A multiphase interactive advertisement includes a first phase having a first graphical interface and a second phase having a second graphical interface including at least a streaming media component space. In an exemplary embodiment, the second phase has a dimension that is greater than a dimension of the first phase. The multiphase interactive advertisement further includes a streaming media component incorporated into the streaming media component space of the second phase. The multiphase interactive advertisement, and specifically, the streaming media component, is generated using a software player engine that includes a core set of player variables and controls.

The banner ad is one of the most prevalent forms of Internet advertising today. Depending on the message, banner ads come in many shapes and sizes. As the Internet has matured, companies have had to balance the use of web page space between content, which is ultimately why a user goes to a particular web site, and advertising, which is one of the primary sources of revenue for Internet companies.
Because space for both content and advertising on a highly trafficked web site such as Yahoo!'s home page is very valuable, using as little space as possible is very advantageous. Thus, there is a desire in the Internet advertising industry to maximize use of space on a web page so as to fit as much content and advertisements as possible while maintaining a clean and attractive look and feel of the web page.
Moreover, it is desirable to provide interactive advertising that permits a user to interact with one or more features of the advertisement, which has an added benefit of focusing the user's attention on the advertisement. One way to make and Internet advertisement interactive is to add vectored graphics and/or streaming media (e.g., streaming audio or video) to the advertisement. By way of background, Macromedia Flash is one type of cross-platform compatible vector-based graphic animation tool. Vector-based images, which are also referred to as object-oriented graphics, use geometrical formulas to represent images. Vector-oriented images are more flexible than other types of images, such as bit maps, because they can be resized and stretched. Presently, although vector-based graphic animation tool, such as Macromedia Flash, provide the capability to embed streaming media elements, these tools have very rudimentary streaming media player capabilities.
Thus, in order to provide streaming media capabilities in a vector-based graphic player, a customized player must be specifically developed and hard-coded for a particular application. Such hard-coded players lack the ability to be reused for subsequent purposes and must be at least partially recoded in the event the streaming content is changed. Moreover, because such players are typically built on a "one-off" basis, the players lack the ability to integrate with existing streaming media administration and development tools. Thus, there is a need and desire to for a system that provides core streaming media player functions and controls in a vector-based graphic animation environment.

Interactive graphical interface including a streaming media component and method and system of producing the same


Methods and device for frothing milk. The device includes a main body forming a container for the milk, a cover fitting onto the main body, agitation means and drive means for driving the agitation means. The drive means are received at least partially in the cover. The device further includes a base plate provided with a first electric contact. The main body is provided with a second electric contact, which makes electrical contact with the first electric contact when the main body is placed on the base plate. The drive means are provided with a third electric contact. The main body is provided with a fourth electric contact, which makes electrical contact with the third electric contact when the cover is placed on the main body. The main body is provided with an electric conductor which forms an electrical connection between the second electric contact and the fourth electric contact.

This invention relates to a device for frothing milk. Devices for frothing milk are known. In addition to the frequently applied frothers based on steam, frothers on the basis of an agitation element to be immersed in the milk have been known for many years and in diverse embodiments. The agitation element is here driven 'from above' or 'from below' by hand, electromechanically or magnetically. In DE102004043579 we thus find a rechargeable handheld milk frother with a rotating annular spiral spring which must be immersed in the milk to be frothed. In GB384569 we find an example of a mixer for liquids, comprising a frame consisting of a base and a stand having mounted thereon a housing with an electric motor which drives a shaft on which a stirrer or mixer head is mounted. A container with a liquid for mixing must be placed on the base. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,039 we find an example of a milk frother comprising a frame consisting of a base and a stand having mounted thereon an electric motor and a mixer which has to be immersed in the milk. A container with milk for frothing must be held such that the rotating mixer is situated in the milk. The devices with frames are heavy, bulky, complex and expensive, and therefore not suitable in many situations. The necessary heating of the milk must always take place elsewhere in the case of said devices. Milk frothers can also be built into a coffee-maker, see for instance EP1440648 or EP1483998. WO2005089572 describes a milk frother comprising a frame consisting of a base with a heating element on which a container with milk for frothing has to be placed, and stirring means. It is possible herewith to heat the milk to a desired temperature, and subsequently mix and froth the milk, but this machine is also heavy, bulky, complex and expensive, and therefore less suitable in many situations. US2001/0036124 relates to a beverage container with integrated stirring device comprising a housing, a base and a lid. A stirring device is arranged in the base. The agitation element is situated in the vicinity of the bottom of the container and is driven 'from below'. EP1656866 describes a milk frother comprising a container, a housing, a drive system and a base plate. Heating means are built into the container and are powered together with the motor via the base plate. Here also the agitation element is situated in the vicinity of the bottom of the container and is driven 'from below'. If the agitation means are arranged in (the vicinity of the bottom of) the container, they are however difficult to clean. U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,926 describes a mixing cup comprising a container, a removable cover and a motor. The motor is arranged in the cover and is powered via a cord which is attached to a handle, this handle in turn being mounted on the cover. The cord is however irksome during handling of the mixing cup and cleaning of the agitation means, and the plug must first be removed from the wall socket in order to enable cleaning of the agitation means. In DE19645564 are described different embodiments of a mixing cup, wherein the agitation means can be driven by a motor placed in a cover or a base. The coupling between motor and agitation means can herein be of a magnetic or mechanical nature. In the case the motor is placed in the cover, and the agitation means are driven 'from above', a frame is necessary for this purpose. This once again makes the apparatus heavy, bulky, complex and expensive, and therefore less suitable in many situations.
There is therefore a need for a device for frothing milk which does not have the stated drawbacks in respect of weight, volume, complexity, cost price, appearance, production and use of prior art devices.


A forced-air drying apparatus (20, 120) for an automated car wash includes at least four stages of nozzles (58a, 58b, 58c, 58d) and blowers (68a, 68b, 68c, 68d) spaced apart along the direction of vehicle travel through the apparatus, each stage having its nozzles oriented to direct air at high velocity generally downward and toward the vehicle (50). The vehicle is supported on a foraminous floor or grate (52) which is vertically spaced above a sloping foundation surface (34) such that a space (92) exists below the floor. Water which is stripped from the vehicle surfaces (75, 80) is carried downward by the downwardly moving air streams through the openings in the floor into the space below, where it is drained away by the sloping foundation surface. The apparatus further includes an insulated drying tunnel (38) which contains the nozzles and surrounds the vehicle, and at least one furnace (86) which is connected to receive air from the space below the floor, heat the air, and deliver the heated air to the blowers, thus continuously recirculating the air in a closed loop.

Automated car washing machines typically include a drying apparatus which includes a blower and nozzle system arranged to direct air under pressure against the outer surfaces of a vehicle after the washing and rinsing operations have been finished, so as to strip water off the outer surfaces. Examples of such drying devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,535,475; 5,421,102; 4,969,272; 4,700,426; 4,589,160; 4,161,801; and 2,448,834. Each of the aforementioned patents shows a drying apparatus in which a plurality of air nozzles are arranged along a path of travel of the vehicle through the apparatus. The nozzles are so arranged that the drying process begins generally at the top front of the vehicle and proceeds generally downward and rearward toward the bottom sides of the vehicle. In this manner, water is progressively moved downward and rearward along the vehicle surfaces so that it eventually is blown or falls off the outer surfaces. This manner of arranging the nozzles provides an efficient stripping of water from the vehicle surfaces.
However, even with this type of nozzle arrangement, there remain at least two significant problems that are not solved by the apparatus in the aforementioned patents. First, in conventional drying apparatus such as shown in the aforementioned patents, water that is stripped from the vehicle falls or is blown onto the floor upon which the vehicle is supported. Because stripping of water from the surfaces requires that air be directed at high velocity in a generally downward direction toward the floor, water which is lying on the floor is often splashed by the high velocity air streams back up onto the vehicle. This results in inefficient drying because the same water is continually being stripped from the vehicle, redeposited onto the vehicle, restripped, and so on. This may also lead to incomplete drying, that is, water droplets remaining on the vehicle even after the vehicle has exited the drying apparatus. With such apparatus, the owner/operator of the car wash typically employs attendants who manually wipe the remaining water from the vehicle; alternatively, such as in some self-serve car washes, no manual wiping down of the vehicle is provided, resulting in an inferior result. Thus, with the conventional drying apparatus, the owner/operator either must incur labor costs which partially defeat the advantages of an automated car wash, or must accept inferior results.
A second problem that is not solved by the apparatus shown in the aforementioned patents is that even with a nozzle arrangement that efficiently strips water from the vehicle surfaces, inevitably some very small water droplets cannot be blown off the surfaces. For these very small droplets, the surface tension between the droplets and the vehicle surface exceeds the aerodynamic force imparted on the droplets by the air streams from the nozzles. In order to remove these small droplets, they must be evaporated. The rate of evaporation of a water droplet is highly dependent on ambient conditions, particularly the ambient temperature and relative humidity of the air surrounding the droplet. A drying apparatus for an automated car wash must be capable of evaporating small water droplets over a wide range of ambient conditions. Forcing high velocity air over the droplet increases the rate of evaporation, by lowering the vapor pressure of the air immediately adjacent to the droplet. Although forced air alone may be capable of completely evaporating the water droplets remaining on a vehicle surface given enough time, the high vehicle throughput rates that must be maintained in an economically practical car washing operation do not permit a vehicle to remain in the drying apparatus long enough to evaporate the water droplets using forced air alone, especially under extreme atmospheric conditions of, for example, 100 percent relative humidity and 90 degrees F.
One solution to this problem which has been proposed is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,663,951 issued to Kennison. That patent shows a drying apparatus in which hot water radiators are positioned with a blower within a casing so that the blower draws air over the radiators and then delivers the heated air to the nozzles. Heating the air is beneficial in increasing the evaporation rate. However, the apparatus shown in the Kennison patent suffers from two disadvantages. First, the intakes to the casing containing the radiators and blower are positioned close to the vehicle within the building which houses the car washing and drying apparatus. The result is that with continued use of the drying apparatus, water is continuously being evaporated into the air within the building, and the relative humidity within the space surrounding the vehicle will approach 100 percent even though the relative humidity outside the building may be significantly lower. Second, in a high flow rate air system, only modest increases in air temperature can be achieved with hot water radiators. Thus, Kennison notes that with his drying apparatus, one or two men are still required to remove water which remains on the vehicles after they have exited his apparatus.


