An address recognition apparatus may include a first normalizing unit, a second normalizing unit and an address determination unit. The first normalizing unit normalizes a first electric signal and generates a first normalized signal, wherein the first electric signal is associated with a first divided set of optical packet signals. The second normalizing unit normalizes a second electric signal and generates a second normalized signal, wherein the second electric signal is associated with a second divided set of optical packet signals. The address determination unit refers to the first and second normalized signals and determines whether a destination address of a set of optical packet signals is identical to or different from an address allocated to a self-station associated with the address recognition apparatus, wherein the set of optical packet signals has been divided into the first and second divided sets of optical packet signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an address recognition apparatus in optical packet communications.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-345230, filed Nov. 30, 2005, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
All patents, patent applications, patent publications, scientific articles, and the like, which will hereinafter be cited or identified in the present application, will hereby be incorporated by reference in their entirety in order to describe more fully the state of the art to which the present invention pertains.
As in the recent years the Internet has been widely and rapidly spread, the requirement for realizing a high speed and large capacity network has been on the increase. In order to realize the network, an optical fiber communication has been developed and practiced. The optical fiber provides a transmission path that is adapted to transmit information as optical signal, instead of electrical signal. In the optical fiber communication, an optical packet communication has been established, wherein a set of information is divided into a plurality of optical packets that are to be transmitted on the optical fiber.
For preventing any substantive reduction of the transmission rate, it is desired to avoid that a set of optical signals being transmitted on the optical fiber is converted into a set of electrical signals so that the set of electrical signals are then processed. In this viewpoint, the optical packet communication can use an address recognition apparatus that is configured to recognize a destination address, to which one or more optical packets are intended to be transmitted. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional address recognition apparatus to be used in the optical packet communication.
An address recognition apparatus 10 includes a first optical path 1, a second optical path 2, a first light receiving device 3, a second light receiving device 4, a DC power supply 5, a resistive element 6, an amplifier 7, and an address determining unit 8. Each of the first and second optical paths 1 and 2 is optically coupled to an optical fiber 20 that is adapted to transmit optical packet signals. The optical fiber 20 is also optically coupled to a delay optical fiber 20a. An optical packet signal processor 30 is optically coupled through the delay optical fiber 20a to the optical fiber 20.
A set of optical packet signals is transmitted on the optical fiber 20, and then divided into a first divided set of optical packet signal s1, a second divided-set of optical packet signal s2, and a third divided-set of optical packet signal.
The first optical path 1 is formed by an optical fiber that has a predetermined optical path length. The first optical path 1 has a first emitting edge 1a. The first optical path 1 is adapted to transmit the first divided-set of optical packet signals s1 to the first emitting edge 1a so that a first divided beam of light representing the first divided-set of optical packet signals s1 is emitted from the first emitting edge 1a toward the first light receiving device 3.
The second optical path 2 has a second emitting edge 2a. The second optical path 2 is formed by an optical fiber that has a predetermined optical path length that is longer by a difference ΔL1 than that of the first optical path 1. The second optical path 2 has a second emitting edge 2a. The second optical path 2 is adapted to transmit the second divided-set of optical packet signals s2 to the second emitting edge 2a so that a second divided beam of light representing the second divided-set of optical packet signals s2 is emitted from the second emitting edge 2a toward the second light receiving device 4.
The first light receiving device 3 is realized by a first photodiode that is adapted to receive the first divided beam of light representing the first divided-set of optical packet signals s1 and generate a first photocurrent I1 representing a first intensity of the first divided beam of light. The first light receiving device 3 has a cathode electrode that is electrically coupled to the DC power supply 5. The first light receiving device 3 has an anode electrode that is electrically coupled to an anode electrode of the second light receiving device 4. The anode electrode of the first light receiving device 3 is also electrically coupled to a first side of the resistive element 6. The anode electrode of the first light receiving device 3 is also electrically coupled to an input of the amplifier 7.
The second light receiving device 4 is realized by a second photodiode that is adapted to receive the second divided beam of light representing the second divided-set of optical packet signals s2 and generate a second photocurrent I2 representing a second intensity of the second divided beam of light. The second light receiving device 4 has a cathode electrode that is electrically coupled to the DC power supply 5. The second light receiving device 4 has an anode electrode that is electrically coupled to the anode electrode of the first light receiving device 3. The anode electrode of the second light receiving device 4 is also electrically coupled to the first side of the resistive element 6. The anode electrode of the second light receiving device 4 is also electrically coupled to the input of the amplifier 7.
The DC power supply 5 supplies a DC voltage Vcc to the cathode electrodes of the first and second light receiving devices 3 and 4. The resistive element 6 can be realized by a circuitry having a resistive impedance. The resistive element 6 has the first side that is electrically coupled to the anode electrodes of the first and second light receiving devices 3 and 4 and also coupled to the input of the amplifier 7. The resistive element 6 also has a second side that is electrically grounded.
The amplifier 7 is adapted to receive a voltage signal V0 that appears across the resistive element 6 and generate an amplified voltage signal V1.
The address determining unit 8 is functionally coupled to the amplifier 7 to receive the amplified voltage signal V1 from the amplifier 7. The address determining unit 8 is configured to perform a predetermined set of signal processing, based on the amplified voltage signal V1, so as to determine whether or not the received set of optical packet signals that has been transmitted on the optical fiber 20 has a destination address to the self station associated with the address recognition apparatus 10. The address determining unit 8 is configured to generate an address determination signal that represents the result of determination on the address. The address determining unit 8 is configured to supply the address determination signal to the optical packet signal processor 30 that is placed on the follower stage to the address recognition apparatus 10.
The delay optical fiber 20a can be realized by an optical fiber that has a delay optical path length difference ΔL2 from the first optical path length of the first optical path 1. The delay optical fiber 20a can be adapted to transmit the third divided-set of optical packet signal from the optical fiber 20 to the optical packet signal processor 30.
The optical packet signal processor 30 is optically coupled to the delay optical fiber 20a to receive the third divided-set of optical packet signal that has been transmitted on the delay optical fiber 20a. The optical packet signal processor 30 is functionally coupled to the address determining unit 8 to receive the address determination signal from the address determining unit 8. The optical packet signal processor 30 is configured to perform a predetermined set of signal processing of the third divided-set of optical packet signal, based on the address determination signal, thereby generating a set of processed optical packet signals. In a case, the optical packet signal processor 30 can be configured to transmit the set of processed optical packet signals to the optical communication network. In another case, the optical packet signal processor 30 can be configured to transmit, without performing any processing, the third divided-set of optical packet signal to the optical communication network.
Operations of the address recognition apparatus 10 will be described. The set of optical packet signals is transmitted on the optical fiber 20, and then divided into the first divided set of optical packet signal s1 to be transmitted on the first optical path 1, a second divided-set of optical packet signal s2 to be transmitted on the second optical path 2, and a third divided-set of optical packet signal to be transmitted on the delayed optical fiber 20a.
FIG. 6A is a timing chart illustrating a waveform of a first example of the optical packet signal that is input into the address recognition apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 6B is a timing chart illustrating a waveform of a second example of the optical packet signal that is input into the address recognition apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 5. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the optical packet signal includes a header bit d1 so called to as a frame delimiter, an address bit d2 defining a destination address, and a payload d3 including various types of data. In the case of optical packet communication, the timing of appearing the address bit d2 represents the address. Namely, the coordinate on the time-axis of the address bit d2 defines the address. The address bit d2 shown in FIG. 6A is different in the position on the time axis from the address bit d2 shown in FIG. 6B. This means that the optical packet signals shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B have different destination addresses.
As described above, the first divided set of optical packet signal s1 is transmitted on the first optical path 1 and then emits from the first emitting edge 1a toward the first light receiving device 3. The second divided set of optical packet signal s2 is transmitted on the second optical path 2 and then emits from the second emitting edge 2a toward the second light receiving device 4. The second optical path 2 is longer by the optical path length difference ΔL1 than the first optical path 1. The optical path length difference ΔL1 causes a difference in time between when the first light receiving device 3 receives the first divided set of optical packet signal s1 and when the second light receiving device 4 receives the second divided set of optical packet signal s2.
FIG. 7 is a timing chart illustrating a time difference between when the first light receiving device 3 receives the first divided set of optical packet signal s1 and when the second light receiving device 4 receives the second divided set of optical packet signal s2. The optical path length difference ΔL1 is previously adjusted so that the address bit d2 of the first divided set of optical packet signal received by the first light receiving device 3 is phase-matched to the header bit d2 of the second divided set of optical packet signal received by the second light receiving device 4. In other words, only when the set of optical packet signal transmitted on the optical fiber 20 has a specific or predetermined destination address, then the first and second light receiving devices 3 and 4 receive concurrently the address bit d2 of the first divided set of optical packet signal s1 and the header bit d1 of the second divided set of optical packet signal, respectively.
If the first and second light receiving devices 3 and 4 receive concurrently the address bit d2 of the first divided set of optical packet signal s1 and the header bit d1 of the second divided set of optical packet signal, respectively, then this means that the set of optical packet signal transmitted on the optical fiber 20 has the destination address that is identical to the address of the self station associated with the address recognition apparatus 10. In this case, almost the same photocurrents flow through the first and second light receiving devices 3 and 4, and the voltage signal V0 across the resistive element 6 is caused, which has a first voltage level.
If the first and second light receiving devices 3 and 4 receive, at different timings, the address bit d2 of the first divided set of optical packet signal s1 and the header bit d1 of the second divided set of optical packet signal, respectively, then this means that the set of optical packet signal transmitted on the optical fiber 20 has a different destination address from the address of the self station associated with the address recognition apparatus 10. In this case, a photocurrent flows either one of the first and second light receiving devices 3 and 4, and the voltage signal V0 across the resistive element 6 is caused, which has a second voltage level that is equal to a half of the first voltage level.
The voltage signal V0 is input into the amplifier 7 and amplified into an amplified voltage signal V1 by the amplifier 7. The amplified voltage signal V1 is input into the address determining unit 8.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a relationship of an amplified voltage signal V1 to a given threshold. The address determining unit 8 is configured to compare the maximum value of the amplified signal V1 with the threshold. If the address determining unit 8 verifies that the maximum value is equal to or higher than the threshold, then the address determining unit 8 determines that the set of optical packet signals transmitted on the optical fiber 20 has the same destination address as the address to the self station associated with the address recognition apparatus 10, thereby generating a first state of address determination signal. The first state of address determination signal can be high. The first state of address determination signal is input into the optical packet signal processor 30.
If the address determining unit 8 verifies that the maximum value is lower than the threshold, then the address determining unit 8 determines that the set of optical packet signals transmitted on the optical fiber 20 has a different destination address from the address to the self station associated with the address recognition apparatus 10, thereby generating a second state of address determination signal. The second state of address determination signal can be low. The second state of address determination signal is input into the optical packet signal processor 30.
The third divided set of optical packet signal is transmitted on the delay optical fiber 20a. The delay optical path length difference ΔL2 of the delay optical fiber 20a causes a time delay in allowing the optical packet signal processor 30 to receive the third divided set of optical packet signal. The delay optical path length difference ΔL2 is set taking into account a time until the address determination process is completed by the address determining unit 8.
Upon receipt of the input of the first state of state of address determination signal, the optical packet signal processor 30 determines that the address of the set of optical packet signals transmitted on the optical fiber 20 has the same destination address as the address of the self station associated with the address recognition apparatus 10. In this case, the optical packet signal processor 30 applies the predetermined set of signal processing to the third divided set of optical packet signal that has been transmitted on the delay optical fiber 20a, and the optical packet signal processor 30 transmits a set of processed optical packet signal to the optical communication network.
Upon receipt of the input of the second state of state of address determination signal, the optical packet signal processor 30 determines that the address of the set of optical packet signals transmitted on the optical fiber 20 has a different destination address from the address of the self station associated with the address recognition apparatus 10. In this case, the optical packet signal processor 30 transmits the third divided set of optical packet signal to the optical communication network without performing any processing.
The address recognition apparatus 10 to be used in the optical packet communication is configured to determine whether or not the set of input optical packet signals transmitted on the optical fiber 20 has an address that is defined by an optical path length difference between the first and second optical paths 1 and 2. If the address recognition apparatus 10 verifies that the set of input optical packet signals has the address that is defined by the optical path length difference, then the address recognition apparatus 10 recognizes that the set of input optical packet signals has the same address as the address of the self station associated with the address recognition apparatus 10.
In other words, the address recognition apparatus 10 is configured to determine whether or not the set of input optical packet signals transmitted on the optical fiber 20 has an address that allows the first and second light receiving devices 3 and 4 to receive concurrently the address bit d2 of the first divided set of optical packet signal s1 and the header bit d1 of the second divided set of optical packet signal, respectively. If the address recognition apparatus 10 verifies that the set of input optical packet signals has the address that allows the first and second light receiving devices 3 and 4 to receive concurrently the address bit d2 and the header bit d1 respectively, then the address recognition apparatus 10 recognizes that the set of input optical packet signals has the same address as the address of the self station associated with the address recognition apparatus 10.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication, No. 2002-305478 discloses a conventional technique for an address processor to be used in the optical packet communication. The conventional address processor has a reduced number of parts or elements that need to perform address processing operations. The conventional technique is related to scale down the processor and to improve high speed performance.
In the address recognition apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 5, the intensity of the set of optical packet signals transmitted on the optical fiber 20 is not always constant but may vary largely. For example, if the first and second light receiving devices 3 and 4 receive concurrently the address bit d2 of the first divided set of optical packet signal s1 and the header bit d1 of the second divided set of optical packet signal, respectively, then this means that the set of optical packet signal transmitted on the optical fiber 20 has the destination address that is identical to the address of the self station associated with the address recognition apparatus 10. In this case, however, it is possible that the intensity of the set of input optical packet signals having been transmitted on the optical fiber 20 is so weak that the amplified voltage signal V1 is lower than the threshold, whereby the address recognition apparatus 10 determines incorrectly that the set of optical packet signal transmitted on the optical fiber 20 has a different destination address from the address of the self station associated with the address recognition apparatus 10.
If the first and second light receiving devices 3 and 4 receive, at different timings, the address bit d2 of the first divided set of optical packet signal s1 and the header bit d1 of the second divided set of optical packet signal, respectively, then this means that the set of optical packet signal transmitted on the optical fiber 20 has a different destination address from the address of the self station associated with the address recognition apparatus 10. In this case, however, it is possible that the intensity of the set of input optical packet signals having been transmitted on the optical fiber 20 is so strong that the amplified voltage signal V1 is higher than the threshold, whereby the address recognition apparatus 10 determines incorrectly that the set of optical packet signal transmitted on the optical fiber 20 has the same destination address as the address of the self station associated with the address recognition apparatus 10.
The large variation in the intensity of the set of optical packet signals transmitted on the optical fiber 20 may, in case, cause the address recognition apparatus 10 to recognize incorrectly the destination address of the set of input optical packet signals.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved address recognition apparatus and/or an improved address recognition method. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.


