The present disclosure relates to a workpiece carrier for a workpiece conveying device for the transportation of workpieces, especially for heavy workpieces, having a conveyor chain for conveying the workpiece carriers by transmitting friction forces and having a guide track for guiding and supporting the conveyor chain and the workpiece carriers. The conveyor chain runs in a U-shaped guide track, wherein support surfaces extend next to the U-shaped guide track and the workpiece carriers are supported with guide rollers on said support surfaces. The workpiece carriers are equipped with a front and a rear carriage which are provided with an entrainer for engagement into the U-shaped cut-out, and wherein the entrainers are designed via a foot part with an adjustable contact force to overcome the sliding friction, with a display serving the visualization of the set contact force in accordance with the present disclosure.

There are in principle two different systems for conveying of workpieces by means of workpiece carriers. In one example system, the workpiece carriers are connected to a conveyor belt at fixed intervals. The conveyor belt is moved on in a clocked manner and thus travels the workpiece carriers from one position to the next. However, in this system the clocking has to be controlled based on the longest lasting process and that no channeling in or out of workpiece carriers can take place.
In another example system, the conveyor chain runs continuously and the workpiece carriers are taken along by the conveyor chain by means of frictional grip or the workpiece carriers are stopped by external stops and separators in front of processing points. The workpiece carriers can be diverted into secondary tracks via track switches and channeling-in and channeling-out devices.
However, in such systems the workpiece carriers may accumulate in certain situations in front of a processing point or transfer point. Due to such accumulations high strains may arise for the chain by the frictional forces acting on the chain and said high strains have to be taken into account in the design of the chain. In addition, considerable wear arises at the chain and at the entrainers of the tool carriers due to the constant friction. To minimize the wear, the chain is designed as large as necessary, in order to keep the friction force as small as possible. There are different approaches for this purpose, especially with heavy workpieces.
A workpiece conveying device for heavy workpieces having a plurality of workpiece carriers is known from EP 0 203 898. The workpiece carriers in this respect comprise a workpiece carrier for receiving the workpieces and a respective rotatable front and rear guide segment which establishes a connection with the belt arranged thereunder by means of a sliding shoe. The workpiece carriers are taken along by the belt by means of the friction force. The setting of the contact force for the sliding shoe takes place by selection of a suitable spring. Additionally or alternatively the preload force of the spring is correspondingly set by suitable underlaid disks. In this embodiment, the contact force is construed and set once and cannot be variably adapted to current demands.
In another example, DE 201 21 809 U1 describes a low-profile accumulating conveyor capable of negotiating curves and having a transport trolley. An adjustable entrainer is arranged at the lower side at the center of the transport trolley and it receives in its interior a friction element which is pressed down by a spring, which in turn is pressed against the surface of a pallet belt conveyor and which thus takes along the transport trolley. Contact force is applied by means of a compression spring which acts on the friction element. Its contact pressure is adjustable via a screw. The contact pressure is set such that the friction is respectively sufficient to move the transport trolley forward together with the supported load with the aid of the friction grip between the friction element and the pallet belt conveyor. The transport trolley itself in this respect rolls off on the transport belt with four individual casters.
However, in this embodiment, one potential issue is that every single entrainer of a transport trolley has to be set individually. Since there is no indication of the set force, this is a very time-consuming process. It must be checked individually by trials at each transport trolley whether the contact force is sufficient for the taking along. The user therefore tends to ensure in every case that the contact force is sufficient. There is therefore the risk in this respect that work is carried out with contact forces which are too high for safety reasons in order to ensure a reliable taking along in each case. However, this is then at the cost of the wear of the chain and of the workpiece carrier entrainer. If the accumulating conveyor is frequently converted and if different workpieces and thus transport trolleys of different weights are utilized, this requires a conversion process which may be time-consuming.
