a tread 2 of a tire 1 is gradually worn as shown in FIG. 19 to shallow the depth of circumferential main grooves 3 formed on the surface of the tread 2, whereby the road gripping force of the tread 2 as well as the wet performances of the tire greatly lower. Therefore, the tire 1 is generally and frequently retreaded at a state that the main groove 3 is left to a certain extent in the tread 2.
The retreading of the tire is usually carried out by buffing the remaining tread portion 2a of the worn tire 1 to form a base tire 4 as shown, for example, by dotted lines in FIG. 19, and then bonding a precure tread 6 to a crown portion 4a of the base tire 4 through a cushion rubber 5 by vulcanization as shown in FIG. 20.
Moreover, the retreading of the tire is repeated 2 to 3 times or may be repeated more than 3 times though it changes in accordance with the service conditions. In case of repeating the retreading, if the wear resistance of the tread is low or the wet performances and the like at last worn stage are low, the period between the retreading and next retreading becomes shorter and the retreading becomes uneconomical.
In order to sufficiently develop the wet performances and other performances of the tread even at the last worn stage, there is proposed a tire as described in Japanese Utility Model laid open No. 51-95,902.
In this proposed tire, a rear groove extending from a position separated outward from the bottom of the surface groove in the radial direction toward the inside in the radial direction is continuously or discontinuously disposed in the inside of the tread in the circumferential direction of the tire. In this tire, the rear groove is exposed at the last worn stage, whereby the degradation of the wet performances and other performances can effectively be prevented. That is, when this proposal is applied to a precure tread 8 of a retreaded tire 7 as shown in FIG. 21, the precure tread 8 comprises plural main grooves 3 at its ground contacting portion 8a and a rear groove 9 at its rear the tread 8b facing the base tire. When the tread 8 is worn up to a position shown by dot-dash lines M in FIG. 21 during the use of the retreaded tire 7, the rear groove 9 appears at a tread face 8c, and consequently the drainage effect through the rear groove 9 as well as the edge effect at the groove edge of the rear groove are generated to largely improve the wet performances.
Furthermore, the precure tread 8 is designed to provide sufficient wet performances at the last worn stage, so that it is useless to ensure extra wet performances in the precured tread over a period ranging from initial worn stage to last worn stage. As a result, a ratio of surface groove area occupied in ground contacting area of the tread or so-called negative ratio can be made small to improve the wear resistance and resistance to uneven wear.
In the tire of FIG. 21, however, the rear groove 9 forms a closed space through the bonding of the precure tread 8 to the cushion rubber 10, so that gas existing in the rear groove 9 thermally expands through compressive deformation of the tread 8 repeated during the running of the tire and gets into an interface between the tread 8 and the cushion rubber 10 due to the increase of the volume of the gas itself. As a result, there is a problem of peeling a portion of the tread 8 near the rear groove 9 from the cushion rubber 10 as exaggeratedly shown in FIG. 21 to degrade the durability of the tire.

Precure tread for a new tire, and retread tires


A method and device for interactive autonomous driving. A vehicle guidance controller is configured to detect, during operation of a vehicle in an autonomous operating mode, an order for intervention by a driver in a driving event on an input device, in particular a joystick. And, on denial of the order, the vehicle guidance controller is configured to determine at least one setpoint for the autonomous operating mode. The setpoint may influence a longitudinal guidance of the vehicle and/or a transverse guidance of the vehicle in the autonomous operating mode. The vehicle guidance controller is configured to control the vehicle autonomously in the autonomous operating mode depending on the setpoint.