A method for processing a print page, by detecting if the page contains black areas exceeding a user-customizable coverage percentage, and providing a GUI for canceling, printing, and converting the print page. Printing presentation slides, for example, sometimes results in too many unattractive solid black sections, wasting toner or ink. When such a print page is detected, a user is alerted and allowed to convert the black areas, by inversion, dot-meshing, uniformly lightening page, lightening black regions, boundary preservation, and graduated lightening to lighten centers of solid black areas while leaving the contours intact. Methods also include specifying pixel blackness percentage based on grayscale and RGB values, previewing displaying contiguous black areas prominently, second detection step for contiguous areas, and processing PDL print objects by detecting and converting pen and brush colors.

Device drivers are generally known, including a printer driver. Typically, printing from a computer occurs through the use of a printer driver. Upon either an application launch or during a print command load time, the application will call an instance of the printer driver. When, for example, printing slide presentation documents, users often print pages with too many solid black areas, which are both an undesired result as well as waste of toner or ink. The present invention arose out of the above concerns associated with processing of print images and detecting and avoiding printing of solid black areas in pages.

System for detecting and avoiding printing of solid black areas


An improved sensor and related method for multi-axial measurement of motion for an implantable medical device is disclosed. The sensor has a wide variety of applications, including use as a cardiac wall motion sensor or a physical activity sensor. The sensor includes first and second conductors over which the motion measurements are made. A first transducer provides a first motion measurement indicative of sensor acceleration during a first phase, while a second transducer provides a second motion measurement indicative of sensor acceleration during a second phase. The first and second transducers are connected in parallel so as to provide the first and second motion measurements to an implantable medical device over the first and second conductors. The first and second phases are non-overlapping periods of time so that the motion measurements from each transducer are time division multiplexed. The sensor provides motion measurements that may either be compensated or uncompensated for temperature effects. In either case, the motion sensor uses fewer conductors than conventional sensors to deliver its measurements.

