A transceiver for facilitating two-way wireless communication between a baseband application and other nodes in a wireless network, wherein the transceiver provides baseband communication networking and necessary configuration and control functions along with transmitter, receiver, and antenna functions to enable the wireless communication. More specifically, the transceiver provides a long-range wireless duplex communication node or channel between the baseband application, which is associated with a mobile or fixed space, air, water, or ground vehicle or other platform, and other nodes in the wireless network or grid. The transceiver broadly comprises a communication processor; a flexible telemetry transceiver including a receiver and a transmitter; a power conversion and regulation mechanism; a diplexer; and a phased array antenna system, wherein these various components and certain subcomponents thereof may be separately enclosed and distributable relative to the other components and subcomponents.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates broadly to systems and methods for providing communication between a vehicle or other platform and interested information consumers. More particularly, the present invention concerns a transceiver for facilitating two-way wireless communication between a baseband application, which is associated with a mobile or fixed space, air, water, or ground vehicle or other platform, and other nodes in a wireless network, wherein the transceiver provides baseband communication networking and necessary configuration and control functions along with application interface, baseband waveform processor, transmitter, receiver, and antenna functions to enable the wireless communication.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is often desirable to receive, integrate, and make available information on a global scale. Such information might be produced in any of a number of different "grid" contexts, including, for example, vehicular contexts such as space, air, water, surface, and sub-surface grids, or location contexts such as world-wide, regional, local, and immediate grids. Increased capability and efficiency is possible when information from these different grids is integrated and available substantially anywhere, at any time, to any (authorized) user via a "global information grid". Unfortunately certain classes of mobile and fixed platforms are not currently integrated into this global grid, leaving a glaring gap or hole in the overall communication and information exchange and undermining global connectivity and interoperability among the various interested information consumers.
For example, the global information grid in a military context might integrate and make available information received from satellites, long-range and short-range aircraft, ships, wheeled and tracked vehicles, or foot soldiers and having to do with theater, regional, strategic, or tactical conditions. Unfortunately, several smart and dumb munitions and missiles used by the Armed Forces are not integrated into the global grid. As a result, command and control, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and weapon delivery platforms suffer from fragmented perspectives, stratified "kill-chain" processes, "stove-piped" infrastructure, poor interoperability and interconnectivity, limited infrastructure availability, limited data availability, and limited scope. Thus, there is a need for a data link transceiver for incorporation into these weapons in order to enable comprehensive global connectivity and interoperability between the various services, agencies, and policy makers.
Current commercial off the shelf (COTS) products do have limitations. For example, COTS 802.11 network hardware presents such issues as eavesdropping, security, intrusion, interference, range, fixed quality of service, latency, throughput, power efficiency, limited bandwidth, number of users, message prioritization, multiple access, fading RF channels, coverage area, environmental sensitivity, fixed modulation, etc. The availability of 802.11 based hardware has made it the premier choice for many researchers for the development of a wireless network to support network centric warfare. However, the ever increasing demands posed by the applications are stretching the 802.11 protocol beyond its intended capabilities. For example, 802.11 provides for no control over allocation of resources, and the default allocation policy is ill suited for multi-hop networks. Furthermore, senders with heterogeneous data rates can affect the system throughput adversely. The 802.11 allocates an equal number of transmission opportunities to every competing node. However, this fairness criterion can lead to low throughput when nodes transmit at widely different rates. This unfairness or bandwidth sharing presents itself as a significant quality of service problem for 802.11 networks. In addition, the 802.11 has latency problems when using the combination of voice, data and isochronous data packets at data rates of 1 and 11 Mbps. These factors along with the processing for handling security and encryption have negative impacts upon latency. This becomes a significant problem when targeting moving objects.
More generally, due to the above-identified and other problems and disadvantages encountered in the prior art, a need exists for a mechanism for incorporating and making available information generated by those mobile and fixed platforms not currently included in the global information grid.

Flexible network wireless transceiver and flexible network telemetry transceiver

The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy


A system and method for caching frequently called numbers so that call delivery time is shortened and the signaling network and service nodes are not overloaded by telephone number queries. In a distributed control switching system, each processor that performs digit analysis and has an area of memory. This area of memory is used as a cache to store directory number translation information. When a call arrives for a specified directory number (DN), if, after standard translation, the call cannot be normally routed, then the cache is consulted to determine whether the destination for that DN is in the cache. If it is, then the call is routed to the destination associated with the DN. If, however, the DN is not in the local cache, then a query is sent to one or more other units in the switch which may contain such caches in order to determine if these caches contain the destination. This "distributed" query is still faster than querying a centralized database because all data queries throughout the switch are carried out in parallel.

Being "in touch" has become an increasingly important for some people, i.e., doctors, business executives, attorneys, etc., who have a strong need to be reached wherever they are. Many of these people have a telephone for business, a telephone for home, a mobile cellular telephone for the car, and/or a transportable telephone that can be carried around when not near one of the other telephones. Additionally, some professionals have multiple offices with a telephone in each office. Some work at home in conjunction with an office at a business location for when they are on premises with at least one telephone at each location. In the past, all of these telephones generally had different telephone numbers. As a result, a caller had to know or look up multiple telephone numbers and frequently had to make multiple calls in order to reach a person.
One solution to such problems is a so-called "follow me" service in which the user is assigned one number, i.e., 700-555-1234, and the call can be routed to the current location of the user. In such services, the switch, in response to the 700 number, send a query to a centralized database over a signaling network where the user registers his or her current telephone number. The switch, in response to receiving the current telephone number, can then route the call.
Additionally, local number portability (that is, a person being able to use one telephone number regardless of where they are located) causes additional queries to such localized databases where number portability information is kept. In this scenario, a call is made to a destination directory number, and the call is routed accordingly. However, at the end office where the call would normally be delivered, a determination is made that the call is to be delivered elsewhere. At this point, the destination switch makes a query to a centralized database to find the real destination for the telephone call.
Such use of centralized databases has been adequate in the past for services such as "800" services wherein the call volume has not been overwhelming. However, as more and more services use centralized databases in order to route calls, both the signaling network and the service nodes where these databases are located are becoming more congested with queries. Therefore, a problem in the art is that there is no system and method for achieving rapid response to such database queries.

Distributed virtual cache method for use in a database query control system


An apparatus and method for injecting a fluid such as a chemical corrosion inhibitor into a pipeline is provided. A solar panel is supported by a support structure in the vicinity of the pipeline location for converting solar energy to electrical current. The solar panel is electrically connected to an electrical storage battery through a voltage regulator that regulates the current generated by the solar panel to the battery for charging or recharging the battery. An electrically operable fluid pump is electrically connected to the battery through a selectively operable relay that controls electrical current from the battery. A fluid inlet of the pump can be connected to a reservoir of a fluid and a fluid outlet of the pump to a pipe. The relay can be selectively controlled to operate the pump, thereby pumping fluid from the reservoir into the pipe. In another aspect, the relay can be selectively preprogrammed with a central processing unit.

The typical injection pump system has a tank or reservoir of the chemical to be injected into a system, a pump for injecting metered doses or a continuous flow of the chemical into the system, and a power source for the pump. For example, it is well known in the art to provide corrosion protection for pipelines by injecting an effective amount of a corrosion inhibitor into the fluid stream. Pipeline corrosion can cause enormous environmental and financial cost.
It is well known in the art to power these injection pumps with regular alternating current brought to the pump by conventional power lines. However, chemical injection pumps are often located in the field where electrical power is not readily available or oil or gas throughputs are such that bringing power to the field location is not economical.
In the past, some injection pumps have been operated by the gas pressure of a natural gas pipeline. However, these injection devices are not easily controlled. They are usually operated continuously, which results in the injection of excessive amounts of corrosion inhibitor. Needlessly operating the gas pump wastes the natural gas, which is vented to the atmosphere after using the work done by the pressure drop. A typical gas operated pump currently costs about 1,500 U.S. dollars (consumer value) in natural gas annually per injection pump. Furthermore, these gas operated pumps may soon be required to meet tough new government mandated regulations relating to environmental pollution that limit the emissions of volatile organic components (VOC) such as butane, propane, and methane (natural gas).
The need for corrosion protection is also important for downhole treatment of oil and gas wells. As an oil field or gas field is depleted, increasing amounts of water enters the field formations. The increasing proportions of water in the produced product causes more internal corrosion of downhole tubulars, pipelines, and storage tanks.
In some cases the injection pump is operated by the beam pump of the oil well. A beam operated injection pump is a lever-racket type system with a metal rod from the pump to the walking beam of the oil well pump jack. As the walking beam is moved up and down, the metal rod moves the lever on the injection pump. However, these systems can require substantial mechanical maintenance, there is no good way to control of the dosage of chemical injected, and they are prone to leak the chemical.
In a batch process for treating the downhole tubing called "truck treating," a truck is driven to each well location, an amount of chemical is pumped into the well, and the chemical is flushed downhole with water carried on the truck. This batch treatment is usually performed about one a week or so. Truck treating is expensive and time consuming to perform, and thus it is often not performed with sufficient frequency to protect the downhole tubing.
Because of the problems and expenses associated with the prior art injection systems, many pipelines and wells have not been provided any corrosion inhibitors. For example, the smaller gathering lines of many oil and gas fields are not provided with any corrosion inhibitor injection devices.
Thus, there is a long-felt need for a low cost, low maintenance, and simple system for injecting dosed amounts of fluids. There has also been a long-felt need for using an alternative energy source for powering the pump system for injecting the chemicals.