A detachable connective device for toilet seat includes a base portion, a main body, a seat portion and a cover. The base portion is fitted under the main body, and the former may be detached from the latter. Therefore, the main body may be fitted to a toilet through the base portion. The seat portion is connected to the front end of the main body. A user may sit on the seat portion when using the toilet. The rear end of the cover is pivotally and coaxially connected with the main body so that the cover may rest on top of the seat portion. The base portion has two through apertures to allow fasteners to fixedly attach the base portion to the toilet. Therefore, the goal of easy installation may be achieved.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a hygienic device. More particularly, the invention relates to a detachable connective device, which includes a base portion and a main body and may achieve the goal of easy installation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Toilet seat with a detachable connective device has been known as hygienic or tissue less toilet seat. Such device is fitted onto a toilet and may spray water to clean up a user's anal and genital areas so that the user does not have to use tissue paper to wipe up these areas and such device may eliminate the discomfort generated by the use of tissue paper. In addition, the water may be pre-heated so as to enhance the comfort of the user.
Conventionally, the detachable connective device for toilet seat comprises a main body, an oval seat portion and a cover. The main body is connected with the toilet, and an electronic control unit is disposed inside the main body. The seat portion is connected to the front edge of the main body. A user may sit on the seat portion while using the toilet. The rear end of the cover is pivotally connected with the main body so as to allow the cover to rotate and to rest on top of the seat portion.
When the detachable connective device of the prior art is installed onto a toilet, the detachable connective device must be first placed on top of the toilet and then we have to use bolts to attach the main body to the rear portion of the toilet. Because of the volume and weight of the seat portion and the cover and the limited space in a restroom, the installation is relatively difficult.
From the above, we can see that the conventionally detachable connective device has many disadvantages and needs to be improved.
To eliminate the disadvantages of the detachable connective device of the prior art, the inventor has put in a lot of effort in the subject and has successfully come up with the detachable connective device of the present invention.

Detachable connective device for toilet seat


Systems for mounting a plurality of agricultural tools on a transverse support bar and a method for operating an agricultural implement having a transverse support bar. The systems include a lateral positioning structure that can attach to the transverse support bar and a detachable base that can be releasably coupled to the lateral positioning structure.

Certain agricultural implements can employ a number of individual agricultural tools for working the soil or aiding in the treatment (e.g., spraying or fertilizing) of crops or soil. However, not all agricultural tools will be needed at all times. For this and other reasons, certain agricultural implements are designed such that agricultural tools can be attached to and/or removed from the implement. However, certain agricultural tools can be heavy and bulky, making the removal and/or attachment process difficult for the user. Furthermore, when attaching or reattaching a tool, positioning the agricultural tool in the proper orientation to the ground, and relative to other tools on the implement, can be difficult. Accordingly, there is a need for an agricultural tool support system that can securely and easily attach and remove agricultural tools to and from an agricultural implement.

Agricultural implement tool support system


A metal gasket assembly includes first and second gasket layers each having at least one sealing port defined therein. Each sealing port has an embossed bead formed about the periphery thereof which extends from a planar surface of the gasket layer. A stopper layer is disposed between the respective planar surfaces of the gasket layers and it has at least one bore extending therethrough which circumscribes the embossed beads. The stopper layer is of a sufficient thickness to prevent over-compression of the embossed beads during installation of the gasket assembly. A method is also disclosed for constructing a gasket assembly in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the subject invention.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention is related to automotive gasket technology, and more particularly, to a multiple layered embossed metallic gasket assembly and a method of constructing the same.
2. Background of the Related Art
Metal gaskets are traditionally used to form a seal between two mating components of a mechanical system or device such as an internal combustion engine, to prevent leakage of combustion gases, cooling water, lubricating oil, or the like. Common applications involve placement of a gasket between the engine block and cylinder head, and between the cylinder head and exhaust manifold. Cylinder head gaskets typically extend around the cylinder bores of an engine to seal high pressure combustion gases within the cylinder bores, as well as seal oil and coolant passages. Exhaust manifold gaskets typically extend around the exhaust ports of an engine to seal high temperature exhaust gases flowing into the exhaust system. Once installed, the gasket bears the load from a bolted connection of the engine components and relies upon this load to provide an adequate seal therebetween.
To function as a reliable seal, it is known to provide a raised bead on a metal gasket in the area which surrounds a cylinder bore or exhaust port. The bead elastically deforms by tightening a bolt connection, and the elastic restoring force of the bead provides the required sealing effect. It is also known in the art to limit the compression of the raised bead by folding over a portion of the gasket adjacent the bead to function as a shim. In the absence of such a shim, when the gasket is tightened, the bead could be compressed beyond the elastic limits of the gasket material, resulting in an ineffective seal.
An example of a prior art metal gasket having specific structure to prevent over-compression of a resilient sealing bead is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,418 to Hagiwara et al. The gasket includes first and second opposed metal plates each having at least one opening with a surrounding bead. The plates are disposed in parallel such that the beads face each other, and an annular metallic shim is secured to the first plate adjacent the outer periphery of the bead, and is of a greater thickness than the bead, so that when a compressive load is applied to the gasket, both beads can only be deformed until their combined height equals the thickness of the shim. Hagiwara et al. disclose that the shim is welded by laser to the first plate around the opening to form a continues weld zone around the periphery of the shim. In the harsh environment of an internal combustion engine, wherein components are continuously subjected to high mechanical stresses, the weld zone could become an area of mechanical failure. In addition, the laser welding process will necessarily increase the overall manufacturing and labor cost associated with assembling the gasket.

Multi-layered metal gasket assembly and method of constructing the same


A production of thermoplastic composite preforms intended to be thermoformed. The unit including: a movable support and a plurality of storage areas for storing a plurality of structural elements made from thermoplastic composite material; and transfer and connection devices for transferring the structural elements to the movable support and connecting the structural elements to one another. The movable support is driven sequentially in translation in a direction of travel, while the storage areas are arranged laterally in relation to the movable support. The transfer and connection devices transfer the structural elements to the movable support along a transfer direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of travel.

Known installations enable the production of composite preforms from thermoplastic composite material tapes. The tapes consist of a thermoplastic polymer material matrix and include reinforcing fibers buried in the polymer material. These tapes are stored as rolls in the vicinity of a mobile support on which tape portions are successively applied and welded together with different orientations. Two tapes of different kinds wound on respective spools are used, for example. After each application of a tape, the mobile support may be driven in rotation so as to be able to apply the next tape in another direction.
Thus by superposing a plurality of tapes two-dimensional preforms are produced with predefined reinforcement zones. These preforms can then be thermoformed in a press provided for this purpose.
See the document WO2013/016487, which describes an installation of this kind.
It will be seen that the production of each preform necessitates the use of a large number of tapes and is therefore relatively lengthy. Moreover, the installation is not able to produce more than one preform at a time. Also, productivity is low.
Also, a problem that arises and that the present invention aims to solve is providing a more productive installation for production of thermoplastic composite preforms.

Unit and method for the production of thermoplastic composite preforms


The invention provides an improved natural draft cooling tower (10) having improved cooling capability and reduced liquid losses of evaporation and blow-out. To this end, the distribution of hot liquid to the packing assembly within the tower is increased around the perimeter zone of the packing assembly and reduced within the remaining packing assembly of the tower (24). A plurality of air injector fans (30) spaced circumferentially in the air inlet (20) between the shell (12) support columns (14), together with reduced air resistance through reduced hot liquid distribution to tower interior, produce increased air rates (32) and (34) resulting in improved cooling capability and reduced evaporation loss. With improved cooling, further reduction in evaporation, if required, can be achieved with a hot liquid by-pass (52).