This invention relates to implantable medical devices and more particularly to implantable cardiac stimulating devices and monitors. More particularly, this invention relates to sensor circuitry for such cardiac devices. The sensor circuitry can be configured to act as either a cardiac wall motion sensor to provide signals indicative of cardiac mechanical activity, or as a body sensor to measure overall physical activity.
Cardiac Wall Motion Sensors
One particular use of cardiac wall motion sensors is in the context of regulating cardiac stimulation. Implantable cardiac stimulating devices may be used to provide therapy in response to a variety of pathological cardiac arrhythmias. In particular, implantable cardiac stimulating devices may be capable of providing "tiered therapy," in which the type of electrical stimulation provided by the device is determined in accordance with the severity of the arrhythmia, with more aggressive therapies being applied in response to more severe arrhythmias. Thus, a cardiac stimulating device may respond to a relatively mild occurrence of tachycardia by delivering antitachycardia pacing pulses of approximately twenty-five to thirty microjoules in a sequence known to interrupt such an arrhythmia. In response to a relatively more severe occurrence of tachycardia, the device may deliver a low energy shock on the order of approximately two to five joules, either in combination with, or as an alternative to, antitachycardia pacing pulses. In response to an occurrence of an even more severe arrhythmia (ventricular fibrillation for example), the implantable cardiac stimulating device may deliver a high energy "defibrillation" shock on the order of approximately ten to forty joules.
Implantable cardiac stimulating devices are also employed to provide pacing pulses to cardiac tissue for the purpose of maintaining a heart rate at a physiologically acceptable rate (i.e., to provide "bradycardia pacing support"). Bradycardia pacing support may be provided by a dedicated pacemaker, or by a device that is also capable of providing other forms of therapy, such as tiered therapy.
Effective delivery of therapy from an implantable cardiac stimulating device depends upon accurate measurement of intrinsic cardiac activity. In the case of an implantable cardiac stimulating device capable of providing tiered therapy, the device must not only be capable of detecting the onset of an arrhythmia, but must also be capable of discriminating among various types of arrhythmias in order to deliver an appropriate form of electrical stimulation therapy. For example, if ventricular fibrillation is incorrectly diagnosed by the device as a relatively less severe arrhythmia, valuable time may be lost if an inappropriate, less aggressive therapy, such as antitachycardia pacing, is applied. Conversely, if tachycardia is incorrectly diagnosed as ventricular fibrillation, the patient may consciously experience high energy defibrillation shocks, which, although effective in terminating the tachycardia, are extremely uncomfortable, and may cause unnecessary myocardial stunning due to the defibrillation shock.
Measurement of intrinsic cardiac activity is also desirable for implantable cardiac stimulating devices (so-called "demand pacemakers") capable of providing bradycardia pacing support. Typically, the delivery of bradycardia pacing pulses from such devices is inhibited in response to spontaneous cardiac depolarizations (R-waves) which occur within a predetermined time period (commonly referred to as the "escape interval") following a preceding depolarization (R-wave). For example, if the intrinsic heart rate of a patient during a particular time interval is greater than a programmed rate, delivery of pacing pulses may be inhibited during that time interval. Pacing pulses would be provided when the intrinsic heart rate falls below the programmed rate. Pacing pulse inhibition is safer because it avoids competitive pacing, and is desirable because it extends battery life by avoiding delivery of unnecessary stimulation pulses. In order for a device to be capable of inhibiting delivery of pacing pulses, it must be capable of detecting intrinsic cardiac activity.
Many implantable cardiac stimulating devices that detect and discriminate among cardiac arrhythmias monitor heart rate, which is usually accomplished by measuring cardiac electrical activity--i.e., the intracardiac electrogram (IEGM). The IEGM is typically sensed by electrodes that are also used to deliver electrical stimulation therapy to the cardiac tissue. However, under some circumstances, it is difficult to sense the IEGM. For example, the device may not be able to discern the IEGM over noise or other physiological electrical activity, or perhaps even external interference. As a result, an implantable cardiac stimulating device may have difficulty detecting the onset of an arrhythmia. As another illustration, implantable cardiac stimulating devices capable of providing bradycardia pacing support may be inhibited from sensing cardiac electrical activity during a period of time immediately following the delivery of a pacing pulse, due to the presence of a pulse-induced after-potential.
Other known implantable cardiac stimulating devices use hemodynamic signals to detect cardiac arrhythmias. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,950 of Cohen refers to a system that may detect cardiac arrhythmias by measuring mean pressure at a variety of locations (e.g., mean arterial pressure, mean right ventricle pressure, mean left atrial pressure, mean left ventricle pressure or mean central venous pressure). For a selected mean pressure, a short term current mean pressure is compared to a long term mean baseline pressure, and if they differ by a predetermined value, the patient may be deemed to be experiencing a cardiac arrhythmia. The mean pressure data may also be used in combination with heart rate measurements to detect arrhythmias.
Another example of a device that uses hemodynamics to detect cardiac arrhythmias is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,748 of Cohen. In that patent, blood oxygen level is measured at a particular site in the circulatory system of a patient. A comparison is made between a short term sensed blood oxygen level and a baseline blood oxygen level, and if they differ, the patient may be deemed to be experiencing a cardiac arrhythmia.
Unfortunately, the use of hemodynamic indicators such as mean pressure and blood oxygen level may have certain associated drawbacks. One possible drawback is that hemodynamic indicators may not respond rapidly to the onset of an arrhythmia. Thus, an implantable cardiac stimulating device that relies on such hemodynamic signals to detect cardiac arrhythmias may not deliver therapy as rapidly as desired.
One proposed solution which overcomes some of the drawbacks associated with the use of the IEGM and certain other hemodynamic indicators is described in commonly-assigned, copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/091,636, filed Jul. 14, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,777 of Moberg and Causey, entitled "Implantable Leads Incorporating Cardiac Wall Motion Sensors and Method of Fabrication and a System and Method For Detecting Cardiac Arrhythmias Using a Cardiac Wall Motion Sensor Signal," which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. That patent application describes cardiac wall motion sensors that provide signals indicative of cardiac mechanical activity. The sensors are incorporated into implantable leads, such as endocardial leads, myocardial active-fixation leads and epicardial patch electrodes. The sensors are accelerometer-based such that they provide signals representative of cardiac wall accelerations as experienced by the sensors in the leads.
As described in patent application Ser. No. 08/091,636 now U.S. Pat. No 5,628,777 of Moberg et al., signals from the therein-described cardiac wall motion sensor may be used to discriminate among various cardiac arrhythmias in a manner traditionally accomplished by analyzing electrocardiograms or aortic pressure signals. An implantable cardiac stimulating device may be constructed to receive both a cardiac wall motion sensor signal (which is indicative of cardiac mechanical activity) and an IEGM signal (which is indicative of cardiac electrical activity). The device may be configured to use either form of information, or both forms of information in combination, to detect and discriminate among various types of cardiac arrhythmias and to determine intrinsic heart rate. Moreover, as described in commonly-assigned, U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,412, issued Jan. 2, 1996 of Mouchawar et al., entitled "System and Method for Deriving Hemodynamic Signals from a Cardiac Wall Motion Sensor" (incorporated by reference herein in its entirety), cardiac wall displacement may be derived from the cardiac wall motion acceleration signal, and the displacement used as a hemodynamic indicator.
As described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/091,636, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,777 of Moberg et al., the cardiac wall motion sensor may be implemented as an accelerometer constructed of a cantilever beam having one end fixably coupled to a cardiac lead that is in contact with a cardiac wall surface. A mass is disposed on the other end of the cantilever beam, which is left free to move. As the cardiac wall moves, the resulting movement of the lead causes the beam to flex. The mass can be centered, i.e., symmetrically disposed about the free end, so that the beam flexes in response to motion perpendicular to the beam. Alternatively, the mass can be offset, i.e., asymmetric with respect to the planar surface of the beam, so that the beam will flex in response not only to motions perpendicular to the beam, but also coaxial with respect to the beam. The measured acceleration of the beam provides an indication of cardiac mechanical activity.
A piezoelectric material may be disposed on both surfaces of the beam. The surfaces of the piezoelectric material are polarized to bear an electric charge. In response to upward and downward deflections of the beam, the charge on the piezoelectric surfaces change in magnitude and polarity, and thereby provide a signal indicative of the accelerations of the cardiac wall to which the lead is attached. In the offset mass configuration, the signals represent motion in both the perpendicular and coaxial directions combined.
The use of a piezoelectric material in a cardiac wall motion sensor exhibits a number of disadvantages. The piezoelectric accelerometer cannot measure a DC response (i.e., it cannot measure a constant acceleration). Further, the piezoelectric material is subject to thermal drift. As the ambient temperature of the sensor changes with time, the electrical properties of the piezoelectric material change correspondingly.
To overcome these problems, the above-referenced application also describes the use of a piezoresistive material to coat both sides of the cantilever beam. A piezoresistive material undergoes a change in resistance when the material is subjected to a mechanical stress or strain. Preferably, each side of the cantilever is coated with piezoresistive deposits to eliminate the effects of temperature drift. When compensated in this manner, the piezoresistive accelerometer exhibits a DC response and thus can be used to measure constant acceleration.
One drawback of temperature-compensated sensors results from the bridge circuitry used to cancel out the temperature effects common to both the upper and lower piezoresistive surfaces of the beam. The bridge requires three wires for each cantilever beam to measure resistance. In contrast, an uncompensated sensor requires only two conductors to measure acceleration.
The number of conductors used to measure cardiac acceleration increases when motion sensitivity in more than one direction is desired. One cantilever beam bearing an offset mass is sensitive to the vector sum of cardiac wall motion in two directions. However, such a sensor does not provide separate measurements of acceleration in individual orthogonal directions. Unfortunately, the cumulative multiaxial measurement of a single-beam sensor may register a zero or reduced value because of cancellation of nonzero measurements in different directions. Thus, it may be desirable to obtain two or more distinct measurements of the amplitude of cardiac wall motion in at least two individual noncoaxial directions.
As described above, a cardiac wall motion sensor can measure uniaxial motion by employing a centered mass, rather than an offset mass, that is symmetric about the cantilever axis. The measurement of cardiac accelerations in two separate directions would then require two cantilevered sensors. Unfortunately such a configuration implementing the temperature-compensated piezoresistive bridge design would require five wires (three for each cantilever with one wire in common), thereby occupying valuable space in the implantable cardiac lead.
Physical Activity Sensors
Accelerometer-based sensors have also been used as body sensors to measure a patient's physiological activity. For example, a rate-responsive pacemaker uses such sensor measurements to control a patient's heart rate. Accelerometer-based physical activity sensors are described in commonly-assigned, U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,473, issued Jan. 24, 1995, entitled "A Rate-Responsive Implantable Stimulation Device Having a Miniature Hybrid-Mountable Accelerometer-Based Sensor and Method of Fabrication," of Moberg; and Ser. No. 08/091,850, filed Jul.14, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,750, entitled "Accelerometer-Based Multi-Axis Physical Activity Sensor for a Rate-Responsive Pacemaker and Method of Fabrication," of Moberg, both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
The utilization of accelerometer-based sensors to measure physical activity is the result of an evolution in pacemaker design. Early demand pacemakers enabled a physician to adjust the heart rate to be maintained by telemetrically adjusting the length of the escape interval. However, this technique only allowed for adjustments to a fixed "programmed rate," and did not accommodate patients who required increased or decreased heart rates to meet changing physiological requirements during periods of elevated or reduced physical activity. Unlike a person with a properly functioning heart, these patients were paced so that a constant heart rate was maintained regardless of the level of the patient's physical activity. Consequently, during periods of elevated physical activity, these patients were subject to adverse physiological consequences, including lightheadedness and episodes of fainting, because their heart rates were forced by the pacemaker to remain constant.
Later pacemakers were capable of adjusting the rate at which pacing pulses are delivered in accordance with metabolic needs of the patient. These devices, known as "rate-responsive pacemakers," typically maintain a predetermined minimum heart rate when the patient is engaged in physical activity at or below a threshold level, and gradually increase the maintained heart rate in accordance with increases in physical activity until a maximum rate is reached. Rate-responsive pacemakers typically include circuitry that correlates measured physical activity to a desirable heart rate. In many rate-responsive pacemakers, the minimum heart rate, maximum heart rate, and the slope or curve between the minimum heart rate and the maximum heart rate are telemetrically programmable to meet the needs of a particular patient.
One approach that has been considered for correlating physical activity to an appropriate heart rate involves measuring a physiological parameter that reflects the level to which the patient is engaged in physical activity. Physiological parameters that have been considered include central venous blood temperature, blood pH level, QT time interval and respiration rate. However, certain drawbacks such as slow response time, excessive emotionally-induced variations, and wide variability across individuals, render the use of certain physiological parameters difficult. Accordingly, they have not been widely applied in practice.
More generally accepted have been rate-responsive pacemakers which employ sensors that transduce mechanical forces associated with physical activity. These sensors are similar to those used to measure cardiac wall motion. U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,132 (of Dahl) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,378 (of Anderson et al.) describe examples of rate-responsive pacemakers that maintain a paced heart rate in accordance with physical activity as measured by a piezoelectric sensor.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/091,850, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,750 of Moberg, described above, also provides an accelerometer-based physical activity sensor that employs a weighted cantilever arrangement similar to that disclosed in commonly-assigned copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/091,636, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,777 of Moberg et al. The physical activity sensor is preferably mounted within an implantable stimulation device so as to be responsive to bodily accelerations associated with physical activity. The sensor employs an offset-weighted cantilever arrangement to provide sensitivity to bodily accelerations that are both perpendicular and coaxial to the cantilever beam.
In the context of measuring physical activity, the multi-axial sensitivity of such a sensor overcomes the limitations on a physician's ability to choose only the common "front-back" axis of sensitivity for a particular patient, i.e., the axis that projects from the patient's chest (as described above with respect to U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,132 (Dahl)). However, a physician may decide that other axes of sensitivity are more appropriate for a particular patient, e.g., where a patient is frequently subjected, perhaps for occupational reasons, to externally induced forces in the vertical and/or lateral directions.
Moreover, it is difficult to position a single-axis physical activity sensor so as to orient it in a predetermined direction. Unfortunately, the sensor may be subject to "twirler's syndrome"--a condition in which the patient absentmindedly manipulates the pacemaker implanted beneath the skin, thereby changing its orientation from time to time. Changes to the axis of sensitivity may lead to unexpectedly high or low measurements of physical activity which can cause a pacemaker to make inappropriate heart rate adjustments.
The multi-axial sensor described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/091,850, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,750 of Moberg suffers the same drawbacks of the offset-weighted cantilevered cardiac wall motion sensor described above. Like the cardiac wall motion sensor, a single-beam, offset-weighted physical activity sensor provides only a measurement of the vector sum of bodily accelerations in different directions. It does not provide individual measurements along each direction of movement, although it may be desirable for a physician to know whether the measured accelerations are taking place along a particular axis. Vertical motion may indicate that the patient is climbing a set of stairs, which would place a greater strain on the heart than a front-back walking motion. Thus, such information could be useful in providing the proper cardiac stimulation. However, to obtain the same temperature compensation advantages and individual directional measurements as desired in the cardiac wall motion sensor, the physical activity sensor described above would require the same number of measurement wires as the cardiac motion sensor for each sensor configuration.
For both cardiac wall motion sensors and physical activity sensors, one concern that must always be kept in mind when designing implantable cardiac monitors and stimulating devices is the need to conserve the limited space available within the implantable device and the associated leads. Both the size and the number of components required to construct physical activity sensors and cardiac wall motion sensors should thus be kept to a minimum. Any attempt to improve directional sensitivity should avoid the use of additional hardware components, including additional transducers or wires, to the greatest extent possible.