It is the object of the present disclosure to provide an adjustment mechanism for the contact force between entrainers and the belt with which a simple adaptation to different workpiece weights can take place in a simple manner for a plurality of workpiece carriers and with which a value which has once been set can be set reproducibly again—e.g. in the case of a workpiece change.
If this setting value has namely once been determined, it can also be stored for specific workpiece/workpiece carrier combinations or it can be noted on the workpiece carrier, and is available for the next conversion procedure as a predefined setting value. If the workpiece carriers and the chain have a certain wear after some time, the set values can be directly corrected without complex trials and adjustment work being required at each individual workpiece carrier.
This object is achieved by a workpiece conveying device for transportation of workpieces, comprising a conveyor chain for conveying workpiece carriers by transmitting friction forces; a U-shaped guide track for guiding and supporting the conveyor chain and the workpiece carriers; wherein support surfaces of the device extend next to the U-shaped guide track and the workpiece carriers are supported with guide rollers on said support surfaces, wherein each of the workpiece carriers are equipped with a front and a rear carriage which are provided with an adjustable entrainer for engagement into a U-shaped cut-out, wherein the adjustable entrainer for each of the workpiece carriers is designed via a foot part with an adjustable contact force to overcome sliding friction, and wherein the adjustable entrainer with a foot part has a display device for visualizing the set contact force.
In a further embodiment the object is achieved by a method for adjusting a plurality of workpiece carriers for a workpiece conveying device, comprising conveying the plurality of workpiece carriers on a conveyor chain by transmitting friction forces, wherein a U-shaped guide track guides and supports the conveyor chain and the workpiece carriers. The support surfaces extend next to the U-shaped guide track, the workpiece carriers are supported with guide rollers on the support surfaces; setting a contact force on an entrainer to overcome sliding friction, the entrainer provided on front and rear carriages of the workpiece carriers, and engaged into a U-shaped cut-out; visualizing the set contact force on the entrainer on a display device coupled to a foot part of the entrainer; setting the contact force on a first of the plurality of workpiece carriers by reading off a value from the display device; and transferring the set contact force to a remainder of the plurality of workpiece carriers.
Workpiece transport devices such as described in the present disclosure are transport devices in which the workpiece carriers are taken along by a transport chain by means of friction force. The transport chain in this respect frequently runs in a U-shaped cut-out at the center of a base belt body, driven by one or more electric motors. The workpiece carriers typically have two guide feet which stand on the chain in the U-shaped cut-out so that the transport chain can take along the workpiece carriers by means of friction force. Workpiece receivers are mounted on the workpiece carriers and are typically individually configured for the workpieces to be transported. In addition, the workpiece carriers are, just like the chain, guided laterally in the cut-out.
One or more workpiece carriers are accumulated in front of a processing station by a stop. Separator one of the guide feet of the frontmost workpiece carrier may be prevented from its forward movement by an inwardly pivotable abutment. In this respect, the belt runs continuously further beneath the tool carriers. If the stop or the separator is opened again, the transport chain again takes along the accumulated workpiece carriers until the stop or the separator is closed again.
Since the workpiece carriers lie loosely on the belt, they can, where necessary, be channeled out of the direct part flow by channeling in and out points and transported to separate processing stations. The workpiece carriers together with the workpieces arranged thereon can be raised by a separate lifting station at the processing station for the transfer of the workpieces to a processing device so that the workpiece can be raised from the workpiece receiver and can be processed. The workpiece can again be placed onto the workpiece receiver subsequent to the processing. Depending on the process sequence, the workpiece can, however, also be placed on an empty workpiece carrier arriving later.
