A sheet cutting apparatus including: a cutting blade for cutting a sheet to be cut, which includes a sheet or a sheet stack; and a transport devices capable of holding and rotating the sheet to be cut to cause an end portion of the sheet to be cut to be opposed to the cutting blade and transporting the sheet to be cut to a position where the end portion is cut by the cutting blade.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet cutting apparatus in which a portion of a cutting blade to be used for cutting a sheet, a sheet stack, etc. is varied to make it possible to uniformly use the cutting blade, a sheet aftertreatment apparatus equipped with the sheet cutting apparatus, and an image forming apparatus whose apparatus main body has the sheet aftertreatment apparatus as one of its components.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, a sheet cutting apparatus which cuts a sheet, a sheet stack, etc. (hereinafter referred to as "sheets to be cut") with a cutting blade is provided in a sheet aftertreatment apparatus as one of the components of the sheet aftertreatment apparatus which is provided in the apparatus main body of an image forming apparatus. The sheet aftertreatment apparatus binds sheets discharged from the apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus into a stack, and then performs glue binding or saddle-stitch/buckle binding. To align the end surface of the bound sheets, an end portion of the sheet stack is cut off by the sheet cutting apparatus (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-292230). The sheet cutting apparatus may cut not only a sheet stack but also a single sheet. In other words, the sheet cutting apparatus is adapted to cut different forms of sheets to be cut, which may be a sheet stack or a single sheet. The image forming apparatus is an apparatus for forming an image on a sheet, and may be a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile apparatus, a multifunctional apparatus composed of those apparatuses, etc.
In the conventional sheet cutting apparatus, regardless of the size of the sheets to be cut, sheets are always fed to the same position and cut there. Thus, the cutting blade is not uniformly used over its entire length but includes a portion always used for cutting regardless of the size of the sheets to be cut, and a portion not used for cutting according to the size of the sheets to be cut, resulting in a variation in wear. As a result, when its portion constantly used has lost its sharpness, the cutting blade must be replaced by a new one even if it includes a portion which is not much used and, consequently, cuts well. Thus, the cutting blade cannot be used for a long period of time.
Further, the sheet aftertreatment apparatus equipped with the sheet cutting apparatus requires temporary suspension of after-treatment operation in order to replace the cutting blade, resulting in a rather low operating efficiency (availability ratio).
Furthermore, due to the low operating efficiency (availability ratio) of the sheet aftertreatment apparatus, the conventional image forming apparatus equipped with the sheet aftertreatment apparatus having such a sheet cutting apparatus exhibits a rather low operating efficiency (availability ratio).

Sheet cutting apparatus, sheet aftertreatment apparatus having the same, and image forming apparatus having the same


A normal system OSU, a redundancy system OSU, an optical switch, a concentration switch, and a controller which detects a command input by operation control and performs control according to the command are provided, and in such a state that the controller detects a redundancy system switching command indicating that the normal system OSU is switched to the redundancy system OSU, the controller induces the concentration switch to change a storage destination of a down signal, instructs the normal system OSU which is the switching source OSU to stop transmission of a transmission permission message, instructs the optical switch to switch a path after receiving remaining data processing completion notifications from the concentration switch and the normal system OSU which is the switching source OSU, writes accumulated information about the normal system OSU, which is the switching source OSU, in the redundancy system OSU, and notifies the concentration switch of completion of switching, whereby a down signal is transmitted from the concentration switch.

1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates to a PON system.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
As broadband becomes widely available, access network communication is playing an increasingly important role, and thus, an access network is required to supply a service stably.
FIG. 23 shows a configuration including PON (Passive Optical Network) 11 and L2SW (Layer 2 switch) 12 as a typical configuration of a current access network. The PON 11 is constituted of an Optical Line Terminal (OLT, station-side termination apparatus) 14 storing a plurality of OSUs (Optical Subscriber Units) 15, an M:1 optical splitter 18, and an Optical Network Unit (ONU, subscriber termination apparatus) 17, and a plurality of (for example, 32) ONUs 17 are connected to an OSU 15. In the PON 11, since the OSU 15 and an optical fiber 19 between the OSU 15 and the optical splitter 18 are shared by M ONUs 17, the service can be provided at low cost. The L2SW 12 is provided with a large number of ports connected to the PON 11 and a core network 13, and each port on the PON 11 side is connected to one OSU 15 through a line. Since the L2SW 12 is provided with a line concentration function, lines of a number smaller than the number of the lines connected to the port on the PON 11 side are connected to the port on the core network 13 side, and lines from the OSU 15 are concentrated to be connected to the core network 13. When the L2SW 12 receives a down frame from a high-order section, the L2SW 12 reads an identifier (for example, VID (Virtual LAN Identifier)) attached to the frame. Since association of a VID number and an ONU number and corresponding information of the number of a connection destination OSU of each ONU are previously registered in the L2SW 12, the connection destination OSU number of the ONU associated with the corresponding VID number is found from the corresponding information and a received VID number. Since corresponding information between a PON side port number of itself and the connection destination OSU number is also registered in the L2SW 12, a received down frame is output from the corresponding PON side port to transmit the down frame to a desired OSU 15 in accordance with the information. Meanwhile, regarding an up frame from each OSU 15, after the L2SW 12 receives the up frames, the up frames are output from the L2SW 12 to a high-order section in accordance with a transmission order determined by an arbitrary scheduling method. In an example shown in FIG. 23, there is a one-to-one relationship in connection between the port on the PON 11 side of the L2SW 12 and the OSU 15, and since the L2SW 12 is provided with the ports on the PON 11 side having a number that can store a plurality of the OLTs 14, for example, when the maximum number of the OLTs 14 are stored, lines having the same number as the number of all the OSUs 15 stored in the all the OLTs 14 are connected between the L2SW 12 and the OLT 14.
As described above, since the L2SW 12 and the OLT 14 store a large number of users, if service interruption occurs due to failures of the devices, a large number of users are affected thereby. Accordingly, in order to supply service stably, it is important to make devices and paths redundant in preparation for device failure and fiber interruption. Although the L2SW 12 having a larger storable number is relatively often made redundant, it is considered that the importance of making the PON 11 redundant is enhanced, considering future diversification of services and an increase of the storage number in the OLT 14.
In the above description, although the L2SW 12 is externally attached to the OLT 14, the L2SW 12 may be built in the OLT 14. Further, a plurality of the OLTs 14 may share the L2SW 12. (The configuration of FIG. 23 shows that the L2SW 12 is externally attached to the OLT, and a plurality of the OLTs 14 share the L2SW 12.) Furthermore, the L2SW 12 may have a multistage configuration.
To make a portion of or all devices and fibers constituting the PON 11 redundant is referred to as PON protection, and there are various methods corresponding to a redundancy portion and a redundancy method. For example, a method in which the correspondence between a normal system and a redundancy system is N:1, namely a redundancy system (backup) device is provided with respect to N existing (normal system) devices is referred to as an N:1 protection, and the method is proposed in Non-patent Literature 1. The configuration of the N:1 protection is shown in FIG. 24. If the OSU can store up to A ONUs 17, this method uses one OLT 14 storing N normal system OSUs and the redundancy system OSU, A×N or less ONUs 17, and an N×(N+1) optical switch 16 (which is an optical switch in which an arbitrary input/output port of N input/output ports (N side) and an arbitrary input/output port of N+1 input/output ports ((N+1) side) are connected, and there may be an unconnected port). The ONU 17 is connected to each of the N input/output ports on the N side of the optical switch 16 through a PON line 19. The OSU 15 is connected to each of the input/output ports on the (N+1) side of the optical switch 16. Among the OSUs 15, N OSUs are normal systems, and one OSU is a redundancy system. In a normal time, each of the N normal system OSUs 15 communicates with the ONU 17 subordinate to the OSU 15 through the optical switch 16 and each of the N PON lines 19. Meanwhile, since the redundancy system OSU 15 does not establish a path to any of the PON lines through the optical switch 16 in a normal time, the redundancy system OSU 15 does not provide transmission of data to any of the ONUs 17.
When one of the N normal system OSUs 15 is failed, the optical switch 16 switches a path, and a transmission path between the PON line 19 connected to the failed normal system OSU 15 and the redundancy system OSU 15 is established. The ONU 17 in the PON 11 performs ONU registration by the OSU 15 and measures a signal propagation time between the OSU 15 and each ONU 17 before start of data communication, and a link should be established between the OSU 15 and the ONU 17. For example, in a GE-PON (Gigabit Ethernet (registered trademark) PON) system described in Non-Patent Literature 2, an MPCP (Multi Point Control Protocol) frame are transmitted and received between the OSU 15 and the ONU 17 based on a provision of MPCP, whereby a registration/signal propagation time is measured, and, an MPCP link is established between the OSU 15 and the ONU 17. Accordingly, those processes are first required in GE-PON. After the establishment of the MPCP link, the ONU 17 establishes an OAM (Operation, Administration and Maintenance) link with the OSU 15 and exchanges an authentication/encryption key with the OSU 15 through transmission and reception of an OAM frame as a maintenance monitoring signal, and only when all the processes are finished, data communication can be started.
However, since the redundancy system OSU 15 in the system of FIG. 24 does not grasp information of, for example, registration and authentication associated with the ONU 17 subordinate to the failed normal system OSU 15 before switching, the link between the failed normal system OSU 15 and the ONU 17 subordinate to the OSU 15 is cut by the failure of the normal system OSU and path switching performed by the optical switch 16. In the PON system, since data transmission can be started only by establishment of the link and authentication/encryption key exchange between the ONU 17 and the OSU 15, the ONU 17 subordinate to the normal system OSU 15 failed after the path switching establishes the link with the redundancy system OSU 15 and thereafter starts the data transmission.
As described above, even if the normal system OSU 15 is failed, the subordinated ONU 17 can start communication with the redundancy system OSU 15 through the optical switch 16, and therefore, even if the OSU failure occurs, the communication can be recovered by switching in comparison with the case without protection. Further, as a feature, in the N:1 protection, since the cost of the one redundancy system OSU 15 can be shared by all users subordinate to the N normal system OSUs 15, as the value of N is increased to construct the system, additional cost accompanying the protection per the user can be reduced.
As described above, the PON protection is a method for enhancing reliability, and when a normal system device is failed, the normal system device is switched to a redundancy system, whereby communication interruption can be prevented. However, when such switching is performed not only when such a failure occurs but also in a normal time, FW update suppressing the communication interruption of the ONU 17 can be realized. Namely, an arbitrary switching source OSU 15 (for example, the normal system OSU) is switched to a switching destination OSU 15 (for example, the redundancy system OSU) by operation control in a normal time, communication of the ONU 17 subordinate to the corresponding OSU 15 is maintained through the redundancy system OSU 15, and meanwhile, when FW of the switching source OSU 15 is updated, ONU communication interruption corresponding to at least a restart time of the OSU 15 can be suppressed in comparison with the FW update in a system free from the PON protection.

NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION


The present invention relates to autoradiographic marking devices. In particular, the present invention provides compositions useful for marking X-ray films.

Proper examination of X-ray films requires specific knowledge regarding the orientation of the X-ray film and the patient during exposure to an X-ray source. Certain patient positioning information is frequently embedded in radiographic images by placing a radio-opaque marker on the film or cassette prior to exposure. Two of the most common annotations are sidedness (e.g., left or right) and patient position (e.g., upright, supine, or decubitus). Gathering this type of information enables the proper analysis of X-ray films. For example, knowledge of the proper alignment of a patient in an upright position becomes critical for the detection of small amounts of free intra-abdominal air, an important indicator of gastrointestinal perforation.
X-ray opaque markers have been used for decades to permanently attach patient information to X-ray images. However, currently available X-ray opaque markers are deficient in multiple regards. For example, a commonly used position marker uses three tiny metal balls inside a small plastic globe. When exposed in the upright position, the balls fall to the bottom of the sphere. When exposed in the supine position, the balls are in the center of the sphere. However, this device does a poor job at communicating the range of positions from upright to supine, for example, because the ball movement is often inconsistent. Furthermore, this device describes only the position of the cassette and tells nothing of the relationship of the X-ray beam to the cassette. This device is also subject to damage and distortion of the outer plastic globe leading to poor mobility of the balls and a distorted characterization of position.
Other commercially available markers usually involve the assembly of individual letters onto a letter mount. These markers are costly to produce as they require the production of many individual pieces, and are time consuming to use because the letters or numbers or other indicia must be individually set up for each use. The most common markers are the two-piece, left and right marker that may include the technician's name or number. These markers are individually and temporarily secured to the film cassette when in use by tape. This requires the technician to carry messy tape and often results in the loss of the small markers. These markers provide no information regarding patient position at the time the X-ray is taken.
What is needed is a marker which more accurately describes the orientation of the cassette in relation to the X-ray beam, thereby effectively communicating patient position throughout the range of upright to supine, and which is durable and not prone to damage.

Universal radiologic patient positioning marker


An equipment control device includes a person region detector that receives a thermal image corresponding to an object of image capture and detects a person region that is a region occupied by a person in the thermal image, a person feature detector that calculates basal metabolism of the person, based on a thermal image part of the person region in the thermal image, and an equipment controller that controls equipment, based on the basal metabolism of the person detected by the person feature detector.

There have been known equipment control devices for detecting a user who uses equipment, detecting a feature of the user, and controlling various types of equipment so as to provide a situation comfortable for the user. Patent Reference 1 describes an air conditioner including a control means that calculates basal metabolism of the user at the time of air conditioning, based on body weight of the user and the date of the time of air conditioning, calculates a comfort index, based on the calculated basal metabolism and a detection result supplied from a detection means detecting condition of the air-conditioned space, and performs control, based on the calculated comfort index.
Patent Reference 2 describes a vending machine equipped with a camera, a thermography, a temperature sensor and a clock and configured to determine the sex and age range of a purchaser, based on a face image captured by the camera, determine body temperature, based on face temperature of the purchaser measured by the thermography and ambient temperature of the surrounding environment measured by the temperature sensor, determine the season and the time slot, based on the ambient temperature of the surrounding environment measured by the temperature sensor and the time acquired from the clock, figure out products whose images should be displayed on a display device, based on the sex, the age range and the body temperature of the purchaser, the season and the time slot, and preferentially display a product that should be recommended based on external environment and condition of each purchaser.
Patent Reference 3 describes an elevator operation control device that extracts moving objects in an image by comparing an initial image and a present-time image of the inside of the elevator, recognizes the number of people and the degree of congestion of the place, based on the size of the mass of the moving objects and the number of the moving objects, and efficiently controls the operation of the elevator, based on the recognized information.
Patent Reference 4 describes a human body posture estimation method in which an image of a human body is captured by an infrared camera, a body barycenter is determined by applying distance transformation to a person region obtained by an image processing device by performing a threshold process on a thermal image, an inclination angle of the upper body is obtained based on a principal axis of the upper body as a part above the determined body barycenter, thereafter feature parts of the human body at the vertex of the head and tip ends of hands and legs are determined, and the positions of elbows and knees are estimated by means of learning by using a genetic algorithm.
Patent Reference 5 describes a person three-dimensional posture estimation method in which a binary image is formed from a plurality of color images captured in different directions by a plurality of color cameras and feature points are detected based on the binary image.

Equipment control device and method, utilizing basal metabolism data calculated from estimated characteristics of a person based on detected visible light image data and corresponding thermal image data


An arrangement, a communication module, a sensor unit and a method for monitoring physical performance includes at least one communication module having means for providing an output DC power by wire, and means for receiving at least one sensor signal representative of measured physiologic activity from at least one sensor unit. Said at least one sensor unit adapted to measure physiologic activity and to generate analog measurement signals in response thereof and is connected to said DC power wire and having means for processing and sending a sensor signal representative of measured physiologic activity by a wire to said communication module. A processing unit is adapted to form from said analog measurement signals data messages in predetermined transmission time slots. A wireless communication unit is used for transmitting the data messages at successive time slots using a wireless communication protocol to a wireless receiver device.