Multi-axial accelerometer-based sensor for an implantable medical device and method of measuring motion measurements therefor


A new and distinct cultivar of Salvia plant named ‘Radio Red’, characterized by its bright red-colored flowers, dark green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, upright growth habit, is disclosed.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Salvia plant botanically known as Salvia×hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Radio Red'.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Buellton, Calif. during the summer of 2008. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Salvia cultivars having large flowers and compact growth habits.
The new Salvia cultivar is the result of open-pollination. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is Mesa Azure, 'Mes Azur', U.S. Plant Pat. No. 21,097 characterized by its medium violet-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, upright growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is unknown. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated open-pollination during November 2009 in a controlled environment in Buellton, Calif.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since November 2009 in Elburn, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.


A fixing device is configured to move the pressure release member in predetermined movement directions relative to the support member such that the biasing member can function. The support member has a first retaining part. The pressure release member has a retention element to be held in the first retaining part of the support member. When the retention element is held in the first retaining part of the support member, the pressure release member is configured to apply a biasing force of the biasing member to the support member and thereby to cause the second fixing member to be pressed against the first fixing member. When the retention element is released from the first retaining part of the support member, the pressure release member is configured to stay at a release position in the movement directions at which position the biasing member ceases to apply the biasing force to the support member, and thereby to release the pressure contact state where the second fixing member is pressed against the first fixing member.

The present invention relates to a fixing device applicable to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and a printer, and also relates to an image forming apparatus.
An electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and a printer may employ a pressure release member which presses a second fixing member (e.g. a pressure roller) against a first fixing member (e.g. a rotational fixing member such as a fixing roller and a fixing belt) by a biasing member with a predetermined pressing force, and which releases this pressure contact state where the second fixing member is pressed against the first fixing member with a predetermined pressing force.
As an example of the pressure release member, a fixing device disclosed in JP 2008-151965 A employs a cam having a large-diameter part and a small-diameter part. By utilizing the large-diameter part and the small-diameter part, this cam switches between a pressure contact state where a fixing roller (a first fixing member) and a pressure roller (a second fixing member) are pressed against each other and a released state where the pressure contact is released.
As another example of the pressure release member, a fixing device disclosed in JP 2003-223075 A employs a cam which abuts an end of a roller shaft of a pressure roller (a second fixing member) and which displaces the pressure roller in a direction away from a fixing roller (a first fixing member) against a biasing force of a spring.
As yet another example of the pressure release member, a fixing device disclosed in JP 2001-318555 A employs a cam by which a downward rotational movement of a release lever around a rotational shaft is converted into an upward rotational movement of a pressure lever around a first rotational shaft. By this converting action, the cam releases a pressure state where a pressure roller (a second fixing member) is pressed against a heating roller (a first fixing member).
In these conventional fixing devices, cams are used as the pressure release members for releasing the pressure contact state where the second fixing members are pressed against the first fixing members. However, this configuration requires a number of components for operating the pressure release members, and further requires a greater space and higher costs for such components.