Natural draft cooling towers are predominantly used in the power generation industry for providing cooled circulating water to the condensers. The degree to which the circulating water is cooled by the cooling tower governs the performance of the condenser, the backpressure acting on the steam turbine, the turbine cycle heat rate and coal burnt for a given electricity output. Natural draft cooling towers can either be dry or wet, the more common type being wet, in which heat transfer from the circulating water being cooled, is largely through evaporation.
Natural draft cooling towers include a shell which is supported above a cold water collecting sump such that an annular air inlet opening is defined between the lower edge of the shell and the sump through which air can enter the shell. Air flow through the air inlet opening and upwardly through the shell is affected by a reduction in density of the column of air within the shell.
Tower performance or capability can be improved by replacing natural draft with forced draft utilizing fans. A number of different types of fan-assisted natural draft cooling towers have been designed and built. Fan mechanisms have been located in the air inlet opening with near horizontal fan shafts. In order to maintain or improve tower performance mechanical draft provided by the fans has to be equal to or greater that the natural draft it replaces, which requires large diameter fans. A disadvantage of this arrangement is that with fan blades positioned in a near vertical plane, they are directly subject to the adverse affect of wind and are at risk of destruction by high winds. U.K. patent 1 455 544 to Hamon—Sobelco (1975) attempts to overcome this problem by proposing fans located within the cooling tower shell. For an existing natural draft cooling tower, this proposal would require extensive modifications to the cooling tower and would be impractical and involve high cost.
U.K. patent 1 467 563 to Hamon—Sobelco (1975) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,903,212 to Lefevre propose fans located outside the cooling tower with vertical fan shafts, that is horizontally mounted fan blades that overcomes the risk of wind damage and makes the fans readily accessible. In both these patents it is envisaged that with the fans in operation, towers cannot operate in natural draft mode. U.S. Pat. No. 3,903,212 does allow operation in natural draft mode, but only when the fans are inoperative and air inlet louvers, which have to be closed for fan operation, are opened. For application to existing cooling towers both these proposals would also require extensive modification to the tower to provide the required external fan deck and for most applications this too would be impractical and involve high cost.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,256 to Kelp (1979) reverts to large diameter fans with near horizontal fan shafts located in the tower air inlet with closable openings located between the annular inlet fan openings. This arrangement does not overcome the problem of wind damage to the fan blades. It does however allow concurrent mechanical draft provided by the fans and natural draft air flowing through the closable openings. For application to an existing cooling tower, this proposal would also require extensive modification to the tower air inlet and furthermore suffers from the disadvantage of wind damage risk to the fan blades.
South African patent application 2003/1583 to KPE LLC (2003) provides a cooling tower which has a primary operating mode in which air is drawn into the tower by natural draft and a secondary operational mode in which air flow into the tower is supplemented by mechanical draft. In the secondary operational mode each air inlet path has a natural draft inlet through which air can be drawn by natural draft and spaced therefrom a supplementary inlet with which at least one fan is associated and through which air can be drawn into the air inlet path by operation of the fan. A disadvantage of this proposal is that it has to rely on the supplemental air provided by the fans to feed air under pressure into the cooling tower. To ensure that this occurs, the fans have to be configured when operating to discharge air into the air inlet opening at velocities of between 15 and 20 m/s.
This is a hit and miss approach. In the first instance, fan power is directly proportional to the cube of air velocity which results in high fan power requirements. Secondly it is assumed that provided sufficient air pressure is created by the fans, the natural draft will be supplemented without any regard to where the air into the tower is actually going. Simply sticking fans on to a natural draught cooling tower will not necessarily have the desired effect of improving cooling performance. Forcing cold air into a natural draft cooling tower without due consideration of hot water distribution within the tower and what the air is doing inside the tower could result in cold air by-pass through the heat transfer medium within the tower. If cold air by-pass occurs this has the effect of reducing natural draft and will reduce tower performance.
It is often the case that circumstances under which the power station generates and sells its power, changes, invariably requiring a higher output and better efficiency. These in turn lead to a requirement for better tower performance or capability. With wet cooling towers, improving tower performance results in increased liquid loss through evaporation.
While the amount of water lost through evaporation is a comparatively small percentage of the circulating water rate, typically about 1.5% to 2.0%, the quantity of circulating water is large, resulting in loss due to evaporation amounting to many millions of gallons per annum. In addition to evaporation losses from the cooling process, blow-out from the tower air inlet further increases the water lost from the system.
Blow-out losses occur on natural draft cooling towers of the counterflow type. Blow-out occurs, during windy conditions, at the base of the shell at the top of the air opening where water leaving the fill in the form of fine rain droplets, close to the perimeter of the shell, can easily be blown out of the tower. Furthermore, strong external wind can produce negative pressures on the leeward side of the tower, resulting in not only fine rain droplets being sucked out of the tower but also a loss of natural draft which adversely affects tower performance. Although not as significant as evaporation losses, blow-out loss can amount to as much as 0.2% of the cooling water circulation rate. To minimize this effect, wind shields have in the past been located around the base of the tower. However as wind shields should not restrict airflow into the tower, their effectiveness at eliminating blow-out has not been entirely successful.
In countries such as Australia and South Africa, water is a scarce commodity and is often the inhibiting factor in further power generation, unless expensive dry cooling is adopted. With increasing demands on existing power stations to improve efficiency and to generate more power, availability of water for cooling becomes a limiting factor.
In this specification, the terms "comprises", "comprising" or similar terms are intended to mean a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a method, system or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include those elements solely, but may well include other elements not listed.

Fan-assisted wet cooling tower and method of reducing liquid loss


In an in-flow chemical reaction system (A) of the present invention, a sample solution (1) containing glycoprotein is injected into a reaction tube (7) in which an alkaline solution continuously flows. When a mixed solution of the sample solution and the alkaline solution reach a thermostat bath (6), reaction for cleaving a glycoside linkage takes place, thereby separating a carbohydrate chain from glycoprotein. From the solution containing the carbohydrate chain, alkali is removed by using an ion-exchange column (12), so that a fraction of a carbohydrate chain (14) is collected into a sample tube (13). In the in-flow chemical reaction system (A), reaction takes place in minutes, so that reaction time is significantly reduced compared to a conventional method. Thus, a glycoside linkage is readily cleaved with high precision in a short time, thereby separating carbohydrate from a glycoside-linkage-having compound.