It is well known to measure electromyographic (EMG) signals from different parts of a human body during sports performances, the most common example being hear beat measurement using a surface EMG sensor-containing heart beat belt with a wireless transmitter module for communicating with a monitoring device, such as a sports watch. Measurement of surface EMG signals also from other parts of the body to monitor muscle activity in legs, arms, middle body or torso, for example. Such measurements can be carried using EMG sensors for example integrated into sports garment. It is also known to integrate signal transmitter modules into the belt or garment or to provide the module as a snap-on module to an assembly zone on the garment or belt. The module can be removed for washing the garment, for example. One disadvantage in known systems is that, although the transmitter can be removable and re-connectable, each sensor or sensor group requires a specifically designed transmitter module in order to operate properly.
To mention some specific examples, U.S. Pat. No. 8,253,586 discloses a performance measuring system comprising an article of clothing with an integrated measuring sensor and additionally a communication module, power module and computing module attachable to the article of clothing. The modules can be removed from one article of clothing and used in another article of clothing, while the sensor remains in the article. EP 1531726 discloses the use of a multitude of surface EMG electrodes to gain information simultaneously from muscles in various parts of the body. Also U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,547 relates to a similar application and in particular how conductive paths in garment can be arranged to provide a sensor signal form the measurement point to the signal transmitter module.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,698,101 discloses a system for pairing sensor-containing shoes with measurement electronics, including authentication of the shoes for the electronics. These solutions require dedicated transmitter module sensor pairs in order to be able to transmit the measurement signal to a monitoring unit.
Document WO-A-90/14792 discloses a biofeedback device for monitoring muscular activity in a sports skill movement which includes a band for securement around a muscle and carries a pair of spaced electrodes for receipt of electrical voltage from the muscle surface. The electrodes are connected to a differential amplifier and means for reporting the amplified voltage to indicate muscle tension over a continuum of the movement.
US 2013/0096704 discuss articles of clothing and module capable of sensing physical and/or physiological characteristics associated with the use of the clothing. The module contains an integral sensor. The system can activate module upon engaging the module to the clothing and confirm that the clothing and the module are authorized for use with one another and/or for automatic algorithm selection. The flexibility of the system is, however, restricted to adaptation of the sensor module to use its built-in sensor in different ways depending on the clothing it is attached to. Thus, a plurality of modules is needed if different types of sensors are used.
US 2008/0319330 disclose as a further example of currently available techniques a mobile transmitter for observing performance-related events and transmitting data on the observed events to a receiver. The transmitter comprises a timer for providing time references relating to the events and a memory for recording time references. The transmitter obtains a time reference from the timer and records the obtained time reference in the memory and is adapted to produce data messages containing a predetermined number of time references obtained from the memory and further to transmit the produced data messages to the receiver. The disclosed system allows for time stamping of events, such as heartbeats, and calculating the frequency and/or interval variation parameters of heartbeats. The system does not allow for synchronizing events from different detector sources.
One problem also touched by the above mentioned publications in a multi-sensor system is the communication of the different EMG measurement signals to a single monitoring device. There are systems, which utilize wired communication channels from a plurality of sensors to a single module. Such systems become impractical if there is a need to use many sensors at distant body parts and potentially separate belt or garment units.
Related prior art does not show any means how to minimize wiring in order between sensors and monitoring devices in applied health science. To provide a power signal to components like EMG sensors both power and EMG signal wires are used. Wireless approaches are envisaged e.g. in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 7,698,101. However, to make each sensor an complex circuit with an integrated active RFID component, would be impractical both in medical applications where electrodes are usually disposable and wireless connections are often not allowed, and in sporting goods where electrodes need to be very thin, light and thoroughly washable.
A further aspect of the same problem in existing systems is how to handle signals from a plurality of sensor sources such that an overall analysis of the performance would be possible. The more sensors, the more wiring is needed in the garment or clothing. As such, a monitoring unit can relatively easily collect data from several sources, but may still lack information on the relationship between the data and the performance.
Thus, there exists a need for improved solutions for facilitating communication between a plurality of sensors and a central monitoring unit in sports and health monitoring devices, to allow for better analysis of the performance of an athlete or a patient.
The underlying idea of the invention is to take advantage of superimposed measurement signaling on a continuous DC power signal. The signal may be in analogous or in digital form or both. The invention is in other words based on messaging sensor-derived data from a plurality of sensors to communication modules, which are capable of receiving information from the sensors with a minimum of wiring, and on the identification of the sensors. It is known to superimpose or multiplex digital signals onto the same wire or set of wires as DC or analog signals. In heavy process industry, a system based on the Bell 202 standard is known as the HART protocol, which is also a standard (IEC 61158). It is a master/slave protocol, meanings that a slave device only speaks when spoken to by a master. The protocol implements the Open System Interconnection (OSI) 7-layer protocol model using frequency shift keying (FSK) to communicate at 1200 bps with a signal having bit values of 0 and 1 at 2200 and 1200 Hz, respectively. This signal is superimposed at a low level on the 4-to-20 mA analog measurement signal. Such signals may contain data such as device data, requests for device data, configuration data, alarm and event data, etc.
Another example is presented in the Digital Command Control (DCC) protocol of German origin that has been adapted, developed and standardized by the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA). It provides for individually command of several trains running on a track having a single power feed by modulating the DC voltage on the track to encode digital messages while providing electric power, thus providing independent identification and control of locomotives without special wiring requirements. The DCC technology has been further developed e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,494,410, where a train after having received a DCC control information specifically addressed to it, applies a return signal with a higher frequency to the track, and which is detected by synchronizing its detection with the original DCC square wave voltage so that the return signal is detected in periods where the DCC signal is free of signal edges.

Arrangement, a communication module, a sensor unit and a method for monitoring physical performance


This invention relates to a foot operated control valve in which the water supply is automatically stopped as soon as a foot push button is released. It is not only convenient for use, but can also economize water consumption by means of auto start and stop fully under foot control. The control valve has a housing and a valve body. The valve body includes an inlet cylinder and an outlet cylinder with both cylinders integrally communicated by means of a channel. The inlet cylinder having an adjustment assembly to open or block the water inlet. The outlet cylinder has a spring, valve and sleeve, in which the valve is movable to block or open the valve inlet for stopping or allowing water entry into the outlet. The open/close function can be accomplished by a valve opened by foot or closed by resilience of a spring to ensure that the use and water economization can be accomplished. The user is not required to control the faucet by hand, thereby eliminating its risk of water waste as a result of failing to shut off the faucet or failure to close fully because of faucet malfunction.

Conventional faucets have a wide variety of styles and operations. However, if the user forgets to close the faucet handle as a result of drying hands, fails to close it tightly, the faucet has malfunctioned, or the faucet has been opened by a prankster, water flow will continue without stop so as to cause waste. Though the optical sensor type is an improvement which allows the water supply to be stopped as soon as the user leaves or after flushing fr a specific time, it has a higher possibility of failure due to its electronics. Furthermore, it has a high production cost, complex assembly work, additional power consumption by connection to an external power source, and involves a high risk of safety in a wet environment.


A strain-responsive visual indicator comprises a pair of overlapping shutter strips (1, 2) adapted to be mounted to a substrate such that strain in the substrate causes relative movement M between them. Each shutter strip comprises an alternating set of windows (5) or (6) and bars (7) or (8) and the distal strip (2) is backed by a strip (3) of a different color exposed through its windows (6), or the distal strip can instead be printed with a set of alternating colors in place of its windows and bars. The effect is that under different strain conditions different color indications from the distal strip (2) will be visible through the windows (5) of the proximal strip (1), in accordance with the relative positions of the two strips. The indicator can be incorporated e.g. in the shaft of a toothbrush to give a visual warning in response to flexure of the shaft if excessive brushing pressure is applied. Numerous other applications and the use of different types of indicia are indicated in the specification.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the general field of strain measurement or sensing.
(2) Description of the Art
Conventional strain gauges take a variety of forms and among the most common are resistance strain gauges which exploit the change in resistance of an electrically conductive material when the conductor is stretched or otherwise elastically deformed, and semiconductor strain gauges which exploit the change in the electronic charge across a piezoelectric crystal when the material is mechanically stressed. Such types obviously require the use of associated electronic monitoring equipment in order to give an indication of the measured strain. Purely mechanical strain gauges are also known but generally require precision mechanisms to amplify the small movements sensed and to convert them into an indication of strain. The present invention, on the other hand, seeks to provide a simple and inexpensive form of device capable of giving a visual indication of at least the general level of strain (or a related parameter) in an object to which it is applied, while avoiding the use of electronics and mechanical complexity.
One field of application for the invention with which the applicant is particularly concerned is a device for giving a simple indication of the level of flexural strain in the shaft of a toothbrush. In this respect it is well documented that brushing the teeth too hard can be detrimental to the condition of the teeth and gums. In general relatively low brushing pressure is sufficient to remove plaque from teeth. If teeth are brushed too hard the gums can start to recede causing bleeding of the gums and sensitive teeth. The surface of the teeth can also become damaged irreparably. In this field of application, therefore, an aim is to incorporate a simple visual indicator in a toothbrush which can be seen in a mirror while brushing and will signal if a predetermined strain in the shaft is generated, corresponding to a recommended limit of brushing pressure being exceeded or about to be exceeded.
There are also numerous other kinds of hand-held or hand-operated implement where it could be useful to provide a simple visual indication of strain in some part of the implement e.g. to signal the level of force being applied to a work piece or other object (including the human body) by or through the implement. Examples of such implements include razors, pens or other writing implements and hand tools such as screwdrivers, wrenches and saws etc.
This is, however, but one class of many possible applications for indicators according to the invention, others of which will appear from the ensuing description or will otherwise occur to those skilled in the art and include, without limitation, bridges, buildings and other civil engineering structures, railway tracks, ships' masts, sports rackets and balls, bolts, nuts, pipe couplings, vehicle tyres, fire extinguishers and other pressure vessels, load restraining straps, and other stressed articles.


A system and method receive a first signal at one or more processors of a promotional system that indicates automatic detection of presentation of a commercial, determine one or more online advertising settings associated with at least one of a product, service, or entity of interest in the commercial that was detected, and determine a current setting for the one or more online advertising settings from a search engine system. The online advertising settings are associated with a website of interest of the at least one of the product, service, or entity of interest. The system and method also send a second signal to the search engine system that temporarily changes the one or more online advertising settings during a time period following detection of the presentation of the commercial.

Internet search engines rely on users submitting search terms for products, services, and the like. The search engines examine keywords and quality metrics associated with the keywords to generate lists of websites that are presented to the users. The order of the websites appearing in the list may be based on the quality metrics associated with the keywords that also are associated with the websites.
The quality metrics may be based on click through rates and bid amounts of the keywords. The click through rates indicate how often users select, or click, the websites associated with the keywords when the websites are returned in the search results. The bid amounts are the monies paid by entities for the keywords. For example, a company may pay 2 USD for a keyword each time the website associated with the keyword is selected by a user in a search.
Users may search for the products or services offered by a company or other entity soon after a commercial or other advertisement of the products, services, or company is broadcast to the user (e.g., airs on television). For example, the amount or rate of Internet searches for a product may spike within a few minutes following the presentation of a television commercial for the product. It may be difficult, however, to predict exactly when the commercials are broadcast. As a result, it currently may be difficult for entities to know exactly when searches for the products or services offered by the entities will increase.