Fixing device having pressure release member supported reciprocably, and image forming apparatus equipped therewith


An improved system and method for ranging while drilling, in effect, induces a dynamic hot spot on the casing of a nearby well. The induced hot spot acts as a magnetic source that can be reliably detected from within the drillstring and in such a manner as to infer the relative position and orientation of the casing to the drillstring. At least some disclosed method embodiments employ one or more rotating magnets in the drillstring, an array of at least two magnetometers in the drillstring and one or more phase-locked loops that are used to enhance the signal to noise ratio of the magnetic signal scattered off of the casing from the rotating magnetic field. The rotating magnet or magnets may be magnetic dipoles or magnetic multipoles, and may be modulated to enable the use of multiple magnetic field sources.

The world depends on hydrocarbons to solve many of its energy needs. Consequently, oil field operators strive to produce and sell hydrocarbons as efficiently as possible. Much of the easily obtainable oil has already been produced, so new techniques are being developed to extract less accessible hydrocarbons. These techniques often involve drilling a borehole in close proximity to one or more existing wells. One such technique is steam-assisted gravity drainage ("SAGD") as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,257,334, "Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage Heavy Oil Recovery Process". SAGD uses a pair of vertically-spaced, horizontal wells less than 10 meters apart, and careful control of the spacing is important to the technique's effectiveness. Other examples of directed drilling near an existing well include intersection for blowout control, multiple wells drilled from an offshore platform, and closely spaced wells for geothermal energy recovery.
One way to direct a borehole in close proximity to an existing well is "active ranging" in which an electromagnetic source is located in the existing well and monitored via sensors on the drillstring. By contrast systems that locate both the source and the sensors on the drillstring are often termed "passive ranging". Passive ranging may be preferred to active ranging because it does not require that operations on the existing well be interrupted. Existing passive ranging techniques rely on magnetic "hot spots" in the casing of the existing well, which limits the use of these techniques to identify areas where there is a significant and abrupt change in the diameter of casing or where the casing has taken on an anomalous magnetic moment, either by pre-polarization of the casing before it is inserted into the wellbore, or as a random event. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,517 "A Method for drilling a borehole from one cased borehole to another cased borehole." In order to carry out such a polarization without interrupting production, it has been regarded as necessary to polarize the casing at some point in the construction of the well. This approach cannot be applied to wells that are already in commercial service without interrupting that service.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description are not intended to limit the disclosure to these particular embodiments, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Systems and methods for ranging while drilling


A tracking loop and associated method for tracking a satellite signal in a GNSS receiver and for determining a line-of-sight (LOS) signal from a plurality of satellite signals received by the GNSS receiver from a satellite. One or more first correlators perform a correlation between a code signal derived from one of the received satellite signals and a plurality of corresponding replica code signals to determine a plurality of code correlation sums comprising a prompt code correlation sum, one or more early code correlation sums and one or more late code correlation sums. One or more second correlators correlate the plurality of code correlation sums with a plurality of replica carrier signals, each having a different Doppler frequency offset, to determine, for each of the plurality of code correlation sums, a set of correlation magnitudes at frequencies of the plurality of replica carrier signals. An LOS identification module identifies the LOS signal based on a signal propagation delay corresponding to one or more local maxima within the sets of correlation magnitudes.

Typical GNSS receivers are configured to receive signals from a plurality of GNSS satellites to determine a navigation solution for the GNSS receiver. The navigation solution is typically an 8-state vector including: 3-dimensional position; 3-dimensional velocity; receiver timing offset; and receiver timing drift.
In order to provide the navigation solution, a GNSS receiver must track satellite signals transmitted by GNSS satellites orbiting the earth acquired by the receiver during acquisition. In some environments it is challenging for a GNSS receiver to track the satellite signals due to multipath, which refers to the phenomenon that the receiver can receive several signals coming from the same GNSS satellite which have propagated along different paths. The reception at the GNSS receiver of reflected satellite signals, possibly in addition to the direct or line-of-sight (LOS) signal, is one of the most detrimental error sources in GNSS positioning. The related phenomena of diffraction and scattering can also generate multipath signals. A GNSS receiver may receive the direct satellite signal (the LOS signal) as well as one or more indirect (or multipath) signals that have been reflected, diffracted and/or scattered en route to the GNSS receiver, for example by buildings or other objects in the vicinity of the GNSS receiver. The term "indirect" is used herein to encompass a path of a signal from a satellite to a GNSS receiver that is not the LOS signal but that includes at least one reflection, scattering and/or diffraction effect.
The multipath signals follow a longer path than that of the LOS signal because they are reflected from objects en route to the GNSS receiver and arrive at the GNSS receiver later than the LOS signal. Where the delay of the multipath signals is significant they can be identified by the receiver fairly easily but that is not the case when the delay of the multipath signals is relatively small. Typically, the most significant effect of such multipath is on pseudorandom noise (PRN) code and carrier tracking accuracy because code and carrier tracking loops within a GNSS receiver deliver code delay and Doppler frequency measurements to the navigation engine that relies on LOS measurements while the acquisition and data demodulation can be optimized to maximize the received total signal power independent of LOS or multi-paths.
Code tracking in a GNSS receiver is accomplished with the use of a delay lock loop (DLL). A DLL tracks and estimates the phase misalignment between an incoming code of a received GNSS satellite signal and a locally generated code replica of the satellite signal. A DLL typically comprises at least two code correlators that correlate a carrier removed signal derived from a received satellite signal with locally generated replica codes produced by at least one code generator. The code generator is controlled by a numerically controlled oscillator (NCO) which keeps track of the code phase of the incoming satellite signal. The outputs of the code correlators are integrated over time to average or smooth the effect of noise and the resulting signal is used in an algorithm to control the NCO to update the code phase of the locally generated replica code such that the code delay between the received satellite signal and the locally generated replica code is minimized. In exemplary DLLs, there may be more than two code correlators, each producing one of early, prompt and late code correlations. In conventional GNSS receivers there is a separate DLL for each channel and the DLLs operate independently of each other.
Carrier tracking may be accomplished using a frequency lock loop (FLL), a phase lock loop (PLL) or a combination of both, e.g. an FLL-assisted PLL. An FLL follows a similar signal processing procedure as a DLL except that the Doppler frequency of the incoming satellite signal is tracked and the FLL estimates the current frequency error. In one implementation, a mixer multiplies a received satellite signal (possibly at an intermediate frequency) with a corresponding locally generated carrier signal provided by a carrier generator. The carrier generator is controlled by an NCO. It is noted here that the locally generated carrier signal may be at a frequency corresponding to an intermediate frequency (IF) of the receiver, rather than the actual carrier frequency transmitted by the satellites. That is, the locally generated carrier signal need not be at the frequency transmitted by the satellites and may be at a lower frequency suitable for generating an IF or baseband signal. The output of the mixer, which may be termed a carrier removed signal, is integrated over time to average or smooth the noise and the resulting signal is used in an algorithm to control the carrier NCO to update the locally generated carrier signal such that its frequency is as close as possible to the carrier frequency (or IF) of the incoming GNSS signal. In traditional GNSS receiver architectures there is usually a separate carrier tracking loop for each channel inside the receiver.
In cases where multipath signals arrive at the GNSS receiver soon after the LOS signal, the received signal can be considered as a composite signal comprising the LOS signal and the multipath signal(s). In such cases, the code and carrier phase and spectral characteristics of that composite signal can become less clear and therefore more difficult for the GNSS receiver to determine. This can result in a distortion of the correlation function between the received composite signal and the replica code and/or carrier signal generated in the GNSS receiver, which in turn can lead to errors in the code and carrier tracking loops.
It is desirable to improve the performance of code and carrier tracking loops in multipath environments and in particular for mobile GNSS receivers.

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) multipath mitigation


A machine state monitoring system for recurrently determining a change in static or dynamic properties of a geometry of a machine with positional encoders to derive a coordinate information of at least a first machine portion with respect to a second machine portion, which are movable with respect to one another. The monitoring system includes one calibration-monitoring-unit with an optical, at least two-dimensional measuring location sensing unit which is fixed to the first machine portion and configured to optically sense an at least two dimensional location information of an artifact which is provided at the second machine portion, and temporarily moved into a sensing range for determining the change in the static or dynamic properties of the geometry of the machine by a comparison of multiple of such sensings, the compensation parameters are then updated and is used to derive the coordinate information from the encoders.