Glycoconjugates such as glycoproteins, proteoglycans, or glycolipids are important biological materials, which are produced by bonding protein or lipid with a carbohydrate chain that may be of various kinds. One group of the glycoconjugates, glycoproteins, is broadly classified into serotype glycoproteins and mucin glycoproteins.
In most of proteins in serum excluding albumin, carbohydrate is linked to an Asn of Asn-X-Ser/Thr residue in the proteins through N-linkage. Thus, a glycoprotein having a linkage of this type is termed as serum-type glycoprotein or N-linked glycoprotein. Further, a carbohydrate chain, which is linked to the N-linked glycoprotein, is termed as an N-linked carbohydrate chain.
On the other hand, in protein being a main component of: (i) mucus secreted from a glandular system such as a salivary gland or submandibular gland; and (ii) a mucous tissue of an inner surface of a gastrointestinal tract of a stomach, a small intestine or the like, carbohydrate is linked to Ser/Thr through O-linkage. Therefore, a glycoprotein having a linkage of this type is termed as mucin glycoprotein or O-linked glycoprotein. Further, a carbohydrate chain bonded to the O-linked glycoprotein is termed as an O-linked carbohydrate chain.
In vivo, there are various kinds of carbohydrate chains. Some proteins such as IgG, IgE, and the like, contain the N-linked carbohydrate chain. Some proteins such as submandibular gland mucin and the like contain the O-linked carbohydrate chain. Further, some proteins such as erythropoietin and the like contain both the N-linked carbohydrate chain and the O-linked carbohydrate chain.
These glycoproteins play various and essential roles in vivo. For example, a carbohydrate chain of IgG causes protein to retain its steric structure, mucin performs defense effect against xenobiotic substances, erythropoietin adjusts its metabolic rate in blood, and asialoglycoprotein has a function of being uptaken to a liver and metabolized therein. Further, it is considered that these carbohydrate chains are widely found on a surface of a cell membrane and in intercellular matrix among cells, and plays a part of essential roles in biological information network. However, details of the function of the carbohydrate chains in the biological information network have not been fully understood.
As described above, the carbohydrate chains in glycoproteins have various functions. In order to understand the functions, structural analysis should be carried out after separation of a sugar chain from a glycoprotein to which it is attached. For the structural analysis, the carbohydrate chain is cleaved from protein and then separated. With recent improvement of analyzers and methods for structural analysis, separation of a carbohydrate chain derived from glycoprotein and its structural analysis can be carried out by sophisticated separating means such as high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis. Further, the followings have facilitated structural analysis of a separated carbohydrate chain: (i) molecular weight measurement by a matrix-assisted laser desorption time of flight mass spectrometry or electrospray mass spectrometry; (ii) sequence determination by fragment ion analysis; and (iii) structural analysis by high-field nuclear magnetic resonance.
By fully utilizing the leading-edge analyzers described above, various methods have been realized for structural analysis, though there are still some difficulties, especially, in obtaining a required amount of carbohydrate chains separated from glycoprotein.
On the other hand, many researchers have been trying to develop a simple method for cleaving a carbohydrate chain from glycoprotein. Regardless of many studies, no simple method has been found. Therefore, in the carbohydrate chain analysis, the cleavage of the carbohydrate chain still requires experience. Further, in the analysis of a carbohydrate chain, the cleavage of the carbohydrate chain is still rate-determining step.
For example, in order to cleave an N-linked carbohydrate chain off from an N-linked glycoprotein linked to asparagine, a chemical method and an enzymatic method have been mainly used.
Specifically, hydrazinolysis has been used as a typical chemical method. In the hydrazinolysis method, a carbohydrate chain is separated by heating, at high temperature (100° C. or higher) for long hours, a solution in which a subject glycoprotein is dissolved in anhydrous hydrazine. As is generally known, however, anhydrous hydrazine is highly toxic and explosive and thus requires special care for handling. There are several methods for separating a carbohydrate chain from a glycoprotein with the use of hydrazine, and all of the methods require multiple steps: (i) pyrogenetic reaction for 3 to 24 hours; (ii) removal of hydrazine; (iii) re-acetylation of an amino group of amino carbohydrate in a carbohydrate chain; and (iv) its post-treatment. In order to complete the entire process, at least two days (48 hours) or more are required.
In the enzymatic method which is another method for separating an N-linked carbohydrate chain from an N-linked glycoprotein, a carbohydrate chain is separated by utilizing N-glycanase F found in a microorganism of flavobacterium spp. or N-glycoamidase A found in almond seeds. As a substrate, glycopeptide obtained by digestion with protease (e.g. trypsin) is often employed. Unlike the hydrazinolysis method, the enzymatic method is safe. However, the enzymatic method requires experiences due to the use of enzyme, and takes one day (24 hours) or more for achieving general enzymatic reaction. Further, as to N-glycosidase F, though recombinant products are commercially available, only a slight amount (less than milligram) is generally used due to its high price. More seriously, depending on a molecule size of enzyme as protein, some carbohydrate chains are not easily separated from glycoproteins or not separated at all. Due to such a drawback that enzymatic functions differ depending on kinds of glycoproteins, enzymatic reaction cannot be employed directly to cells and body fluids.
On the other hand, the chemical method, but not the enzymatic method, is used for separating a carbohydrate chain from an O-linked glycoprotein linked to a hydroxyl group of serine or threonine in a glycoprotein. The enzymatic method is not used, because an O-linked carbohydrate chain having eight kinds of core structures and no enzyme has been found that has a diverse spectrum that enables recognition of all of the eight kinds of core structures.
Thus, in order to separate an O-linked carbohydrate chain from an O-linked glycoprotein, an alkali decomposition method has been exclusively used. The alkali decomposition method takes an advantage of the nature of alkali, which facilitates cleaving a linkage between the O-linked carbohydrate chain and an Ser or Thr. In the alkali decomposition method, a carbohydrate chain is separated by dissolving O-linked glycoprotein in a aqueous solution at high concentration of alkali, and incubating it for long hours (generally 48 hours or longer). As to the aqueous alkali solution, sodium hydroxide of 0.1 to 0.5 M is generally used. Due to its high concentration, however, there is a fatal problem that a carbohydrate chain separated from a glycoprotein is decomposed through β-elimination reaction. The β-elimination reaction occurs due to C-1 position hemiacetal group of the carbohydrate chain cleaved from the glycoprotein.
In order to solve the problem, the alkali decomposition method is arranged such that the carbohydrate chain cleavage reaction is carried out using the alkaline solution to which a reducing agent (e.g. NaBH4) is added. However, this causes its post treatment to be more complicated because the reducing terminal of the carbohydrate chain are not a hemiacetal structure and reduced to sugar alcohol, not a hemiacetal structure. As another drawback, the sugar alcohol cannot be labeled with a fluorogenic or chromogenic reagent, which is necessary for highly sensitive analysis. Therefore, the hydrazinolysis method has been used as an alternative to the alkali decomposition method. Since the hydrazinolysis method not only requires long hours for reaction and post processing, but also utilizes an highly explosive agent, the hydrazinolysis method is poor in versatility.
Recently, such methods have been reported that efficiently cleave an O-linked carbohydrate chain from O-linked glycoprotein without modifying a reducing terminal. In the methods, ammonia is used for cleaving a carbohydrate chain (Huang, Y. ; Mechref, Y. ; Novotny, M. V., 2001, Microscale nonreductive release of O-glycans for subsequent analysis through MALDI mass spectrometry and capillary electrophoresis., Anal. Chem., vol 73,6063-6069), or an O-linked glycoprotein is adsorbed in a column to separate an O-linked carbohydrate chain (Karlson, N. G.; Packer, N. H., 2002, Analysis of O-linked reducing oligosaccharides released by an in-line flow system., Anal. Biochem., vol 305,173-185).
However, the both conventional methods have to be carried out under mild condition for long hours in order to prevent a carbohydrate chain from being decomposed, because a cleaved O-linked carbohydrate chain goes through β-elimination reaction. Thus, there will be great difficulties in applying the conventional methods to clinical analysis which requires a large number of samples, or to proteome analysis or proteomics analysis which requires high throughput.
As described above, studies on the functions of carbohydrate chains have been proceeded with difficulties. One of the difficulties come from diverse structures of carbohydrate chains, in which each monosaccharide, which is component of the carbohydrate chain, has four to five hydroxyl groups respectively. However, the biggest difficulty comes from the fact that a simple method has not been found for readily cleaving a carbohydrate chain off from glycoconjugate. Specifically, as to glycoprotein, which is a conjugation of protein and a carbohydrate chain(s) with molecular weight of several ten thousands to several hundred thousands, a method for cleaving off a carbohydrate chain has been searched for thirty years. However, no excellent versatile method has been found.
Consequently, there has been a strong demand for realizing a method for separating a carbohydrate chain from glycoprotein readily and securely in a short time.
The present invention was made in view of the above problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide: (i) a method for readily separating carbohydrate in a short time by efficiently cleaving a glycoside linkage; (ii) a carbohydrate separating system for applying the method to clinical analysis or to proteome analysis or proteomics analysis which requires high throughput; (iii) a carbohydrate separating reagent kit; (iv) a standard sample for carbohydrate separation ; and (v) an evaluation method and an evaluation system for carbohydrate.

Method for separating carbohydrate in glycoside-linkage-having compound, carbohydrate separating system, carbohydrate separating reagent kit, standard sample for carbohydrate separation, and evaluation system


A connector includes a cylindrical-shaped housing inserting therein a wire, a shield shell disposed on an outer side of the housing, and a mounting member assembled with the housing and the shield shell. The mounting member includes a tubular portion inserted into a gap between the housing and the shield shell in a diameter direction of the housing and contacted with an end face of the housing. The shield shell includes a fixing portion fixed to the housing and a movable portion rotatably connected to the fixing portion. A fixing mechanism is provided between the movable portion and the tubular portion, moves the end face toward the tubular portion when the movable portion is rotated, and fixes the housing and the shield shell to the mounting member when the tubular portion and the end face closely contacted with each other.

The invention relates to a connector.
Conventionally, there is known a connector which includes a cylindrical-shaped housing for receiving therein a wire having a terminal in its terminal portion, a shield shell to be disposed on the outer peripheral side of the housing, and a mounting member to which the housing and shield shell can be assembled and in which the terminal can be disposed (for example, the patent document 1).
In this connector, to secure its waterproof property, seal members are interposed respectively between the housing and wire, between the housing and terminal, and between the housing and mounting member. Also, to the housing, there is assembled a rear holder in order to prevent the removal of the seal member interposed between the housing and wire.
Further, to the outer periphery of the housing, there is assembled a shield shell in order to secure the shield property of electromagnetic waves. This shield shell is fixed to the mounting member through a bolt to be fastened by a tool such as a bolt fastening tool.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2012-151067


An apparatus for holding a first fiber optic connector and a second fiber optic connector includes a housing configured to secure the first fiber optic connector and the second fiber optic connector at a first end and a strain relief boot connected to a second end of the housing. The housing and the strain relief boot are configured to form a passageway to receive a fiber optic cable that is connected to both the first fiber optic connector and the second fiber optic connector.

This application discloses an invention that is related, generally and in various embodiments, to an apparatus for use with a fiber optic retaining system. Fiber optic cable systems provide a large bandwidth capacity for the transmission of voice and data. In order to extend such systems closer and closer to the premises of the end subscribers, more and more fiber optic connections are required, which often necessitates duplex cable connectors. Such connections are typically made by highly skilled field personnel utilizing specialized tools and equipment.
A conventional way of pairing two connectors to accommodate increased transmission capacity requires many parts, and can make connection to an adapter a difficult task. Often, the connectors can rotate before connection to the adapters, which can cause damage to the hardware. Further, generally, a duplex LC connector includes two cables: one attached to each of the connectors, and these two connectors are held together by a clip. Multiple cables require multiple crimp rings, multiple heat shrink tubes, and multiple boots to attach. This can create a need for more space in order to secure attachment to fiber optic adapters.