Online advertising and promotional coordination system


A method and system for processing a request is provided. An example system includes a security module that authenticates a request from a client. The system also includes a Web service that determines whether the set of operations includes an input/output (I/O) operation and determines whether a result of the authentication has been determined. While the request is pending authentication, the Web service may initiate processing of the request and may ensure that no I/O operations are performed within the processing of the request until a request of the authentication has been determined.

The present disclosure generally relates to computing devices, and more particularly to processing a request. When a client sends a request to a Web service, the request is processed by the Web service. The Web service may determine whether a result of the authentication has been determined before processing of the request has been initiated. Authentication of the client request may take a significant amount of time. For example, the client may send a connection request along with a username and password to a Web server hosting the Web service. The Web server may authenticate the client request by determining whether the sent username is stored in a database. If the sent username is found in the database, the Web server may compare a password associated with the username stored in the database with the sent password. Additionally, the password may be ciphered, further increasing the time it takes to authenticate the request. This may contribute to the time it takes to process a request.


A print head driving circuit is provided whereby, even if the load changes, the accuracy of the driving voltage waveform supplied to the load can be maintained, and consequently, deterioration in printing quality can be prevented. Transistors Q3, Q4 connected in a push-pull configuration are connected to the upstream of a transistor Q1. If the base potential of the transistor Q1 rises above its normal level, then the emitter potential of the transistors Q3, Q4 will rise and the transistor Q3 will become non-conductive, and the transistor Q1 will also become non-conductive, but since the transistor Q4 is conductive, the current I2 will flow from the base terminal of the transistor Q1, to earth, via the transistor Q4, and hence the base potential of the transistor Q1 will fall to or below the prescribed value. As a result, it is possible to prevent the base potential of the transistor Q1 from rising up in excess of the prescribed value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print head driving circuit for driving a print head having a plurality of nozzles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in an inkjet printer, a print head drive voltage waveform generating circuit and drive voltage waveform generating method have been proposed, with the object of obtaining a desired waveform, in a programmable fashion, by means of a simple operation. In these proposals, data for a plurality of points in a plurality of drive voltage waveforms at a prescribed temperature are previously stored as absolute coordinate data, and the data for a plurality of points in a desired drive voltage waveform are read out on the basis of tonal gradation data, and the data for this plurality of points is corrected on the basis of the difference between the ambient temperature during printing and the aforementioned prescribed temperature. Thereupon, the corrected absolute coordinate data is converted to relative coordinate data, and values between the points are interpolated, the interpolated drive voltage waveform data is converted to an analogue signal, and then amplified and output (see Japanese Patent Laid-open No. (Hei)11-20203, for example.)
In the conventional print head driving circuit 51 shown in FIG. 1, the voltage signal from the drive waveform generating circuit 53 is input to a current amplifying circuit 54 constituted by connecting an NPN type transistor 54a and a PNP type transistor 54b (hereinafter, both of these elements are called "transistor"), in a push-pull configuration. By amplifying the current of the aforementioned voltage signal, the voltage signal output from the current amplifying circuit 54 is supplied, as a nozzle driving voltage, to one electrode 52a of any one of the piezo elements provided respectively on each of the nozzles of the print head, via a switching circuit 55, which forms a transmission gate (for the sake of simplicity, only the piezo element labeled 52 is illustrated).
However, if the drive rate of any one of the aforementioned nozzles (piezo elements 52), which is the load of the current amplifying circuit 54 declines suddenly, for example, then a transient response will occur consequently in the operation of the transistor 54a. Therefore, cases may occur where the base voltage of the transistor 54a rises in excess of the prescribed value, giving rise to distortion in the nozzle drive voltage waveform output by the current amplifying circuit 54. In an inkjet printer provided with a print head driving circuit as illustrated in FIG. 1, if waveform distortion such as that described above occurs in the nozzle drive voltage, in other words, if the accuracy of the nozzle drive voltage waveform falls, then this risks causing a decline in printing quality. For example, if, in the middle of simultaneously performing printing using cyan ink and printing using magenta ink, for example, the printer changes suddenly from a state of solid printing of cyan ink to a state where no cyan ink is to be printed, then there is a risk that color fluctuation will occur in the printing using magenta ink.


A method includes retrieving an object from storage and copying the object, generating a list that identifies one or more byte ranges, of the copy of the object, to be masked, providing the list to a masker controller microservice that examines a recipe corresponding to the copy of the object, where the recipe references a slice of the copy of the object, and the slice includes one or more data segments, masking, by the masker controller microservice, a segment of the slice that is in one of the byte ranges, to create a masked segment, and replacing, in the slice, the segment with the masked segment, to create a masked slice and creating a masked object recipe that contains a reference to the masked slice, creating a masked object that includes the masked slice, and that references any unmasked segments of the slice, and deduplicating the masked object.

Data masking is an important feature that enables companies to have complete trust, while still maintaining usefulness in their backup environment. Data masking can take place on many different aspects of data such as specific entries in databases, to emails from specific employees. Examples of sensitive data that an enterprise may wish to mask include Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, and private financial details. In addition to the masking, it may also be useful to retain a backup copy of the original data in its unchanged form. However, while there are a number of different methods for data masking that exist today, implementation of data masking in a microservice deduplication environment would introduce complexities that conventional approaches are not well suited to address, if at all.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Data masking in a microservice architecture


A system, e.g. a reconfigurable electro-optical network, includes input and output waveguides. The input waveguide is configured to receive a first input optical signal including a first modulated input wavelength channel. The output waveguide is configured to receive a carrier signal including an unmodulated output wavelength channel. An input microcavity resonator is configured to derive a modulated electrical control signal from the modulated input wavelength channel. A first output microcavity resonator is configured to modulate the output wavelength channel in response to the control signal.

This section introduces aspects that may be helpful to facilitating a better understanding of the inventions. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.
Optical switching networks employ a switching topology that may be referred to as an "optical switch fabric." As the size and speed of such networks grows, new optical switch fabrics that provide greater capability are needed to keep pace with such growth. One aspect of capability to be addressed is configuration of such optical networks.