Machines often require precise positioning of a machine portion with respect to another, for example coordinate measurement machines (herein also abbreviated as CMM) are often industrially used to measure geometrical features of objects. Therein the demanded accuracy is often rather high, e.g. in the range of micrometers or below. To achieve such, the CMMs are often built rigidly or quasi rigid, with high resolution positional encoders to accurately determine a position of a measurement probe at a probe head, which is moved around the object in at least one, preferably three or more degrees of freedom, for a contacting (=touch)—but in some embodiments also contactless—geometrical measurement. Preferably there are drive units for moving the probe head in multiple axes. The CMM also comprises or is connected to a programmable computation-unit and/or a controller which is evaluating the geometrical measurements and optionally to automatically move the measurement head according to a measurement program.
A machine in sense of the present invention can be any kind of CMM, like e.g. a CMM embodied as cartesian, cantilever, bridge-type, gantry, scara, Hexapod, Tripod, antropomorphic robot, horizontal arms, articulated arm or romer arm, with parallel kinematics and/or delta-kinematics, preferably with linear and/or turning drives and encoders. Examples can be found in EP 2 705 935, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,841,097, 7,810,248, WO 1995/020747, U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,593, EP 1 322 905, WO 2015/082935, etc. A machine in sense of the present invention can further also be a surface scanning device or a form- or shape-measurement device. Also a machine tool or a similar processing machine can be an embodiment of a machine in the sense of the present invention, in particular but not only when equipped or equippable with a measurement probe.
To achieve the desired high accuracy, a machine has to be calibrated regularly. Such is known to be done by probing or scanning a solid, highly accurate and well known reference object with the measurement probe, e.g. by one or more stylus(es) equipped with a ruby-ball to touch the reference objects surface. For improved accuracy, such can be done multiple times and/or at different locations within the measurement volume of the machine, whereby a kind of calibration-map of the machine can be derived by extensive calculations.
Still, environmental effects like inhomogeneous temperature distribution within the frame of a machine, other environmental influences like humidity, sunlight or draught, wear of the machine or of the measurement probe, drifts, mechanical deformations, or even putting a work-piece (weight) on the granite-plate of the machine, distort the machines geometry and thus the way the machine travels along some degree of freedom. Also hysteresis effects, e.g. from Harness, etc. can have impact. Such can therefore also influence the absolute accuracy and performance of the machine.


A door lock system includes a door lock mechanism, and a connecting mechanism whereby the door lock mechanism and the door lock knob are connected to permit unlocking using the door lock knob, when the motion sensor detects movement inside the vehicle within a predetermined time after the door lock mechanism and the door lock knob are disconnected to prohibit unlocking using the door lock knob.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a door lock control system for an automotive vehicle with a dead lock device which can prevent unlocking of the door lock using the door lock knob and with an anti-theft device which alarms an invasion into the vehicle.
2. Related Art of the Invention
A door lock system for a vehicular door with a device which can prohibit the unlocking of the door with a door lock knob placed inside the vehicle is known (See JITSUKOUHEI 4-24046). This door lock system avoids a thief attempting to unlock the vehicular door from operating the door lock knob with a wire hook.
Hereinafter this kind of door lock system is called "dead lock" system, and "to set the dead lock" means to disable the unlocking of the door with the door lock knob and "to release the dead lock" means to enable the unlocking of the door with the door lock knob.
FIG. 12 shows another related system which includes a door lock knob 11, a door lock mechanism 10, and a connecting mechanism 12.
The door lock mechanism 10 locks and unlocks the door, and the door lock knob 11 is disposed inside the vehicle so that the driver or the passenger can move it to either the lock position or the unlock position. The connecting mechanism 12 is placed between the door lock mechanism 10 and the door lock knob 11. A link 13 couples the door lock knob 11 and the connecting mechanism 12, and a link 14 couples the door lock mechanism 10 and the connecting mechanism 12. A dead lock actuator activates the connecting mechanism 12 and makes the connecting mechanism 12 connect and disconnect the link 13 and the link 14.
In this door lock system, when the dead lock is released, the door lock mechanism 10 and the door lock knob 11 are operatively connected. Therefore, when the driver moves the door lock knob 11 to the lock position, the door lock mechanism 10 is moved from the unlock condition to the lock condition, interlocking the door lock knob 11, the link 13, and the link 14. And when the door lock knob 11 is moved to the unlock position, the door lock mechanism 10 is moved from the lock condition to the unlock condition.
On the other hand, when the dead lock is set, the door lock mechanism 10 and the door lock knob 11 are disconnected. Therefore, even if the driver moves the door lock knob 11 to the unlock position, the door lock mechanism 10 remains in the unlock condition.
In case the driver leaves his/her pet in a vehicle with the above-mentioned door lock system and the driver loses the key, the dead lock which has been set provides ones with an enormous difficulty in rescuing the pets.

Door lock control system with a dead lock device for an automotive vehicle


The disclosure generally relates to method and apparatus for forming three-dimensional MEMS. More specifically, the disclosure relates to a method of controlling out-of-plane buckling in microstructural devices so as to create micro-structures with out-of-plane dimensions which are 1×, 5×, 10×, 100× or 500× the film's thickness or above the surface of the wafer. An exemplary device formed according to the disclosed principles, includes a three dimensional accelerometer having microbridges extending both above and below the wafer surface.

Field of the Invention
The disclosure generally relates to method and apparatus for building a three-dimensional MEMS element with buckled elements. More particularly, the disclosure relates to methods and articles of manufactures that use a film's internal stresses to produce out-of-plane 3D microstructures.
Description of Related Art
The field of three-dimensional micro-electro-mechanical systems (3D MEMS) is still at its infancy. Despite efforts aimed at developing new MEMS manufacturing processes for creating 3D microstructures, conventional fabrication techniques (e.g., surface and bulk micro-machining, CMOS) are still largely two dimensional. The features produced by these techniques are defined predominantly on the wafer plane with very limited possibility of creating functional elements that extend in the out-of-wafer-plane dimension.
Consequently, most MEMS devices are still comprised of planar, 2D elements and are therefore intrinsically limited in their ability to provide three-dimensional functionalities such as sensing and actuation. This has resulted in highly tailored solutions where multiple MEMS units with different detection modes and sensitivity are combined to allow multi-axial functionalities. Aside from increasing manufacturing cost, the approach has increased device complexity.
In an effort to overcome these limitations, some fabrication techniques have been recently developed that provide non-trivial heights in MEMS. For example, deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) is a technology that enables creating very high aspect-ratio elements (i.e., wafer-scale). DRIE has been widely adopted over the past decade. However, DRIE does not yield fully three-dimensional elements, as it does not make curved surfaces. Instead, DRIE results in quasi 3D elements that are created by etching (i.e., projecting) 2D geometries into a substrate. Additional approaches to high aspect ratio microstructures include LIGA and gray scale lithography. These techniques present similar limitations to DRIE and are typically more costly than DRIE.
To date, polymer MEMS is the only field where fully 3D elements have been realized. Microstereolithography of thick polymeric layers (e.g., SU-8 photoresist) has attracted particular attention, in which several groups have demonstrated complex geometries such as micro-turbines, micro-gear and helicoid cogs. In addition to microstereolithography, interference lithography allows rapid fabrication of large-area, periodic 3D templates on sub-micrometer polymeric substrates, with accurate control of both element symmetry and volume fraction. However, even these approaches are not suited for applications where high strength and limited structural deformability are required (e.g., actuators and shock sensors). This is due to the fact that polymers are typically characterized by very low Young's moduli (e.g., ESU8˜3-4 GPa while ESilicon˜130 GPa).
High temperature applications are also incompatible with polymer technologies. The practicality of polymer-based 3D MEMS is therefore limited and dependent on the selected application, hence requiring alternative processes to create fully three-dimensional MEMS element using material such as silicon and metals.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and system for developing an on-chip 3D polymer MEMS that overcome the above-described shortcomings.

Method and apparatus for building three-dimensional MEMS elements


A charge control device is configured to delay a charge suspension time if a battery is being heated by a battery heater when carrying out a timed charge in a charge time slot specified by a user via an interface device. This enables the battery to be charged to a target charge amount without increasing a required capacity of the battery heater.

A technology, by which a charge control of a battery is performed in a vehicle that can run, using electric power of the battery, has been disclosed in Patent document 1. This patent official gazette teaches that the battery is pre-heated by a heater before a charge initiation time specified beforehand such that the battery charging can be completed within a given time duration, when it has been determined that the battery charging cannot be completed within the given time duration by a charge time duration lengthened due to a temperature fall in the battery.
However, in order for the heating of the battery to be completed before the charge initiation time, the battery has to be heated up to a predetermined battery temperature for a short time. For instance, when heating a large capacity of battery, which battery is used as a propelling electric-power source, a high heater's capacity to heat the battery is required. Thus, this leads to a problem of increased costs.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A multi-chip integrated circuit module includes a supporting layer of laminate material over which a high-density interconnect structure is formed. The laminate layer includes a first upper laminate layer (10) having a hole (14) disposed therein for receiving an integrated circuit chip die (56). A lower core laminate layer (16) having a conductive layer (18) and conductive layer (20) disposed on opposite sides thereof is laminated to the lower surface of the layer (10). Plated-through holes (36), (38) and (40) are formed through the two layers (10) and (16) to connect the conductive layer (20) with a conductive layer (12) on the upper surface of the layer (10). A high-density interconnect layer includes two laminate layers (126) and (138), each having vias formed therethrough and via interconnect structures disposed on the surfaces thereof. The via interconnect structures in the layer (126) allow for connections from the die (56) to the conductive layer (12). The via interconnect structures formed in the layer (138) allow interconnection from the upper surface of layer (138) to via interconnects formed in the layer (126). An I/O connector is interfaced with select ones of the plated-through holes with pins (162) and (164). This allows an interface from the module to an operating system through pins (166).