Single boot for duplex fiber optic connectors


A mobile station includes a measurement unit that measures radio qualities for a serving cell and a candidate switching target cell; a cell switching determination unit that determines whether the radio quality of the serving cell is less than a reference quality corresponded in advance with a predetermined throughput, wherein, when the radio quality of the serving cell is less than the reference quality, the cell switching determination unit determines whether the serving cell is to be switched to the candidate switching target cell by comparing the radio quality of the serving cell with that of the candidate switching target cell; and a radio communication unit that transmits a signal for requesting the switching of the serving cell, and that receives a signal for instructing the switching of the serving cell from a network apparatus.

During mobile communication, a mobile station performs communications with network apparatuses, the network apparatuses include a base station apparatus and a radio network controller. The network apparatuses may include a core network. The mobile station detects multiple cells that can be targets for communications or candidates for communications, and measures radio quality in the cells. When a measured value of the radio quality of a communication candidate cell satisfies a predetermined condition, a communication target cell is switched. For example, when it is determined that a newly detected cell will provide relatively better radio quality than that of a cell that has already been performing communications, the communication target cell is switched to the newly detected cell.
A high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) scheme realizes high-speed down link communication for the wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA) communication scheme. In this case, an A-DPCH (Associated Dedicated Physical CHannel) simultaneously performs communications with up to three cells. However, an HS-PDSCH (High Speed-Physical Downlink Shared CHannel) sets only one cell that has the best radio quality as a communication target. The cell which has been selected as the cell having the best quality is called a "Serving Cell." Since the A-DPCH is the communication based on a dedicated channel, a soft handover is performed. While maintaining the communication with the serving cell, only the switching target cell is switched depending on necessity. On the other hand, since the HS-PDSCH is the communication based on a down link shared or common channel (Shared channel), there is only one cell that can be a communication target. Therefore, when a cell is switched due to, for example, movement of a user, a handover is performed, and thereby a short interruption occurs temporarily. A conventional handover is described in Patent Document 1, for example.
During communication based on the HSDPA scheme, the mobile station measures quality (such as SIR) of a CPICH, which is a pilot channel in the serving cell. The mobile station derives a channel quality indicator (CQI: Channel Quality Indicator) based on the measurement result. The derived CQI is reported from the mobile station to the network apparatus. As a result, the network apparatus can recognize a reception environment (radio quality) of the mobile station, and the mobile station can adaptively switch a modulation scheme and a transmission data amount for down link data, depending on the environment. It is called adaptive modulation and channel coding to adaptively switch the data modulation scheme and the amount of data (or the channel coding rate). Relationships of the down link data modulation scheme and a transport block size (Transport Block size) with respect to individual values of the CQI are defined in a 3GPP specification (cf. Non-Patent Document 2).

Mobile station and method for mobile communication system


An electric vacuum pump backup control system includes a brake on/off switch, a primary electric vacuum pump control interfacing with the brake on/off switch, a secondary electric vacuum pump control interfacing with the brake on/off switch and the primary electric vacuum pump control and an electric vacuum pump interfacing with the primary electric vacuum pump control.

The braking system of modern vehicles may include an electronic control unit (ECU) which controls an electric vacuum pump (EVP) that provides vacuum pressure to a brake system vacuum booster for braking. In the event that the ECU is compromised, the EVP may become disabled. Consequently, the brake system vacuum booster may become incapable of providing boost for braking, in which case braking of the vehicle may require additional effort on the part of the driver.
Accordingly, an electric vacuum pump backup control system and method which controls a brake system vacuum booster in the event that a primary electric vacuum pump (EVP) is disabled is needed.

Electric vacuum pump backup control system and method


Methods, systems, and apparatus, for automatically changing a network system. A method includes receiving a set of first intents that describe a state of a first switch fabric; receiving a set of second intents that describe a state of a second switch fabric; computing a set of network operations to perform on the first switch fabric to achieve the second switch fabric, the set of operations also defining an order in which the operations are to be executed, and the set of operations determined based on the set of first intents, the set of second intents, and migration logic that defines a ruleset for selecting the operations based on the set of first intents and the second intents; and executing the set of network operations according to the order, to apply changes to elements within the first switch fabric to achieve the state of the second switch fabric.

A network requires changes and updates over time. Such changes and updates can include introduction of new capabilities, software or firmware updates, and the like. Given the size of some networks, such changes can require many individual changes to the software, firmware and configurations of the network.
To apply these changes, network operators must examine the network and decide upon an ordered "recipe" of steps that are tailored to the specific network. The overall success of the change implementation depends on the correct ordering of the individual change operations, and compatibility of the changes.
Creating such unique recipes is time-consuming and prone to error. For example, complex interdependencies are difficult to discern. Moreover, unless the operator is aware of specific dependency requirements, what appears to be a sound change plan on paper may, in fact, result in failure. When several operators are involved, the likelihood of contradictory or incompatible changes being implemented increases.
Thus, there is a need in the technological area of network management to implement changes in a systematic and consistent manner.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An integrated customer owned coin operated telephone (COCOT) and regulated paystation telephone system permits the functionality of the paystation to be remotely programmed, in order to increase the versatility of the paystation in either mode of operation. The integrated paystation telephone system includes a central microprocessor coupled with a memory that stores the firmware for operating the paystation telephone. Circuitry is provided under the control of the microprocessor to operate such functions as the power control and coin relay (the relay which excepts or refunds a deposited coin) in either mode of operation. The paystation telephone system is remotely configured to operate in either the COCOT or regulated mode without requiring any hardware changes. Because of the remote configuration of the paystation telephone system, various features can be programmed, increasing the versatility of the paystation.

Presently, paystation telephone systems are manufactured and produced to operate in a regulated line or coin line environment or in a customer owned, coin operated telephone (COCOT), e.g. business line environment. Paystations operable in the coin line mode are generally controlled via a central office through the use of the telephone line ring/tip pair and a ground line. The Bell operating companies are examples of a regulated system which control numerous paystations throughout the United States. In contrast, the COCOT systems are produced for individual owners who maintain, service and operate the COCOT paystations as a business for profit. COCOT paystations include a microprocessor providing the intelligence to operate the paystation. Programs are stored in the microprocessor's memory for carrying out the features of the paystation. However, once conventional COCOT telephones are installed in the field, the owner cannot change any functional operations of the paystation but rather can only affect certain paystation characteristics such as calling rates, etc.
Because each system is controlled differently, vendors supplying paystations to regulated companies and individual customers currently produce either two separate paystation telephone units or a single unit which requires the removal and insertion of circuit cards in order to change the operation from a coin line telephone to a COCOT telephone. The use of two separate paystations has the disadvantages of not allowing the paystations to be interchanged and increases a manufacturers overall cost due to the necessity of carrying two distinct product lines. Similarly, requiring a change of circuit cards is disadvantageous because it increases the time and labor costs associated with servicing the phones installed in the field. These problems arise because each system is controlled differently--coin line systems by a central office and COCOT systems by the paystation itself. It has heretofore been unable for vendors to integrate such systems due to their individual control and operating characteristics. For example, the paystation telephone must operate differently to carry out such features as voice messaging, charging for incoming calls, coin tone fraud prevention, safety checks, coin disposal (how the paystation collects and refunds), dialing sequence (whether the paystation passes the digits dialed directly to the telephone line or buffers the digits and then sends them to the telephone line), voice prompts (where the paystation voices a message to the paystation user), and the like, when controlled via the central office in the regulated system or when controlled via the microprocessor contained within the paystation in a COCOT system.
There is therefore needed a paystation telephone system that integrates both a COCOT and a coin line system, without requiring hardware modifications, and provides a wide range of paystation features operable in either mode.