DE 10 2014 220 758 A1, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses that a driver's request can be implemented by interaction by the driver during autonomous driving, wherein the autonomous driving system follows the driver's request as far as possible. The interaction by the driver takes place via the vehicle's steering wheel.
DE 10 2014 107 194 A1, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a superposition steering system by means of which a driver's intervention, which is established during an autonomous operating mode of the motor vehicle, is performed. A driver can himself establish, merely by active control of the steering means, for example in the form of a steering wheel, how much control he would like over the steering system and hence over the motor vehicle. In an autonomous operating mode with active autonomous steering function, a harmonious transition between the driver and the steering function can thus be achieved.
DE102017213207A1, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a device for changing the transverse guidance of a vehicle configured for at least partially automated driving, wherein the device comprises a drive pedal and/or a brake pedal, and the device is configured, on actuation of the drive pedal and/or brake pedal during operation of the vehicle, to execute, suppress or influence an automated transverse guidance of the vehicle depending on a parameter of the vehicle's travel which represents the degree of automation.
US2013002416A1, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses exemplary maneuvers, execution of which may be signaled to a vehicle when in autonomous mode.

Device and method for interactive autonomous driving


A method and apparatus for transferring a wet object, such as a contact lens, from a first station to a second station includes a probe having a barrel with a passage for communication with a vacuum source and a pressurized gas source, a nozzle at the end of the passage, and a hood around the nozzle in communication with a vacuum source. The barrel is moved in a first direction to place the nozzle adjacent the object in the first station and the vacuum from the nozzle attaches the object to the nozzle. Moving the barrel in a second direction removes the nozzle with the object attached from the first station. The probe is moved to the second station with the object attached. The barrel is moved in the first direction to place the object at the second station, the vacuum is removed from the nozzle and pressurized gas is applied through the barrel passage to remove the object from the nozzle and deposit it at the second station and, at the same time, blow off matter from the object. Vacuum is applied to the hood when the probe is at the second station for the hood to collect the matter blown the object by the compressed gas.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transferring wet plastic objects, such as contact lenses, from one station to another.
The molding of hydrophilic contact lenses is known. Various processes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,313 to Larsen; U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,489 to Larsen, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,336 to Larsen et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,664 to Larsen et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,459 to Larsen et al., all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
These prior art references disclose a contact lens production process wherein each lens is formed by molding a reactive mixture between a front curve (lower mold section) and back curve (upper mold section). Typically, the lenses are carried in a mold array or pallet, such as a two-by-four array. While in between the front and back curves, the monomer is polymerized to form the lens. In one type of process, the lens is removed from the front curve mold during a hydration step and then washed by the application of a hydrating deionized (DI) water to remove processing chemicals, e.g. diluents, from the lens.
Sometimes, when deionized water is used in the hydration, the final step of the process is to introduce a buffered saline solution into the final package holding the lens, and then seal the lens within the package so that the final lens equilibrium (ionic neutralization, final hydration and final lens dimensioning) is accomplished in the package at room temperature or during sterilization. U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,820, also assigned to the assignee of the present invention, discloses a final package for a contact lens, wherein the package is formed from a transparent plastic material such as polypropylene and a foil laminate that is heat sealed thereto.
The transfer of soft contact lenses during manufacture has been a significant problem. The lenses are small, are nearly invisible and are particularly hard to handle when immersed in the fluids commonly used in the manufacturing process. Accurate and reliable transfer of the wet lenses from one location to another or to a final package is often necessary during the manufacturing process.
As apparent from the foregoing, a need exists for an apparatus to transfer wet lenses from one station, such as a mold or hydrating bath, to another station, such as a package, and at the same time to remove or reduce the amount of the hydrating liquid and other material present on the lens from the hydrating process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,331, entitled xe2x80x9cAutomated Apparatus and Method for Preparing Contact Lenses for Inspection and Packagingxe2x80x9d, also assigned to the assignee of the present invention, discloses a robotic arm for transferring a plurality of soft contact lenses from a first processing station to a second processing station. The robotic device includes an adjustable array of convex contact lens carriers. The specification of U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,331 is herein incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,970, which also is owned by the assignee of this application, discloses an automatic contact lens transfer system, comprising robotic arms to contact and transfer soft contact lenses. The ""970 patent is hereby incorporated by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,634, which also is owned by the assignee of this application, discloses a contact lens transfer device which comprises a convex lens transfer surface onto which the lens is secured via surface tension. The device then transports the lens to a second location. The lens is removed from the convex lens transfer surface when an amount of deionized water is ejected from the device. The ""634 patent is hereby incorporated by reference. However, neither of these patents teach the removal of the hydrating solution or other matter, nor are they capable of performing the function of transfer and controlled matter removal. In addition, prior contact lens transfer systems fail to address splatter of liquid from a lens onto the packaging during lens transfer.
The invention is concerned with the withdrawal of excess or foreign matter from a wet object, such as a contact lens, and/or its packaging prior to being sealed in a package. In preferred embodiments, this is achieved by providing a hood around a probe which is used to pick up and later release the wet object. The probe preferably handles the wet object using positive and negative pressure. The hood encompassing the probe creates suction to control matter during deposition and matter withdrawal or removal.