With heavy workpieces, an attempt is made to configure the transport system for the workpieces such that substantial portions of the workpiece weight are taken up via additional rollers at the workpiece carriers. These rollers run on the base belt body or on special roller rails next to the base belt body.
Unlike with small workpieces in which the complete weight of the workpiece and workpiece carriers bears on the chain, there is the possibility with the embodiment in accordance with the present disclosure to design the transport belt/transport chain smaller due to the splitting of forces, for it only has to apply the force for overcoming the rolling friction which is necessary to move the workpiece carriers along the conveyor path on casters. In addition, the contact force which acts on the chain and which is necessary so that the workpiece carriers are taken along by the chain, may be adjustable.
There are different possibilities for applying this contact force to the belt in an adjustable manner. The simplest one is certainly that by means of a spring whose spring travel is variably adjustable by means of mechanical elements. In the embodiment in accordance with the present disclosure, the adjustment device is connected to a display device by means of which a characteristic value for the set spring force can be visualized. For example, it may be a display which maps the linear adjustment of the spring space, but may also be a pressure display which indicates the actual contact force. It is important that the display delivers reproducible characteristic values for the set contact force such that, the required force for taking along the workpiece carrier can be determined at a workpiece carrier. This is then transferred to the other workpiece carriers at the transport device by taking over the set and determined characteristic values.
If a specific wear is reached at the chain and at the entrainers after a specific time of use of the device, the contact force may be adjusted relatively easily in that the new setting value is determined at a workpiece carrier and said setting value can subsequently be transferred to the other workpiece carriers.
If different workpiece types are conveyed by one and the same transport device, the workpiece carriers can also be set to different contact forces. The user then also has the possibility by the visualization of the set values to check immediately whether the correct values are also set for the current workpiece type.
When necessary, this may take place, via an external control device, especially when the workpiece carriers are equipped with an individual marking or with a workpiece carrier identification device such as an RFID or a data carrier. An optical evaluation of the display or an electronic data transfer of the set values would be required for this. This would be of interest if the transport device runs over large paths within a factory automatization for linking a plurality of machines. A simple visualization is certainly sufficient for a simple machine automatization.
In a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the display device is protected from unintentional adjustment by a protective cover. It can thus be prevented that the contact force is adjusted in an unwanted manner on the handling of the workpiece carriers or of the workpieces on and with the carriers. The adjustment apparatus and its display device are furthermore protected against damage.
It would furthermore be possible to configure the protective cover such that it additionally prevents an unwanted adjustment of the contact force in that the cover achieves a blockage of the adjustment movement in a specific position. This could be achieved by a mechanical blockage apparatus which engages into or at one or more cut-outs or surfaces at the adjustment device. A clamping function would furthermore be possible which the protective device exerts on the adjustment device.
To adjust the adjustment device, the protective device can release the adjustment device by raising, tilting, displacing or rotating such that it can be adjusted. After the adjustment procedure, the adjustment device can be blocked again by a reverse movement.
Further features, details and advantages of the present disclosure will be explained in more detail in the following with reference to a plurality of drawings.