Solar powered injection device and method


A power amplifier circuit includes a first variable gain amplifier for amplifying an input signal, a second variable gain amplifier for amplifying an output signal of the first amplifier, and a control circuit for controlling the gain of the first variable gain amplifier based on the output signal of the first variable gain amplifier and the gain of the second variable gain amplifier.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a power amplifier circuit.
2. Background Art
In a power amplifier circuit used for a transmitter or the like of radio communication equipment, in order to keep an output of the transmitter constant, the change in an output of a power amplifier is monitored, and the change is fed back to an input level thereof.
FIG. 15 a diagram showing a power amplifier circuit which is generally and widely used and is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-072556. The power amplifier circuit includes a variable attenuator (ATT) 21, an amplifier 22, a directional coupler (D-CPL) 23, a detector (DET) 24, a resistor 25, an operational amplifier (OP-AMP) 26, a reference voltage source (REF) 27 and a low pass filter (LPF) 28.
An output of the amplifier 22 is detected by the DET 24 through the D-CPL 23. The OP-AMP 26 outputs a difference between an output of the DET 24 and a reference voltage of the REF 27. The output is fed back negatively to the ATT 21 through the LPF 28 which is a loop filter performing phase compensation. Thereby output power of the amplifier 22 is kept constant. The power amplifier circuit includes the D-CPL 23 on an output side of the amplifier 22. Accordingly, when the output power amplified by the amplifier 22 passes through the D-CPL 23, a part of the output power is branched and enter the DET 24. As a result, an electric power is wasted.
FIG. 16 shows a diagram showing other power amplifier circuit of a related art of the present invention, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-005876. In the power amplifier circuit shown in FIG. 16, a level control function and an electric power amplifying function provided in the amplifier 22 shown in FIG. 15 are separated. That is, the amplifier 22 performs a level control and a power amplifier 29 amplifying a power is arranged on an output side of the D-CPL 23. In the circuit configuration, a loss can be reduced, since the D-CPL 23 is set on an input side of the power amplifier 29. Thereby, the power amplifier shown in FIG. 16 can highly improve efficiency in power consumption.
FIG. 17 shows a diagram showing another power amplifier circuit of a related art of the present invention. In the power amplifier circuit shown in FIG. 17, a power supply (PS) 30 for controlling a transmission output is connected to the power amplifier 29 shown in FIG. 16. The power amplifier circuit shown in FIG. 17 controls a voltage which the PS 30 supplies to the power amplifier 29 according to a transmission output.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-244001, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-221737 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-117315 disclose a related art of the power amplifier circuit which includes a pre-amplifier and a post-power amplifier, and changes a voltage supplied to the post-power amplifier to improve efficiency.

Power amplifier circuit, control method thereof and control program thereof


There is disclosed a method of supplying an n-channel transistor, operating as a voltage regulator, with a supply voltage and providing a control voltage to the n-channel transistor. The n-channel transistor is controlled by the control voltage to output an operating voltage of a printhead at a predetermined voltage.

Inkjet printers may be provided with printheads for firing or spitting drops of ink or other printing fluid. In thermal inkjet printheads, ink may be ejected from a nozzle for example by using a heater resistor: when an electric voltage is applied, electric current flows through the heater resistor, heats the ink and causes it to eject from the nozzle. The printer may be a latex printer in which the printer ink may include latex or a latex polymer.

HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.


An optical disk player including: a disk insertion assembly which is positioned on an upper portion of the front face of the player main body and has a disk insertion/ejection opening into which an optical disk is inserted, a disk conveying device which holds the inserted optical disk and is moved in a forward-rearward direction of the player main body so as to convey the optical disk to a disk reproducing device, a moving device which moves the disk conveying device in a vertical direction of the player main body, a disk recognition device that determines whether or not an optical disk is being held in the disk conveying device, and a controller device that controls an operation timing of the disk insertion assembly and the disk conveying device by disk recognition signals supplied from the disk recognition device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an upright type optical disk reproducing apparatus.
2. Prior Art
Recently, among optical disk reproducing apparatuses that reproduce (or playback) disks such as CDs (compact disks), DVDs (digital versatile disks), etc., an upright optical disk reproducing apparatus have become popular in view of the demands for a reduction in the thickness, savings of spaces, and its improved exterior appearance characteristics. In an upright optical disk reproducing apparatus, the recording surface of the disk is set perpendicular to the surface on which the optical disk reproducing apparatus is installed.
FIG. 11 show a typical upright optical disk reproducing apparatus. In this optical disk reproducing apparatus, optical disks are inserted via an optical disk insertion/ejection opening formed in the upper surface of the apparatus main body. An optical disk that is inserted via the optical disk insertion/ejection opening is conveyed to a turntable by a disk holder that moves in the vertical direction, and then the optical disk that is chucked on the turntable is conveyed back to the optical disk insertion/ejection opening by the disk holder.
As seen from the above, in the disk loading system of the conventional upright optical disk reproducing apparatus, an optical disk is held by a disk holder that moves in the vertical direction, and such an optical disk is conveyed from the optical disk insertion/ejection opening to the turntable position and then conveyed back from the turntable position to the optical disk insertion/ejection opening.
Furthermore, in such an upright optical disk reproducing apparatus, the optical disk insertion/ejection opening is opened only when an optical disk is being inserted and removed; and it is closed during playback and when the apparatus is not in use. This is to prevent dust from entering the main body via the optical disk insertion/ejection opening formed in the upper surface.
In the meantime, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. H05-189846 discloses a cassette tape recorder. This cassette tape recorder has a cassette cover that opens and closes on the front face and has also a mechanism that opens the cassette cover toward the front of the main body about a shaft disposed in the main body. When a cassette tape is to be inserted, the cassette cover is opened, and the cassette tape is inserted into the main body. The cassette tape drops to a position where the cassette tape is held in a cassette tape holding member formed on the back of the cassette cover. When the cassette tape is to be removed, the user holds both side surfaces of the cassette tape set in the cassette tape holding member, and the cassette tape is pulled out.
When this front-loading mechanism is applied to an optical disk reproducing apparatus, it is necessary to increase the opening angle of the cover so that the user's fingers for holding the optical disk can enter into the opened space easily when an optical disk is inserted and removed. However, if the opening angle of the cover is large, dust tends to enter the interior of the apparatus, causing various problems.
The applicant of the present application has filed a patent application for an optical disk reproducing apparatus of the type shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/229,531).
As seen from FIG. 13, in this optical disk reproducing apparatus, an optical disk insertion means into which an optical disk is inserted is provided in the front face of the apparatus main body so as to fold over in the forward direction (as shown by a curved arrow) about the axis of point P that is located in the lower portion, and an optical disk conveying means of a disk holder is provided so as to be moved up and down (as shown by a straight arrow) with the optical disk insertion means inclined.
When an optical disk is to be inserted, the optical disk insertion means folds over forward about the axis of point P, and the disk holder is moved upward with the optical disk insertion means kept inclined. When an optical disk is inserted through the disk insertion/ejection opening by the user into the disk holder, the disk holder is moved downward while holding the optical disk. When the optical disk is to be removed, the optical disk insertion means folds over forward about the axis of point P, and the disk holder that holds the optical disk is moved upward. As a result, the optical disk is removed easily.
In the above optical disk reproducing apparatus, the disk insertion/ejection opening through which an optical disk is to be inserted and removed is opened when the optical disk insertion means folds over forward about the axis of point P. Immediately after the disk insertion/ejection opening is opened, the disk holder is positioned below; and the disk holder is moved upward after the disk insertion/ejection opening is opened. Accordingly, if an optical disk is inserted immediately after the disk insertion/ejection opening is opened, the optical disk is likely to be inserted before the disk conveying means have been moved upward. If an optical disk is inserted before the disk conveying means have not been moved upward yet, the disk holder cannot hold the optical disk; and there is a danger that the optical disk will drop into the optical disk reproducing apparatus, causing the optical disk reproducing apparatus to malfunction.