In one respect, the invention is directed to a method and apparatus for transferring a wet object, such as a contact lens, during and between various steps of manufacture and packaging. One set of these manufacturing steps is disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 09/252,307, filed herewith in which transfer is necessary from a station at which washing and hydration of the lens takes place, in a front curve mold, to a final package designed for customer use. Alternatively, this apparatus could be used to transfer a lens from a reusable mold to a contact lens package, or from a mold to a container for inspection of the contact lens, or from any other first position to a second position.
In a preferred embodiment, the invention comprises a probe with a perforated hemispherical nozzle head having a diameter and shape corresponding to the contact lens shape. The probe is moved into close proximity, and more preferably into contact with the lens"" concave surface while in a carrier or holder, such as a front curve mold, and picks up the contact lens from the holder by vacuum force, which creates suction at the nozzle which draws the lens from the holder onto the probe hemispherical nozzle.
A hood assembly encompasses the lower end of the probe and is resiliently biased to exert downward pressure preferably via holding pins on the carrier or holder, e.g., front curve, from which the lens is being removed to hold it in place against the vacuum force as the lens is being removed from the front curve mold
The probe is then relocated over the carrier or package into which the lens is to be deposited. In a preferred mode, once the lens is lifted by the probe out of the front curve mold, the vacuum is shut off, with the lens being held by surface tension while the probe is relocated over the carrier or package. Alternatively, the vacuum force supply can be shut off after the probe has been positioned over the carrier or package. Preferably, the hood is pressed against the carrier or package, holding it in place, and if a package, the hood is designed to protect the sealing area from splashing. Once in the proper location, one or more short, controlled pressure pulses of liquid or gas, preferably air, are supplied. At the same time, preferably a vacuum is applied within more than one passage designed within an opening from the hood assembly. As a result, the contact lens is ejected from the probe into the package by at least one pressure pulse, and any residual washing solution or other material on the lens or packaging which is displaced from the contact lens by the pressure pulse(s) or movement of the lens off the probe is drawn into the passage of the hood by the vacuum. This results in rapid placement of the contact lens into the final package without excess matter on the lens or the package. The vacuum draws away any excess matter which becomes airborne during the ejecting step, and preferably the vacuum also removes any matter in the heat seal area of the package to provide for successful package closure.
Presence of the lens during transfer can be detected by measurement of the vacuum that is achieved. A low vacuum indicates that there is no lens carried by the probe.
In one respect, the invention provides a method for transferring a wet object from a first position to a second position. The method includes the steps of picking up an object from a first position with a nozzle, ejecting the object from the nozzle with a pressurized fluid to a second position, and drawing away any excess matter from the object which becomes airborne during the ejecting step. In a preferred mode, the drawing step commences before the ejecting step with the excess matter being drawn away from and external to the nozzle. The method may further include the step of providing a coating material to the object during the transfer process, with excess coating material being drawn away the same as any other excess matter. The object being transferred can be relocated to a different position by moving the nozzle after it is picked up, or the object can be relocated by moving a new container, for example, product packaging, under the nozzle while the nozzle remains stationary.
In another respect, the method of the invention transfers a wet object from a first container to a second container. This process includes the steps of locating a probe having a nozzle adjacent the object in the first container, creating a vacuum in the nozzle to draw the object to the nozzle, deactivating the vacuum, providing a pressurized fluid in the nozzle to release the object and to displace any excess matter from the object, and creating a vacuum within a hood disposed about the nozzle to draw away the any excess matter.
According to another aspect of the invention, an apparatus for transferring a wet object from a first station to a second station is disclosed. The apparatus includes a probe having a reciprocating barrel with a passage for communication with a positively or negatively pressurized fluid. A nozzle is affixed at one end of the probe for transferring the wet object from the first station to the second station, the nozzle being in communication with the passage. A variety of nozzles of different sizes and shapes can be affixed to the probe. A hood is disposed about the nozzle and is connectable to a vacuum source. Upon application of the pressurized fluid, e.g. gas or liquid, the wet object is released from the nozzle, thereby causing excess matter to be ejected from the wet object which is drawn away within the hood. In a preferred form, the hood includes spacers which depend therefrom and space the hood from the station that it contacts, for example, a front curve mold for a contact lens or a contact lens package. The spacers limit movement of the hood and ensure that an inflow passageway is available to cause air to rush over the station (e.g., the seal area of a package) and thereby dry the area surrounding the hood or maintain that area dry during the transfer of the wet object. The apparatus may further include a controller programmed to control the vacuum connection to the hood and the application of pressurized fluid to the probe, and control the movement of the assembly.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus for transferring wet flexible objects, such as contact lenses, from one station to another.
Another object is to provide a method and apparatus for pickup and transfer of wet flexible molded parts and removing the liquid and other matter, particularly from the surface of the molded parts, during the transfer.
An additional object is to provide a method and apparatus for transferring a wet object, such as a contact lens, from one station to another which uses a probe to remove the lens from the first station by vacuum pressure and transfer it to the second station where it is deposited by applying a pressurized stream or pulse of air or liquid through the probe to the object.
A further object is to provide a probe to transfer a wet lens from one position to another and to remove excess liquid or other matter from the lens surface during the transfer.
Yet a further object is to provide a method and apparatus for transferring a wet object which prevents contamination of the heat seal area of the package. In this design, the hood fits over the package to prevent contamination of the heat seal area.
Another object is to provide a probe which has a hood which prevents the pickup of the containers at the first and second stations.