An x-ray microscope uses a microfocus x-ray source with a focus spot of less than 10 micrometers and a Wolter condenser having a magnification of about four or more for concentrating x-rays from the source onto a sample. A detector is provided for detecting the x-rays after interaction with the sample, and an x-ray objective is used to form an image of the sample on the detector. The use of the Wolter optic addresses a problem with microfocus sources that arise when the size of the focal spot that must then be imaged onto the sample with the condenser is smaller than the field of view.

Generally, an x-ray microscope comprises an x-ray source, a condenser for concentrating the x-rays from the source onto the sample, a detector for detecting the x-rays after interaction with the sample, and an x-ray objective, such a zone plate lens. The objective forms the image on the detector.
Using sources that generate multi-keV x-rays with a high brilliance are important when good penetration through the sample is required. This penetration enables three dimensional imaging and provides good depth of field in the microscopes. The high cost of such sources, however, has limited the wide deployment of the x-ray microscopes for such applications.
A number of different methods can be used to generate the high brilliance multi-keV x-rays. The first two methods are based on improving the thermal dissipation problem that limited the first x-ray generator invented by Roentgen, which produced x-rays by bombarding a solid target anode with energetic electrons. The brilliance of an electron bombardment source is proportional to the flux density of energetic electrons impinging on the x-ray target anode. The brightness is limited by the maximum electron density that can be applied to the target before it melts due to high heat flux. The first method permits thermal dissipation by using a fast rotating anode target to spread the heat flux over a large area and thereby prevent the target from melting. X-ray sources based on this method are powerful and widely used in laboratory environments. The second method uses a micro-sized electron spot (microfocus source) to reduce the thermal path to produce a large thermal gradient for better thermal dissipation. The third method involves an accelerator/synchrotron. The fourth method uses a high power laser beam focused to a small spot on a target to produce high temperature plasmas that emit high brilliance x-rays.
Of these options, only the microfocus source is low enough in cost for many emerging x-ray microscopy applications and generates the energetic x-rays. Synchrotron sources are brilliant but very expensive and only a relatively few exist. The laser systems are limited to soft x-rays and not well suited for multi-keV x-rays. Rotating anode sources have been widely deployed but are typically about 3-6 times more expensive than a microfocus source.
In addition, microfocus x-ray sources have a further advantage since they can be significantly more brilliant than rotating anode sources. It is important to compare the relative figure of merit of commercially available and widely deployed rotating anode sources against microfocus x-ray sources. Their brilliance Bc is given by,Bc˜P/A2,  (1)
where P and A are the power and the diameter of the electron beam incident on the target (anode), respectively. While a rotating anode typically produces much larger x-ray flux, microfocus x-ray sources can be substantially more brilliant than rotating anode sources. For example, the maximum thermal loading of a widely deployed rotating anode is quoted as 1.2 kilo Watts (kW) over an electron spot size of 100 micrometers. In contrast, a microfocus x-ray source from Hamamatsu is specified to provide 5 Watts (W) and 10 W over an electron spot size of 4 and 7 micrometers, respectively. Based on these specifications and equation (1), it is apparent that the microfocus x-ray source is about 2.6 and 1.7 times more brilliant than the rotating anode for the 4 and 7 micrometers x-ray spot sizes, respectively. Based on the analysis above, a microfocus x-ray source with a one micrometer spot size can have a power loading of 1.2 W. The brilliance of such an x-ray source will be 10 times higher than a rotating anode source.

X-ray microscope with microfocus source and Wolter condenser


The present invention provides soluble forms of CD39L3 polypeptides and compositions, and methods useful inhibiting platelet activation and recruitment for the treatment and prevention of thrombotic disorders in mammals administered with soluble forms of CD39L3 polypeptides.