The present disclosure makes a method for realizing multi-party interactive communication public, the method includes: a wireless direct connection between a first mobile terminal and at least one second mobile terminal is established; a connection of multi-party interactive communication between the first mobile terminal and the at least one second mobile terminal is established, wherein the wireless direct connection is an underlying link, the first mobile terminal is a server of the multi-party interactive communication, and the at least one second mobile terminal is a client of the multi-party interactive communication; multi-party interactive communication between the first mobile terminal and the at least one second mobile terminal is performed via the connection of multi-party interactive communication. By the method mentioned above, the present disclosure can use wireless communication to realize the multi-party interactive communication among mobile terminals even the network is in a poor situation.

With a developing of communication technology, multi-party interactive communication is popular with the masses. The requirement of sharing the certain information in multiple persons can be satisfied by the multi-party interactive communication. In other words, information sent by anybody in the area of interactive communication can be displayed on other people's display terminal. The information of multi-party interactive communication can be call, video, image, text information and so on.
The multi-party interactive communication in network greatly improves the user experience, but sometimes user experience drops because of the situation of a network or a mobile network is poor, some external conditions such as the load of the network or the mobile network is too high, a error occurs in a link of the network or the mobile causing disconnecting, would interrupt or make a worse influence to the multi-party interactive communication.
How to solve the above mentioned problem is one of the urgent research directions.

Method for realizing multi-party interactive communication and system thereof


Various implementations include circuits, devices and/or methods that enable the repeated generation of controlled surges with lower risk of component failure. Some implementations include a discharge control assembly including a discharge circuit and a controller. In some implementations, the discharge circuit is selectively connectable to a driver circuit, and the discharge circuit is configured to provide a dominant discharge path for the driver circuit when the driver circuit is effectively decoupled from a first load in order to decay an electrical condition of the driver circuit produced prior to the driver circuit being effectively decoupled from the first load. In some implementations, the controller is configured to selectively connect the driver circuit to a combination of the discharge circuit and the first load, and in at least one combination the discharge circuit is effectively coupled to the driver circuit when the first load is effectively decoupled from the driver circuit.

The ongoing demand for the development of consumer electronics is often met by incorporating additional features into existing products. For example, an increasing number of electronic devices, such as smartphones and tablet computers, include a digital camera that adds to and/or enhances the primary functions of the electronic devices. Digital cameras are a particularly heavily used feature of current smartphones, which is supported by the significant portion of all new photos that are taken with smartphones.
A drawback of incorporating additional components and/or features into existing devices is that there is a cumulative risk of a component failure that will leave the entire device unusable or significantly less desirable from an end user perspective. Continuing the example above, a smartphone as a whole may be less useful to the end user if the digital camera integrated into the smartphone stops working as expected.
Component failure is particularly troubling when a component failure damages an electronic device as a whole. For example, a camera flash associated with a digital camera relies on an electrical surge to produce a flash of light. A suitable electrical surge is typically produced by a boost circuit included in a camera flash module that is ultimately integrated into a smartphone. Given the relatively high operational power levels, the boost circuit can damage a smartphone as a whole by sinking excessive current and/or causing a voltage spike. Even if a single current sink and/or voltage spike does not cause a failure, repeated operation of a boost circuit may eventually lead to failure as components deteriorate after repeated cycles of electrical surges and the undesired aftereffects.


A substantially dry method for making an optical waveguide device with at least one buried channel waveguide in a laminated and hardened matrix. The method begins with exposing to light a region of a substantially dry photohardenable film adhered to a support. Then a first substantially dry photohardenable layer which is adhered to a support is laminated to one side of the film. Then the support is removed from the film. Then a second substantially dry photohardenable layer which is adhered to a support is laminated to the other side of the film. Then the layers and film are hardened.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to optical waveguide devices, elements for making the devices and methods of making the devices and elements. The devices are for interconnecting optical fibers, optical components and modules and for use in integrated optical systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In optical communication systems, messages are transmitted by carrier waves of optical frequencies that are generated by sources such as lasers or light-emitting diodes. There is much current interest in such optical communication systems because they offer several advantages over conventional communication systems, such as having a greatly increased number of channels of communication and the ability to use other materials besides expensive copper cables for transmitting messages. One such means for conducting or guiding waves of optical frequencies from one point to another is called an optical waveguide. The operation of an optical waveguide is based on the fact that when a medium which is transparent to light is surrounded or otherwise bounded by another medium having a lower refractive index, light introduced along the inner medium's axis is highly reflected at the boundary with the surrounding medium, thus, producing a guiding effect. The most frequently used material for such a waveguide device is glass, which is formed into a fiber of specified dimensions.
As the development of optical circuits proceeded, it became necessary to have devices which could couple, divide, switch and modulate the optical waves from one waveguide fiber to another.
Some optical fibers are interconnected by other optical fibers cut to length. These devices have only two terminals--one at each end. Photohardened films containing a waveguide have been proposed for this use, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,732. However, the device disclosed therein isn't easily coupled to and aligned with an optical fiber. Further, due to the uneven surface of its film, one cannot easily protect its exposed surface from the environment.
Another method used to form an optical coupling device involves the application of standard photolithographic processes and diffusion. By this prior art process, standard lithographic processes are used to define a pattern in a photoresist layer deposited on a chosen substrate. Then, an etchant is applied to etch the photoresist-defined pattern into the substrate. Next, a metal is deposited in the etched region by vacuum deposition. The photoresist pattern is then lifted off with an appropriate solvent, carrying with it unwanted metal deposits. The structure is then heated to diffuse the metal deposited in the etched region into the substrate, to form a waveguiding layer therein. See, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,252. In addition to the fact that many steps are involved in such a process, there is also a limitation on the thickness of the metal which may be deposited. First, since vacuum deposition is a relatively slow process, there is the limitation of the excessive amount of time required to deposit a thick layer of metal. Secondly, as more and more metal is deposited, new centers for deposition are created, resulting in an uneven deposit.
To form branches, two or more fibers have been bonded to a common optical port using an adhesive having an index of refraction closely matched to that of the fibers. The fibers are very small in diameter and must be handled with extreme care, bundled together for strength, and attached to a support at intervals. Fabrication of the equivalent of a printed circuit board comprised of these discrete fibers and optical devices is labor-intensive, expensive, slow and tedious, and not readily adapted to automated fabrication techniques. Another method used to form such a coupler is to fuse or melt fibers together so that light from one fiber can pass to the connected fibers. However, in such a fusion process it is difficult to control the extent of fusion and the exact geometry and reproducability of the final structure.
A device of particular interest is the "Y-coupler", which is a "y"-shaped device that couples signals together or divides them apart. "Y"-shaped devices have been made in a wet process by exposing a liquid photoactive layer to ultraviolet radiation through a mask. Then a solvent is used to remove the unpolymerized portions of the layer. See, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,252. The waveguide of this device, like those mentioned above, isn't protected from the environment or readily coupled to an optical fiber. Further, being a wet process, it has the tendency of being messy and the problem of disposing of the spent solvent.
Another "Y"-shaped coupler device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,236. It further discloses a device with one input branch and three output branches. These devices are also made by a wet process exposing a liquid photopolymer film to light to create a waveguide. The unexposed liquid film is dried and becomes part of the device. The film is further coated with a layer, such as an acrylic resin, to prevent deposition of dust and staining. Again, this process is wet and, thus, inherently messy.
A further disadvantage of prior art couplers is that power and light intensity is lost when light passes through them, particularly through devices with abrupt-bends with large branching angles due to scattering of light at the intersection of the branches. Tsutsumi et al., (J. Lightwave Technol., LT-6, pages 590-600, 1988) have shown that the transmitted power of a Y-coupler will deteriorate rapidly as the branching angle increases above one degree.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,686 shows waveguides created in a single photopolymer film by focusing a beam of light within the film and moving the film. It shows multiple waveguides in a single film. In one embodiment, the waveguides exhibit evanescent coupling of light between the waveguides. It further teaches the creation and use of holographic diffraction gratings as light couplers. However, it is difficult to focus light within a film to form a homogenous waveguide with clear and distinct boundaries.
An object of this invention is to provide an improved method of forming conductors of light for interconnecting optical components and modules. These light conductors may be formed with a plurality of branches and terminals.
A further object of this invention is to provide improved optical waveguide devices, elements for making the devices and methods of making the devices and elements.
Another object of this invention is to provide an optical waveguide device including at least one high diffraction efficiency volume phase grating.
Another object of this invention is to provide a low power and light intensity loss splitter and reverse splitter.