Integrated cocot and regulated paystation telephone system


A magnetic disk drive comprises a plurality of disks that have a laminated arrangement with equally fixed spaces respectively and are rotatably mounted a disk driving unit that forces the disks to rotate, a plurality of positioners mounted and movable in the direction of the tracks of the disks respectively, a positioner driving unit that drives the positioners so that their respective ends can traverse the tracks, and a plurality of reproducing/recording elements e.g., unitary magnetic heads that are fixed on the respective ends of the positioners and perform read/write operations for the surfaces of recording media of the disks, respectively. Each of the unitary magnetic heads is constructed such that each of said heads has a predetermined inclination is to the respectively corresponding surface of recording media of the disks, preferably by forming a sloping surface on one end of each positioner.. Preferably, circuits for controlling the disk driving unit and the magnetic head, etc., of a disk drive are composed of a flexible printed circuit board to be contained in the disk enclosure having a base and cover.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic disk drive that can be utilized as an external memory of a computer. More specifically, it relates to an electromagnetic read/write structure of a magnetic disk drive including at least one magnetic disk, the corresponding magnetic head, and the like. Further, it relates to the arrangement of various components of a magnetic disk drive within a disk enclosure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a magnetic disk drive, having a number of magnetic disks utilized as recording media, has been in practical use in various regions including computer networks as one of the promising non-volatile memory devices. Furthermore, in recent years, the fabrication of a magnetic disk drive that satisfies the demand for a disk drive that is compatible, compact, inexpensive, has a large storage capacity, is light weight and has lower power consumption, has been required and has been in demand.
To meet the above requirements, it is necessary for as many magnetic disks as possible to be assembled in a confined space, rather than increasing the surface density of recording media of magnetic disks by improving the characteristics of the magnetic head, magnetic medium per se, etc., so that mass storage can be attained without increasing costs for the development of the improved magnetic head. Also, even when many disks are assembled in the space, it is necessary for the size of the disk drive to be reduced as small as possible, so that effective space can be saved thereby promoting compactibility. When the magnetic disk drive is applied to a mobile-type computer, such as a portable lap-top personal computer, it also becomes necessary for the disk drive to withstand external impulse and external electromagnetic disturbance, and be lighter in weight and have a lower power consumption.
In a known magnetic disk drive according to the prior art, typically, a number of disks are arranged rotatably at high speed in a laminated manner with equally divided spaces and on the respective surfaces of the magnetic layers, recording media are formed concentrically. Further, in the vicinity of these disks, positioners are mounted and movable in the direction of the tracks of the disks, respectively, and supporting members are attached to the above positioners, respectively. Further, on the respective ends of the above supporting members, the reproducing/recording elements, e.g., magnetic heads are fixed in close proximity to the respective surfaces of the disks, so that the former can perform read/write operations for the tracks of the disks.
To be more specific, each of the above supporting members have an arm that is fixed on each of the positioners. The base end portion of each suspension element is fastened to the tip portion of each arm with screws. The above suspension element is formed by a bending process of an extremely thin stainless steel sheet. Further, on both sides of, the suspension element, bent portions are formed respectively to ensure the stiffness of the above suspension element. Each magnetic head is attached to the tip portion of each suspension element, via a gimbal.
In such a construction of a magnetic disk drive, in order to increase the maximum sheets of disks that can be assembled in a given place within a disk enclosure, it seems reasonable that the thickness of the arms of supporting members should be decreased so that the distance between the surfaces of adjoining disks become shorter. However, when the above distance is too short, the bent portions of adjoining suspension elements are likely to interface and come into contact with each other. Therefore, it is difficult for the distance between the surfaces of adjoining disks to be reduced below a fixed value. Furthermore, since the thickness of each magnetic head or any other portion of a supporting member other than the bent portion is also necessitated to some degree, it becomes more difficult for the distance between the surfaces of adjoining disks to be reduced to a value less than the limited value (for example, 3 mm). Consequently, when the dimensions of the disk drive are predetermined, a disadvantage occurs in that the sheets of disks cannot be increased much more than the limited value known in the prior art. On the contrary, when the number of sheets of disks assembled are predetermined, another disadvantage occurs in that the thickness of the disk drive cannot be reduced less than the limited value also known in the prior art.
Furthermore, in the conventional 5 inch, 3.5 inch or 2.5 inch magnetic disk drive, a printed board of various controlling circuits is usually positioned separately from the disk enclosure including the magnetic head, disks, etc. Typically, the above printed board is fixed on the bottom surface of the disk enclosure, i.e., outside the disk enclosure (for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 5025335 (Frederick M. Stefansky)). Therefore, taking into account the thickness of the printed board, the height of the whole disk drive becomes more significant (for example, approximately 15 mm). Consequently, because of the thickness of the printed circuit board, it is further difficult to promote compactibility in the disk drive.
Further, last year a 1.8 inch disk drive was introduced by Integral Pheripherals Inc. The construction of the above disk drive is similar to that of other disk drives and the height of the former disk drive is also approximately 15 mm as a whole. Integral Pheripherals Inc. is further emphasizing that a thinner disk drive, as thin as 10 mm, can be realized by locating a printed circuit board on the side of a disk enclosure. In this case, though the thickness of the disk drive can be reduced, a new problem occurs in that the area of the disk drive including the printed circuit board and the disk enclosure is enlarged more than usual.


A dispensing apparatus including an airless ribbon nozzle having a nozzle tip formed with a nozzle bore tapering radially inwardly from an inlet end to a semispherical-shaped discharge end which intersects a rectangular-shaped discharge slot. The nozzle is mounted in position on a coating dispenser such that the inlet of the nozzle tip communicates with a coating passageway within the dispenser to receive coating material which is emitted from the discharge slot of the nozzle tip in a wide, splash-free, leaf-shaped pattern.

Packaged circuit boards for electronic instruments are typically coated by a moisture-proof insulative film to protect the circuit boards from moisture, electric leakage and dust. The moisture-proof insulative films are what are known as conformal coatings, such as acrylic, polyurethane or epoxy synthetic resins dissolved in a volatile solvent. When applied to a clean printed circuit board, an insulative resin film is formed as the solvent evaporates on a continuous basis.
One preferred method and apparatus for applying liquid coating material to printed circuit boards is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,753,819 and 4,880,663, both to Shimada, which are owned by the assignee of this invention. In accordance with the method disclosed in these patents, printed circuit boards are coated with an insulative coating of high quality, in terms of thickness, uniformity and the absence of splashing, by applying the liquid coating material to an airless flat pattern nozzle at a supply pressure, e.g., five Kg/cm.sup.2 for a 100 cps viscosity coating, such that a liquid film emission from the nozzle is produced in the form of a flat, leaf-shaped pattern. The leaf-shaped pattern, which is substantially free of atomized particles, has a maximum width at approximately its center and decreases in width is on both sides of the center to approximately zero width at the discharge outlet of the flat spray nozzle and at the end of the pattern. The nozzle and printed circuit board are spaced relative to each other to locate the circuit board in the path of the flat, leaf-shaped liquid film pattern where the width of the pattern is maximum. The method disclosed in the Shimada patents is therefore predicated upon the concept of operating airless spray nozzles at pressures substantially below the pressures at which they are normally operated, i.e., atomizing pressures. One airless, flat spray nozzle of the type which has been used for this purpose is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,349,947, owned by the assignee of this invention.
Despite obtaining a splash-free pattern of coating material on the printed circuit boards, the nozzles employed in the method and apparatus disclosed in the Shimada patents have certain limitations. One problem with such nozzles has been that the width of the leaf-shaped pattern, even at its maximum point, is relatively narrow. As a result, a relatively long period of time is required to complete coating of a printed circuit board because the nozzle must be moved in a series of side-by-side rows and/or columns a sufficient number of times to cover the entire surface area of the circuit board. Additionally, it has been found that such airless spray nozzles produce a flat spray or "ribbon" pattern which tends to be uneven across the width of the pattern. Moreover, if the pressure at which the coating material flows through the nozzle is increased or decreased, the thickness of the film or layer of coating material applied to the printed circuit board can also vary.
A still further limitation of airless spray nozzles of the type employed in the Shimada patents is that the leaf-shaped pattern emitted therefrom has a maximum width at a relatively short distance from the discharge outlet of the nozzle. As mentioned above, it is desirable to position the nozzle with respect to the printed circuit board such that the leaf-shaped pattern is at maximum width when it contacts the board in order to obtain maximum coverage of coating material. Because this point of maximum width of the leaf-shaped pattern is relatively close to the discharge outlet of prior art spray nozzles, sufficient clearance may not be provided between the nozzle and some of the elements on the printed circuit board without raising the nozzle vertically upwardly relative to the board by robot manipulators or other gun moving devices. Movement of the nozzle upwardly relative to the printed circuit board complicates the coating operation and can reduce the width of the pattern obtained on the board because the tapered leaf-shaped pattern decreases in width in both directions from its centerpoint. This can produce gaps or spaces in the layer of coating material applied to the printed circuit board where the patterns are is applied side-by-side in columns or rows as the nozzle and printed circuit board are moved relative to one another.