Thrombosis is the formation, development, or existence of a blood clot or thrombus within the vascular system. This is a life saving event when occurs during hemorrhage and a life threatening event when it occurs at any other time. Occlusion of a blood vessel, caused by excessive platelet activation (by the stimulation of an agonist) and recruitment (leading to platelet aggregation and vessel occlusion), are the major contributing factors in clinical disorders such as stroke, myocardial infarction, unstable angina, and restenosis. Therefore, there is a great need to identify therapeutic strategies and compositions for the pharmacological neutralization of platelet reactivity (activation, recruitment, and aggregation).
Currently, several treatment strategies are available to deal with a thrombus formation and fall into two classes, protein based therapeutics and small molecule therapeutics. The classes of treatments cover several therapeutic approaches such as: acting as anti-coagulants (for example, heparin and hirudin), thrombolytic agents (for example, tPA, pro-urokinase, and Streptokinase) or antiplatelet agents (for example, aspirin, ticlopidine, and clopidogel). However, their therapeutic utility is limited due to a significant risk of bleeding complications (Wardlaw, J. M., et al., Lancet (1997) 350:607-614). For example, in the United States, less than 2% of the patients with acute ischemic stroke can receive rtPA due to intracranial hemorrhage risks (Chiu, D., et al., Stroke (1998) 29:18-22). Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa antagonists such as ReoPro® (monoclonal antibody) have been used for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and are currently under clinical investigation for the treatment of patients with acute coronary syndromes and acute ischemic stroke. However, the inhibition of the glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptors will interfere with platelet adhesion resulting in bleeding complications. Therefore, it is important to identify novel, strategies, for inhibition of platelet function that will significantly reduces the risks of bleeding.
During early stages of platelet activation, several agonists including ADP, Thromboxane A2 and serotonin are released. Among these, ADP is the single most important platelet agonist and recruiting agent that is present in the thrombus microenvironment (Marcus, A. J. and Safier, L. B., FASEB J. (1993) 7:516-522). Part of the normal function of endothelial cells ability to maintain blood fluidity is the local generation of an enzyme with ectoapyrase (apyrase, ATP diphosphohydrolase, ATP-diphosphatase, Adenosine diphosphatase, ADPase, E-NTPDase, EC 126.96.36.199) activity such as CD39. CD39 is a constitutively expressed enzyme having apyrase activity that strongly inhibits platelet aggregation by rapidly metabolizing ADP released from activated platelets, thus terminating further platelet recruitment and aggregation. (Marcus, A. J., et al., J. Clin. Invest. (1997) 99:1351-1360; Gayle, R., et al., J. Clin. Invest (1998) 101:1851-1859). Several research studies have now established CD39 as the prime thromboregulator (Marcus, A. J., et al., J. Clin. Invest. (1997) 99:1351-1360; Kaczmarek, E., et al., J. Biol. Chem. (1996) 271:33116-33122). In addition, animal model studies indicate that administration of a soluble form of CD39 for treatment has significant clinical advantages over existing treatment regimes without the life threatening side effects often associated with the current treatment strategies (PCT WO 01/11949; PCT WO 00/23459).
This invention is directed to the use of CD39L3, brain specific isoenzyme of CD39, useful for the inhibition of platelet activation and as a general thromboregulator useful for the treatment and prevention of stroke and other diseases involving thrombosis. More specifically it encompasses the use of a soluble form of CD39L3.


A bi-directional communication system advantageously automatically senses and reports problems to a central operator network management station and operates with fewer subscriber service interruptions by detecting and correcting such conditions before they result in subscriber service interruption. Specifically, a system adaptively varies upstream transmission power level to prevent communication interruption in a cable modem network. A method for adaptively adjusting communication operation by varying a transmission parameter involves retrieving a communication parameter from memory and comparing the retrieved parameter with a predetermined threshold. A message is transmitted to a CATV head-end at a remote site representing that the parameter value indicates adjustment of the parameter is necessary.

Home entertainment systems that combine Personal Computer and television functions (PC/TV functions) are increasingly becoming generic, User interactive, multiple source and multiple destination communication devices. Such systems are required to communicate in different data formats between multiple locations for a variety of applications in response to User requests. For example, a system may receive data from satellite or terrestrial sources comprising High Definition Television (HDTV) broadcasts, Multi-point Microwave Distribution System (MMDS) broadcasts and Digital Video Broadcasts (DVB). A system may also receive and transmit data via telephone (e.g. the Internet) and coaxial lines (e.g. cable TV lines via a cable modem) and from both remote and local sources such as Digital Video Disk (DVD), CDROM, VHS and Digital VHS (DVHS™) type players, PCs, and many other types of sources.
It is desirable for Internet compatible bi-directional communication systems that are used in conjunction with home entertainment systems to accommodate the network cable length and associated transmission power level variation occurring in a cable distribution network. This requirement and associated problems are addressed by a system according to the present invention.

Communication parameter adjustment system in an internet compatible bi-directional communication system


Disclosed are methods of treating subjects having conditions related to angiogenesis including administering an effective amount of a polymeric Nanoparticle form of thyroid hormone agonist, partial agonist or an antagonist thereof, to promote or inhibit angiogenesis in the subject. Compositions of the polymeric forms of thyroid hormone, or thyroid hormone analogs, are also disclosed.