Optical waveguide devices, elements for making the devices and methods of making the devices and elements


The invention relates to a pharmaceutically acceptable prodrug which is a covalent conjugate of a pharmacologically active compound and an intracellular transporting adjuvant, characterized by the presence of a covalent bond which is scission-sensitive to intracellular enzyme activity. The prodrug may be used in a technique for treating a condition or disease in a human related to supranormal intracellular enzyme (.e.g. phospholipase and/or esterase) activity, whereby on administering it to a human having such condition or disease, the bond is broken in response to such activity, and the pharmacologically active compound accumulates selectively within cells having such supranormal intracellular enzyme activity. Exemplary conjugates are esters of the carboxylic function in the formula, with e.g. heptanoyl-sn-3-glycerophosphoryl-choline or octanoyl-sn-3-glycerophosphoryl-choline.

Many major diseases in humans, including ischemia, stroke, epilepsy, asthma and allergy are believed to be related to the phenomenon of cell hyperexcitation, a term used herein to denote abnormally elevated levels of certain intracellular enzymes. For instance, as a result of supranormal intracellular phospholipases associated with these disease states, cell membranes are broken down. Current pharmacological strategies are therefore aimed at inhibiting this deleterious degradative activity.
It would be useful to be able to selectively target diseased cells characterized by enzyme hyperactivity, so as to introduce a pharmacologically active molecule in the form of a prodrug into a cell, whereby such hyperactivity would act on the prodrug, so that the pharmacologically active molecule accumulates in the diseased cells rather than in the healthy cells.
A non-limiting example of such a pharmacologically active molecule is a calcium chelating agent, which would have many advantages over drugs presently used for the treatment of calcium associated disorders.
Intracellular calcium is an important determinant for cell death, irrespective of the initial insult sustained by the cell. It may be involved in cell death in lymphocyte and killer cell mediated damage of target cells, in organ damage during transplantation, and in other types of tissue damage including ischemic insults. Calcium channel blockers or cell membrane permeable forms of calcium chelators have been suggested to protect against tissue injury or to decrease tissue damage. Thus, it will be apparent that the present invention has potential use (in the embodiment employing a calcium chelator) in relation to these circumstances.
It will also be self-evident that a similar concept can be applied to the treatment of conditions or diseases other than those related to the intracellular level of calcium ions. By way of example, if the active entity incorporated in the prodrug molecule is a protein kinase inhibitor, after administration of the prodrug the inhibitor would accumulate in a cell exhibiting abnormal proliferation, thus potentially providing an important tool for use in antitumor therapy.
The use of prodrugs to impart desired characteristics such as increased bioavailability or increased site-specificity on known drugs is a recognized concept in the state of the art of pharmaceutical development. The use of various lipids in the preparation of particular types of prodrugs is also known in the background art. In none of those instances are the prodrugs characterized in that they achieve preferential accumulation of the drug within the diseased cells of the organ, by activation with intracellular lipases. Rather, they provide for the drug to be transported to a specific site, or to be released within a specific organ. This appraoch is exemplified in the case of the phospholipid prodrugs of salicylates and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs disclosed in WO 91/16920 which, taken orally, protect the gastric mucosa and release the active principle in the gut.
In other examples of phospholipid prodrugs, the formulation of the prodrugs into liposomes or other micellar structures is the feature that enables their preferential uptake, for instance by macrophages or by liver cells as in the case of the phospholipid conjugates of antiviral drugs disclosed in WO 90/00555 and WO 93/00910.
Generally, viral infection is not associated with supranormal phospholipase activity and antiviral phospholipid conjugates do not teach or suggest activation of the drug preferentially in the diseased cells, or in the infected cells as in the case of the phospholipid conjugates of antiviral nucleotides and anti-sense oligonucleotides, such as those disclosed in WO 90/00555, in WO 90/10448 and in NTIS Technical Notes, no. 9, page 630, Springfield, Va., US, 1984.
In other instances specific types of polar lipids are used to target the prodrugs to intracellular organelles as in the case of the antiviral and antineoplastic nucleosides disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,794. Additional types of lipids have also been used in specific types of prodrugs such as EP A-325160 which discloses glycerin esters of ACE inhibitors, which form micelles absorbed from the incestine into the lymphatic system, thereby bypassing the liver and having increased access to the central nervous system, for use in the treatment of hypertension and cognitive dysfunction. The ACE inhibitors undergo enzymatic cleavage and exert their therapeutic effects extracellularly.
Other types of lipophilic carriers that facilitate intracellular transport are known in the art, as in CH A-679856 which discloses the use of salicyloyl-carnitine for the treatment of pain, and in WO 89/05358 which discloses modified oligonucleotide antisense drugs, transported into cells by attachment of apolar groups such as phenyl or naphthyl groups.

Prodrugs with enhanced penetration into cells


A float-type liquid level gauge assembly is provided for measuring the level of a liquid in a tank. The liquid level gauge is designed to reduce inventory requirements and to speed the assembly process. The gauge includes a gear housing having a lower longitudinal passageway, a shaped drive shaft, a shaft head with a first receptacle and a pinion gear with a second receptacle. The shaped drive ends mate with the first and second receptacles such that the drive shaft may be inserted into the receptacles at two or less orientations. The length of the first receptacle is less than the length of the lower longitudinal passageway, so that if the drive shaft slips down in the first receptacle the drive shaft will not completely fall out of the first receptacle.

This invention relates generally to a liquid level gauge, and more particularly to gauges commonly used for measuring liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) type liquids. The LPG is typically stored as a liquid under pressure in a tank or cylinder. A typical gauge for liquid level measurement is the type that utilizes a pivoting float arm having a float at one end and an opposing counterweight at another positioned on an opposing side of a pivot from the float. The pivoting float arm moves in response to changes in the liquid level inside the tank. As the float arm pivots, it rotates a gear assembly which turns a drive shaft located in a support arm that is connected to the float arm. The drive shaft is connected to a tank magnet which is magnetically coupled to a receiving magnet in a dial assembly. As the drive shaft rotates and rotates the tank magnet, the magnetic flux of the tank magnet rotates the receiving magnet which moves an external liquid level visual indicator, such as a pointer on a dial, or provides a signal for use by an electronic read out device. Examples of such gauges are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,089,086 and 6,041,650.
A continuing quest in the field is to develop more flexible designs that allows for rapid assembly and a reduction in inventory of component parts for the manufacture of gauges. There are many designs and sizes of tanks for storing liquefied gases. In the past, it was common to manufacture a number of gauges of a similar design in various sizes for use in the different tanks. Typically, the different sized tanks have a standard opening size for receiving the gauge assembly. This required many individual parts for the manufacture of different sized gauges. However, many different lengths of support arms and float arms were required by prior designs. Further, most of these parts had to be manufactured to close tolerances. This created a large inventory of parts to manufacture, store and inventory. Further, in other to economically manufacture the parts, they had to be manufactured in certain minimum quantities. For certain sizes of gauges in low demand a long period of time passed before the investment in inventory was recouped. One attempt to address this issue was the design of a gauge with an adjustable support member, such as the "One" gauge manufactured by Rochester Gauges which used an adjustable stem that was mated with an appropriate length float assembly.
In addition to the inventory problems, prior designs did not provide for the convenient alignment of the tank magnet on the end of the drive shaft with a base position of the float arm so that accurate readings will be transferred to the dial assembly. Such a feature is important so that when the gears connected to the drive shaft in the support arm and the gears connected to the float arm are attached, they are in a position that allows an accurate reading of the level of liquid in the tank. This alignment was done manually by rotating a round drive shaft until the position of the tank magnet on the drive shaft corresponded to the given location of the float arm. At that point, the drive shaft was staked to the gear, permanently attaching the gear to the drive shaft and ensuring that the alignment of the magnet did not change. The assembly process was subject to the potential to create inaccuracy in alignment and incorrect readings. This problem was addressed in part by the designs shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,089,086 and 6,041,650, and the specific designs illustrated aid in properly aligning the magnet relative to the float position.
Prior designs however did not solve the problems of providing an easy to assemble, reliable gauge while achieving a reduction in inventory and the more efficient use of components. Prior designs have not addressed solving the problems associated with designs requiring a large inventory for the many different sizes of gauges.
There is a continuing need for a gauge design that reduces the requirement for inventory, but also provides for easy assembly while at the same time providing a construction that will allow the gauge to be reliable. The present invention has the advantages that it minimizes inventory needed to construct a wide variety of gauge sizes, provides for quick assembly, provides indexing of the shafts and magnets, allows for use of some parts having lower tolerances, and provides a construction that is reliable.

