In a handheld computing device that includes a backlit display having a variable-intensity backlight, a method for controlling the intensity of light produced by the backlight involves the following steps. The computing device also includes user data input means, and data processing means coupled to the user data input means and the backlit display. The data processing means includes at least one software application that is configured to display information on the display. The method involves the steps of (1) setting the intensity to a first intensity level and activating one of the software applications; and (2) setting the intensity to a minimum intensity level, less than the first intensity level, after expiry of a predetermined elapsed time of non-activity from the user data input means. The predetermined elapsed time is based on the activated software application.

The conventional handheld computing device, such as a PDA, or a wireless telephone, includes a LCD display for presenting information to the user, and a keyboard or keypad for facilitating data entry by the user. Typically, the LCD display comprises a transmissive LCD panel, and a backlight for enhancing the visibility of the information presented on the LCD panel. The intensity of the light produced by the LCD backlight is set by the manufacturer such that the information presented on the LCD panel is clear at moderate ambient light levels. However, this factory setting often renders the LCD panel difficult to read in dim light (because the backlight is too bright) and strong ambient light (because the backlight is too dim).
In some implementations, instead of a transmissive LCD panel, the LCD display comprises a transreflective LCD panel, and a backlight for enhancing the visibility of the information presented on the LCD panel. Due to the reflective nature of the LCD panel, the clarity of the information presented on the LCD panel is clearest in strong ambient light. Further, the intensity of the light produced by the LCD backlight is set by the manufacturer such that the information presented on the LCD panel is clear at moderate ambient light levels. However, this factory setting often renders the LCD panel difficult to read in dim ambient light (because the backlight is too bright).

Backlight control for a handheld computing device


A pocket, lid and shield for casting a pulling iron in a concrete structure are described. The pocket includes a slot reinforced with stiffening members for receiving the pulling iron. The pocket also includes a frangible support post for supporting the pulling iron when it is received in the pocket. Also described are embodiments of a shield, which include clipping members adapted to engage the stiffening members, for covering the slot, and a lid having a lip for engaging a peripheral groove in the pocket. Methods of over-molding a pulling iron cable are also described. According to the methods, a temporary seal, which can be used in over-molding a subsequent pulling iron cable, can be formed simultaneously with each over-molded product. During molding, the cable can be held in the center of a channel in the mold tool using a retractable magnetic pin.

Pulling irons can be embedded in concrete structures to provide a hook by which a crane or other moving device can grab and manipulate the structure. In the field, the pulling iron can also be used to attach a pulley for pulling cables or wires through a conduit into the structure using a winch. Such pulling irons can be confined to a recess formed in the concrete so as not to protrude past the wall of the structure.
A pulling iron pocket is used to form the recess in the concrete structure. A known pulling iron pocket is shown in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,980, which is incorporated herein by reference. A pulling iron is partially embedded in the concrete and projects through a slot in the pocket into the recess at the time the structure is poured. The conventional pulling iron pocket has a flat seal area for engaging a lid. It has been found that the flat seal area may not always provide a completely leakproof seal; and can allow some concrete slurry to seep into the pocket. Also, the slot through which the pulling iron is inserted into the pocket may not be adequately rigid to resist deformation under pressure, potentially permitting further leakage.
In use, after inserting the pulling iron through the slot, a user must support the pulling iron by measuring and cutting pieces of Styrofoam or the like and placing the pieces between the pulling iron hook area and the inside body of the pocket. Unfortunately, even when supported by Styrofoam or the like, the possibility of the pulling iron moving about inside the pocket is not eliminated. Thus, the pulling iron can become embedded too close to the inside edge of the recess, providing an inadequate clearance area for attaching a hook to the pulling iron.
To help support the pulling iron in the pocket and to reduce leakage of concrete slurry through the slot, a shield can be integrally formed with over-molding around the pulling iron, as shown in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 3,916,590 and the above referenced '980 patent. The integral shield rests against the slot in use. Although this innovation improved the situation, the pulling iron could still move about inside the pocket during pouring and some leakage through the slot continued to be noted. Another attempt to overcome the problem involves a snap system of small round bumps intended to attach an integral pulling iron shield to the slot. In addition, it has been attempted to add a neoprene gasket around the slot. However, these systems may not hold the iron in place well because the snaps are small, difficult to use and may not latch tightly. Adding neoprene is costly and does not eliminate leakage of concrete into the pocket if excessive deformation occurs around the slot.


A new and distinct cultivar of Gerbera plant names `Terfaro`, characterized by its single type, a red ray floret which is a solid red color throughout, a green disc floret the outermost petaloids of which are red and display yellow stigmas and anthers, red perianth lobe color and 110 mm overall flower diameter is disclosed.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Gerbera jamesonni, referred to by the cultivar name `Terfaro`, `Terfaro` was originated from a hybridisation program in De Kwakel, The Netherlands in 1989. The female parent was `Terfacci` -87.354- (registration number 10786; Mar. 4, 1991), U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,848. The male parent was `Terdelfino` -82.250- (registration number 10016; Feb. 20, 1990) and was available to others outside the company. Female parent `Terfacci` distinguishes from `Terfaro` by its higher production, smaller flower-diameter, stronger stems and a soft color pink. The male parent `Terdelfino` is a semi-double type and has a darker red color. The new cultivar was selected by me from the progeny of the stated parentage on or about November 1989. The first asexual reproduction of `Terfaro` was accomplished when vegetative cuttings were taken on April 1990 in De Kwakel. The new cultivar is presently being propagated by cuttings and tissue culture. Horticultural examination of selected units initiated November 1990 has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for `Terfaro` are firmly fixed and are retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction. The following observations, measurements and comparisons describe plants grown in De Kwakel, The Netherlands, under greenhouse conditions which closely approximate those generally used in commercial practice. The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be basic characteristics of `Terfaro`, which in combination distinguish this Gerbera from its parents and all other varieties of which I am aware:
1. Type: Single. PA0 2. Color of ray floret: Very distinctive red. PA0 3. Color of disc floret: Green. PA0 4. Color of perianthy lobe: Red. PA0 5. Diameter of flower head: Medium 110 mm.
Of the many commercial cultivars known to me, there is no cultivar similar in comparison to `Terfaro`.


To enable a necessary image data to be easily found out based on image sizes of a plurality of index images displayed in a list format and to enable contents of original images displayed as index images to be easily understood, in the case of generating an index image of an image data having an original image size larger than a standard size, a rate of reduction to the original image is increased so that the entire index image is accommodated in an index image display area while maintaining a relative dimensional relationship with index image sizes of image data having other original image sizes.

This invention relates to an image displaying apparatus for generating index images of a plurality of image data stored in a storage medium and displaying them on a screen of a computer or the like, and an image displaying program product for such an image displaying apparatus.
Conventionally, there have been known an image displaying apparatus for generating index images of a plurality of image data stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk in a computer or an optical disk by reducing the sizes of the respective image data and displaying a list of the generated index images on a screen of the computer, and an image displaying program (the so-called "viewer", etc.) for such an image displaying apparatus.
When a plurality of index images are displayed in a list format, such image displaying apparatus and image displaying program product generate the respective index images of substantially the same size so as to be accommodated within a section (index image display area) D allotted to display one index image regardless of the original image sizes of the respective images (sizes of the images, e.g., sizes of documents read during the image reading by means of a scanner) as shown in FIG. 18. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 19, the sizes of a plurality of index images to be displayed in a list format are differed depending on the original image sizes, whereby a user can understand the original sizes of the respective images only by seeing the sizes of the respective index images.
However, in the case of displaying the index images in a list format as shown in FIG. 18, the index images are generated to have substantially the same size and displayed in a list format despite the different original image sizes. Thus, the actual sizes of the original images cannot be understood even if the sizes of the respective index images are compared.
Further, in the case of displaying the respective index images while differing the sizes thereof depending on the original image sizes as shown in FIG. 19, a small index image is displayed when the original image size is very small (business card size, etc.) if the size of the index image is decided based on the size frequently used on business such as B5 size or A4 size. Thus, it is difficult for the user to see the content (content of the original image) of the index image. Further, when the original image size is large (A0 size, etc.), the index image cannot be accommodated within the index image display area and, therefore, only a part of the original image can be displayed as an index image. Thus, there are problems that the user cannot understand the content of the entire original image and that the original image size is difficult to understand.