The present invention is directed to a method for analyzing the presence of a bacterial pathogen in a clinical sample comprising the steps of (i) at least partially isolating nucleic acid from said sample, characterized in that said nucleic acid is selected from a group consisting of either total nucleic acid, total DNA or total RNA, (ii) quantifying the amount of nucleic acid comprising a preselected sequence which is specific for said bacterial pathogen, and (iii) determining whether said amount of nucleic acid comprising a preselected sequence which is specific for said bacterial pathogen exceeds a first predetermined cut off value.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the technical field of detecting pathogenic microbial organisms. More specifically, the invention relates to the field of discriminating an infection in a clinical specimen from background by means of quantitatively amplifying specific nucleic acid sequences from said pathogenic microbial organism.
2. Prior Art Background
Infection by pathogenic bacteria, in particular if causing sepsis, is predominantly occurring and serious in intensive care units (ICU) of hospitals. The bacterium infecting the patient is in most cases unknown and cannot be determined from the symptoms. Each bacterium requires a different therapy using administration of a specific antibiotic. Presently, in routine diagnostics pathogenic bacteria, particularly Gram positive bacteria, are detected using a method including subjecting a sample of blood or other body fluid to culture to grow the bacteria, if present. This culture is maintained at conditions favouring bacterial growth for about three days. During this time, the number of bacteria and thus their nucleic acids is increased. Thereafter, the culture medium is subjected to lysis. The lysis mixture is used as the sample for hybridization reaction. The overall method takes around four days minimum until clarity on any infection of the sample by pathogenic bacteria is reached. Infection by pathogenic bacteria is very serious for the infected person. Within the first day of infection a therapy, preferably by administration of an antibiotic suitable to affect the particular infecting bacterium has to be started. Otherwise, the person is too heavily affected by the infection and may die before clarity on the infection is reached. On the other side, administration of several antibiotics simultaneously to prevent grow of all possible bacteria has to be avoided to not weaken the patient. The present methods thus are not satisfactory for routine ICU diagnostics.
Identification of pathogenic organisms such as pathogenic bacteria or fungi by means of nucleic acid based hybridization using specific hybridization probes has been known in the art already for a long time. For example, EP 0 131 052 discloses methods and probes wherein ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) sequences of a certain species or a certain group of organisms are detected directly from culture media. Detection of ribosomal target sequences is especially useful due to the fact that these sequences are amplified in-vivo, resulting in high sensitivity of the respective assay.
An improvement of nucleic acid sequence based detection of pathogenic organisms was achieved upon availability of the PCR technology. For the detection of pathogenic fungi such as Candida and Aspergillus, for example, WO 97/07238 discloses a method using generic primers for amplifying all types of fungal ribosomal 18S rDNA sequences and subsequently hybridizing with fungi species specific probes.
As an alternative to the analysis of ribosomal gene sequences, non-coding but transcribed ribosomal spacer DNA sequences like the ITS-1 region located between the 16S and the 23S rRNA genes have been used for detection and identication of several pathogenic organisms (see, for example, EP 0 452 596).
In another context, the groups of Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria have been discriminated by means of a target-dependent amplification comparable to an allele specific amplification approach (Klausegger, A., et al., J. Clin. Microbiol. 37 (1999) 464-466). On the basis of their 16S r-DNA sequences, the species investigated by Klausegger et al. differ at a given position of the 16S rRNA gene in that all investigated Gram negative bacteria contain a G-residue at a certain nucleotide position whereas all investigated Gram positive bacteria always contain a C-residue at said nucleotide position. Consequently, usage of appropriate primers having either a discriminating complementary 3′-terminal C-residue or a complementary G-residue, respectively, results in DNA amplification of either Gram positive or Gram negative sequence origin.
Further progress was made upon availability of kinetic Real Time PCR. In this type of assay, formation of PCR products is monitored in each cycle of the PCR. The amplification is usually measured in thermocyclers having additional detection means for monitoring fluorescence signals during the amplification reaction. A typical example is Roche Diagnostics LightCycler™ (Cat. No. 2 0110468). In LightCycler™ as well as in other Real Time PCR instruments commercially available so far, amplification products are detected by means of fluorescently labeled hybridization probes which only emit fluorescence signals when they are bound to the target nucleic acid or in certain cases also by means of fluorescent dyes that bind to double-stranded DNA. A defined signal threshold is determined for all reactions to be analyzed and the number of cycles (Cp) required to reach this threshold value is determined for the target nucleic acid as well as for the reference nucleic acids such as a standard or housekeeping gene. The absolute or relative copy numbers of the target molecule can be determined on the basis of the Cp values obtained for the target nucleic acid and the reference nucleic acid (Roche Diagnostics LightCycler™ operator manual (Cat. No. 2 0110468)).
There exist different formats for the detection of amplified DNA:
a) DNA Binding Dye Format
Since the amount of double stranded amplification product usually exceeds the amount of nucleic acid originally present in the sample to be analyzed, double-stranded DNA specific dyes may be used, which upon excitation with an appropriate wavelength show enhanced fluorescence only if they are bound to double-stranded DNA. Such method is described in EP 0 512 334. Preferably, only those dyes are used, like for example SYBR® Green I, which do not affect the efficiency of the PCR reaction.
All other formats known in the art require the appropriate design of a fluorescently labeled hybridization probe which only emits fluorescence upon binding to its target nucleic acid.
b) TaqMan™ Probes
A single-stranded hybridization probe is labeled with two components. When the first component, the so-called fluorescer, is excited with light of a suitable wavelength, the absorbed energy is transferred to the second component, the so-called quencher, according to the principle of fluorescence resonance energy transfer. During the annealing step of the PCR reaction, the hybridization probe binds to the target DNA and is degraded by the 5′-3′-exonuclease activity of the polymerase, for example Taq Polymerase, during the elongation phase. As a result the excited fluorescent component and the quencher are spatially separated from one another and thus a fluorescence emission of the first component can be measured (EP 0 543 942 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,015).
c) Molecular Beacons
These hybridization probes are also labeled with a first component and with a quencher, the labels preferably being located at different ends of an at least partially self-complementary probe. As a result of the secondary structure of the probe, both components are in spatial vicinity in solution. After hybridization to the target nucleic acids both components are separated from one another such that after excitation with light of a suitable wavelength the fluorescence emission of the first component can be measured (U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,801).
d) FRET Hybridization Probes
The Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) hybridization probe test format is especially useful for all kinds of homogenous hybridization assays (Matthews, J. A., and Kricka, L. J., Anal. Biochem. 169 (1988) 1-25). It is characterized by two single-stranded hybridization probes which are used simultaneously and are complementary to adjacent sites of the same strand of an (amplified) target nucleic acid. Both probes are labeled with different fluorescent components. When excited with light of a suitable wavelength, a first component transfers the absorbed energy to the second component according to the principle of fluorescence resonance energy transfer such that a fluorescence emission of the second component can be measured only when both hybridization probes bind to adjacent positions of the target molecule to be detected.
When annealed to the target sequence, the hybridization probes must be located very close to each other, in a head to tail arrangement. Usually, the gap between the labeled 3′ end of the first probe and the labeled 5′ end or the second probe is as small as possible, i.e. 1-5 bases. This allows for a close vicinity of the FRET donor compound and the FRET acceptor compound, which is typically 10-100 Ångstrom. Particulars are well known and disclosed for example in EP 0 070 687.
Alternatively to monitoring the increase in fluorescence of the FRET acceptor component, it is also possible to monitor fluorescence decrease of the FRET donor component as a quantitative measurement of hybridization event.
In particular, the FRET hybridization probe format may be used in real time PCR, in order to detect the amplified target DNA. Among all detection formats known in the art of real time PCR, the FRET-hybridization probe format has been proven to be highly sensitive, exact and reliable (WO 97/46707; WO 97/46712; WO 97/46714). Yet, the design of appropriate FRET hybridization probe sequences may sometimes be limited by the special characteristics of the target nucleic acid sequence to be detected.
As an alternative to the usage of two FRET hybridization probes, it is also possible to use a fluorescent-labeled primer and only one labeled oligonucleotide probe (Bernard, P. S., et al., Anal. Biochem. 255 (1998) 101-107). In this regard, it may be chosen arbitrarily, whether the primer is labeled with the FRET donor or the FRET acceptor compound.
FRET hybridization probes (also called FRET-Hybprobes or FRET probes) can also be used for melting curve analysis (WO 97/46707; WO 97/46712; WO 97/46714). In such an assay, the target nucleic acid is amplified first in a typical PCR reaction with suitable amplification primers The hybridization probes may already be present during the amplification reaction or be added subsequently. After completion of the PCR-reaction, the temperature of the sample is constitutively increased. Fluorescence is detected as long as the hybridization probe is bound to the target DNA. At the melting temperature, the hybridization probe is released from their target, and the fluorescent signal is decreasing immediately down to the background level. This decrease is monitored with an appropriate fluorescence versus temperature-time plot such that the negative of a first derivative function can be calculated. The temperature value corresponding to the obtained maximum of such a function is then taken as the determined melting temperature of said pair of FRET hybridization probes.
Point mutations or polymorphisms within the target nucleic acid result in a less then 100% complementarity between the target nucleic acid and the FRET probes, thus resulting in a decreased melting temperature. This enables for a common detection of a pool of sequence variants by means of FRET-Hybprobe hybridization, whereas subsequently, different members of said pool may become discriminated by means of performing melting curve analysis. Instead of FRET hybrdization probes, Molecular Beacons may alternatively be used for melting curve analysis.
Upon the availability of Real-Time PCR and homogenous Real-Time PCR melting curve analysis, discrimination of certain types of species or strains became possible using either double stranded DNA binding dyes such as SybrGreen™I, or, alternatively, specifically designed hybridization probes hybridizing to different but similar target sequences. Hybridization probes may be used in such a way that the melting temperature of the probe/target nucleic acid hybrid is being determined. For example, Espy, M. J., et al., J. Clin. Microbiol. 38 (2000) 795-799 disclose diagnosis of Herpes simplex infections by means of amplifying a Herpes simplex sequence and subsequent analysis using FRET hybridization probes to discriminate between the HSV Type I and the HSV Type II genotype.
Furthermore, WO 01/48237 suggests in general the connection of amplification and temperature dependent hybridization in order to detect different pathogenic species. Yet, WO 01/48237 does not teach any methods or conditions which enable for an exclusive detection of pathogenic organisms, but to not detect any non pathogenic organism.
Even the presently used methods including in-vitro amplification of specific bacterial species and subsequent detection of said bacterium are not useful for cases where urgent diagnostics is needed, for example in ICU, because for each bacterium an amplification reaction and a detection reaction have to be performed. This requires that a large amount of sample volume, such as blood, has to be drawn from each patient. In ICU large sample volumes from severely infected patients are not available.
Moreover, all kind of blood cultures and the molecular diagnostic methods disclosed above are exclusively qualitative methods. Due to false positive results from contaminations, however, blood culture experiments as well as molecular analysis methods need to be repeated several times in order to obtain a definitve diagnostic result which can serve as a basis for an appropriate diagnostic treatment. False postive results are very often due to Coagulase negative Staphylococci contaminants.
Thus, there is a need in the art to provide methods which are specifically applicable for detecting and quantifying relevant pathogenic organisms of interest. In particular, there is a need in the art for a method which enables for the discrimination between a systemic infection and a false positive signal due to contamination or background DNA in body fluids.