Gear and drive shaft assembly for a float gauge


An ozonator power supply including a step-up transformer having one end of its primary winding connected to one side of an AC supply, its other end connected to the other side of the AC supply via a pair of switches connected in antiparallel, and a controller for providing switching pulses to said switches for making them conductive during variable portions of alternate half cycles of the AC voltage provided by said supply. An inductor is included in the circuit with the primary or secondary winding of the transformer that resonates with the capacitive impedance of an ozonator, for presenting a substantially non-reactive load to said AC supply.

One of the most efficient ways for generating ozone, O.sub.3, is to subject oxygen, O.sub.2, or a gas containing a high concentration of oxygen to a corona discharge. Thus, for example, ozone may be generated by passing oxygen through an annular gap between a glass tube and a grounded outer electrode and applying a cyclic high voltage to an inner electrode embedded in the glass tube. Ozone is typically generated during portions of cycles occurring just prior to a peak. Therefore, more ozone can be produced by increasing the frequency of this cyclic voltage, but a point is reached when the power dissipated in the annular gap tends to break the ozone molecules O.sub.3 down into oxygen molecules O.sub.2.
Circuits for generating the drive voltage for ozonators have used auto transformers or saturable reactors, both of which are bulky, heavy and inefficient. Furthermore, it is desirable to be able to control the rate of production of ozone from 0% to 100% of the capacity of the ozone generator by controlling the drive voltage. This is impracticable to achieve with circuits using saturable reactors. In addition, an ozonator presents a capacitive load to the drive voltage supply so that the sizes of the step-up transformer and inductive control components of the supply are much larger than would be required if the power factor were unity.
In a U.S. patent application entitled "Power Supply"
that was filed on Oct. 23, 1991 by the present inventors of this application, under Ser. No. 07/781,793, the drive voltage cycles supplied to the ozonator is asymmetric so that its slope during an increase in voltage to a maximum value was less than the slope during a decrease in voltage from the maximum value to zero. Since, as previously noted, ozone is produced while the drive voltage is increasing from some predetermined value to its maximum value, ozone is produced during a greater portion of each cycle than would be the case if the drive voltage half cycles were symmetrical. Control of the rate at which ozone is produced in this system is achieved by varying the duration of the lower slopes of the cycles. Operation at near unity power factor is achieved by including an inductor in the circuit that resonates with the capacitance of the ozonator at a frequency that is just below the frequency of the drive voltage so that the AC power supply uses an inductive load. The drive voltage cycles are generated by switching diagonal pairs of switches of a full bridge circuit.
A brief review of the teachings of prior references now follows. Invertor circuits for synthesizing an AC voltage waveform from a DC voltage are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,667,027; 4,002,921; 4,191,993; 4,191,994; and 4,922,401. Each one of these systems uses SCR or similar switching elements for developing the synthesized waveforms. Transformer coupling is used in a number of these known systems.
Huynh et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,694 teaches a full-wave invertor using four thyristor switching elements T.sub.1 through T.sub.4. It is indicated that the thyristors are preferably provided by SCRs. Bilateral diodes are also connected in parallel across the thyristors.
Huynh et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,866 teaches an ozonator power supply that includes a full wave rectifier for rectifying a three phase voltage, and a full wave bridge invertor using four thyristor switching elements for synthesizing the rectified voltage or DC into an AC waveform for application to the ozonator. A current pulse amplitude control circuit 43 for controlling the conduction of the pass transistor used to control the amplitude of the current pulses. A pulse width control logic and drive circuit 45 are used for controlling the operation of the thyristor switches T.sub.1 through T.sub.4 in a manner providing pulse width control.
Mickal et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,182 teaches a three phase power supply circuit to supply power to an electrostatic filter. As shown in the figures, a three phase AC voltage is rectified by a full wave rectifier and applied to a full wave thyristor invertor circuit. Transformer coupling is used between the invertor and the electrostatic filter.
Masuda U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,182 teaches a radio frequency (RF) high-voltage power supply including a full wave rectifier 8 for rectifying a single phase AC voltage 7. The rectified voltage is applied across a power supply capacitor 6. The voltage developed across the capacitor 6 is applied between the center tap of the primary winding of a transformer 1 and ground. SCR's S.sub.1 and S.sub.2 are connected with their main current paths in opposite polarity relative to one another to the upper and lower connections to the primary winding, respectively. Inductors L.sub.1 and L.sub.2 provide the coupling between the SCR's and the primary winding, respectively. Inverse current diodes are connected in parallel with the main current paths of each one of the SCR's. Conduction of the SCR's S.sub.1 and S.sub.2 are controlled for providing an RF output voltage across the secondary winding 2 of the transformer 1.
Petitimbert U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,583 shows a power supply for processing three phase AC to provide voltage to an ozonizer. For each phase of the three phase AC, a pair of SCR's are connected in parallel with a respective transformer winding.
Von Bargen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,668 teaches a power supply for driving a high voltage ozonator. The power supply full wave rectifies a single phase AC voltage, which is then chopped via invertor circuits into a high frequency synthesized AC output voltage for driving an ozonator.
Lowther U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,169 teaches a high voltage power supply for driving a corona generator. The power supply includes a pair of SCR's connected in series with the primary winding of a main transformer 38. The gate electrodes of the SCR's are connected across primary windings of a controlled transformer 37.

Controllable AC power supply for an ozonator


A tag management device includes a signal detecting unit configured to detect signals which are emitted from an old RFID tag and a new RFID tag, a comparison unit configured to compare the signals emitted from the old RFID tag and the new RFID tag, and a comparison result output unit configured to output a result of the comparison.

A radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag in which identification (ID) information is recorded may be attached to a management object such as a container in order to manage the management object. When a management object is a container, an RFID tag is attached to the management object for a long time. Therefore, attachment and management of a new RFID tag due to aging degradation or the like has been considered or has been already realized. Techniques using an RFID tag are disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

Tag management device, tag management method, and program


A method and apparatus for improving the performance of the transferring of transaction handshakes between sections of synchronous logic which are in different timing domains providing immunity from set-up and hold violations and associated problems of metastability, by reducing the time overhead required for signal synchronization.

In the design of digital circuitry, it is common that two functional blocks operating in two different timing domains wish to communicate with one another. This is typically performed in a master/slave transaction involving three steps:
i) the master unit initiates a request to the slave unit, PA0 ii) the slave unit detects the request, and services it, and PA0 iii) the slave unit indicates completion of the task by returning an acknowledgement to the master unit. PA0 a) said first system issuing a transaction request over said communication link to said second system as a result of a clock edge in said first timing domain; PA0 b) said second system accepting said transaction request as a result of a clock edge in said second timing domain, said acceptance of said transaction request being communicated to a phase synchronization state machine within said second system and to a transaction state machine within said second system; PA0 c) said transaction machine processing said transaction request and said phase synchronization machine counting the number of clock cycles in said second timing domain during the processing of said transaction; PA0 d) upon completion of said transaction, said second system generating an acknowledge signal to be transmitted from said second system to said first system over said communication link as a result of a clock edge in said first timing domain, said synchronization being achieved by said phase synchronization machine using said predetermined relation between said different clock speeds in order to determine allowable clock periods of the second timing domain to transmit said acknowledge signal to said first timing domain.
In situations where the master and slave units have no common timing reference, i.e. the system clocks of the respective functional blocks are operating at different speeds, it is essential to ensure that the signals passed between master and slave units are not misinterpreted. Such misinterpretations can occur where signals are asserted by the master unit during the set-up and hold period of input logic of the slave unit. For example, the input signal to slave unit logic should not change for a small period of time both before, and after, the valid clock edge of the slave timing domain. If such a situation does occur, then the output of the input logic to the slave unit will be uncertain, and metastability of the slave unit input logic can occur.
A known technique in avoiding this problem is to use dual rank synchronization. In this technique, a catching cell is used at the input to the slave unit, S, and an example of this is shown in FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1 there is shown a master unit 10 coupled to a slave unit 20 by means of communication lines 18, 19. Master unit 10 has an internal clock CK.sub.M, and slave unit has an internal clock CK.sub.S. The time taken for a transaction signal request (REQ) generated by master unit 10 to reach the input of a transaction machine 22 in slave unit 20 over request line 18 is thus variable, lying between the extremes of two cases. If the signal generated by an output flip-flop 14 in master unit 10 reaches flip-flop 24 immediately prior to the set-up time of flip-flop 24, then the signal will be propagated through to flip-flop 25 at the first slave clock edge thereafter, and will be propagated through to the output of flip-flop 25 at the second slave clock edge thereafter. The transfer time is thus approximately one clock period in the slave timing domain.
Alternatively, the signal generated by flip-flop 14 reaches flip-flop 24 during or after the set-up and hold time, and the signal is not propagated through to the input of flip-flop 25 until the second slave clock edge. (Any metastability which may have resulted from the asynchronous input to flip-flop 24 will by then have been resolved.) The signal will then be propagated through to the output of flip-flop 25 after the third slave clock edge. The transfer time is thus approximately two clock periods of the slave timing domain.
The signal received by transaction machine 22 may be acknowledged by returning an acknowledge signal (ACK) on line 19, via output flip-flop 26, and is received by a master unit transaction machine 12 in similar manner using flip-flops 15,16.
For a total transaction, including the return of the acknowledge signal back into the master timing domain, the total time is a maximum of 2.times.(slave clock period+master clock period)+transaction processing time in the slave functional block. Everything other than the transaction processing time in the slave unit is an overhead. There is a requirement to reduce this overhead in the total transaction time to a minimum.