Image displaying apparatus and program product for displaying image


A multiport memory in one embodiment of the invention includes a memory cell array, where each column in the array has two exterior complementary bitline pairs and zero, one, or more interior complementary bitline pairs. Across each pair of adjacent columns in the array, the adjacent exterior bitline pairs are associated with the same port in the multiport memory. In addition, within each column, the two exterior bitline pairs have the same, non-zero number of crossovers, and, across each pair of adjacent columns, the exterior bitline pairs have different numbers of crossovers. Furthermore, each column has at least one reference signal line located between the two exterior bitline pairs.

Conventional memory devices store data bits in individually addressable memory cells arranged in rows and columns as a memory cell array. Read/write voltages are applied to individual memory cells using row and column electrodes referred to as word lines and bitlines, respectively. Associated with each port in the memory device, a typical memory cell array has one word line for each row of memory cells and one pair of complementary bitlines for each column of memory cells. Thus, a single-port memory would have a single word line associated with each row and a single pair of complementary bitlines associated with each column, while a dual-port memory would have two word lines associated with each row and two pairs of complementary bitlines associated with each column, and so on.
In order to obtain high memory density, memory cells are defined using small circuit areas. As a result, read/write signals propagating on one bitline can be coupled to one or more adjacent bitlines. Such coupling can be associated with inaccurate read/write operations, or can cause data loss in a memory cell. In particular, a write operation on a bitline is a relatively "strong" operation, driven directly by a strong buffer or single transistor. A bitline read operation, on the other hand, is relatively "weak," driven through small, weak, access transistors of the memory cells. When a bitline being used for a write operation couples to a bitline used for a read operation, the read operation is almost always adversely affected such that the read operation may fail. While adjacent bitlines can be shielded using parallel electrodes that are connected to a supply voltage or ground, relying exclusively on such electrodes is undesirable in many applications because they occupy an appreciable amount of available circuit area.

Bitline twisting scheme for multiport memory


A radiation beam field shaping device is made from a 3D printed frame that contains and gives shape to a granular material with bulk density of at least 3 g/cm3 and composed of metal grains having a size between 1 μm and 4 mm. The frame has a hole in the bottom with surrounding walls that defines the desired beam shape. In one implementation, the metal grains are composed of solid tungsten alloy ball bearings and/or tungsten alloy powder.

Electron beam radiotherapy delivers a beam into a field of view to irradiate a tumor. To avoid harming healthy tissue, it is desirable to restrict the radiation beam to a specific region of tissue where the tumor is located. This is accomplished by modifying the beam shape using radiation shielding devices, also called field shaping devices. Because the tumor shape and size for each patient is unique, shielding devices with patient-specific shapes are cast into customized molds in accordance with an outline specified by a treatment planning system (TPS). Once molded, the customized solid field shaping device may be mounted to a blocking tray to facilitate correct positioning relative to the treatment beam.
Creating these custom field shaping devices is labor intensive and complicates the treatment procedure. Moreover, traditional radiation shielding materials such as lead are difficult to mold due to their melting points (over 300 C) and poor mechanical properties. To facilitate molding, a commonly used material is a low melting point alloy of 50.0% bismuth, 26.7% lead, 13.3% tin, and 10.0% cadmium, which is variously known as Wood's metal, Lipowitz's alloy, or Cerrobend. However, creating customized Cerrobend field shaping devices using the conventional molding process remains labor intensive and dangerous because the lead and cadmium in Cerrobend make it highly toxic.
In addition, the conventional multi-step molding process for creating custom Cerrobend field shaping devices results in field shape and placement uncertainties of several millimeters. These errors are introduced when transferring the outline from the treatment planning system (TPS) to the cutting tools. As an example of this type of error, FIG. 1A shows the measured light field edge 100 from a typical clinical Cerrobend insert with a mean deviation of 2.6±0.2 mm compared to the planned outline 102. Even after shifting, the shifted Cerrobend outline 104 still shows a maximum deviation of 2 mm and a mean of 0.8 mm compared to the planned outline 102.
There are two major reasons for the inaccuracy of the Cerrobend cutout shown in FIG. 1A. One reason is that the melt casting and cutting of the foam mold themselves include some imprecision. More importantly, the other reason for inaccuracy is the placement error: a foam casting mold is manually placed to form the Cerrobend. This placement inaccuracy is significant because it limits accurate alignment of the electron field with the kV imaging x-rays and MV treatment x-rays.
One approach to simplify the creation of Cerrobend field shaping devices is to use fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printers to create 3D printed plastic parts to create silicone or plaster molds, which in turn are used to cast Cerrobend into the mold. This multistep process, however, is labor intensive and still suffers from problems from accuracy. It also does not solve the problem with Cerrobend toxicity.

Field shaping device for radiation therapy

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


A scanner, especially one for the detection of one- and/or two-dimensional codes with a reception optics, projects the image of a reading line onto a linear arrangement of photoreceivers. An illumination arrangement for linearly illuminating an entire reading line has several substantially point-like light sources arranged adjacent to each other in a line. To boost the efficiency of the illumination arrangement, it has at least one anamorphotic illumination optics which forms the light emitted by the light sources into an illumination line.

The invention concerns a scanner, especially one for the detection of one- and/or two-dimensional codes with a receiving optics that projects the image of a reading line onto a linear array of several photoreceivers, and an illumination arrangement for linearly illuminating the entire reading line.
Such scanners are known, are called line scanners, and can identify unidimensional codes located in the reading line without requiring relative movement between the scanner and the code.
However, if the code moves past the scanner in a transport direction, the scanner can also detect two-dimensional codes as a result of such relative movement.
Scanners operating in this manner often have the drawback that codes are defectively and incompletely identified, or in a worst case not at all, due to inadequate lighting conditions or light intensity along the reading line.
Even when it is feasible to compensate for a low illumination intensity with longer light exposures, a reduced reading speed results. Especially on conveyor lines, a major field of application for such scanners, reduced conveying speeds result, which is a significant disadvantage. In order to lessen this limitation, the codes were illuminated with high-energy light sources, such as sodium vapor lamps, laser diodes, or many diffusely radiating LEDs. This in turn results in a large and expensive scanner with a high electrical power consumption that leads to a significant heating of the scanner.
The term "light" as used in this application is not restricted to visible light. Thus, the word "light" is meant to encompass electromagnetic radiation in general, i.e. UV light, IR light, as well as visible light, which can normally be used for the operation of such scanners.


A co-extruded tubing for the administration of intravenous fluids has an outer layer of a polyester. An inner fluid-contact layer may be of a polyethylene or of a thermoplastic polyurethane. Where the inner fluid-contact layer is of polyethylene, an intermediate tie layer of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer may be included to prevent delamination.