Contact lens transfer and material removal system


The present invention is directed to a process for stabilizing antioxidant compounds comprising the step of adding to said compound, in an aqueous mean, at least an oxygen-removing compound, at least a metallic ion sequestering compound and at least an oxidation reaction reversing compound. The invention is particularly useful to stabilize antioxidant compounds such as levogyrous ascorbic acid (LAA), popularly known as “Vitamin C”, and the LAA associated with proantocianidines (OPC) for the preparation of pharmaceutical and cosmetic compositions.

An antioxidant compound is any compound or mixture of compounds that, when in contact with the skin, is capable of protect the skin against the action of free radicals.
Antioxidant compounds such as levogyrous ascorbic acid (LAA), popularly known as "Vitamin C", and proantocianidines (OPC) are widely used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry since, among other characteristics, they act against the free radicals that speed up the aging process and degeneration of the cells.
One of the greatest technical difficulties for the use of the above antioxidant compounds is their instability. The LAA, for example, can easily be oxidized in the presence of atmospheric air, metallic ions or water, thus being transformed into dehydroascorbic acid, in addition to other by-products resulting from the oxidation. Such transformation diminishes its physiological properties, mainly under use conditions where the compound is exposed to the atmospheric air, metallic ions and water such as, for example, when incorporated into a topic solution.
In a simplified way, the instability of an antioxidant is expressed as a decrease of its reducing ability before it is contacted with the skin. In the case of the LAA, its instability is expressed as a compound degradation reaction.
In the case of the OPC's the instability occurs through an oligomerization reaction, followed by polymerization.
The LAA is often used in the form of its salts or esters due to this instability. The compositions prepared in this way attain stability for long periods of time.
Many studies have been carried out in order to obtain an aqueous composition containing stable antioxidant compounds. Some alternatives to stabilize LAA are described in Brazilian Patent Applications PI 9704418-0 and PI 9704728-7, filed by the same applicant of the present application. In said patent applications, processes for stabilizing levogyrous ascorbic acid (LAA) in a water-containing mean are disclosed comprising the step of contacting the LAA with at least one compound capable of forming hydrogen bridges with the LAA.
Another procedure known from the art for stabilizing antioxidants involves the association thereof with the compounds capable of reverting the decomposition reaction, the so-called "reducing agents". Once again, considering the LAA, for example, said compounds revert the dehydroascorbic acid formation reaction. However, the stabilization through this process results in compositions unacceptable for cosmetic use and many times unsuitable for medicinal use, since the required stoichiometric amount of reducing agents within the stoichiometry limits of the reaction must be too high so that the desired results could be attained. Since the reducing agents are usually selected from sulfur-containing compounds, the high content thereof in the resultant compositions bring about an unpleasant odor and sometimes their use are even legally forbidden. For example, in a solution containing a concentration of 5% by weight of LAA, which is a concentration range generally used in cosmetic-pharmaceutical products, contents of approximately 20% by weight of reducing agent should be required to ensure the LAA stability.
Another prior art reference that can be cited and that teaches the use of reducing agents, is a work published by Wrinkler, B. S. (Biochim, Biophy, Acta, 1117, 1992, pages 287 through 290), in which a compound is described (Glutathion) that can act as a reducer or reducing agent of dehydroascorbic acid by transforming same into ascorbic acid in the stoichiometric form. Through this work it was discovered that it was impossible to keep stoichiometric amounts of the components to produce a cosmetic composition since the Glutathion has an unpleasant odor which is a characteristic of sulphidric compounds.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a process for stabilizing antioxidant compounds, that is, anti-free radicals or "anti-radicals", that makes it possible to overcome the drawbacks common to the known processes, among which the ones that use the so-called reducing agents and, in a special way, that can result in stable, cosmetically more pleasant and more efficient compositions, also suitable for pharmaceutical use.

Process for stabilizing antioxidant compounds, and aqueous compositions

Industria E Comercio De Cosmeticos Natura Ltda.