An expandable frame structure includes at least one set of a transverse plate assembly and at least two vertical frames. Each set of the transverse plate assembly includes at least two transverse plate parts. Each transverse plate part includes a quarter circular arc edge and two side edges spaced and spreading out from each other with 90 degrees in angles. Two lower hook fixing parts extend downward from two side edges, respectively. Each of the vertical frames includes a pair of vertical frame parts and at least two horizontal frame parts. So, each of the transverse plate parts is placed and installed onto the horizontal frame parts of the two vertical frames. The lower hook fixing part is inserted into and engages with the horizontal frame part to form the expandable frame structure. The advantages and effects are easy to assemble and flexible for structural assembling styles, and so on.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an expandable frame structure, particularly with regard to an expandable frame structure with a lower hook fixing part. The present invention has advantages and effects of being easy to assemble and flexible for structural assembling styles, and so on.
2. The Related Arts
As shown in FIG. 15, a conventional ordinary article-placed shelf 90 commonly available in the market has a plurality of transverse plates 91 and a plurality of fixing racks 92. The transverse plate 91 is fixed onto the fixing rack 92 by general commonly-seen assembling ways such as screwing, sheathing engagement, and so on.
However, there is no further interconnection design for more than one of such shelf 90 to interconnect with each other based on the above mentioned fixing way of the shelf 90. Besides, its size and range designs are mostly suitable for placing bathroom appliances. Therefore, such shelf 90 can not be handy when users require a larger size/area to place more articles or require different shelf-arranging styles. The only convenient way for users is to purchase another shelf with larger sizes/areas or of different styles.
Therefore, it is necessary to develop new products to solve these shortcomings and problems as stated above.


The exoskeletal dynamic load bearing shock absorbing knee brace makes use of the energy absorbing characteristics of specifically designed industrial shock absorbers which are held precisely in place by an articulated dynamic exoskeletal structure that is to be secured to the lower limbs of the individual with the injured knee. The exoskeletal structure is designed using the principles of the overcenter linkage to translate and transfer to the shock absorbers a representative fraction of the normal and extra normal ambulatory movements of the lower limbs of the user which makes possible for these shock absorbers to absorb a corresponding amount of energy and provide an alternate load bearing structure parallel to the knees thus introducing a desirable degree of protection for the injured knee.

Injuries to the human knee joint resulting from participation in extreme sporting activities or resulting from accumulated damage with advancing years are all too common.
The knee joint is the biggest joint in the human body and is subject to various failure modes. One of the failure modes is the failure of the meniscus to maintain its integrity under sudden load spikes or accumulated damage. The meniscus is an avascular cartilage that acts as a shock absorber inside the knee. There are two disc shaped menisci in each knee. FIG. 1 is a representation of the knee with the meniscus between the femur and the tibia.
A Sep. 11, 2008 study in the New England Journal of Medicine titled Incidental Meniscal Findings on Knee MRI in Middle-Aged and Elderly Persons by seven physicians in the New England area concluded that "Incidental Meniscal findings on MRI of the knee are common in the general population and increase with increasing age." The study reports Meniscal tear prevalence rates of 15% to 30% in women and men aged 50-59 and 27% to 37% rates in women and men aged 60-69. The incidence rates increase to a maximum of 50% with age advancing to 70-90 years.
The damage resulting from meniscus tears and other failure modes is hard to contain and control under normal everyday working load situations. As the meniscus failure progresses the femur and the tibia come in direct contact resulting in irreversible damage under very painful conditions. If untreated, the afflicted may find it unable to bear the pain, and may require the implantation of artificial knees.
Knee braces and supporting orthotics currently available are not configured to provide load bearing, and shock absorbing function. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,599 to Vito et al. is designed to provide stability in cases of loss of neuro-muscular control of a knee joint or a hip joint. U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,524 to Doyle is directed towards a knee support for supporting an injured knee while permitting bending and straightening of such a knee, however is silent as to shock absorbing functionality. U.S. Pat. No. 5,352,190 to Fischer et al. is directed towards a device for bracing or exercising the knee joint in a manner that allows the bending of the knee joint only along a predetermined path which approximates the bending of the joint.
Accordingly it remains desirable to have a knee brace that bears the load of the knees and absorbs shock on the knees so as to prevent damage to the knees and help in the healing of the damaged knee joint. It further remains desirable to have a knee brace worn around the knee and allow the individual to maintain flexibility and movement of the knee so as to allow individuals with knee problems to continue with their active lifestyle.

Dynamic load bearing shock absorbing exoskeletal knee brace


A resectoscope with a working element and an electrode. The working element has a movable actuator assembly with a receiving area for receiving a proximal end of the electrode. The receiving area has an entrance, a plug area, and a curved section between the entrance and the plug area. The electrode has a proximal end with a connection section for connection to an electrical plug connector in the plug area. The proximal end also has a flexible section next to the connection section. The flexible section resiliently deforms along the curved section of the receiving area in the actuator assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical instruments and, more particularly, to a resectoscope, a resectoscope electrode, and connection of the electrode with the resectoscope.
2. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,330 discloses a resectoscope having an electrode with a flexible cord that is bent inside a sliding part. U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,907 discloses a resectoscope having a curved electrode inserting hole in a slider. A flexible electric cord part of the electrode extends through the hole. U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,399 discloses an electrical connection to an end of an electrode in a slider by an electrical plug. U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,062 discloses an angled electrode hole in a sheath connecting part.

Resectoscope with curved electrode channel and resiliently deflectable electrode section


Disclosed herein is a battery cell configured to have a structure in which an electrode assembly including a separator disposed between a cathode and an anode is mounted in a battery case, wherein the battery case includes an upper case and a lower case, the upper case and/or the lower case being provided with a receiving part, in which the electrode assembly is mounted, the electrode assembly includes a plurality of electrodes or unit cells stacked in a height direction on the basis of a plane, two or more of the electrodes or the unit cells having different planar sizes, and the receiving part of the battery case is provided with stair-like steps corresponding to an external appearance of the electrode assembly.