Plastic tubings are extensively employed in the medical field, particularly for patient analysis and treatment procedures. Various FDA-approved plastics and combinations thereof are used, depending upon the specific properties the intended application demands. The selection of desired plastic materials is further limited by the use of the tubing in the in vivo treatment of human patients, as the tubing may be used in the administration of intravenous fluids or itself may be introduced into the body. Thus, numerous factors must be considered in ascertaining which materials to choose.
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a material previously used to make tubing, made with suitable plasticizers necessary to enhance flexibility and other properties. However, such plasticizers or similar additives have a tendency to migrate, causing hazardous contamination with the fluid being transferred through the tubing. The contamination becomes more serious where the fluid is introduced into the body, as contamination of the blood may result. Moreover, plasticized PVC tubings have been shown to absorb nitroglycerin and insulin, and are thus unsatisfactory for the administration of these medicines. Much effort has been directed towards finding an alternative that does not suffer from the limitations of the plasticized PVC tubing.
Polyurethane has been used as an alternative to PVC in medical tubing, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,741 to Ostoich. Polyurethane may be used without plasticizers and other additives, because it is a relatively soft, flexible plastic. Therefore, the possibility of the migration of additives and subsequent contamination are eliminated. In addition, polyurethane exhibits good fluid-flow characteristics. However, the high cost of polyurethane has limited its use to only extraordinary applications.
Some grades of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) are currently being used as an outer layer, together with low-density polyethylene (LDPE) as an inner layer in forming composite tubing. Although this composite exhibits excellent peel strength, it lacks flexibility, clarity, and is easily scuffed or roughened. In addition, it cannot be solvent bonded. Since the tubing is the connecting link between a reservoir of fluid (nitroglycerin, insulin, etc.) and the patient, the method of connecting the tubing is an important consideration. Where, as here, solvent bonding cannot be utilized, an expensive, less reliable mechanical means of assembly is required, whereby a PVC layer must be pressure fit over the EVA-LDPE tubing to utilize the solvent-bondable characteristics of PVC. For these reasons, the EVA-LDPE product has proven to be unsatisfactory.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,844 to Schmitt ("Schmitt") provides a well-received alternative that includes a tri-layer tube. A commercially successful embodiment of U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,844 is sold under the trademark "SUREPATH 151" by the Plastron/Natvar Division of Tekni-Plex, Inc. As disclosed in Schmitt, an outer layer of PVC and an inner fluid-contact layer of LDPE are co-extruded with an intermediate tie layer of EVA. However, while Schmitt greatly reduces the possibility for the migration of additives from the PVC to the fluid by providing an LDPE fluid-contact layer, the elimination of the PVC is preferred.
In addition to the potential migration problem of PVC additives into a fluid being transferred within a PVC tube, PVC production, use, and disposal are the subject of many regulatory concerns, particularly in Europe. For example, steps must be taken to reduce introduction of vinyl chloride and additives into wastewater during production, and PVC must frequently be incinerated prior to introduction to a landfill. These steps are recommended to prevent introduction of PVC and other additives to the environment due to possible carcinogenic properties demonstrated by these compositions.
Therefore, there is a need for a co-extruded tubing that excludes PVC while providing the advantages of being solvent-bondable, EtO- and gamma-stable, and water-clear that may be used in the administration of nitroglycerin and insulin.


A polyp removal tool and method of use is disclosed. The tool includes a main body, an elongated hollow conduit fixed to the body, a handle, a cable assembly, a suction assembly and an irrigation system. The handle is used to actuate a snare at the end of a cable for transecting of polypoid tissue. The suction assembly is used in pre-conditioning the tissue for cutting and in polyp retention after cutting. The irrigation system is included for tissue recovery after transection. The tool may include a screen for capture of tissue within the device.

Removal of unhealthy internal tissue for diagnostic or other reasons by the use of various apparatus and techniques is known in the art. One such technique involves an endoscope. Endoscopic polypectomy is typically performed using electrocautery snares on polyps over 7 mm in diameter. Polyps under 3 mm are conventionally removed with a biopsy forceps. However, non-cautery or "cold guillotine polypectomy" is used for polyps that are between 3-7 mm. Diminutive polyps in this range are too small to use cautery in light of patient risks and are too large to conveniently biopsy.
A challenge with transecting a diminutive polyp is retrieving the relatively small specimen. Typically, the physician will use a separate suction trap and pull it through the biopsy channel of the endoscope. This technique is less than desired because the snare instrument must first be removed to provide a channel to perform the suction. While doing this exchange, the specimen may be lost. Certain other diminutive polyps are difficult to transect with a snare.
There remains a need in the art for a high-efficiency device that allows for multiple functions to be performed in the removal and recovery of a diminutive polyp, without requiring repetitive intubations of the instrument channel.


A system and method obtains random award-content information on an economic entity associated with a gaming establishment. The system has an award identifier selected from the group consisting of an article or purchase receipt intimately associated with an electromagnetically functional such as a hand-held information receiving and transmission device that can interrogate the award identifier. The award identifier contains communicable information relating to a random value that can be used for wagering credit in the gaming establishment. A distal server is in wireless two-way communication with the intermediate system entry device, the distal server capable of receiving, storing and transmitting information from the award identifier transmitted through the intermediate system entry device. Information specific to at least available gaming value available through the intermediate system entry device is identified only after communication has been first established between the intermediate system entry device and the server.

1. Field of the Invention
The present technology relates to accessible content from electronic chips, scannable input, electronically/visually accessible content that communicate through video take-up, near field or far field communication links, on hand-held devices or kiosk devices that sense and communicate with the chip or scannable input, and hand-held devices that communicate with a distal server to store and broadcast information comprising at least virtual game value awarded. The accessible content may also be used as a marketing tool within a gaming establishment or environment.
2. Background of the Art
Involving a combination of contactless identification and networking technologies, near field communication (NFC) is a wireless connectivity technology that enables convenient short-range communication between electronic devices. NFC is a very short-range wireless technology, for distances measured in centimeters, and is optimized for intuitive, easy and secure communication between various devices without user configuration. In order to make two devices communicate, users bring them close together or even make them touch. The devices' NFC interfaces will automatically connect and configure themselves to form a peer to peer network.
A further application of NFC is the combination of NFC applications with smart card security concept so that devices act like contactless smart cart with cryptographic capabilities. This NFC technology can be denoted as secure NFC and is standardized in ISO 18092, ECMA 340 and ECGS 102190. NFC is also compatible to the broadly established contactless smart card infrastructure based on ISO 14443 A.
The secure NFC can be included in wireless mobile communication devices like mobile phones, PDAs and the like. This means that confidential data and data that represents values is stored in a secure memory area and always stays on the mobile communication device. An authentication is performed by the secure NFC functionality included, for example, in a PDA or mobile phone and transmitted data can be encrypted by the secure NFC functionality using a private encryption key stored on the mobile phone.
The implementation of the secure NFC functionality into a wireless mobile communication device like a mobile phone allows the application of the mobile phone as for example a virtual stored transport ticket or an access key to a building (home or office), wherein the ticket or the access key is transferred by the secure NFC functionality of the mobile phone for granting the access to a transport means or a building.
Wireless mobile communication devices generally have to be equipped with autonomous energy sources due to their mobile character. U.S. Pat. No. 8,374,546 enables a secure NFC device with multiple energy sources.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,370,629 (Ngo) describes a system and method for determining and sharing of trusted location data. The system includes a network device or application and at least two independent trusted sources of location data/location assistance data, where the at least two independent trusted sources have unique and unalterable ID codes. The network device or application receive and authenticate the location information/location assistance data from the at least two independent trusted sources, and the network device or application calculates a trusted location estimate by comparing the location data of the at least two independent trusted sources. The network device or application is a self-aware device. The trusted location data may be virally shared with other self-aware network devices in the network.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,373,429 (Slupsky) describes a sensing system using RF technology with chips to interrogate information for location of or content of articles. The method and apparatus interrogates an electronic component, and includes a body having an interface for an interrogating device to use as a conduit in reliably performing multiple discrete interrogations of the electronic component without the interrogating device physically touching the electronic component (e.g., near field communication).
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,806,852, 5,076,433, and 4,911,320 (Howes) shows that by constructing an actual product in a distinctive and readily identifiable manner (including wrappers and elements associated with purchased goods) and distributing the uniquely constructed product with conventional products, a unique prize winning notifier or indicator for a promotional contest is realized. Preferably, each prize notifying or indicating product is manufactured as an actual, individual product, using generally conventional production method, and comprises a unique, distinguishable, feature or characteristic which designates such products as prize winners. As a result, prize identifying products are packaged and sold in direct association with non-prize related products, without any degradation, contamination, or other difficulties as previously encountered with prior art systems or promotional vehicles.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,368,515 enables an RFID device, and more particularly to a RFID device which can be used in both a tag mode and a reader mode. There is provided an RF antenna transmitting and receiving wireless signals; a tuning circuit as a frequency filtering circuit connected to the RF antenna; a memory storing data; and a wireless communication card including antenna connection terminals connected to the RF antenna.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,346,210 (Belsan) enables the use of tags for global positioning of services and the like. One or more services are managed corresponding to a bearer tag (e.g., near field communication (NFC) tag, radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, contactless card, or barcode). A request to manage a service is initiated by reading service information from a bearer tag corresponding to the one or more services. A services platform initiates management of the one or more services based on the service information according to a predetermined or recurring billing arrangement.
Other systems with prizes awarded on labels or stickers on purchased articles include U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,578 (Simone); U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,919 (Singer); U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,354 (Hough); U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,496 (Minder); U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,484 (Spiegel); and U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,729 (White).
All references cited herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The present invention is directed towards moving wireless technology into a marketing and integrated gaming facilitating system useful in a gaming environment.