Dispensing method and apparatus including a ribbon nozzle for coating printed circuit boards


Methods of manufacturing optical transceiver modules using lead frame connectors that connect optical sub-assemblies to printed circuit boards are disclosed. The lead frame connector includes an electrically insulating case having a first part separated from a second part and a plurality of conductors that are electrically isolated one from another by the electrically insulating case. Each of the plurality of conductors can form an electrical contact restrained in a fixed position with respect to the first part and a contact point extending from the second part. The electrical contact is aligned with and soldered to the leads that protrude from the back end of an optical sub-assembly. The contact points can then be connected to electrical pads on a PCB.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to optical transceiver modules. More specifically, the present invention relates to dual-segment molded lead frame connectors used to connect an optical sub-assembly to a printed circuit board in an optical transceiver module.
2. Background and Relevant Art
Optical transceivers are used to transmit and receive optical signals from an optical network and to enable electrical network components to interface with and communicate over optical networks. Many optical transceivers are modular and are designed in accordance with industry standards that define mechanical aspects of the transceivers, form factors, optical and electrical requirements, and other characteristics and requirements of the transceivers. For example the Small Form-Factor Module Multi-Source Agreement (SFF MSA), the Small Form-Factor Pluggable Module Multi-Source Agreement (SFP MSA) and the 10 Gigabit Small Form Factor Pluggable Module Multi-Source Agreement (XFP MSA) Revision 3.1 define such standards. Each of these documents is incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
The basic optical components of conventional transceivers include a transmitter optical sub-assembly (TOSA) and a receiver optical sub-assembly (ROSA). The TOSA receives electrical signals from a host device via circuitry of the transceiver module and generates a corresponding optical signal that is then transmitted to a remote node in an optical network. Conversely, the ROSA receives an incoming optical signal and outputs a corresponding electrical signal that can then be used or processed by the host device. Additionally, most transceivers include a rigid printed circuit board (PCB) containing, among other things, control circuitry for the TOSA and ROSA.
The connections between the optical sub-assemblies and the PCB in the transceiver module have various electrical and mechanical requirements. One of the most common electrical connection components used in conventional optical transceiver modules is a flexible printed circuit board, or "flex circuit," that connects the rigid printed circuit board of the module to leads associated with the TOSA or ROSA. Flex circuits have several advantages, including good electrical performance and radio frequency response. Advantageously, the flex circuits also have the ability to take up tolerances in the modules and to withstand stresses that arise during manufacture and operation of the modules.
While flex circuits have been widely used in recent years in optical transceiver modules, flex circuits represent a significant portion of the costs and labor required to manufacture transceiver modules. As the price of transceiver modules drops, the costs associated with flex circuits continue to represent an increasing proportion of the overall costs of transceiver modules. Due to the nature of flex circuits, the costs of producing flex circuits are generally higher than the cost of a PCB that performs the same functions.
Other approaches to connecting optical sub-assemblies to printed circuit boards have been introduced in recent years. For example, the leads protruding from TOSAs and ROSAs can be bent into a configuration that enables the leads to be directly soldered or otherwise connected to the printed circuit board. This technique is often less expensive than the use of flex circuits, but can lead to unfavorable radio frequency (RF) response due to the inability to carefully control impedances. In addition, bending the leads of TOSAs and ROSAs introduces reliability risks due to the likelihood of damaging glass seals or other fragile portions of the header assemblies in TOSAs and ROSAs that enclose the lasers and photodetectors, respectively.
Because of the possibility of damaging the TOSAs and ROSAs and poor electrical performance, bending the leads of the TOSAs and ROSAs to enable them to be directly connected to the printed circuit board is not suitable for many transceiver modules. This approach is particularly unsuitable for relatively high-speed transceiver modules, in which the RF response of the conductors is more important.

Methods for manufacturing optical modules using lead frame connectors


A project data service (“PDS”) shields the database from direct client access by requiring all data requests made by a client to go through the PDS, thereby reducing the risk of losing or corrupting data and limiting inconsistencies caused by third-party add-on applications accessing data in the database. In order to access data stored in a database, a client typically must send a request through the PDS, which can determine if the client has access to the requested data. Then PDS typically retrieves the data from the database and passes the data to the client.

The occurrence of low unemployment rates coupled with high levels of business growth in the late 1990's forced companies in all industries to do more work with fewer resources. The need to properly understand and efficiently allocate project tasks to available resources led to increased usage of project management applications. Prior project management applications were designed to operate in a desktop environment. While prior project management applications had the ability to access centrally located databases, the application's primary design called for stand-alone operations, where a single project manager could monitor only his projects and his resources from his desktop computer. A need arose for a project management application designed for enterprise access, whereby any project manager within an enterprise could place a project plan and the resources to be used on a central database so that other project managers and enterprise managers could view projects on an enterprise global basis.
Clients routinely access application programs containing sensitive data. The application programs can comprise project management applications having project scheduling data, resource scheduling data, and resource experience data. The application programs can operate on a desktop computer, with data limited to the data available in a desktop system. Alternatively, the application programs can operate on an enterprise-wide level, with data available from the enterprise system through a central database.
For example, a large organization can have multiple projects in progress at any one point in time. Each project can use multiple resources to achieve the goals of the project. Examples of resources can include employee labor, machinery, and facilities. When a project manager begins a new project, the project manager typically wants to know the current allocation of resources to determine which resources have the time and experience necessary to accomplish the project manager's project. If the project manager accesses the desktop version of the project management application, the project manager typically can only view his own projects and how he has currently allocated resources. The project manager typically cannot view other projects within the same enterprise or how all the resources in the enterprise are allocated among all the projects in the enterprise.
If the project manager accesses the enterprise version of the project management application, the project manager can typically view not only his projects but also projects managed by other project managers. The project manager also can typically view how resources throughout the enterprise are allocated amongst the projects. Having an enterprise view of the project and resource allocation allows a project manager to make a more educated decision on when his project can be completed, what the best resources are for his project, and what resources are available for his project throughout the enterprise.
Prior project management applications either allowed an application user direct access to information stored in the database or required the input of a connection string before access to the database was allowed. Allowing direct access to the database placed the stored data at risk of being lost or modified by any person with access to the system. Requiring the application user to supply a connection string before viewing the database provided improved security of the data in the database. However, management applications requiring a connection string were still prone to being hacked, thereby allowing unfettered access to the database and placing the stored data at risk. A need arose for a project management application with an improved security architecture to control and facilitate access to enterprise project data stored in the database.
Furthermore, third-party application providers can now create specific add-on applications for the project management application which extend the overall functionality of the project management application. However, the inconsistencies of each third-party application's access methods to the data in the database of the project management application can reduce the overall effectiveness of the project management application and place the stored data in the database at risk. Providing a standard access method for add-on applications can increase overall effectiveness of the project management application, reduce the risk of losing the stored data, and provide incentive to third-party add-on application providers to build upon the current architecture of the project management application.

Method and system for improved security to control and facilitate access to data stored in a database


There is a tonneau or covering device for covering an open storage portion of a vehicle. The tonneau includes a cover, a cord, and/or a plurality of couplers, such as but not limited to hooks. The cord is disposed circumferentially about the cover and coupled thereto through sheathes. There are double-hook couplers including a first hook removably coupleable to a cord and a second hook coupled to the first hook and removably coupleable to the vehicle. The second hook may include a U-shaped member. The first hook may include a tapering hook opening. The first hook may include a flexible hook opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to covering devices, specifically to vehicle covers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicles having open storage portions, such as pick up truck beds, often benefit from a covering disposed over the open top of the storage portion. This is particularly important wherein a user may be storing/carrying materials that may be damaged by the elements or that may be advantageously hidden from view. For example, a vehicle may be carrying paper products that may be damaged by wind, rain, and/or sun. In another example, a vehicle may be carrying tools that may be advantageously covered, thereby helping prevent theft of the tools.
Various means of covering open storage portions of vehicles are known in the art. Past covers include hard and/or soft shells configured to be coupled to the vehicle. Covering devices may even include mechanical devices for retracting the covering device such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,034 to Lamb. Therein there is disclosed a retractable cover designed for use in covering the bed of a conventional pick up truck. The cover includes a pair of beaded side edges wherein each of the beaded side edges slidably engage a track or longitudinal opening molded in a slide member mounted to the side walls of a bed on a pick up truck. One end of the cover is fixed to a spring loaded, continuously biased, roller rotatably mounted to the forward section of the truck's bed in a plane below the plane of the extended truck cover. A flap is also provided to cover the roller as well as a means to seal the flap to the truck cover when fully extended. A locking mechanism is fixed at or near the tailgate of the truck's bed to maintain the extended, spring biased cover in an extended and locked position.
In another example, there is U.S. Pat. No. 6,688,668 to Stevens et al. wherein is disclosed a retainer system for vehicle soft tops and tonneau covers. The system includes a belt attached to the edge of the fabric of the top or tonneau cover and a channel member mounted on the vehicle to selectively receive the belt. The belt is provided with a stop mechanism to positively prevent the belt from peeling out of the retaining channel member farther than desired. In the preferred embodiments, the stop mechanism is a notch or cutout in the belt. With the present retainer system, the notch will effectively stop the peel or withdrawal of the belt from the retaining channel at a predetermined location along the channel. In this manner, the belt and attached top or tonneau cover can be partially removed from engagement along the channel member to make it easier and quicker for the operator to perform a number of desirable tasks.
Some covers include folding portions, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,428 to Ericson et al. wherein is disclosed a folding cover for a pickup truck bed comprising of a plurality of substantially rigid material sheets hinged together using specially adapted hinges made of a flexible material, the flexible hinges extending the width of the sheets making the cover substantially leak-proof/weatherproof. In a second embodiment, the cover can be mounted on rollers which themselves can be rollably supported by a horizontal track mounted to one or both of the side rails of the pickup truck bed to make folding and unfolding of the cover easier.
Problems with prior art covering devices include cost of materials, complexity of configuration, reliability issues caused by too many parts, inability to change out parts easily, failure to accommodate varying load shapes and sizes, large storage requirements when not in use, complexity and/or difficulty in using/installing the device, weight of the device, difficulty installing on a variety of vehicles, and tangling of parts of the device.
What is needed is a covering device that solves one or more of the problems described herein and/or one or more problems that may come to the attention of one skilled in the art upon becoming familiar with this specification.