A TFT-LCD capable of repairing discontinuous lines includes a repairing circuit, which includes a plurality of repairing OP amplifiers and a high-impedance detecting unit. The high-impedance detecting unit detects states of input terminals of the OP amplifiers. The high-impedance detecting unit enables a control signal to enable the OP amplifier when the input terminal is not at floating state. The high-impedance detecting unit disables the control signal to disable the OP amplifier when the input terminal is at floating state, so that no output competition between the OP amplifiers is generated.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a TFT-LCD capable of repairing discontinuous lines and a high-impedance detecting unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays) are a mainstream of portable displays due to small size and light weight. In addition, the great cost-down of the LCD has made the LCD become a medium/small scale display, which has the maximum potential in the market. Among the LCDs, the TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) is the most popular product.
In a typical TFT-LCD, a common electrode substrate and an active matrix substrate are disposed and opposite to each other, and a liquid crystal material is interposed between the two substrates. As shown in FIG. 1, a matrix trace composed of a plurality of data lines 12 and a plurality of scan lines 13 is disposed on an active matrix substrate 10. The data lines 12 are arranged on the substrate 10 in a vertical direction and equally-spaced manner. The scan lines 13 are disposed on the substrate 10 in a horizontal direction and equally-spaced manner. The vertical data lines 12 and the horizontal scan lines 13 constitute many display pixels 14 arranged in a matrix. The display pixels constitute a display area 11. The data lines 12 and the scan lines 13 are separated by an insulation layer (not shown). So, the data lines 12 are not connected to the scan lines 13 although the data lines 12 are perpendicular to the scan lines 13 to constitute the display pixels 14. Each display pixel 14 includes a MOSFET (Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor), a liquid crystal capacitor and a storage capacitor (not shown). Each MOSFET has a gate coupled to a corresponding scan line, a source coupled to a corresponding data line, and a drain coupled to the two capacitors. The other ends of the two capacitors are grounded. When the power is transmitted to the TFT-LCD, the MOSFET is controlled by the data lines 12 and the scan lines 13, and the luminance of the corresponding pixel is controlled by the capacitors. In order to enable each display pixel 14 to display the desired image frame, the data lines 12 and the scan lines 13 for driving the MOSFET have to be driven by data line driving units 16, 16′ and a scan line driving unit 15.
Owing to the trend of the high resolution LCD, the traces of the data lines 12 and the scan lines 13 are made as possibly thin so that longer and more traces can be accommodated. Thus, the traces may be discontinuous (termination lines) due to the processing technology and other factors. When some traces are discontinuous, the display pixels controlled through the discontinuous traces cannot work normally. A few bad display pixels still can be accepted in the LCD specification, but too many display pixels that cannot work normally make the LCD become a bad product, and a lot of bad products are scrapped accordingly. In view of this, various technologies for repairing traces are disclosed. The frequently used trace repairing technology will be described in the following.
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration showing a partial structure of a conventional TFT-LCD capable of repairing discontinuous lines. As shown in FIG. 2, a discontinuous data line 28 among the data lines 12 in the substrate 10, which is substantially the same as the active matrix substrate of FIG. 1, is broken into two data lines 28′, 28″. When the data line driving unit 16 sends out the data signal, only the display pixels controlled by the data line 28′ receives the data signal. In order to repair the discontinuous data line 28, the TFT-LCD utilizes a repairing circuit, which is composed of repairing OP amplifiers 24, 24′ and repairing traces 26, 27, to make the data line 28″ receive the desired data signal, wherein the numbers of OP amplifiers and repairing traces may be modified according to the requirement. The connection points a, c, e, f are not conducted in the normal state, and are treated by laser into the conducted state when the LCD has to be repaired. The nodes b and d are conducted at the beginning of manufacturing the panel so as to avoid the bad product caused by the error of the laser treatment. In addition, the hollow circles represent that the connection points are not conducted, and the solid circles represent that the connection points are conducted.