Award indicator for economic gaming activity


Orthodontic brackets are manufactured from at least one type of crystalline polymer that enhances the physical properties of the brackets. In one aspect, orthodontic brackets according to the invention may comprise at least one type of polyaryletherketone or crystalline polyamide. Fibers, fillers, flow additives and other components may be added as desired. One or more amorphous polymers may be blended with the crystalline polymer. Crystalline polymers are especially well-suited for the manufacture of self-ligating orthodontic brackets that include a bracket base and ligation cover so as to provide sufficient strength for the bracket base and ligation cover while also providing sufficient flexibility for the hinge element to bend or flex.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to orthodontic brackets, and more particularly to orthodontic brackets made from specific polymeric compositions that comprise at least one type of crystalline polymer.
2. The Relevant Technology
Orthodontics is a specialized field of dentistry that involves the application of mechanical forces to urge poorly positioned, or crooked, teeth into correct alignment and orientation. Orthodontic procedures can be used for cosmetic enhancement of teeth, as well as medically necessary movement of teeth to correct underbites or overbites. For example, orthodontic treatment can improve the patient's occlusion, or enhanced spatial matching of corresponding teeth.
The most common form of orthodontic treatment involves the use of orthodontic brackets and wires, which together are commonly referred to as "braces". Orthodontic brackets, more particularly the orthodontic bases, are small slotted bodies configured for direct attachment to the patient's teeth or, alternatively, for attachment to bands which are, in turn, cemented or otherwise secured around the teeth. Once the brackets are affixed to the patient's teeth, such as by means of glue or cement, a curved arch wire is inserted into the slot of each bracket. The arch wire acts as a template or track to guide movement of the teeth into proper alignment. End sections of the arch wire are typically captured within tiny appliances known as "buccal tubes" affixed to the patient's molars.
Customarily, an arch wire is held within the arch wire slot by ligatures. More recently, self-ligating brackets have been developed that eliminate the need for separate ligatures. Self-ligating brackets may include a cover associated with the bracket base that closes over and secures the arch wire within the arch wire slot. Examples of self-ligating brackets are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,748,740, 4,077,126, 5,857,849, and 6,071,118.
Conventional brackets requiring ligatures and self-ligating brackets have been formed from a wide variety of materials, including metal, plastic, or a combination thereof. Often brackets made from plastic are fragile and easily damaged, partly because of bracket design, but also because of choice of materials. Because of these difficulties, there is a continuing need for more robust designs, but particularly there is a need for materials from which a bracket may be manufactured to increase strength and durability, while maintaining sufficient flexibility where flexibility is needed.

Orthodontic brackets made from polymeric materials that impart desired strength properties


According to an aspect, a display device includes a display unit, a control unit, and a detecting unit. The display unit stereoscopically displays a three-dimensional block in a three-dimensional space. A virtual play space in the three-dimensional space is sectioned in a three-dimensional matrix pattern, and the three-dimensional block occupies one or a plurality of sections obtained by sectioning. The detecting unit detects a position of an object in the three-dimensional space. The control unit controls the display unit to allow the three-dimensional block to appear. When a change with time in the object in the three-dimensional space is detected by the detecting unit, the control unit controls the display unit to allow the three-dimensional block to move in section unit based on a detection result.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a display device, a control system, and a storage medium storing therein a control program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some display devices such as mobile phones with a display unit can stereoscopically display an image and so on (see e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2011-95547). The three-dimensional display is implemented by using binocular disparity.
Some gaming devices are configured to execute three-dimensional game applications. For example, the game device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2011-101677 executes the three-dimensional game by using a stereoscopic puzzle displayed by three-dimensional computer graphics.
The three-dimensional display is a user-friendly display manner; however, it has been used just for viewing purposes, and has not been used for improving the convenience of operations. There are the three-dimensional game applications such as the stereoscopic puzzles; however, the above-mentioned gaming devices allow the user to select only specific one object by an operation button and the like, and further, it takes some time for him/her to adapt oneself to the operation.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a display device, a control system, and a control program that can provide the user with convenient operations.

Display device, control system, and storage medium storing control program


An apparatus for generating a prediction that a patient will experience a seizure based on a blood volume signal is provided. The apparatus may include a blood volume sensor to sense the blood volume in a location of a patient's body. The apparatus may extract one or more features from the blood volume signal and determine if the feature has changed over time. The apparatus may generate a prediction of whether the patient will experience a seizure based on the determination of whether the feature changed over time.

Epilepsy affects approximately 0.5% to 0.8% of the world population. Epilepsy often leads to a poor quality of life for patients in part because seizures cannot be reliably predicted and, in extreme cases, are associated with sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Seizure detection prior to the onset of a seizure could reduce the risk of injuries to a patient, improve treatment and possibly prevent SUDEP.
Existing methods to predict seizures focus principally on analysis of brain electrical activity by electroencephalogram (EEG) or invasive monitoring.

Seizure prediction using cardiovascular features


In a radiant heating box there is a convection current which flows over the surface of tubes in the box. Adding ribs to the external surface of vertical tubes provides an enhancement to the heat transfer by convection and increases the heat transfer to the tubes.

Tube and plate heat exchangers are well known. Typically a hot fluid passes through a tube which has a number of plates or fins attached to it. Generally the plates or fins have a dimension of several times the diameter of the tube and the fins are spaced close together. The purpose is to transfer heat to the plate or fin by conduction and then have a fluid such as air extract the heat from the fluid by convection. The present invention does not use a finned heat exchanger.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,388 issued Nov. 11, 2003 to Kilmer et al., assigned to Alcoa Inc., discloses a sheet product which has improved heat transfer properties. The sheet has a number of textured features having a dimension from about 1 to 50 microns. Sheet can be used as fins on a heat exchanger or can be made into tubes. The tubes can be textured on the inside or on the outside. However there are fins on the exterior of the tube (Col. 4, lines 34 and 35). The patent teaches that pipe made from a rolled sheet is used in cooling applications such as radiators, heaters, evaporators, oil coolers, condensers and the like. The patent doesn't suggest the micro textures could be used on the surface of a pipe which is to be heated.
The paper "On Enhancement of Heat Transfer with Ribs" Applied Thermal Engineering 24 (2004) 43–57, discloses putting ribs on the surface of, for example, a fin. The heat transfer from the fin improves as a function of a number of factors including rib height and angle of inclination of the rib. However, the paper does not suggest ribs could be applied to the external surface of a pipe taking up heat from an environment.
The paper "Enhanced Heat Exchangers for Process Heaters" Published November 2001 by the Office of Industrial Technologies teaches the use of dimpled tubes in the convection section of a heat exchanger. The dimples produce a vortex effect which may increase heat transfer up to about 30% compared to a flat tube. The reference does not teach or suggest using ribs rather than dimples.
The present invention seeks to provide a simple solution to improving the heat transfer (up take) in a tube carrying a chemical to be process at elevated temperature such as tubes in the radiant section of an ethylene furnace.


A smart watch and a control method thereof are disclosed. The smart watch includes a first sensor unit configured to detect whether the smart watch is worn, a display unit configured to display visual information, a second sensor unit configured to detect movement of the smart watch, and a processor configured to control the first sensor unit, the display unit, and the second sensor unit. If first movement of the smart watch is detected on an arm of a user while the smart watch is being worn, the processor obtains direction and distance of the first movement of the smart watch. If the direction of the first movement is a first direction and the distance of the first movement is equal to or more than a first threshold distance, the processor performs a first function corresponding to the first direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates to a smart watch and a control method thereof and, more particularly, to a smart watch for performing a function based on whether the smart watch is worn by a user and on the direction and distance of movement of the smart watch on an arm of the user who wears the smart watch.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Development of wearable computers is accelerating with advances in technology. Wearable computers refer to computers that a user may naturally wear like clothes, watches, glasses, and accessories. Smartphones or tablet PCs may be easily manipulated with fingers or a touch pen but may be inconvenient because they should be carried in a pocket or bag or be held in the hand. On the other hand, wearable computers may achieve better portability than smartphones or tablet PCs because they can be worn around the wrist or worn like glasses. Specifically, as an example of a wearable computer, a wristwatch-type mobile device, i.e., a smart watch, capable of wirelessly using various services such as a diary, messages, notifications, and stock quotations has appeared in the form of a variety of products.
A smart watch may have a small display area and have restrictions in input indicating to perform a function. Therefore, technology of detecting input indicating to perform a function of a smart watch is required.