Interconnection of electronic devices has become a significant factor in determining the performance of electronic systems in recent years. This is due in part to the trend toward higher device integration, i.e., large scale integrated circuits with several million active transistor elements, sub-micron feature sizes and I/O pinouts approaching 400-500 connections, along with the associated increase in silicon real estate size, typically greater than 0.50 inches, and power dissipations of greater than five watts per IC. These factors certainly pose major technology problems for the electronics packaging engineer, especially in the area of single chip packaging. Present IC packaging design approaches, material systems, and technologies for single chip packaging have become, in the high-end integrated circuits, significant performance differentiators and, as such, comprise major product differentiators.
The emerging need to integrate off-chip interconnect with tailored electrical characteristics of controlled impedance transmission lines, low-loss power and ground distribution networks and minimal signal paths has driven the present leading edge subsystem components to consider a form of electronics packaging known within the industry as Multi-Chip Modules, or MCM. An MCM typically constitutes the ability to package multiple bare ICs in a single subsystem package, where chip-to-chip interconnect is supported by one of a number of high performance interconnect approaches internal to the next system packaging level interface. There are at present three major classes of MCM packaging approaches.
The first class of MCM has come to be known as MCM-L, where the "L" stands for Laminate technology. This approach typically consists of an extension of standard printed wiring board technology that supports fine dimension surface features to enable 6-10 mil lead pitch interfaces for a perimeter pad device to provide for the interconnect. Electrical connections for a plurality of ICs are generally made with a Tape Automated Bonding (TAB) lead interface from the outer perimeter bond pads on the device to a fine lead pitch perimeter pad interfaced on the Laminate technology interconnect. When multiple bare ICs having TAB lead frames attached to the I/O bond pads are interconnected with this approach, an MCM system is created; hence, the term MCM-L. Alternate methods of device-to-Laminate interconnect electrical connection can be used. For example, bare chip wire bond connections and either solder bump or electrically conductive adhesive bonds are in use or in development within the industry. This technology has become accepted as a low-cost manufacturing approach for the low-to-mid range performance (typically 20-70 MHz clock frequency) products and has the significant advantages of availability, low-cost, low-risk and the ability to leverage existing packaging technology into the emerging high-volume MCM packaging applications.
The second class of MCM packaging technology is known as MCM-C. This approach is an extension of both the hybrid practice, where "thick film" metallizations can be screen printed and then fired in multiple layers on a ceramic substrate, and the multi-layered co-fired single chip packaging technologies, where screened metallizations are printed on ceramic in the "green tape" or pre-fired state and the ceramic tape and metallization are cured in a single process. In either case, an interconnect of several layers is formed on a ceramic substrate, which can also serve as a package to interconnect to the next system level, and a plurality of ICs can then be connected to this wiring structure by a variety of techniques. Among the methods for IC connection that are utilized are: wire bond, flip chip solder bump, TAB, thermal compression bond, TAB solder interface and electrically conductive polymer adhesive. This technology has the advantage of significant leverage of an installed base of ceramic interconnect manufacturing due to its reliance on extensions of single chip packaging technologies and hybrid interconnect technologies. However, there are penalties in interconnect wiring densities due to the limitations in feature sizes that can be achieved, and in general the electrical performance characteristics of the ceramic wiring substrate, which present limitations not suitable for leading technology IC interconnect.
The third class of MCM packaging technology is known as MCM-D, where "D" stands for Deposited (metallization). This approach leverages thin film process techniques that are typically extensions of IC manufacturing processes. Because of this, interconnect feature sizes much finer than the present art MCM-L or MCM-C features are achievable. MCM-D interconnects are typically constructed of dielectric layers of polyimide based materials with either aluminum or copper and barrier metal conductors in multiple layer structures. These thin film multi-layer MCM-D wiring interconnects are built using a variety of materials for mechanical substrates, which provide a manufacturing tooling plate for processing, and mechanical and thermal structures for next level package interface. Substrate materials that can be used include silicon, ceramics, glass and metal matrix composite materials. MCM-D thin film interconnects generally display the best attributes of electrical performance characteristics in the smallest packaging size and thermal penalty attributes. However, they also exhibit the highest manufacturing costs at present and due to this, are limited for consideration to only the interconnect applications that demand the highest electrical and mechanical packaging solutions.

Multi-chip integrated circuit module and method for fabrication thereof


Upon detection of a fault in a DC power supply based on a voltage from a voltage sensor or a temperature from a temperature sensor, a control device controls inverters to cause AC motors to output zero output torque, and generates and outputs signals to a voltage step-up converter and a DC/DC converter, respectively. The control device generates and outputs a signal SE of an L level to system relays to cut off the system relays. Thereafter, the control device generates and outputs a signal PWMDL to the voltage step-up converter to switch control of the voltage step-up converter to voltage step-down control.

Hybrid vehicles have recently been of great interest as environment-friendly vehicles. Some hybrid vehicles have come into practical use.
A hybrid vehicle includes, as its motive power sources, a DC (direct current) power supply, an inverter and a motor driven by the inverter, in addition to a conventional engine. Specifically, the engine is driven to generate motive power, and at the same time, a DC voltage from the DC power supply is converted to an AC (alternating current) voltage by the inverter to rotate the motor with the thus-converted AC voltage to thereby obtain motive power.
For the hybrid vehicle, it has been studied to boost a DC voltage from the DC power supply with a voltage step-up converter, and supply the boosted DC voltage to two inverters driving two motors, respectively.
In this regard, the hybrid vehicle is mounted with a motor drive apparatus as shown in FIG. 10. Referring to FIG. 10, the motor drive apparatus 300 includes a DC power supply B, system relays SR1, SR2, capacitors C1, C2, a bidirectional converter 310, a voltage sensor 320, and inverters 330, 340.
DC power supply B outputs a DC voltage. System relays SR1, SR2, when turned on by a control device (not shown), supply the DC voltage from DC power supply B to capacitor C1. Capacitor C 1 smoothes the DC voltage supplied from DC power supply B via system relays SR1, SR2, and supplies the smoothed DC voltage to bidirectional converter 310.
Bidirectional converter 310 includes a reactor 311, NPN transistors 312, 313, and diodes 314, 315. Reactor 311 has one end connected to a power supply line of DC power supply B, and another end connected to an intermediate point between NPN transistors 312 and 313, i.e., between an emitter of NPN transistor 312 and a collector of NPN transistor 313. NPN transistors 312, 313 are connected in series between a power supply line and a ground line. NPN transistor 312 has its collector connected to the power supply line, and NPN transistor 313 has its emitter connected to the ground line. Diodes 314, 315 are each arranged between the collector and the emitter of corresponding one of NPN transistors 312, 313 to cause the current to flow from the emitter side to the collector side.
Bidirectional converter 310, with NPN transistors 312, 313 turned on/off by a control device (not shown), boosts the DC voltage supplied from capacitor C 1, and supplies the output voltage to capacitor C2. In a regenerative braking mode of the hybrid vehicle mounted with motor drive apparatus 300, bidirectional converter 310 down-converts the DC voltage generated by AC motor M1 or M2 and converted by inverter 330 or 340, and supplies the resulting voltage to capacitor C1.
Capacitor C2 smoothes the DC voltage supplied from bidirectional converter 310, and supplies the smoothed DC voltage to inverters 330, 340. Voltage sensor 320 detects a terminal-to-terminal voltage of capacitor C2, i.e., an output voltage Vm of bidirectional converter 310.
Inverter 330, when supplied with a DC voltage from capacitor C2, converts the DC voltage to an AC voltage based on control from a control device (not shown), to drive AC motor M1. As such, AC motor M1 is driven to generate torque designated by a torque command value. Inverter 340, in receipt of a DC voltage from capacitor C2, converts the DC voltage to an AC voltage based on control from a control device (not shown), to drive AC motor M2. AC motor M2 is driven to generate torque designated by a torque command value.
Further, in the regenerative braking mode of the hybrid vehicle mounted with motor drive apparatus 300, inverter 330 converts an AC voltage generated by AC motor M1 to a DC voltage based on control from a control device, and supplies the converted DC voltage to bidirectional converter 310 via capacitor C2. In the regenerative braking mode of the hybrid vehicle, inverter 340 converts an AC voltage generated by AC motor M2 to a DC voltage based on control from a control device, and supplies the converted DC voltage to bidirectional converter 310 via capacitor C2.
Meanwhile, a system provided with a battery, a motor, and an electric power generator is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 7-87614. This system is applied to a hybrid vehicle. In this system, the motor and the electric power generator are connected to the battery. The motor is driven by a battery voltage from the battery, and the electric power generator supplies generated electric power to an inverter driving the motor and to the battery. In an abnormal event of the battery where capacitance of the battery decreases and the motor cannot output a required torque, for example, the motor and the electric power generator are disconnected from the battery, and the motor is driven by the electric power generated by the electric power generator.
However, if the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 7-87614 is applied when there is a fault in DC power supply B of motor drive apparatus 300, an overvoltage will be applied to the DC/DC converter connected between system relays SR1, SR2 and bidirectional converter 310, causing an unfavorable situation. In this case, increasing the withstand voltage of the DC/DC converter will lead to a cost increase. Further, when system relays SR1, SR2 are cut off while bidirectional converter 310 is conducting a switching operation, a ripple current may blow the contact points of system relays SR1, SR2.