As mobile devices have been increasingly developed, and the demand for such mobile devices has increased, the demand for secondary batteries has also sharply increased. Among such secondary batteries is a lithium secondary battery exhibiting high energy density and operating voltage and excellent charge retention and service-life characteristics, which has been widely used as an energy source for various electronic products as well as mobile devices.
Based on the appearance thereof, a lithium secondary battery may be classified as a cylindrical battery, a prismatic battery or a pouch-shaped battery. Based on the kind of an electrolyte, a lithium secondary battery may also be classified as a lithium-ion battery, a lithium-ion polymer battery or a lithium polymer battery.
A recent trend in the miniaturization of mobile devices has increased the demand for a prismatic battery or a pouch-shaped battery, which has a small thickness. In particular, much interest is currently focused on such a pouch-shaped battery because it is easy to modify the shape of the pouch-shaped battery, the manufacturing cost of the pouch-shaped battery is low, and the pouch-shaped battery is lightweight.
Generally, a pouch-shaped battery is a battery having an electrode assembly and an electrolyte in a pouch-shaped battery case, formed of a laminate sheet including a resin layer and a metal layer, in a sealed state. The electrode assembly mounted in the battery case may be configured in a jelly-roll (wound) type structure, a stacked type structure or a combination (stacked/folded) type structure.
FIG. 1 is a view typically showing the structure of a pouch-shaped secondary battery including a stacked type electrode assembly.
Referring to FIG. 1, a pouch-shaped secondary battery 10 may be configured to have a structure in which an electrode assembly 30, including cathodes, anodes and separators disposed respectively between the cathodes and the anodes, is mounted in a pouch-shaped battery case 20 in a sealed state such that two electrode leads 40 and 41 electrically connected to cathode tabs 31 and anode tabs 32 of the electrode assembly 30 are exposed to the outside.
The battery case 20 may include a case body 21 having a depressed receiving part 23, in which the electrode assembly 30 is located, and a cover 22 integrally connected to the case body 21.
Although not shown, the battery case may include a lower case having a depressed receiving part, in which the electrode assembly is located, and an upper case covering the lower case to seal the electrode assembly.
The battery case 20 may be formed of a laminate sheet including an outer resin layer 20A constituting the outermost portion of the laminate sheet, an isolation metal layer 20B to prevent penetration of materials, and an inner resin layer 20C for sealing.
The cathode tabs 31 and the anode tabs 32 of the stacked type electrode assembly 30 may be respectively coupled to the electrode leads 40 and 41 by welding. In addition, insulative films 50 may be attached to the top and bottom of each of the electrode leads 40 and 41 to prevent the occurrence of a short circuit between a thermal welding device (not shown) and the electrode leads 40 and 41 and to achieve sealing between the electrode leads 40 and 41 and the battery case 20 when the upper end 24 of the case body 21 and the upper end of the cover 22 are thermally welded to each other using the thermal welding device.
In recent years, however, a new type of battery cell is required in accordance with a slim type design trend or various other design trends.
In addition, the above-mentioned battery cells are configured to include electrode assemblies having the same size or the same capacity. For this reason, in order to manufacture a battery cell having a novel structure in consideration of the design of a device, to which the battery cell is applied, it is necessary to reduce the capacity of the battery cell or modify the design of the device so that the size of the device is increased.
In addition, electrical connection is complicated during modification of the design of the device, and therefore, it may be difficult to manufacture a battery cell satisfying desired conditions.
Furthermore, it may also be necessary to manufacture the battery case based on the shape of the electrode assembly.
Therefore, there is a high necessity for an electrode assembly and a battery case that can be used depending upon the shape of a device, to which a battery cell is applied, and a battery cell including the same.


This invention relates to a new and distinct variety of strawberry plant named ‘PE-11.2175’. This new strawberry plant named ‘PE-11.2175’ is primarily adapted to the growing conditions of the central coast of California, and is primarily characterized by its orange red fruit color, small fruit size, and conical fruit shape; fair fruit flavor, medium to soft flesh, with seeds typically held level with to below the surface; large plant size, semi-upright, with medium to dense density and strong vigor; medium to light green foliage color, large foliage size and slightly to strongly convex in cross section; and fruiting trusses typically held beneath the foliage, with strong pubescence and absent to weak anthocyanins.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct strawberry variety named 'PE-11.2175'. This new variety is a result of a controlled cross made in 2011 in an ongoing breeding program between strawberry variety designated 'Red Glory' (not patented) as the seed (female) parent, and strawberry variety designated 'PS-5016' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 17,312) as the pollen (male) parent. The variety is botanically known as Fragaria x ananassa.
The seedling resulting from the aforementioned cross was selected from a controlled breeding plot in Ventura County, Calif. in the fall of 2013. After its selection, the new variety was asexually propagated by stolons in Siskiyou and San Joaquin Counties, Calif. The new variety was tested extensively over the next several years in fruiting fields in Ventura County, Calif. This propagation has demonstrated that the combination of traits disclosed herein as characterizing the new variety are fixed and remain true-to-type through successive generations of asexual reproduction.


A system for determining the concentration of fructosamine in sera which consists of a first reagent in which a tetrazolium salt which reduces all reactive substances in sera including fructosamine and a second reagent which is responsive to all reactive substance in sera other than fructosamine. The difference in color change as between the two allows the determination of concentration of fructosamine.

Fructosamine is an index of the existence of diabetes mellitus in humans. Its measure can be effectively used to reflect patient compliance with treatment, quality of care and efficacy of insulin therapy.
Fructosamine is a product of the interaction of serum glucose with serum proteins, wherein the glucose binds to the amino groups of proteins to form an aldimine, a Schiff base, which undergoes molecular rearrangement to form a stable ketoamine also known as fructosamine. The structure, analysis and clinical usefulness of fructosamine is described by Armbruster in Clinical Chemistry, Vol 33. No. 12, pg. 2153-63 (1987) incorporated herein by reference. A method and composition for direct determination fructosamine in blood samples are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,642,295 and 4,645,742 to Baker incorporated herein by reference. The method for determining the level of fructosamine in a blood sample or a sample derived from blood generally involves maintaining the sample at a temperature below 50.degree. C. and at a pH between 10 and 11 and adding a coloring agent (nitro blue tetrazolium or NBT) to the sample. After a first time delay of 10 minutes a first color measurement is taken at a predetermined wavelength of 550 nm and after a second time delay of 2 additional minutes a second color measurement at the predetermined wavelength is taken. The fructosamine level in the sample is determined by comparing the change between the first and second color measurements. This system is employed by Roche and sold as the RoTAG.TM. plus fructosamine assay. It consists of a buffer (pH 10.3), NBT tablets and a calibrator in solid form. The dye when dissolved is stated to be stable for up to 2 weeks at 2.degree.-8.degree. C. and the calibrator when reconstituted is stated to be stable for up to 4 weeks at 2.degree.-8.degree. C.
A principal shortcoming of the system is a long response time. Conventionally the art desires an assay to be complete in less than 10 minutes and automated analyzers are designated to operate on that cycle. Longer time spans require an undesirable modification to an analysis system and a need exists for an accurate assay which would enable completion within 10 minutes at the normal assay temperature of 37.degree. C.
A separate need is accuracy of the assay. It has been the ongoing quest of the assignee of this invention to develop time stable, single-liquid reagent assay compositions in which each unit is formulated at the source of manufacture and has a shelf life sufficient to remain stable from time of manufacture, storage at the point of manufacture, shipment to any destination in the world and storage at the destination until use. Products to obtain commercially acceptability must have a shelf life of 12 months or more at 2.degree. to 10.degree. C. more typically 18 months at 2.degree. to 10.degree. C., which corresponds to a shelf life of at least about 3 days at 41.degree. C. As indicated, to be commercially adaptive to all spectrophotometric instruments, the compositions must have response time within 10 minutes at 37.degree. C.
It is therefore, the object of this invention to provide a time stable liquid single reagent system for the determination of fructosamine in sera which has a commercially acceptable response time and a stability which is equivalent to at least 12 months at 2.degree. to 10.degree. C.