An imaging device includes one or more insulating layers on a substrate; an effective region including: a polarization layer in the one or more insulating layers and including one or more polarizers that polarize light; and at least one first photoelectric conversion region in the substrate and that converts incident light polarized by the one or more polarizers into electric charge; and a peripheral region outside the effective region and including: one or more wiring layers that include a pad portion in a same layer of the one or more insulating layers as the polarization layer.

There have been well-known solid-state imaging apparatuses as disclosed, for example, in PTL 1, which include a plurality of photoelectric conversion devices provided with the wire grid polarizers (WGPs). The photoelectric conversion devices (imaging devices) arrayed in a valid pixel region and configured to generate currents in response to entry of light beams form, for example, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor and a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor. The wire grid polarizers are arranged on a light incidence side of the photoelectric conversion devices, and each have a line-and-space structure. For the sake of convenience of description, a direction in which the line-and-space structure extends is referred to as a "first direction," and a direction in which line portions are alternately formed (direction orthogonal to the first direction) is referred to as a "second direction."
As illustrated in the conceptual view of FIG. 54, when a formation pitch P0 of a wire grid is significantly smaller than a wavelength λ0 of an incident electromagnetic wave, the electromagnetic wave, which oscillates in a plane parallel to the direction in which the wire grid extends (first direction), is selectively reflected and absorbed by the wire grid. Note that, the formation pitch P0 of the wire grid is defined as a clearance between one of the line portions and another one of the line portions (clearance, that is, width of a space portion along the second direction). As illustrated in FIG. 54, although a vertically polarized component and a horizontally polarized component are contained in the electromagnetic wave (light) that reaches the wire grid polarizer, the electro-magnetic wave that has transmitted through the wire grid polarizer becomes a linearly polarized light beam in which the vertically polarized component is predominant. With focus on a visible-light wavelength band, when the formation pitch P0 of the wire grid is significantly smaller an effective wavelength λeff of the electromagnetic wave that enters the wire grid polarizer, polarized components biased in the plane parallel to the first direction are reflected by or absorbed into a front surface of the wire grid. Meanwhile, when an electromagnetic wave having polarized components biased in a plane parallel to the second direction enters the wire grid, an electric field that propagates through a front surface of the wire grid exits from a rear surface of the wire grid with its wavelength and polarization orientation remaining the same as those at the time of entry. In this case, when an average refractive index calculated based on substances that are present in the space portions is represented by nave, the effective wavelength is represented by λeff(λ0/nave). The average refractive index nave refers to a value obtained by dividing a sum of products of refractive indices and volumes of the substances that are present in the space portions by volumes of the space portions. When a value of the wavelength λ0 is kept constant, a value of the effective wavelength λeff becomes larger as a value of the average refractive index nave becomes smaller. Thus, a value of the formation pitch P0 can be increased. Meanwhile, a transmittance and an extinction ratio of the wire grid polarizer become lower as the value of the average refractive index nave becomes larger.

Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation


An ultrasonic finger probe including: a body having an ultrasonic transducer disposed therein, the ultrasonic transducer being operatively connected to an ultrasonic generator; and a securing device for securing the body to one or more fingers of an operator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to ultrasonic medical instrumentation, and more particularly, to an ultrasonic probe for attachment to one or more fingers of a person.
2. Prior Art
Ultrasonic instruments are well known in the medical arts. Such instrumentation may be used to make lesions in tissue, but are also used to cut and coagulate tissue and blood, respectively. Typically, ultrasonic instrumentation have an ultrasonic transducer at a working end of the instrument, which is typically separated from a handle or other manipulation means by an elongated shaft.
In certain medical procedures, such as a MAZE procedure, lesions are made on the heart in a specific pattern. Often, the lesions are to be made on tissue that is hard to reach with conventional instrumentation or where visibility is poor. Thus, there is a need in the medical arts for a device and methods for easily manipulating the ultrasonic transducer, for accessing hard to reach areas, and which increase the visibility of surgical sites.


A flexible joint for transfer of especially a cryogenic fluid includes a first element (3) and a second element (4). The first element (3) comprising an internal, partly curved surface (6), the second element (4) comprising a corresponding outer partly curved surface (8) with at least a sealing element (12,12′) between the curved surfaces (6,8). The first element (3) comprises a first connection part (9) and the second element comprises a second connection part (10) connectable to the first connection part (9) with a flexible part (11, 11′) between the connection of the two connectable parts (9,10) and the sealing element (12). Thereby it is formed a void (16) which may be pressurized with an inert gas at a pressure equal to or higher than the pressure of the fluid to be transferred through the joint.

A cryogenic fluid, typically LPG or LNG, has a very low temperature at ambient pressure when stored as a liquid. If this liquid is spilled at or in a vessel all equipment in the vicinity of the spilled liquid will be cooled down to the boiling temperature of the liquid, which for LPG can be typically −50 degrees C. and for LNG typically −164 degrees C. Most vessels and equipment are built of carbon steel that will turn brittle and loose its structural strength at cryogenic temperatures.
The cryogenic liquid is maintained at or close to its boiling point at low temperature and any contact with other materials at a higher temperature will result in transfer of heat from that material to the liquid with consequently boil-off of liquid and cool down of the material. The liquid is therefore normally stored in well insulated pipes and tanks and all transfer is carried out with dedicated equipment and according to pre-determined and approved procedures to reduce the risk of spill and accidents.
When transferring a cryogenic fluid there is in several cases a need for a flexible joint for the fluid transfer channel. Having a joint gives the potential hazard of spillage of the fluid, having a flexible joint gives an increased risk of spillage since any seal in the flexible joint will experience a dynamic situation.
When transferring a cryogenic fluid or other hazardous fluid, this involves a potential risk for personnel in the vicinity of the joint. Any human exposure to the fluid, as liquid or cold gas may result in serious injury or death. Protection of personnel can be achieved by either prohibiting personnel to enter the area when cold media is present and can leak out, or by use of adequate protective equipment. At this time protective equipment is limited to space suits and similar clothing which by nature is either prohibitive expensive or not available at such sites. As a general rule personnel should therefore not be admitted to enclosed space where there is a possibility that for instance LNG may escape (from for instance rotating equipment or flanged connections). Equipment inside such space must therefore be remotely operated and monitored and all containers with cryogenic liquid must be drained and inerted before personnel can enter.
However, there is a need for a flexible joint for transferral of a for instance cryogenic fluid, which gives increased safety. There are known some flexible joints for instance described in GB1381902 or GB2337568. However, these known solutions do not give the needed flexibility and security. There are also described flexible joints in EP 0718537 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,328,347.
An object of the present invention is to provide a flexible joint for transfer of a fluid as for instance a cryogenic fluid, which is safer in case of spillage. It is an object to provide a joint with flexibility about more than one axis. It is a further object to provide a joint without spillage of the transferred fluid.
The joint as defined in the accompanying claims fulfils the above mentioned object.


The present invention relates to a ceramic sheet having uniform quality over its entire surface with a decreased number of defects such as foreign matters and flaws. When the ceramic sheet was divided into sections of 30 mm square or smaller, each divided section has 5 or less defects detected based on an image obtained with a charge coupled device (CCD) camera. The present invention also relates to a method of producing the ceramic sheet. In this method, a green sheet or a calcined sheet mainly including spherical ceramic particles having an average particle diameter of 0.1 to less than 5 μm was used as a spacer. By using this spacer, the green sheet for ceramic sheet slides smoothly on the spacer surface when it shrinks in baking, and the friction resistance between the green sheet for ceramic sheet and the spacer is lowered. In this manner, the method of the present invention can mass-produce the above-described high quality ceramic sheets.