Motor drive apparatus, hybrid vehicle drive apparatus using the same, and computer readable recording medium recorded with program for causing computer to perform control of motor drive apparatus


The present invention relates to malononitrile compounds of formula (Y):

Against pests such as insect pests, acarine pests, and nematode pests, various pesticide compositions have been used so far for their control. The conditions of pesticide compositions required have drastically been changed, including the care of their effects on the environment and the acquisition of drug resistance by pests to be controlled. Under such circumstances, there have been great demands for the development of new pesticide compositions.

Malononitrile compounds and their use as pesticides

Abstract: wherein R1 and R2 are the same or different and independently C1-C5 (halo)alkyl, C1-C5 (halo)alkyloxy, C2-C5 (halo)alkenyl, C2-C5 (halo)alkynyl, hydrogen, or cyano; R3 is C1-C3 haloalkyl, C2-C4 haloalkenyl, or C2-C4 haloalkynyl; m is an integer of 1 to 3; R5 is halogen, cyano, nitro, C1-C4 (halo)alkyl, or the like; n is an integer of 0 to 4, with the proviso that when n is 2 or more, then R5's are the same or different from each other; R6 is hydrogen, halogen, cyano, nitro, C1-C4 (halo)alkyl, or the like; as well as pesticide compositions containing these compounds as active ingredients. The present invention makes it possible to effectively control pests such as insect pests, acarine pests, and nematode pests.


A drilling method and device is for the execution of diaphragm walls by cutters, (131, 105, 110) carried by a frame (130) supported by suspension and movers (102). A guide hole (200) is formed as far as the depth specified in the design at the center of the panel to be made. Excavation is started with the introduction into the guide hole (200) of a guide element (101) that is fixed with respect to the tool-holder frame and having geometry such as to copy the guide hole along which it slides during excavation. Excavation is carried out as far as the depth specified in the design. The tool is extracted from the excavation and the excavation is filled with concrete and a panel is formed. The method is repeated so as to form adjacent panels.

In the field of deep foundations, and especially for repairing existing dams, there is the need of identifying a method and a device for forming impermeable diaphragm walls at great depths, in ground with high resistance, and that can ensure high accuracy and productivity.
In EP 0580.264 the guide pre-excavations are carried out with a pile machine. The miller is guided on two pre-excavations with tubular-shaped shields. The guide pre-excavations, however, must be very precise and in order to allow the milling body to have some clearance, one of the two guide shields is mounted on the articulated parallelogram with a spring system. In any case, if the shield moves far away a "dead area" is generated which is not excavated by the wheel.
Moreover, the hole is made by using a ballasted tool (35 tonnes plumb-lined with an upward pull of 10-15 tonnes), therefore if the pre-holes are not vertical, the tool guided by the holes would follow their profile and therefore it would not be possible to be certain that a perfect vertical hole would be made.
Moreover, since the guide shields are ballasted in their lower part and they extend beyond the excavation wheels, it is necessary to carry out the guide holes deeper with respect to the required depth.
Finally, the use of shape-tube during the casting of the panel so as to leave a guide hole free for the following panel poses practical construction problems which cannot always be solved.
This shape-tube has, on the side opposite the casting volume, an inflatable membrane so that the concrete hardens taking up the precise shape of the excavation guide. In the case in which there are very deep diaphragm walls, the use of a shape-tube can be impossible for practical reasons.
DE 1484545 describes a system for ensuring contiguous panels do intersecate. According to this patent, guide holes are formed at the joints between the panels through a pile machine. Subsequently, the bucket excavates between these, without necessarily having guide elements engaging in the holes, but simply exploiting the fact that the clam-shells remain in the area which has already been excavated since there is less resistance.
The aforementioned patent, however, does not describe a method or a device for solving the problem of the deviation of the guide piles.
In JP 59130920 two guide pre-holes are exploited at the joints of adjacent panels. The pre-holes are partially filled with low strength concrete; when casting these, tubes that remain hollow on the inside are introduced. The area which remains free constitutes the guides for two lateral shields mounted on the miller.
The tubes that are lowered inside the pre-holes, however, must be located in a very precise manner, and without external adjustment and fixing means (like mechanical or hydraulic tube centring means commonly called "plumb device") it is very difficult for them to stay in position, especially during the casting. If the tubes are not kept perfectly vertical and parallel to one another, the following tool can encounter difficulties when proceeding inside the hole.
Moreover, the shields mounted on the miller body have jacks which are surely used to recover clearances in the guide and presumably to carry out small deviation corrections.
FR 19910004847 describes a method and equipment for guiding a tool for diaphragm walls for avoiding that two adjacent panels diverge.
The guide is a component that is inserted for the entire depth which is intended to be excavated. Inside this a filler is cast (low strength concrete or foams) which stabilizes the guide, whereas an area (in one case the central part, in another case two lateral areas) remains free so as to receive a guide element that is attached to the miller body. Through the control of the wheels a force is generated in the direction of the guide so as to ensure that the miller body remains adherent to the guide itself.
However, generating the force in the direction of the guide implies using the two wheels on the opposite side with higher revs than the others; this means that the entire productivity of the machine is not used.
Moreover, the use of a single guide on one side does not actually prevent the tool from rotating about the longitudinal excavation direction and does not therefore ensure the perfect alignment of contiguous panels. Moreover the guide has such a rectangular geometry that it is necessary to make the first panel (which is not a circular hole in this case) with an excavation technology that is intrinsically less precise (bucket, miller) thus presumably using the same tool, but not guided.
DE 1634323 describes a device (of the tube form type) to be inserted in the panel excavated at the guide pre-hole before casting the panel so that the pre-hole remains free for the following panel. This device has two mobile shells which can be adapted to the walls of the excavation.
The patent, however, does not describe a method or a device for minimising the problem of deviation of the guide piles.
DE 3823784 describes a method and a tool for obtaining narrow waterproofing panels, by using a trencher (chain cutting) guided by two uprights inserted in two holes previously obtained. The patent also describes the fact that the cutting edge of the chain is at an angle with respect to the horizontal.
As a matter of fact having a very wide angle on the cutting edge implies an increase in the surface to be excavated and thus a reduction of the productivity for the same installed power. Moreover, it makes it necessary to reach a greater excavation depth with respect to the height specified in the design.
In addition, having a single cutting chain means that the loads generated during the drilling are not balanced and tend to deviate the tool, thus increasing the risks of getting stuck due to the use of two guides simultaneously.
JP 58156630 describes a method and a device for making long diaphragm walls in a single step.
The system is of the horizontal trencher type. Two guide holes are made at the ends of the panel. The structures that contain a thrust system for the trencher, made with a rope actuated from outside and some diverter pulleys, are housed inside these holes.
The holes, however, will have a limited depth since it is necessary for the thrusted guiding and pulling structure to reach the depth required for the panel. The invention proposes to increase the field of application of the devices for making diaphragm walls in rock or high resistance ground, and at the same time ensure verticality of the panels within certain limits and their alignment.
In order to increase the excavation capability it is necessary to increase the weight of the excavating device, but as known this increases the deviations. Consequently it is necessary to use a guide system for minimising and/or correcting the deviations.
The prior art describes methods which are not optimal. Indeed, in some cases like those mentioned above EP 0580264A1, DE 1484545A1, JP 59130920A, DE 1634323B1, DE 3823784A, JP 58156630A methods are described that exploit two holes as guides at the ends of the panel, but these methods require the two holes to be extremely precise and parallel to one another. Indeed, considering depths in the order of 100 m, even when exploiting the most precise technologies, it is not possible to drop below deviations of 20 cm. Considering that the two guide holes can deviate in different directions, and thus diverge or converge, there is the risk of the tool getting stuck, of breaking or of a great drop in production.
The system proposed by the aforementioned patent EP 0580264 foresees using an articulated parallelogram system which does not solve the problem since, if the deviation of the guide holes is very strong, a "dead area" is generated in which the tool does not excavate, thus generating cusps which can make the tool become stuck.
Not even the aforementioned patent FR 19910004847 solves the problem. Indeed, by using a single guide on one side of the panel, the system does not in fact prevent the tool from rotating about the longitudinal excavation direction and therefore it does not ensure the perfect placing of contiguous panels over one another and their alignment along a direction specified in the design. Furthermore, the excavation that receives the guide system has a rectangular geometry such that it is necessary to make the first panel with an excavation technology which is not very precise, presumably with the same tool but not guided, thus obtaining a first panel which is not very precise, even though it is the most important one since it is that which will carry the guide. Such a system thus ensures the continuity of the diaphragm wall formed by the different elements, but not the accuracy in terms of verticality. Moreover, the device described in the aforementioned patent JP 58156630 is not suitable for reaching great depths since it requires the positioning of the structure in order to carry out the thrust to a maximum required depth. The latter moreover must be blocked from outside in order to exert its thrust.

Drilling device for executing diaphragm walls and method thereof