In this drawing, the scan lines are not shown in order to simplify the drawing, and only the discontinuous data lines have to be repaired in an example. An external test unit (not shown) is provided to test whether the data lines 12 are discontinuous lines. When the discontinuous data line 28 is detected, the discontinuous data line 28 is repaired using the repairing OP amplifier 24 which is chosen because of a smaller RC loading and the nearer distance, and the repairing traces 26, 27. The repairing trace 26 is disposed on an upper peripheral portion of a matrix display area 11, and the disposed repairing trace 27 surrounds the matrix display area. When the discontinuous data line 28 is detected, a near repairing OP amplifier 24 can be connected to the repairing traces 26, 27 to repair the discontinuous data line 28. The data line driving unit 16 first connects the output connection point c of the discontinuous data line 28 to the input terminal repairing trace 26, and the input terminal of the repairing OP amplifier 24 connects to the connection point a of the input terminal repairing trace 26 so as to receive the data signal provided from the data line driving unit 16. Next, the connection point e of the output terminal repairing trace 27 is connected to the data line 28″. Thus, the signal on the discontinuous data line 28 of the data line driving unit 16 may be outputted from the repairing OP amplifier 24 to the display pixel corresponding to the data line portion 28″. In brief, because the discontinuous data line 28 is broken into two parts, the discontinuous data line 28 only can receive the data signal outputted by the data line driving unit 16 on the data line 28′, while the data line 28″ cannot receive the desired data signal until the repairing circuit is used. The object of the invention may be achieved according to the above-mentioned transfer path.
In the drawing, only one discontinuous data line 28 is shown. However, there may be several discontinuous data lines, and the number of the discontinuous data lines that can be repaired is restricted by the number of the repairing traces and the repairing OP amplifiers. Although the scan lines are not illustrated in the drawing, the discontinuous scan lines may be repaired in the same manner. In practice, the repairing OP amplifiers 24, 24′ are disposed in the data line driving units 16, 16′, and the positions thereof in the drawing are arranged in order to simplify the description. In addition, the formation of the connection points a, b, c, d and e may be performed using the laser fuse.
The output terminals of the OP amplifiers are connected to the same output terminal repairing trace 27 at the beginning of manufacturing the panel. The following issues have to be considered.
1. If the discontinuous line is formed at some lateral side, the signal of the discontinuous line is coupled to the input terminal of the OP amplifier near the lateral side using the laser fusing technology, and the OP amplifier generates the repair signal. Thus, the distance from the output terminal of the OP amplifier to the discontinuous line may be shortened, the loading seen from the output terminal may be effectively reduced, and the possibility of repair failure may be decreased.
2. Because the laser fuse needs addition process steps and the problem of yield still exists, the output terminals of the OP amplifiers are connected to the same output terminal repairing trace at the beginning of manufacturing the panel in order to eliminate the cost for the addition process steps and avoid the problem of the reduced yield.
3. If one set of repairing traces is only coupled to one OP amplifier, the more repairing traces, and the far the distance from the visible region of the glass to the glass edge.
Although the above-mentioned repairing technology can really repair the discontinuous data line 28 and thus reduce the number of bad products, the prior art still has some drawbacks. The input terminal f of the OP amplifier 24′ is floating because the discontinuous data line 28 does not have to be repaired, so an uncertain output occurs at the output terminal d, and the uncertain output together with the OP amplifier 24 form the output competition. So, the signal on the output terminal repairing trace may be unstable or incorrect, such that the color deviation exists between the display pixels, which receive the output signals of the repairing OP amplifiers.