Fructosamine reagent and calibrator system


A testing device for testing an electronic device is provided. The testing device includes: a deterministic jitter application unit for applying deterministic jitter to a given input signal without causing an amplitude modulation component and supplying the input signal with the deterministic jitter to the electronic device; a jitter amount controller for controlling the magnitude of the deterministic jitter generated by the deterministic jitter application unit; and a determination unit for determining whether or not the electronic device is defective based on an output signal output from the electronic device in accordance with the input signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a testing device and a testing method for testing an electronic device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a testing device and a testing method for supplying an input signal with jitter applied thereto to an electronic device to perform a test of the electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Jitter test is an important test to serial communication devices and serial I/O devices. For example, recommendations by International Telecommunication Union, Bellcore or the like define jitter tolerance, jitter generation and measurement of jitter transfer function. Especially, jitter tolerance test is important because it can estimate operating limits of a device to jitter applied in a transfer medium. Please note that the measurement of jitter tolerance changes an amplitude of jitter applied to an input signal of a device and measures a threshold value of the amplitude of the applied jitter which starts to cause the device to generate a bit error.
FIGS. 1A-1C illustrate conventional measurement of jitter tolerance. The conventional measurement of jitter tolerance applies random jitter to an input signal, that is shown in FIG. 1A, by superposing a white noise shown in FIG. 1B on the input signal. The input signal with the random jitter applied thereto is shown in FIG. 1C. The input signal with the random jitter applied thereto is supplied to an electronic device and a measurement is performed for determining whether or not a bit error occurs in the electronic device.
FIG. 2 illustrates a structure of a conventional jitter application device 200 for applying jitter to an input signal. To the input signal generated by a pattern generator 202, a sinusoidal jitter is applied by a sinusoidal jitter source 206 and deterministic jitter and random jitter are further applied by a deterministic jitter source 208 and a random jitter source 212. The amount of jitter applied to the input signal is adjusted by adjusting the amplitudes of the random jitter and sinusoidal jitter. Then, a limiting amplifier 214 amplifies the input signal and clips components having amplitudes that are equal to or larger than a predetermined amplitude and are equal to or smaller than another predetermined amplitude. After clipping, the signal is output.
FIGS. 3A-3C illustrates an operation of the limiting amplifier 214. To the limiting amplifier 214, an input signal shown in FIG. 3A is supplied. This input signal contains amplitude modulation components because random jitter was applied to the signal.
The limiting amplifier 214 removes amplitude components equal to or larger than the first threshold value and amplitude components equal to or smaller than the second threshold value from the input signal, as shown in FIG. 3B, thereby reducing the amplitude modulation components. However, the limiting amplifier 214 cannot remove the amplitude modulation components in ranges where the amplitude components are equal to or smaller than the first threshold value and are equal to or larger than the second threshold value. In order to measure jitter tolerance of an electronic device, it is necessary to supply an input signal with no amplitude modulated component, as shown in FIG. 3C, to the electronic device for detecting a bit error rate caused only by a jitter component in a phase direction. However, in the conventional jitter application device 200, the amplitude modulated components remain in the input signal, as shown in FIG. 3B. Thus, according to the conventional technique, a bit error caused by those amplitude modulation components is also detected. This results in underestimation of jitter tolerance of the electronic device. Moreover, the conventional jitter application device 200 includes three jitter sources, i.e., the sinusoidal jitter source 206, deterministic jitter source 208 and random jitter source 212. Thus, the cost of the device increases.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Testing device for testing electronic device and testing method thereof


A first-fail-safe electromotive furniture drive includes at least one drive unit having at least one motor; at least one actuating device having at least two actuating units, each of which includes a motor contact element and a safety contact element; at least one supply unit; and at least one safety device. The furniture drive is equipped with a reporting device for displaying the functioning and a failure of the at least two actuating units and the safety device. The furniture drive includes at least one safety actuating device.

The invention relates to a first-fail-safe electromotive furniture drive according to the preamble of claim 1.
Different designs of these types of electromotive furniture drives for adjustment of diverse furniture are known. These furniture include among others reclining and seating furniture, such as for example beds, slatted frames, television chairs. In particular in home and clinical care as well as in medicine, electromotive furniture drives are used in the corresponding furniture, for example in care beds and hospital beds. In these areas of use, pertinent rules, norms and laws apply wherein the so called first-fail-safety is very important.
First-fail-safety means that in the case of a first failure, for example of a component, no danger is created for the user and no undesired and/or unintended functions and/or unintended movements of movable furniture elements are caused, which create hazards.
EP 1 341 201 A2 describes an electromotive adjustment arrangement for furniture with a release relay via the contacts of which an overall motor current flows, which is then conducted to a further relay arrangement for impinging on a drive motor for causing an adjustment function. Assigned to this releasing relay is a function monitoring component, which controls the functionality of the releasing relay.
DE 103 41 705 A1 describes an arrangement for the operation of an electronically adjustable seat and/or reclining furniture with a device for supply current activation with a relay. The arrangement has a switching means for switching the relay for supply current activation, wherein the switching means have switching contacts which are independent of one another and can be operated simultaneously.

First-fail-safe electromotive furniture drive


A coupling (13) is used for a fuel cartridge (2) outlet nozzle (1) designed to supply a compressed gas mounting device with compressed gas and an intake nozzle (3) on the device's intake system (4). The coupling is a single piece formed to ensure a seal and maintain it between the two nozzles (3,1) of the cartridge (2) and the intake system (4).

A compressed gas driven piston nailing or plug-mounting device with a compressed gas supply in the form of a fuel cartridge containing the liquid-state compressed gas in an inner casing. In addition to the fuel the cartridge contains, between the inner and outer casing, a propellant to keep the fuel in a liquid state. A male outlet nozzle is connected to the inner casing and projects through the outer casing.
At each firing, a specific dose of compressed gas is injected from the fuel cartridge into a combustion chamber in the mounting device, said quantity being correctly determined only if the compressed gas is in a liquid state.
To determine the quantity of compressed gas injected into the combustion chamber, mounting devices often include a solenoid valve with a compressed gas intake nozzle.
Known intake systems, such as that described in FR 2 771 796, use a male intake nozzle, inside a socket formed by a peripheral protective skirt. This intake nozzle is designed to cooperate with an outlet valve on the cartridge, removing the valve from its seat to allow the gas to be transferred from the cartridge into the device's intake system. During the transfer operation, leaks must be prevented around the cartridge valve and the device's intake nozzle. To this end, often, and in particular in the case of the cartridge described in FR 2 771 796, the cartridge's outlet valve extends into a male nozzle, which cooperates with the device's male intake nozzle inside an appropriately outfitted coupling.
The coupling contains a gasket extending along both sides of the mating surfaces of both male nozzles and is held inside an adaptor covering inserted into the mounting device's solenoid valve protective socket as well as a protective socket on the compressed gas cartridge.

Coupling for compressed gas piston driven nailing and fuel cartridge

Societe de Prospection et d'Inventions Techniques SPIT


A vibration reduction device includes a vibration reduction optical system which reduces vibration by its movement, a fixing portion which assumes a fixing state for fixing the vibration reduction optical system and a releasing state for releasing the vibration reduction optical system, a holding portion for holding/canceling the fixing state of the fixing portion, and a biasing portion for biasing the fixing portion from the fixing state in which the vibration reduction optical system is fixed to the releasing state in which the vibration reduction optical system is released. The biasing portion is interlocked with a releasing operation of the holding portion to release the vibration reduction optical system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vibration reduction device for reducing vibration such as camera shake.
2. Related Background Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 4-34513 and 4-34514 disclose vibration reduction devices each including a vibration reduction lens, a lens holding member for holding the vibration correction lens, a fixing member which is switched between a fixing position and a releasing position to fix and release the lens holding member, a tension coil spring for biasing the fixing member from the releasing position to the fixing position, a locking member which is engaged/disengaged with/from the fixing member to lock/release the fixing member at the releasing position, and a motor for driving the fixing member from the fixing position to the releasing position. In this vibration reduction device, the locked fixing member is released by the locking member to be quickly driven from the releasing position to the fixing position by the biasing force of the tension coil spring.
In the above conventional vibration reduction device, when the lens holding member is to be switched from a releasing state to a fixing state, the fixing member is driven by the biasing force of the tension coil spring. As a result, the lens holding member can be quickly fixed by the fixing member. In the conventional vibration reduction device, however, when the lens holding member is to be switched from the fixing state to the releasing state, the fixing member must be driven from the fixing position to the releasing position by the motor against the biasing force of the tension coil spring. For this reason, the conventional vibration reduction device requires a large quantity of electrical energy to switch the lens holding member from the fixing state to the releasing state. In addition, in the conventional vibration reduction device, the time required to switch the lens holding member to the releasing state is not negligible, and it is difficult to quickly switch the lens holding member to the releasing state to quickly start vibration reduction. Consequently, when the conventional vibration reduction device is mounted in a single-lens reflex still camera, the release time lag becomes long, resulting in a considerable deterioration in operability.
In the conventional vibration reduction device, in the process of switching the lens holding member from the releasing state to the fixing state, the user sometimes wants to resume vibration reduction by switching the lens holding member to the releasing state again. In such a case, according to the conventional vibration reduction device, the fixing member is driven first to the fixing position against the biasing force of the tension coil spring, and is then driven from the fixing position to the releasing position using the motor. It is, therefore, difficult for the conventional vibration reduction device to quickly resume vibration reduction.
Assume that in the vibration reduction device having the above structure, the lens holding member is in the releasing state (during vibration reduction). In this state, when the power switch is turned off, or the power supply battery is removed, the engagement between the fixing member and the locking member is canceled by driving the locking member until the capacitor incorporated in the camera body is discharged. For this reason, when the conventional vibration reduction device is mounted on the interchangeable lens of a single-lens reflex camera, and the interchangeable lens is removed from the camera body incorporating a power supply battery and a capacitor, the motor and the locking member cannot be driven without a power supply.