Quantitative test for bacterial pathogens

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


A method for fabricating capacitors of a DRAM by employing the liquid-phase deposition. Since the working temperature required for performing liquid-phase deposition is low, selective deposition can be performed on the area not covered by photoresist with the presence of the photoresist layer. The foregoing method comprises: filling up the contact hole with photoresist, and keeping up coating photoresist upward and horizontally; selectively depositing oxide on the area, that is not coated with photoresist, by utilizing the liquid-phase deposition process; removing the photoresist for forming an opening which forms the profile of the lower electrode of a capacitor; forming a conductive layer on the inner walls of the opening, and having the contact hole filled as well to form the lower electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for fabricating capacitors of a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and more particularly, to a method for fabricating capacitors of a DRAM by using selective interlayer dielectric formation technology.
2. Description of Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, it shows the circuit of a memory cell that comprises a MOS transistor T and a capacitor C within a DRAM, wherein the properties of charging and discharging on the capacitor can be used to store information. Generally, every digit in a binary information can be stored in a capacitor which will be charged is the stored digit is a logic 1, and a logic 0 if the capacitor is not charged. The source of the MOS transistor T is connected to a corresponding bit line BL, and the drain of the MOS transistor T is connected to the storage electrode (or lower electrode) 15 of the capacitor C, and the gate of the MOS transistor T is connected to a corresponding word line. The upper electrode is connected to a fixed voltage source. There is a dielectric layer 12 filled between the upper electrode 14 and lower electrodes 15 of the capacitor C.
Since the capacitor is the major device used by a memory cell for storing information. If the capacitance of the capacitor is high, the effect caused by noise will be reduced when a piece of information is read, and it will further reduce the frequency of refreshing.
A conventional method for fabricating cylinder capacitors of a DRAM is shown in FIGS. 2A through 2E. As referring to FIG. 2A, a field effect transistor is formed on the surface of a semiconductor substrate 200 such as a p-type silicon substrate, and the field effect transistor is isolated by field oxide 204, wherein the field effect transistor contains a gate 212, and source/drain 222 and 232. Then, an isolation layer 206 and an etching stop layer 216 are formed in sequence on the substrate 200. A contact hole is formed through the isolation layer and the etching stop layer for exposing the source/drain region 222 which is designed to be coupling with transistor, wherein the isolation layer 206 includes oxide, and the etching stop layer 216 includes silicon nitride. The contact hole is then filled with conducting material, such as polysilicon, to form a conductive plug 242.
Referring to FIG. 2B, a conductive layer 252 and a dummy oxide layer 226 are formed on the top of the etching stop layer 216 in sequence, and the bottom region of a lower electrode of the desired cylinder capacitor is defined and has contact with the conductive plug 242, wherein the conductive layer 252 includes doped polysilicon, and the dummy oxide layer 226 includes borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) or phosphosilicate (PSG).
Referring to FIG. 2C, a conductive layer 262 is form for covering everything on the top of the substrate 200, wherein the conductive layer includes doped polysilicon.
Referring next to FIG. 2D, an anisotropic etching process is performed for forming the conductive spacers 262a, which is against the dummy oxide layer 226 and in contact with the conductive layer 252, by using the etching stop layer 216 as the etching ending, wherein the conductive spacers 262a and conductive layer 252 construct the lower electrode of the cylinder capacitor 272.
Referring next to FIG. 2E, the dummy oxide layer is removed by a wet etching method. A dielectric layer 236 having a thickness of approximate 10 .ANG..about.60 .ANG. is then formed on the exposed surface of the lower electrode of the cylinder capacitor 272, wherein the dielectric includes silicon oxide, silicon nitride/silicon oxide (NO) structure, silicon oxide/silicon nitride/silicon oxide (ONO) structure, or other dielectric materials of high permittivities such as Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5, Pb(Zr,Ti)O.sub.3 (i.e. PZT), or (Ba,Sr)TiO.sub.3 (i.e. BST).
After that, a conductive layer 282 is formed on the top surface of the dielectric layer 236 as the upper electrode of the cylinder capacitor for accomplishing the capacitor of a DRAM.
However, the conventional method for fabricating cylinder capacitors of a DRAM is too complicated, and the fabrication cost is not economical.

Method for fabricating capacitors of a dynamic random access memory


A heat sink has a base plate to be clamped against a heat source and one or more heat pipes containing a phase change fluid. Each heat pipe has an elongated tubular evaporator fitted in a channel in the base plate, and a columnar condenser part perpendicular to the base plate forming a structural column for air heat exchange fins. The channel in the base plate is parallel to an edge. An additional channel or ridge is provided, also parallel to the edge, for receiving a clamp or spring clip to urge the base plate against the heat source. The base plate is inexpensively extruded with the parallel channels, ridges, etc., extending across the width of the base plate parallel to the edge. The heat sink has a minimum number of inexpensive parts yet is highly thermally efficient.

Certain semiconductor devices in electrical and electronic circuits, such as large scale integrated circuits, voltage regulators, current switching devices, high current drivers and other similar devices, generate heat that is deleterious to their operation and must be dissipated. An individual semiconductor junction may be subject to thermal runaway current conduction leading to further heating and damage. In large scale digital integrated circuits, operation at or above the maximum rated temperature can result in spurious switching operations and functional failure.
In a highly integrated semiconductor device such as a computer processor, a single semiconductor switching transistor may conduct little concurrent on its own, but is densely mounted with many other transistors. A single integrated device
may generate heat energy of a hundred Watts or more. Supplemental cooling arrangements may be needed in addition to convective cooling by heat driven circulation of ambient air, conduction of heat through circuit lands and the like, for maintaining operational temperatures within design ranges. For this purpose, thermally conductive heat sink devices, normally of cast or sheet metal and having a substantial surface area exposed to the air, are mounted on a base that is clamped to bear physically against the heat generating circuit element.
A large-scale integrated circuit such as a computer processor or similar device typically is mounted removably in a receptacle that is soldered to a printed circuit board. The receptacle has inward-facing resilient contacts for conductively coupling to contacts on the circuit package, which package may be several cm on a side. The receptacle or auxiliary structures associated with the printed circuit board carry spring-clip clamping mechanisms that engage over part of the heat sink, rested atop the circuit package. The clamping mechanism physically presses a heat sink against the circuit package when mounted. The heat sink typically comprises a base block that is relatively thick, integrally cast with an array of thin fins functioning as a heat exchanger to release heat into the ambient air. The array of fins and/or the base has structure to cooperate with the clamping mechanism, and can also provide a point of attachment for a fan for forcing a flow of air over the fins.
Heat energy diffuses from the active circuit elements into the circuit substrate and into the circuit packaging structure, which comprises thermally conductive plastic or ceramic. The heat energy diffuses by conductive contact into the base of the heat sink, and then diffuses through the integral or thermally conductively attached structures of the heat sink to the surfaces at which air contact heat exchange convection carries the heat away. The array of fins typically is cast integrally with the heat sink base, but also can be thermally conductively attached in contact with the base. The function of the fins is to present a relatively large surface area, preferably within a relatively small total volume, for efficient thermal energy release. The electrically powered fan, mounted on the heat exchanger by screws or clamps, forces air over the heat exchanger fins and may improve thermal transfer. However, the fan also dissipates a certain amount of heat into the air. The heat sink spreads out the heat energy from the source, primarily the integrated circuit, into the cabinet or housing volume of the device. Another fan may be provided to circulate air between the housing and the ambient room air.
Integrated circuit devices are available according to more or less demanding temperature specifications. Devices that have a relatively wider temperature range are more expensive. Standard commercial computer processor components, for example, may be rated up to 70° C. (about 160° F.). The most durable military application devices may be rated up 125° C. (about 260° F.). These devices are sometimes required to operate in ambient air temperature conditions ranging from −40 to +55° C. (about −40 to +130° F.).
Movement of thermal energy from an integrated circuit or other localized heat source, toward a remote area or toward a structure that carries the heat away, occurs from one or more of thermal conduction, convection and radiation. Conduction of heat energy requires contact between thermally conductive masses and proceeds at a rate that depends in part on the difference in temperature between the masses. Convection involves conduction between a heated body and adjacent heat transfer fluid (gas or liquid), typically air, involves differences in fluid density due to differences in fluid temperature, and is substantially affected by forced air currents. Radiation also dissipates heat, but its contribution is normally small at the temperature ranges of interest.
Heat transfer arrangements can involve passing a current of cooler air or other heat transfer fluid over a hotter surface to be cooled. A captive heat transfer fluid can be provided in closed volume and arranged to circulate. The fluid is heated by a source of heat energy that is in heat transfer relationship with one part of the closed volume. A heat sink is arranged in heat transfer relationship with another part of the closed volume, releasing heat (provided that the heat exchange medium, such as air, is kept cooler than the heat sink), and cooling the fluid. The heat transfer fluid advantageously undergoes cyclic changes of phase. Each change of phase either stores or releases a quantity of heat energy due to the latent thermal energy involved in the phase change itself.
In this way, a liquid phase change heat transfer fluid can be evaporated (vaporized) into gas at the heat source and condensed again into liquid at the heat sink. Different techniques can be used to return the condensed liquid from the condenser to the evaporator, which need not be powered by outside energy sources. A return path is possible, for example, over a gravity flow path in a thermo-siphon arrangement. In a heat pipe arrangement, a return path for the condensed liquid can be provided by lining the vessel confining the heat transfer fluid with a wicking material that supports capillary flow, such as a sintered particulate or powder lining. The capillary flow is driven substantially by surface tension and can proceed regardless of orientation and gravity.
Assuming that the heat transfer fluid is confined in an integral metal vessel, some thermal conduction from the heat source to the sink can occur through the vessel walls. It is desirable on grounds of efficiency to separate the evaporator and condenser sections by a distance or otherwise to interpose a thermal barrier that permits maintenance of a temperature difference. Nevertheless, phase change heat exchange circuits as described can operate with a very modest temperature difference between the source and the sink and can efficiently move heat energy to assist in heat dissipation.
There are a number of design considerations for thermal transfer arrangements such as heat pipes. In addition to the ability to handle the necessary flow of thermal energy to keep the heat source within desired temperature limits, the evaporator and the condenser should have a good heat transfer coupling with the heat source and sink, respectively. The thermal transfer characteristics of the heat pipe structures, the various dimensions and quantities, etc. need to operate over the range of expected temperatures. Preferably the device is compact and does not interfere unduly with necessary access to structures associated with the heat source and sink.
A number of heat pipe arrangements according to the foregoing general description are available from Thermacore International, Inc., Lancaster, Pa., and are disclosed in US patents assigned to their licensor, Thermal Corp., Georgetown, Del. In a heat pipe, the liquid and vapor phases of the heat transfer medium reach equilibrium in the absence of temperature differences and remain substantially stagnant. When heat energy is added at the evaporator, a temperature difference arises. Vaporization of the heat transfer medium at the evaporator leads to increased local vapor pressure in that area. The vapor diffuses through the envelope of the heat pipe, and a portion arrives at the condenser. The condenser is at a slightly lower temperature. As the vapor is cooled and condenses, releasing the latent heat energy of vaporization at the area of the condenser, heat energy is transferred from the heat transfer medium to the heat pipe envelope, where air heat exchange fins remove the heat energy.
The condensed liquid phase heat transfer medium flows back to the evaporator due to capillary forces developed in the wick structure, and the cycle can repeat. Where there is a positive temperature difference between the evaporator (e.g., warmed by an electrical circuit element) and the condenser (e.g., cooled by convection, forced air, contact with a thermal sink, etc.) the cycle can continue indefinitely, moving heat energy. The technique is operative at low thermal gradients. The operation is passive in that it can be driven wholly by the heat energy that it transfers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,135—Prasher; U.S. Pat. No. 6,389,696—Heil; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,382,309—Kroliczek teach additional heat dissipation apparatus intended for cooling integrated circuit devices and the like, as described. These references are hereby incorporated for their teachings of heat pipe or thermal siphon devices.
A stacked-fin heat sink device for a large scale integrated circuit or processor chip package is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,235—Cromwell et al. In that device, a mounting fixture is attached to the motherboard or other circuit card to surround the processor, and the fixture receives a spring biased mounting that presses a thermally conductive base plate into mechanical and thermally conductive contact with the processor package. A heat pipe is contained in a cylindrical vessel disposed centrally on and longitudinally extending perpendicular to the thermally conductive plate. A plurality of heat transfer fins are disposed parallel to one another and perpendicular to the extension of the cylindrical vessel. In this patent, which is hereby incorporated in this disclosure, the thermally conductive plate at the bottom end of the heat pipe vessel can function as the evaporator, having a slightly higher temperature than the finned sidewalls of the vessel remote from the bottom, which maintain a lower temperature and can function as the condenser. In the standing configuration shown, gravity can power the return path. In other orientations, a wicking material can be provided so that capillary action drives the return path.
The spaced air-contact fins in Cromwell need to be assembled with the heat pipe tube. Whereas the fins are rectangular and the heat pipe is a cylinder, there are issues respecting vertical, horizontal and rotational alignment of the plates to the one another, and attachment to the cylinder in good thermally conductive contact. These problems appear to have been addressed by affixing the fins to opposed side plates, thus requiring additional parts and assembly while affecting the extent of available air circulation. Air circulation characteristics and heat transfer characteristics are also affected by the relative size of the heat pipe and the fins. It would be advantageous if the structure of such a heat sink could be minimized, preferably such that the heat pipe provide substantially all the structural support needed for the fins.
A mounting base plate arrangement has certain potentially useful aspects in connection with a heat transfer device. A plate is useful to present a large surface area for contact with a heat source having a planar surface, such as a processor or VLSI circuit. The rate of heat transfer by conduction is partly a function of the area and intimacy of contact. The plate can have a reasonably substantial thickness, which provides a thermal storage capacity and leads to rapid heat transfer throughout the material of the plate. Apart from these benefits, the drawbacks include the complications associated with mounting the plate to the heat source, and the need to mount the heat pipe vessel to the base plate and to mount the fins. These needs are met in part by providing structures on the base plate. The structures can include a clasp part that is complementary with a spring clip for affixing the base plate to the heat sources. The structures can also include structures that are complementary with the external structure of the heat pipe vessel, which is capable of various shapes. The structure of the base plate can even provide one or more walls that are assembled to close the heat pipe vessel.
However there is a strong interest in controlling the complication and expense of heat sinks. Heat sinks are preferably made in a manner that maximizes thermal efficiency by providing good contact between the heat source, the heat pipe and the fins. The optimal structure should have very inexpensive parts, mounted by very inexpensive assembly steps, but should provide good thermal efficiency.
It would be advantageous to reduce the complexity of a heat sink containing a heat pipe, to the minimum necessary to achieve the objectives of efficient heat transfer and the structural connections that are involved.