In general, a ceramic sheet is produced by the following steps. Ceramic powder is mixed with an organic binder, a solvent, and if necessary, a plasticizer and a dispersant, and the resultant mixture is kneaded to produce a slurry. The slurry is formed into a green sheet by a method such as doctor blade process, calendering process and extrusion process. The green sheet is stamped or cut into a predetermined shape and baked to produce a ceramic sheet.
The ceramic sheet is excellent in mechanical strength, toughness, abrasion resistance, chemical resistance, corrosion resistance, heat resistance and electric insulation. For these advantages, the ceramic sheet is used in applications including hybrid integrated circuit boards, outer plates of heat resistant and various structural members such as fire resistant boards, and sliding members. In addition, taking advantage of its oxygen ion conductivity, the ceramic sheet is also used in applications such as solid electrolytes of oxygen sensors, humidity sensors and fuel cells and the like.
In order to use the ceramic sheet in the above-described applications, the sheet is required to have high uniformity over its entire surface with few defects such as foreign matters and flaws. The defects such as foreign matters and flaws is likely to lower the mechanical strength of the ceramic sheet and cause variations in the strength over the surface thereof. In this case, the ceramic sheet does not exhibit excellent and uniform properties over its surface. In particular, the presence of the foreign matters and flaws is a serious problem, when the ceramic sheet is used as a solid electrolyte in fuel cell in which the ceramic sheets are stacked. In the fuel cell, the ceramic sheet is kept at a high temperature of about 800 to 1000° C. under the load of at least 10 g/cm2 for a long period of time. Under this condition, foreign matters and flaws in the ceramic sheet is likely to affect the Weibull modulus of the sheet, which indicates the mechanical strength and variation in mechanical strength.
The defects such as foreign matters and flaws impair not only the mechanical strength and uniformity of properties of the ceramic sheet but also the electric characteristics thereof. For example, when the ceramic sheet is a thin film having an area of 100 cm2 or larger and a thickness of 0.3 mm or smaller, the thin ceramic sheet is likely to be cracked due to foreign matters and flaws, resulting in deteriorating electric characteristics thereof. In addition, the conductivity of the ceramic sheet is likely to decrease by the foreign matters in the ceramic sheet, or by a product produced by the solid phase reaction between the foreign matters and the zirconia (a main component of the ceramic sheet) due to exposure of the ceramic sheet to high temperature for a long period of time. Furthermore, the difference of thermal expansions between the zirconia and the foreign matters may cause cracks to the ceramic sheet. When the ceramic sheet is used in a fuel cell device which is sealed, the foreign matters and flaws may also cause another problem as follows. Since the periphery of the ceramic sheet is firmly fixed in the fuel cell, thermal expansion of the ceramic sheet due to exposure to high temperature may generate a stress, to cause cracks to the sheet itself. Thus, foreign matters or flaws impair the characteristics of the ceramic sheet for a solid electrolyte.
For the above reasons, the ceramic sheet is required to minimize the number of defects such as foreign matters and flaws. However, it is inevitable for the obtained ceramic sheet to have defects for the following reasons.
A green sheet contains organic components such as a solvent, a binder and a plasticizer. The organic components contain foreign matters in some cases. When the green sheet is baked, although the organic components (e.g., a solvent) themselves can decompose to be removed, the foreign matters cannot decompose, to thereby remain in the ceramic sheet as defects.
In a furnace, particles of foreign matters and dusts fly in all directions by a convective atmospheric gas. When the particles of foreign matters and dusts fall onto or adhere to the green sheet during the baking the green sheet, they remain in the resulting ceramic sheet as defects.
The contamination of foreign matters into the green sheet during baking can be suppressed to some extent by removing them in the process of forming the green sheet and cleaning the furnace. However, it is still difficult to avoid the formation of flaws for the following reasons.
At present, in order to increase the productivity of a thin ceramic sheet having an area of 100 cm2 or larger and a thickness of 0.3 mm or smaller, a method such as illustrated in FIG. 1 has been studied. A cover 3a in the form of sheet containing ceramics as a main component is placed on a ceramic setter 1. On the cover 3a, green sheets to be baked (hereinafter, referred to as "a green sheet for ceramic sheet") 2 and spacers 3 in the form of sheet containing ceramics as a main component are alternately stacked. On the top green sheet for ceramic sheet 2, a thick cover 3b serving as both a cover and a weight is placed. In this state, the green sheets for ceramic sheet 2 are baked. This method is advantageous in that a number of green sheets 2 can be baked at the same time. The variations in qualities among the green sheets 2 can be suppressed by using porous sheets as the spacers 3 to release an thermally decomposed organic binder from the green sheets during dewaxing of the sheets.
This method, however, has the following disadvantage. In the baking, the green sheet 2 shrinks when the organic binder contained in the green sheet 2 decomposes to be removed from the green sheets 2 and when the ceramic powder contained in the green sheet 2 is sintered. In the method illustrated in FIG. 1 where the plurality of green sheets 2 are stacked and baked, each green sheet 2 shrinks while being scraped by the spacer 3 and/or the covers 3a, 3b in contact with the green sheet 2. The scraping forms strapes, stripe flaws, convex and concave flaws on the resulting ceramic sheet surface. In order to satisfy the demand for high productivity by employing the method of baking green sheets in a stacked state, the above defects are not avoidable. The number and size of the defects increase as the ceramic sheet has a larger area.
In an attempt to suppress the generation of defects in baking a plurality of stacked green sheets, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-160065 discloses a method which uses, as a spacer, a green sheet containing inorganic powder having an average particle diameter of 5 to 300 μm in a dispersed state and having a surface roughness of its one side of 10 to 200 μm.
However, in this prior art method, it is still difficult to produce a ceramic sheet having uniform quality over its entire surface with a decreased number of defects such as flaws and foreign matters, in particular, a thin ceramic sheet having an area of 100 cm2 or larger and a thickness of 0.3 mm or smaller.
The present invention has been conducted to solve the above-described problems, and the objective thereof is to provide a ceramic sheet having uniform quality over its entire surface with a decreased number of defects such as foreign matters and flaws, in particular a thin and large ceramic sheet suitable as a solid electrolyte of fuel cell. The another objective of the present invention is to provide a method for producing the above-described ceramic sheets by baking a plurality of green sheets while effectively preventing the generation of defects such as flaws.

Ceramic sheet and method of producing ceramic sheet


The hearing aid according to the invention comprise:                a skin penetrating abutment, a skin penetrating abutment,        a rod with a coupling part, operative to allow releasable connection between the rod and the abutment,        a hearing aid housing with an opening, where the rod extends through the opening and into the hearing aid housing,        a vibrator connected to the rod in the hearing aid housing, and resiliently mounted between a distal housing wall part which faces away from the opening and a proximal housing wall part which comprises the opening, wherebythe proximal wall part further comprise a relief portion which extends into the area between the vibrator and the coupling part of the rod and where, the distance between the relief portion and the coupling part of the rod is smaller than the distance between the vibrator and the inside of the distal wall part.

In resent years, bone conducting hearing aids which are fastened to a screw implanted in the skull bone, have become successful for certain types of hearing losses. In an apparatus of this kind, a coupling part is provided between an implanted screw in the skull bone and a rod. The rod extends trough a hole in a hearing aid casing and into the hearing aid where the rod may form part of or is coupled to a vibrator, such that vibrations may be transmitted from the vibrator inside the casing through the rod, coupling, screw and into the skull bone to finally reach the inner ear where the vibrations may be perceived as sound. The coupling between rod and implanted screw usually comprise a skin penetrating abutment which at one end is fastened to the screw and at the other end comprise coupling means which are designed for releasable coupling with a corresponding coupling means at the end of the rod. The coupling needs to balance the demand for a strong coupling between abutment and rod with the demand for a not to big brake away force, and usually a snap on mechanism is used whereby the hearing aid is pressed onto the abutment to cause engagement between the rod and the abutment. When a bone conducting hearing aid of this kind is pressed on to the skin penetrating abutment, the conventional arrangement results in a force on the vibrator inside the hearing aid housing and the vibrator may be damaged thereby. It is the aim of the invention to provide a connection between a bone conduction hearing aid and an abutment, which forms part of a bone integrated element to allow the hearing aid to be connected to the abutment without stressing the hearing aid vibrator. With such a connection, the wear on the vibrator will be reduced.