A roller screw mechanism provided with a screw having an external thread, a nut surrounding and coaxial with the screw, the nut including an internal thread, two gear wheels mounted in a non-threaded part of the nut, each gear wheel providing a first set of teeth having a plurality of internal teeth, and a plurality of rollers radially located between the screw and the nut, each roller having an external thread designed to engage the external and internal threads of the screw and the nut, and axially at each end a first set of teeth having a plurality of gear teeth designed to engage with the internal gear teeth of the gear wheels. The outer diameter of the gear teeth of each roller is less or equal to the diameter of the thread root of the external thread of the roller.

Such a mechanism is provided with a screw having an external thread, with a nut arranged around the screw and having an internal thread, and with a plurality of longitudinal rollers engaging the external and internal threads of the screw and of the nut. Compared to a ball screw mechanism, the main advantage of a roller screw mechanism is increased admissible load capacities.
One type of roller screw mechanism includes rollers having an external thread engaging the external and internal threads of the screw and of the nut. The threads of the rollers and the thread of the nut have helix angles that are identical to each other and different to that of the thread of the screw such that, when the screw rotates in relation to the nut, the rollers rotate on themselves and roll about the screw without moving axially inside the nut. The rollers are rotationally guided parallel with the axis of the screw by teeth added on the nut and engaging teeth of the rollers. Such a mechanism is called a planetary roller screw.
With the current design of roller screw mechanisms, the teeth of the rollers and of the nut have, in cross section, an involute profile.
Furthermore, the teeth are threaded during the threading step of the rollers. During the meshing of the teeth of the rollers with the teeth of the nut, the pressure is increased at the top of the teeth due to thread on the teeth of the rollers. This increases the wear of the nut, which has to be replaced.
One solution to solve this problem is to increase the hardness of the nut. However, boring holes in the nut will become very difficult.
The aim of the present invention is to overcome these disadvantages.
More particularly, the aim of the present invention is to provide a roller screw mechanism wherein, for a given diameter, the load capacity is increased.