A magnetic toner containing: magnetic toner particles containing a binder resin and a magnetic body; and inorganic fine particles, as described in the specification, present on the surface of the magnetic toner particles. A coverage ratio A of the magnetic toner particles' surface by the inorganic fine particles, as described in the specification, and a coverage ratio B of the magnetic toner particles' surface by the inorganic fine particles each of which is fixed to the magnetic toner particles' surface, as described in the specification, have prescribed values and a prescribed relationship in the magnetic toner. The alumina fine particles and/or titania fine particles are present on the surface of the magnetic toner particles as described in the specification.

Numerous methods are known for the execution of electrophotography. At a general level, using a photoconductive material an electrostatic latent image is formed on an electrostatic latent image-bearing member (also referred to as a "photosensitive member" below) by various means. Then, a visible image is made by developing this electrostatic latent image with toner; as necessary the toner image is transferred to a recording medium such as paper; and a copied article is obtained by fixing the toner image on the recording medium by, for example, the application of heat or pressure. For example, copiers and printers are image-forming apparatuses that use such an electrophotographic procedure.
Such copiers and printers are currently being used in quite diverse environments, e.g., low-temperature, low-humidity environments as well as high-temperature, high-humidity environments, and are thus required to output high-quality images without being influenced by the environment. In addition, examples of use outdoors have been increasing quite recently in combination with the downsizing and simplification of image-producing devices, and there is thus also demand for a stable image output regardless of the environment.
The charging state of a toner can be altered by the use environment, and, as one of the image defects produced as a result of this, a phenomenon known as "ghosting" occurs in which density irregularities appear in the image. A brief description of "ghosting" is provided in the following.
Development proceeds through the transfer of toner carried by the toner-carrying member to the electrostatic latent image. During this time, fresh toner is supplied to the regions where the toner on the surface of the toner-carrying member has been consumed (regions corresponding to image areas), while unconsumed toner remains present as such in regions where there has been no toner consumption (regions corresponding to nonimage areas). As a result, a difference in the amount of charging is produced between the freshly supplied toner (hereafter referred to as the supplied toner) and the toner that has remained present (hereafter referred to as the residual toner). Specifically, the freshly supplied toner has a relatively lower amount of charge and the toner that has remained present has a relatively higher amount of charge. Ghosting is produced due to this difference (refer to FIG. 1).
This difference in the amount of charging between the residual toner and the supplied toner is caused by the fact that the number of times the residual toner is subjected to charging grows to large values, in contrast to the fact that the supplied toner is subjected to charging, i.e., is passed through the contact region between the regulating blade and the toner-carrying member (referred to below as the contact region), a single time.
On the other hand, in a low-humidity environment, toner charging is not suppressed since there is little moisture in the air, and a state is assumed in which the charge on the toner is easily ramped up. Due to this, a state ends up being assumed in a low-humidity environment in which the residual toner carries a high amount of charge and the difference in the amount of charge between the supplied toner and residual toner then grows larger and ghosting is further worsened.
To date, the addition of an external additive, e.g., alumina or titania, has been pursued as a method for improving ghosting.
For example, according to Patent Literature 1, alumina is externally added in combination with strontium titanate or hydrophobic silica having a regulated BET specific surface area in order to improve the flowability of the toner and improve its aggregative property.
According to Patent Literature 2, large-diameter alumina fine particles are uniformly and tightly attached to the toner in order to improve the transportability at the toner-carrying member by reducing the amount of release external additive.
While a certain effect is obtained according to each of these patent literatures, these effects are inadequate in a low-humidity environment, which is an environment that facilitates the appearance of ghosting.
On the other hand, in order to solve problems caused by external additives, toners that focus in particular on external additive release have been disclosed (for example, Patent Literatures 3 and 4); however, these again cannot be regarded as adequate with regard to the charging performance of the toner.
Moreover, Patent Literature 5 teaches stabilization of the development·transfer steps by controlling the total coverage ratio of the toner base particles by the external additives, and a certain effect is in fact obtained by controlling the theoretical coverage ratio, provided by calculation, for a certain prescribed toner base particle. However, the actual state of binding by external additives may be substantially different from the value calculated assuming the toner to be a sphere, and such a theoretical coverage ratio does not correlate with the ghosting problem described above and improvement has been necessary.


In order to reduce an assembling man hour of the constituting part for the fuel battery and prevent wrinkles from being generated in an electrolyte membrane, in a constituting part for a fuel battery having electrodes with catalyst in both pole sides of an electrolyte membrane and provided with gas diffusion layers for promoting diffusion of gas in both outer sides thereof, an integrated product between the gas diffusion layers and the gasket, the gas diffusion layers being made of a carbon fiber or the like and impregnated with a rubber, and forming gaskets is bonded to an integrated product of the electrolyte membrane and the electrodes with catalyst by using a hot press.