Bone conducting hearing aid with connection


A substrate bonding apparatus for bonding a first substrate to a second substrate includes a first bonding chuck supporting the first substrate, a second bonding chuck disposed above the first bonding chuck and supporting the second substrate, a resonant frequency detector detecting a resonant frequency of a bonded structure with the first substrate and the second substrate which are at least partially bonded to each other, and a controller controlling a distance between the first bonding chuck and the second bonding chuck according to the detected resonant frequency of the bonded structure.

The inventive concept relates to a substrate bonding apparatus, and method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using the substrate bonding apparatus.
In a process of manufacturing semiconductor devices, a substrate bonding process of bonding two or more substrates may be performed. The substrate bonding process may be performed for increasing a mounting density of semiconductor chips in a semiconductor device. For example, semiconductor devices having a structure where semiconductor chips are stacked may increase a mounting density of semiconductor chips and decrease a wiring length between the semiconductor chips, thereby performing high-speed signal processing. When a semiconductor device having a stacked semiconductor chip structure is manufactured, productivity may be increased in a process of bonding wafers and then cutting a stacked semiconductor chip. The substrate bonding process may be performed by using a wafer-to-wafer process of directly bonding two wafers without a separate medium therebetween. The wafer-to-wafer process may be performed by using a bonding apparatus which includes a bonding chuck for supporting wafers and an element for pressurizing the wafers.


A litter box assembly for house pets is disclosed, which includes a container rotatably mounted to a stand, allowing the litter box to rotate from its normal position to a cleaning position and/or a resetting position. The litter box assembly includes contact portions that contact a portion of the stand or the floor in the cleaning position and the resetting position. When the contact portions contact the stand or the floor, the vibration of the litter box container caused by the contact facilitates the movement and dislodging of litter and waste. This contact can be repeated to facilitate the cleaning of the container.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to litter boxes.
Owners of household pets (e.g., cats), use litter boxes to provide the pet with a location in the household to release urine and feces. In a typical litter box, the pet climbs into the litter box and disposes of urine and feces into the litter, which must be cleaned periodically to remove the waste (e.g., clumped litter from urine and solid feces).
Manual litter boxes come in a number of different designs, including simple litter pans and sifting litter boxes. A simple litter pan, which may be opened or covered with a hood, requires that the litter be manually cleaned with a hand held scoop to dig into the litter and remove or separate the waste from the litter. Sifting litter boxes include an integrated grate lining the bottom of the litter pan. To clean the litter, the grate is lifted up through the litter or the litter is poured through the grate, enabling the grate to capture the waste without the use of a scoop.
Although inexpensive, these manual litter boxes, which are often not aesthetically pleasing, present a number of challenges to both the pet and the pet owner. Many manual litter boxes are not deep or wide enough to provide adequate space for larger pets. In addition, many pets do not like the feel of the sifting grate in sifting litter boxes when they are digging into the litter. For manual litter boxes that must be cleaned with a scoop, this must be done frequently and can be labor intensive. The scooping process can be highly unpleasant, requiring the pet owner to kneel down or bend over to access the litter, which is typically malodorous and dusty and can be quite heavy when soiled. Scooping the waste out of the manual litter box is often made more difficult when the litter sticks to the sides or the box or resides in the corners of the box, which are hard to access with the scoop, which is typically not ergonomically designed. For sifting litter boxes, pouring the filtered litter back into the box over the grate can be heavy and awkward. Open manual litter boxes also allow the pets to kick or otherwise move litter outside of the manual litter box, requiring additional cleaning by the pet owner. Closed litter boxes, using hoods, can resolve the problem of litter escaping the litter box, but do not allow for sufficient air circulation and are not preferred by many pets, which dislike the enclosed space of the litter box.
Given the disadvantages associated with manual litter boxes, automatic litter boxes, including those with combing mechanisms, rotation mechanisms, and self washing systems, are offered. While the automatic litter boxes can improve upon manual litter boxes, they are expensive and require complicated connections to electrical and/or water sources to operate, which may not be available in the desired location for the litter box. Furthermore, the automatic litter boxes employing combing mechanisms often have difficulty removing larger waste or can miss smaller waste that is not captured by the tines, which must be cleaned periodically to remove waste. In addition, these automatic litter boxes are loud in operation and frequently require replacement of disposable parts, further increasing costs.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.


According to one embodiment, a machine translation apparatus includes a speech recognition unit, a translation unit, a detection unit and an addition unit. The speech recognition unit performs speech recognition of speech. The translation unit translates the plurality of source language strings into target language strings in a chronological order. The detection unit detects ambiguity in interpretation of the speech corresponding to a first target language string of the target language strings. The addition unit adds, an additional phrase being one of words and phrases to interpret uniquely a modification relationship, to the first target language string if ambiguity is detected.

There is a translation machine that receives input of text in a source language (a first language) and translates the text to a demanded target language (a second language). Further, by improvement in speech language processing technology in recent years, there is a simultaneous translation machine that translates speech in a first language to a second language in an incremental manner.

Machine translation apparatus, method and computer readable medium


A choke valve for use in reverse flow when mounted on a wellhead or manifold. The choke valve includes a valve body forming a T-shaped bore to provide a vertically extending bottom opening and a horizontally extending side opening. Flow trim is positioned in the T-shaped bore, optionally in a tubular sleeve or removable cartridge. The flow trim includes a tubular cage having a side wall forming an internal bore aligned with the body bottom opening, and a single flow port or a plurality of flow ports, each of the single flow port or plurality of flow ports being positioned for alignment with the body side opening. In reverse flow mode in the valve body, fluid from the bottom opening enters the cage and exits through the single flow port or plurality of flow ports directly into the body side opening.