A digital filter and method of filtering frequency translate or shift a spectrum of a digital input signal and further filter a translated signal to reduce or attenuate frequency components in the spectrum of the input signal. The digital fitter includes first and second translators and a first filter. The first filter is connected between the first and second translators and is centered approximately at direct current (DC). The digital filter may further include a second filter, a third translator connected to an output of the second filter, a complex local oscillator connected to an input of each translator, and a complex-to-real converter connected to an output of the third translator. The method includes frequency translating the digital input signal and separately frequency translating a first translated signal after the first translated signal is filtered to produce a second translated signal.

In modern systems such as, but not limited to, communications systems and radar systems, it is not uncommon to encounter so called 'interfering' signal or signals coexisting with a signal or signals of interest. For example, such interfering signals or 'interferers' often have a frequency that is near to, but outside of, a band edge of a frequency extent occupied by the signal of interest. In other situations, the interferer may be located inside the frequency extent of the signal of interest. Moreover, in many cases, either the so-called 'close-in' interfering signal or the so-called 'in-band' interfering signal is a narrowband signal (e.g., a frequency tone) that, at times, may exhibit a time-varying frequency characteristic.
The presence of such interfering signals can and generally does corrupt or interfere with processing of the signal of interest by the system. As such, the challenge facing the system receiver/signal processor is to provide some form of filtering that reduces or eliminates the interfering signal while minimally affecting the signal(s) of interest. Typically, such filtering takes the form of one or more of a notch or bandstop filter, a lowpass filter, a highpass filter and a bandpass filter.
Digital systems and mixed systems, systems having both analog and digital portions, often employ digital filters following an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Such digital filters provide some or all of the filtering for the system.
The ADC 'digitizes' or converts an analog input signal, generally including both the signal(s) of interest and the interfering signal(s), into a digital signal. In addition to digitizing both the signal(s) of interest and the interfering signal(s), the ADC may introduce signal distortions and/or spurious signals such as direct current (DC) offsets and/or unwanted spectral components associated with sampling frequency sub-harmonics. Therefore, systems occasionally employ various forms of specialized digital filtering in an attempt to mitigate the effects of such ADC-related signal distortions and/or spurious signals on the signal of interest within the digital system.
Unfortunately, conventional digital filtering approaches often exhibit rather limited capability especially with respect to the ever-higher digital data rates being employed in many modern systems. In particular, many approaches to conventional digital filtering, while theoretically providing attractive characteristics, simply cannot be realized for data rates associated with current and future digitizing or sampling frequencies. In addition, complexity of such filtering approaches may preclude or at least limit their application in certain modern systems.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have an approach for digital filtering that was capable of dealing with the filtering needs of such modern systems while simultaneously having a potential for lower complexity in a practical implementation. Such a digital filtering approach would solve a long-standing need in the area of filtering in digital systems.

Digital filter and method thereof using frequency translations


Reception signals received by first to fourth antennas 11 to 14 are sequentially selected one by one repeatedly in accordance with first to fourth switches 31 to 34 being controlled by first to fourth switch control circuits 41 to 44, respectively, so as to be inputted to a signal shaping section 60. The reception signals having been shaped by the signal shaping section 60 are sampled by a sample-and-hold section 71 and AD-converted by an AD converter 72 in accordance with a time at which the reception signals are sequentially selected. The resultant signals are converted into parallel signals by a serial-parallel conversion section 73. Thus, the parallel signals are obtained as the reception signals of the first to the fourth antennas 11 to 14.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-antenna communication apparatus for use in a wireless system for simultaneously receiving signals by a plurality of antennas, and controlling directivity or performing high speed transmission utilizing spatial correlation reduced in a certain radio wave environment.
2. Description of the Background Art
In recent years, widespread are various applications, for radio communication, used for a mobile telephone, a wireless LAN, a digital television, and the like. Therefore, a next-generation wireless system is required to solve the following two problems.
One of the problems is occurrence of fading. The fading occurs in an environment (referred to as multiple wave environment) in which radio waves are transmitted via a plurality of reflex paths from a certain antenna, and received by another antenna. In the multiple wave environment, a plurality of reflected waves are generated, and counteract each other when a certain positional relationship condition between antennas is satisfied. The plurality of reflected waves counteract each other because a phase difference between the radio waves transmitted via different paths is 180 degrees at a reception antenna side under the certain condition. Therefore, receiver sensitivity becomes substantially poor, thereby interrupting the communication.
The other of the problems is that it is necessary to increase frequency bands so as to realize high speed transmission. Advance in IT technology leads to substantial increase of data amount used in mobile networks. However, available radio frequencies are limited. As a result, a conventional communication system does not allow substantial increase of data transmission speed.
One of the wireless systems capable of solving the problems is a multi-antenna wireless system. The multi-antenna wireless system performs communication using a plurality of antennas. The multi-antenna wireless system allows a total directivity of the plurality of antennas to be electrically controlled, and allows selection of one of the plurality of reflected waves, thereby preventing the fading.
Further, in the multi-antenna wireless system, a plurality of antennas receive radio waves transmitted by another plurality of antennas, and separate received data into data corresponding to each of the transmission antennas. This system is called MIMO, which allows the data transmission speed to be enhanced.
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary structure of a conventional multi-antenna wireless device disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-374224 (Patent Document 1). As shown in FIG. 17, in a conventional art, the number of reception circuits required for realizing the multi-antenna function is the same as the number of reception antennas. If this technology is applied to the mobile communication terminal, a scale of the terminal is increased, thereby reducing competitive advantages in market.
This problem is solved by using a compact multi-antenna wireless device disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 62-279743 (Patent Document 2), Japanese translation of PCT international application No. 2004-521575 (Patent Document 3), and Japanese translation of PCT international application No. 2005-522909 (Patent Document 4).
FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary structure of the conventional multi-antenna wireless device disclosed in Patent Document 2. In an example shown in FIG. 18, frequencies of local oscillator signals used for two RF circuits are different by fs from each other. Therefore, IF frequencies are different by fs from each other. Accordingly, the local oscillator signals of the two systems are combined, and the combined local oscillator signals are demodulated in a circuit performing the following processes. Thus, a portion of an IF circuit and a portion of a demodulation circuit is shared by the two systems, thereby reducing a size of a reception circuit.
FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary structure of a conventional multi-antenna wireless device disclosed in Patent Document 3. In an example shown in FIG. 19, a mixer is provided following one of two antennas. Further, for a signal of a local oscillator of the mixer, used is a frequency which is different by fs from a harmonic frequency which is twice as high as an RF. Thus, it is possible to combine, with the RF, a frequency of a mixer output signal which is different by fs from the RF frequency, and down-convert and demodulate the combined signal. Thus, an RF circuit, an IF circuit, and an AD converter are shared, thereby reducing a size of a reception circuit.
FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary structure of a conventional multi-antenna wireless device disclosed in Patent Document 4. In an example shown in FIG. 20, modulators (coders) are provided following antennas, respectively. Each of the modulators modulates a reception signal of a corresponding one of the antennas by using an orthogonal code typified by Walsh code. Thus, the reception signals of a plurality of antennas having the same frequency are combined with each other, and a demodulation circuit can separate the reception signals. Therefore, an RF circuit and an AD converter can be shared by the antennas of all systems, thereby reducing a size of a reception circuit.
However, the conventional multi-antenna wireless device shown in FIG. 18 requires RF circuits of two systems. Further, the RF circuits of two systems have the local oscillator frequencies different from each other, and therefore the local oscillators of two systems are required. Therefore, reduction of an overall size of the multi-antenna wireless device is limited.
Further, the conventional multi-antenna wireless device shown in FIG. 19 requires a mixer and a local oscillator operating at the double harmonic frequency. Further, the conventional multi-antenna wireless device shown in FIG. 19 requires a filter for suppressing an interfering wave having a frequency which is different by fs from a desired frequency of a signal received by each of the antennas. Therefore, reduction of an overall size of the multi-antenna wireless device is limited.
Further, in the conventional multi-antenna wireless device shown in FIG. 20, it is necessary to provide a modulator operating at an RF for each of the antennas. Therefore, reduction of an overall size of the multi-antenna wireless device is limited.
Therefore, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-135814 (Patent Document 5) discloses a multi-antenna wireless device which is able to prevent the fading, perform high speed transmission without increasing a frequency band, and increasingly reduce a device scale as shown in FIG. 21.
However, in the conventional multi-antenna wireless device shown in FIG. 21, a multiplexer 20 switches from a certain antenna to another antenna too rapidly, whereby a discontinuous point of a signal appears. In this case, if a difference is large between a reception signal voltage of the certain antenna and the reception signal voltage of the another antenna to which the certain antenna has been switched, a voltage waveform becomes discontinuous when the switching is performed, and therefore an output signal contains large harmonic components. A waveform of the signal containing the harmonic components is distorted due to the frequency characteristic thereof when the signal containing the harmonic components passes through a matching circuit or a baseband filter circuit used in a radio frequency circuit, which may causes a transmission error.