An electromagnetic coupler comprising: a transmitter configured to operate at a first central frequency, a first termination configured to connect to the transmitter and having a second resonant frequency, a receiver configured to operate at the first frequency, a second termination configured to connect to the receiver and having a third resonant frequency, wherein when the first and second terminations are bought into close proximity when engaged, the equivalent resonant frequency is substantially the first frequency, and wherein the second and/or third frequencies being substantially spectrally spaced from the first frequency.

A connector or coupler is used for electrically connecting two devices so as to pass a signal. A connector may include a female metal contact on one side, which engages with a male metal contact on the other side. However, such connectors may suffer from the following problems:
1. The connection performance may degrade due to oxidation and wear after time.
2. When the data rate is ultra high (>10 Gb/s) the area of each contact becomes very small.
3. The small mechanical parts are very easily damaged.
4. The fabrication is expensive.
An alternative to metal connectors 1s a wireless signal connection. However, a wireless connection is less ideal due to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and limited frequency resource. A further promising alternative is a dielectric connector, for example U.S. Pat. No. 7,481,672. However, such prior art dielectric connectors are mainly useful for DC isolation and still suffer from EMI problems, especially in the unconnected state. EMI problems can relate to the device being overly susceptible to interference from other devices, and/or that the device causes excessive interference in other devices.

Electromagnetic coupling of electronic devices using resonant terminations that shift resonant frequencies


A device for aligning parcel goods, in particular bottle crates, boxes, trays or the like during conveyance, and having a conveyor device with a roller conveyor belt having two-part freely rotatable rollers, whereby the conveyance takes place in a plane of conveyance and the alignment takes place in an alignment area situated at least partially in the plane of transport, with a plurality of manipulation units that can be operated in a controlled manner and are situated above and/or below the roller chains in the alignment area. The manipulation units are able to alter the speed and/or the direction of rotation of the rollers for rotation of a parcel about an axis perpendicular to the plane of transport, with at least one preferably optical recognition device which detects the aligned position of the parcel and a control device which controls the process of alignment of the parcel.

For example, in beverage bottling lines for returnable bottles, special devices may be provided in an area upstream from a bottle unpacking machine to, if necessary, cause the bottle crates arriving from a depalletizing machine to be rotated about their vertical axis into the alignment position required for the unpacking machine. In the case of bottle crates having a symmetrical design of the compartments, i.e., a symmetrical arrangement of the bottles in the crate, as a rule one need only ensure that the bottle crates are supplied to the unpacking machine with them all aligned with their longitudinal extent either across or along the direction of conveyance. If the packing head of the unpacking machine is designed so that, for example, only bottles from bottle crates arriving from the depalletizing machine in the longitudinal position, said crates being conveyed in the transverse position, can be removed are rotated by 90 degrees with respect to their vertical axis into the required transverse position, said rotation being accomplished by an integrated crate rotating device which can be driven into the conveyance position.
In addition, such a device for aligning parcel goods may also be accommodated in a packaging line in which the items to be packaged are stacked on pallets with a certain pattern of positions. In palleting articles, at least the longitudinal and/or transverse alignment of the parcel goods must be taken into account, which is why a rotation by at least 90 degrees is necessary. In many application cases, however, the alignment of certain features of the parcel goods in certain directions is important, e.g., it is often necessary to align the labeling on the parcel goods so that it faces outward in the pallet stack and is legible. Thus, for example, a rotation by 180 or 270 degrees is necessary, or to achieve shorter angles of rotation, a rotation by −90 degrees may also be necessary. If the incoming parcel goods are not already aligned, continuous rotation to achieve the correct alignment may also be necessary.