The present invention relates to a reverse flow choke valve used in connection with a wellhead, typically a choke valve having a removable insert assembly for an underwater wellhead. The invention also relates to the removable insert assembly component itself, including novel flow trim components.
Choke valves are flow throttling devices which control flow and reduce the pressure of the fluid moving through them. When the pressure is reduced, the velocity of the fluid increases.
The fluid moving through a choke valve can often be severely erosive. For example, a choke valve may be used to control a gas flow containing entrained sand and moving at high pressure and velocity. It follows that a choke valve is a critical piece of wellhead flow control equipment, which must be designed and constructed to cope with an erosive flow.
Choke valves which are used in underwater or sub sea service may be located at great depths, for instance 6000 feet. At such depths, wellhead servicing has to be carried out using an unmanned, remotely operated vehicle, referred to as an "ROV". Sub-sea choke valves typically are designed with the wear components in an insert assembly which can be removed by remote servicing.
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art choke valve used in sub sea service. This choke valve is designed to be vertically oriented in use, so that its operating parts can be removed and replaced as a unit using a vertical cable extended from surface. The choke valve includes the following:                A body having a T-shaped arrangement (T on its side) of bores providing a horizontal side inlet, a vertical bottom outlet and a vertical chamber for containing operating components (the inlet and outlet bores have an inverted L shaped configuration);        A generally tubular cartridge vertically positioned in the chamber and extending across the side inlet, the side walls of the cartridge forming a side port connecting with the inlet,        A "flow trim" positioned within the bore of the cartridge and including a stationary tubular cylinder referred to as a nozzle or "cage", and a vertically oriented, tubular, external sleeve (flow collar) having one closed end, the sleeve being positioned to slide along the cage side wall to throttle the ports. The cage is seated on an internal shoulder formed by the lower end of the cartridge. It extends across the inlet and its bore is vertical, being axially aligned with the outlet. The cage has a plurality of flow ports, spaced around its circumference, extending through its side wall. As shown in FIG. 1, there are generally at least two opposing main ports and at least two opposing smaller ports. The cage flow ports communicate through the cartridge port with the inlet. Fluid enters the cage bore from the horizontal inlet through the flow ports, changes direction within the cage and leaves through the vertical body outlet. In moving through the flow ports, the fluid pressure is reduced and its velocity is increased, thereby increasing the erosiveness of the stream;        A bonnet assembly secured to the cartridge and closing the upper end of the body chamber. The bonnet assembly is also secured to the body by clamp means which can be undone by the ROV, to release the bonnet assembly from the body; and        A stem extending through an opening in the bonnet assembly and connecting with the flow trim sleeve. An actuator (not shown), powered by a hydraulic system operated from surface, can rotate the stern to advance and retract the sleeve, thereby adjusting the open area of the cage flow ports.
The cartridge and its contained components, as just described, can be referred to as a choke removable insert assembly.
The valve body is formed of softer material, typically steel, while the flow trim components are typically manufactured from a high wear material such as tungsten carbide. The steel body needs to be machined in the course of fabrication and it also has to be able to cope with stresses, and thus is manufactured from a relatively ductile steel. The flow trim however has harder surfaces. Typically the cage of the flow trim is formed of tungsten carbide and a tungsten carbide liner is shrink fitted to line the flow collar. This is important because the flow trim is positioned at the bend of the "L", where it is exposed to, and temporarily contains, the fluid flow when it is accelerated, is changing direction and is in a turbulent state.
When a sub sea well is first completed, the subterranean formation containing the oil or gas will typically be at sufficient pressure to drive the produced fluid to surface. The well is referred to as a "flowing" well. However, over time the formation pressure diminishes. Eventually it may be desirable to inject water or other fluid into the formation, through one or more wells, to increase its pressure and maintain the formation flowing capability. This requires fluid to be pumped under pressure or "injected" through the choke valve in the opposite or reverse direction. If this is done with the valve shown in FIG. 1, the fluid exits the partly closed ports of the flow trim as high velocity, angled jets that impinge against and erode the steel material of the choke body.
To try to reduce the erosion when a well is converted to reverse flow, well operators have resorted to operating the choke valve with a reduced pressure drop, which is an undesirable restriction. Another alternative is use a multiport cage, for example a 16 port cage, with the ports being arranged circumferentially around the cage, to distribute the wear to the body more uniformly around the cage. However, this is still undesirable since the body, which is retrievable only by retrieving the entire wellhead tree, is still directly exposed to wear.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,648,070 to Cove et al., and owned by the assignee of the present patent application, Master Flo Valve Inc., describes an insert assembly for a sub-sea choke designed for reverse flow with a horizontal cage and collar, but requiring complicated components to actuate these horizontal components.
The present invention is concerned with providing a reverse flow insert assembly which can replace the production insert assembly when the well is to be changed from production to injection, but which is simple in design,


A quick-release system for a quick-release device, in particular for a cycle, such as a bicycle, the device being of the type including an axially extending skewer and an end support element mounted on a first end of the skewer adapted to be supported on a first tightening surface of the cycle. The quick-release system includes a tightening sub-assembly including a support surface and an actuation sub-assembly including a movable actuating mechanism, capable of axial rotation around the skewer and configured to transmit a tightening torque to the tightening sub-assembly when the device is being tightened. The system includes tightening torque limiting mechanism making it possible to limit the torque transmitted by the actuation sub-assembly to the tightening sub-assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a quick-release system, in particular for a cycle. The invention also relates to a complete quick-release device, also commonly called "quick-release axle", and to a wheel including such a device.
2. Description of Background and Other Information
In the field of cycles, it is known to use quick-release devices to assemble a component on a portion of the cycle quickly, such as a wheel to a fork, for example. These devices eliminate the need to use special tools, such as wrenches or the like. The quick-release devices can be used on a front wheel as well as on a rear wheel of a bicycle. The fastening device can also be used to secure various components on a cycle, such as a saddle to a seat tube.
Various existing quick-release systems are commonly used. The most widespread family of these devices includes those with a lever acting on a cam to exert a tightening force that is a function of the geometry of the cam and of the manual pre-adjustment of the center distance. In particular, the device includes a threaded rod commonly referred to as a "quick-release skewer," having, at a first end, a movable or fixed stop, such as a tightening nut and/or a cam, and its other end, a quick-release mechanism including a lever mounted along an axis perpendicular to the axis of the skewer, an adjustable nut, and an intermediate cam. Various embodiments exist. In certain cases, the cam is integral with the lever; in other cases, it can be a separate element.
In all examples of these devices, the tightening force is obtained when the cam is driven by pivoting the lever in the direction of the skewer, from an opening position to a folded closed position. Before the lever is brought to the closed position, the tightening force is usually adjusted by screwing the release mechanism on the skewer. This adjustment is carried out by means of a nut that is part of the mechanism, which determines the center distance between the two tightening surfaces of the device, on each side of the skewer.
These devices pose a number of problems. Initially, they do not enable a good control of the tightening force, which can vary substantially depending upon the adjustment of the center distance, by the user, by means of the adjustment nut of the quick-release mechanism. A center distance adjusted to be too long at the outset can produce an insufficient tightening and thus cause a possible safety problem. The skewer fulfills the function of a tension spring, and its elasticity enables it to withstand the tension forces. An adjusted center distance adjusted to be too short, on the contrary, can cause an axial tension force on the skewer that is too substantial, and thus a risk of rupture of the skewer or breakage of another element of the device. A too substantial tension force also produces compression forces on the hub bearings. As a result, the bearings may be compressed and therefore damaged, thus causing substantial friction in the hub. Moreover, a device of this type is not easy to use, and the user has to proceed by trial and error in adjusting the center distance in order to achieve the correct tightening.
Therefore, the magnitude of the tightening force is never the same, and it depends upon the pre-adjustment of the center distance by the nut, and therefore, for the most part, upon the user's strength. The tightening magnitudes can vary substantially, resulting in risks of loosening in the case of insufficient tightening or, conversely, of failure/breakage of the skewer, in the case of excessive tightening. In order to guarantee the resistance of the skewer against failing under very high torques, the skewer is generally made of a high strength material and is oversized compared to the intended use under normal forces. With equivalent resistance to failure, the skewer can be made of a lighter material, such as titanium, in order to reduce weight, in particular for competition bicycles. Oversizing the elements and/or using light-weight materials such as titanium is expensive.
Another problem associated with a device of this type comes from the difficulty of obtaining a correct orientation of the lever at the end of the tightening and the correct tightening force at the same time. It is indeed preferable to direct the lever so that it does not constitute a "hook" for becoming engaged with external elements (branches, banners, wire, etc.) during practice, which can cause loosening of the wheel or collisions and, consequently, a potential danger of falling.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0154286 relates to a quick-release device offering an easier use. It includes a rotationally actuatable lever configured to tighten an internal nut against the skewer. The lever is axially movable against the force of an elastic tensioning mechanism in order to be capable of being manually disengaged from the nut and of assuming an angular position that can be selected independent of the nut tightening state. Thus, the main advantage is to be able to facilitate the tightening action by repositioning the lever and/or enabling the final orientation of the lever without loosening the device. However, this device does not improve the control of the tightening force. All of the problems mentioned in relation to the lack of control of the tightening force thus subsist in this device. For example, the tightening of the device remains subject to the judgment of the user and remains dependent upon the user's physical strength.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,362 is also based on a system for increasing tightening by means of a lever mechanism. The improvement lies in providing a system for visualizing the tightening by increasing the displacement of a tube-shaped tightening indicator. However, although it provides an indication of the tightening value, such a device does not entirely solve the problems associated with excessive or insufficient tightening of the device.
Therefore, there exists a need to provide a solution for a quick-release device that solves problems found in the prior art.
In particular, there is a need to improve the control and management of the tightening force for the user, without this force being directly a function of the user's physical strength. In particular, there is a need to apply a tightening amplification that can actually be controlled and reproduced.
There also exists a need to provide the user with an indication of the correct tightening, this being an easily perceptible indication.
There is also a need to generally eliminate the possibility of applying an excessive tension force to the skewer of the device that can damage the elements and/or the need for oversizing or using expensive materials having exceptional mechanical characteristics. There is also a need to reduce the weight of the device.
There also exists a need to improve the tightening efficiency of a release device.
Further, there is a need to prevent or to make unlikely an ill-timed loosening of the release device, for obvious reasons of user safety.
Still further, there exists a need to allow for an easy repositioning of the lever of the device that is not dependent upon the tightening force exerted by the device.

Quick-tightening system for cycle with tightening torque control