The fuel battery has a separator (collector electrode) constituted by a carbon plate or the like, an electrode with catalyst (catalyst layer) carrying a Pt catalyst and an electrolyte membrane (ion exchange membrane), for reacting a gas, a gas diffusion layer (GDL) made of a carbon fiber or the like for promoting a diffusion of gas, and a gasket (seal) for sealing the gas or a refrigerant, as main constituting elements.
However, in the prior art, since the structure is made such that these constituting elements are sequentially assembled at a time of assembling into the fuel battery, there is a problem that a lot of labor and time are required for the assembly, in particular, in order to assemble the electrolyte membrane and the electrodes with catalyst, positioning is necessary because the position is hard to be fixed.
In this case, with respect to the assembly of the electrolyte membrane and the electrodes with catalyst, at present, there has been developed a method of connecting both of them by using a hot press (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-223134), and it is accordingly possible to utilize a reaction electrode portion (MEA) corresponding to an integrated product of the electrolyte membrane and the electrodes with catalyst as a single constituting element.
However, even when the electrolyte membrane and the electrodes with catalyst are integrally formed as mentioned above, it is necessary to insert the gasket between the separator and the electrolyte membrane at a time of assembling them. Accordingly, in conventional, the gaskets are assembled so as to hold the electrolyte membrane from both sides of the electrolyte membrane, however, since it is hard to position the electrolyte membrane, there is a problem that wrinkles are generated in the electrolyte membrane at a time of assembling.
Further, there has been developed a structure in which the gasket is integrally formed with the separator in the side of the electrolyte membrane (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-133288), however, even in the separator with gasket of this kind, there is the same problem in the case of holding the electrolyte membrane.
Further, in general, the fuel battery system is an expensive, in particular, the reaction electrode portion is an expensive part, and therefore a cost saving thereof is required. According to NEDO report in 1999 (New Energy Industrial Technology Comprehensive Development Commission Research Result Report in 1999, Search Concerning Standard Tool for Developing Solid Polymer Type Fuel Battery: Table 2. 2-1 Cost Comparison of Standard Tool at Mass Production), the reaction electrode portion is most expensive.
The present invention is made by taking the points mentioned above into consideration, and an object of the present invention is to provide a constituting part for a fuel battery which can reduce an assembling man hour of the constituting part for the fuel battery, and can prevent wrinkles from being generated in an electrolyte membrane.
Further, another object is to provide a constituting part for a fuel battery which can reduce an assembling man-hour by previously integrating respective parts constituting a cell in a stack for a fuel battery, and in addition thereto, another object is to provide a constituting part for a fuel battery which can reduce a part cost by reducing a plane area of a reaction electrode portion corresponding to a comparatively expensive part.


A speed control system for a small planing boat can comprise a speed sensor to detect a vessel speed of a boat body, a speed information storing unit on which data of a previously set maximum speed limit of the boat body is stored, and a speed control device for controlling the cruising speed of the boat body not to exceed the maximum speed limit based on a result of a correlation between the cruising speed and the maximum speed limit. The speed control device can comprise a revolution speed sensor, a revolution speed acquiring unit and a revolution speed control unit. The speed control device can also work in conjunction with an intake air mass amount control device which can include an electronically-controlled throttle valve, an air mass amount acquiring unit and a throttle opening degree control unit.

1. Field of the Inventions
The present inventions relate to a control system for a boats, such as planing boats with water-jet-propulsion systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Small planing boats, such as "personal watercraft" are often used for sports and leisure. Boats of this type of are usually small planing boats, driven by a rearward discharge of a jet of water drawn from a water intake port provided to an under surface of the boat body, then pressurized and accelerated by a water-jet pump.
Meanwhile, maximum speed limits for small planing boats is, in some local regions, limited. Thus, manufacturers may be required to install a vessel speed (cruising speed or boat speed) limiter in order to prevent the boat from exceeding a predetermined maximum speed limit.
Some boats include user-adjustable vessel speed control systems, also known as "cruise assist systems," such as those disclosed in Japanese Patent Document JP2002-180861A1. In this patent, the vessel speed control system includes a cruise assist operation device provided on a steering bar, and according to the operation of this device, the engine of the boat is maintained at an engine speed stored in a memory device.
However, in such speed control systems in which vessel speed is controlled based only on the engine speed stored in memory, the actual vessel speed varies with the shape and weight of the boat body and conditions of the engine. Other conditions such as a direction of the wind, current, loading weight (for example, a body weight and the number of people boarding the boat), etc. also affect the vessel speed.
Thus, this type of speed control system suffers from problems in that the vessel speed is not satisfactorily controlled when conditions are changed. In addition, the maximum speed limit for marine vessels is different for different countries and/or different regions.
Therefore, in order to cope with these situations, one solution is to change conditions of the boat body without changing the set conditions of the speed control system. For example, the shape of the boat body can be changed to have a larger resistance to water in order not to exceed the regulatory speed. However, if such maximum speed control technique is adopted, larger resistances are also generated during acceleration, so that output power of the engine is not always effectively utilized, and thus can be unsatisfactory to users.

Vessel speed control system for small planing boat and small planing boat utilizing the same


A golf club shaft includes an inner layer, an intermediate layer placed on the inner layer, and an outer layer placed on the intermediate layer. The intermediate layer has inclined yarns, which are substantially symmetric and have predetermined orientation angles relative to the longitudinal axis of the shaft, and longitudinal yarns, which are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shaft. The orientation angles of the inclined yarns vary along the longitudinal axis of the shaft.

This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-099150 filed Mar. 31, 2000 and entitled xe2x80x9cGolf Club Shaft.xe2x80x9d
The present invention relates to a golf club shaft formed of fiber reinforced plastics, and more specifically, to a golf club shaft that maintains a desired flexural rigidity and strength and that has an improved distribution of linear density along the longitudinal shaft axis.
A general golf shaft club has an outside diameter that increases linearly from the tip end to the butt end so that the cross-sectional area of the shaft increases linearly. The distribution of linear density, which is the distribution of the mass of shaft material per unit length, is proportional to the axial variation of the cross-sectional area. Therefore, the linear density increases substantially linearly from the tip end to the butt end.
In relation to the distribution of linear density described above, a number of shafts with the varied distribution of linear density have been devised to improve their swing characteristics.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei 7-163689 discloses a shaft that has at least one balancing weight placed within a cylindrical wall of composite material. The balancing weight is made of a formed sheet and is attached to the inner face of the cylindrical wall. Japanese Patent No. 2622428 discloses a shaft with a bulge. The bulge is produced by cutting sheets of prepregs into a predetermined shape and laminating them to drastically increase the outside and inside diameters of the shaft.
However, the distribution of flexural rigidity EI is limited in these shafts.
In the shaft with a weight (a balancing weight), the specific gravity of the weight is larger than that of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). It is likely that the elastic modulus E of the weight is also larger than that of CFRP. Therefore, the flexural rigidity EI and the stress increase at the position where the weight is attached. This lowers the shaft strength.
The shaft with a bulge has the same problem. Provided that the shaft has an outside diameter (d2) and an inside diameter (d1), the second moment of area I of the shaft can be expressed as xcfx80(d24xe2x88x92d14)/64. The second moment of area I is increased either by increasing the outside diameter (d2) or by decreasing the inside diameter (d1). When the elastic modulus E is constant, the value EI will increase as the second moment I increases. More stress is applied on the location where the variation of flexural rigidity EI is greater. This reduces the shaft strength.
One method to improve the flexural rigidity EI is to introduce a separate object at the position on the shaft where second moment of area I should be increased (low Exc3x97high I=good EI). However, this increases the number of parts and manufacturing steps and thus increases manufacturing costs. Accordingly, this method is impractical.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei 6-278216 discloses a process of manufacturing a tubular body including a golf shaft. The process includes winding fibers over a mandrel, impregnating the fibers with a resin, heat curing the resulting material, and pulling out the mandrel. In this process, longitudinal yarns parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tubular body are provided. At least one of an inner layer and a part of an intermediate layer include the longitudinal yarns. A plurality of layers, including a layer which includes the longitudinal yarns, can be manufactured at a time. This process provides a tubular body that is manufactured in one step and that has a desired flexural rigidity EI. The yarns, except for the longitudinal yarns, are wound circumferentially and continuously over the mandrel. The flexural rigidity EI along the length of the tubular body may be varied by changing the winding angle. However, in this process, the distribution of mass of the shaft of the tubular body is not considered.
To solve these problems, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a golf club shaft that maintains a desired flexural rigidity EI and strength and that has an improved distribution of linear density along the longitudinal shaft axis.
The golf shaft club of the invention has a shaft extending between a tip portion and a butt portion. The shaft includes braided yarns of reinforcing fibers that form layers. The layers are hardened with resin. The layers include a varied layer that has yarns positioned substantially symmetrically at predetermined orientation angles relative to the shaft axis. The orientation angles are maximum at a predetermined location and decrease from the predetermined location towards the tip portion and the butt portion.