Thyroid hormones, such as L-thyroxine (T4) and 3,5,3′-triiodo-L-thyronine (T3), and their analogs such as GC-1, DITPA, Tetrac and Triac, regulate many different physiological processes in different tissues in vertebrates. It was previously known that many of the actions of thyroid hormones are mediated by the thyroid hormone receptor ("TR"). A novel cell surface receptor for thyroid hormone (L-thyroxine, T4; T3) has been described on integrin αVβ3. The receptor is at or near the Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) recognition site on the integrin. The αVβ3 receptor is not a homologue of the nuclear thyroid hormone receptor (TR), but activation of the cell surface receptor results in a number of nucleus-mediated events, including the recently-reported pro-angiogenic action of the hormone and fibroblast migration in vitro in the human dermal fibroblast monolayer model of wound-healing.
Tetraiodothyroacetic acid (tetrac) is a deaminated analogue of T4 that has no agonist activity at the integrin, but inhibits binding of T4 and T3 by the integrin and the pro-angiogenic action of agonist thyroid hormone analogues at αVβ3. Inhibition of the angiogenic action of thyroid hormone has been shown in the chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model and in the vessel sprouting model involving human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMEC). In the absence of thyroid hormone, tetrac blocks the angiogenic activity of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF, FGF2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and other pro-angiogenic peptides. Tetrac is effective in the CAM and HDMEC models. This inhibitory action of tetrac is thought to reflect its influence on the RGD recognition site that is relevant to pro-angiogenic peptide action.
Evidence that thyroid hormone can act primarily outside the cell nucleus has come from studies of mitochondrial responses to T3 or T2, from rapid onset effects of the hormone at the cell membrane and from actions on cytoplasmic proteins. The recent description of a plasma membrane receptor for thyroid hormone on integrin αVβ3 has provided some insight into effects of the hormone on membrane ion pumps, such as the Na+/H+ antiporter, and has led to the description of interfaces between the membrane thyroid hormone receptor and nuclear events that underlie important cellular or tissue processes, such as angiogenesis and proliferation of certain tumor cells.
Circulating levels of thyroid hormone are relatively stable; therefore, membrane-initiated actions of thyroid hormone on neovascularization or on cell proliferation or on membrane ion channels—as well, of course, as gene expression effects of the hormone mediated by TR mentioned above—may be assumed to contribute to 'basal activity' or setpoints of these processes in intact organisms. The possible clinical utility of cellular events that are mediated by the membrane receptor for thyroid hormone may reside in inhibition of such effect(s) in the contexts of neovascularization or tumor cell growth. Indeed, we have shown that blocking the membrane receptor for iodothyronines with tetraiodothyroacetic acid (tetrac), a hormone-binding inhibitory analogue that has no agonist activity at the receptor, can arrest growth of glioma cells and of human breast cancer cells in vitro. Tetrac is a useful probe to screen for participation of the integrin receptor in actions of thyroid hormone.
Integrin αVβ3 binds thyroid hormone near the Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) recognition site of the protein; the RGD site is involved in the protein-protein interactions linking the integrin to extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins such as vitronectin, fibronectin and laminin.
Also initiated at the cell surface integrin receptor is the complex process of angiogenesis, monitored in either a standard chick blood vessel assay or with human endothelial cells in a sprouting assay. This hormone-dependent process requires MAPK activation and elaboration of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF; FGF2) that is the downstream mediator of thyroid hormone's effect on angiogenesis. Tetrac blocks this action of T4 and T3, as does RGD peptide and small molecules that mimic RGD peptide. It is possible that desirable neovascularization can be promoted with local application of thyroid hormone analogues, e.g., in wound-healing, or that undesirable angiogenesis, such as that which supports tumor growth, can be antagonized in part with tetrac.
Thyroid hormone can also stimulate the proliferation in vitro of certain tumor cell lines. Murine glioma cell lines have been shown to proliferate in response to physiological concentrations of T4 by a mechanism initiated at the integrin receptor and that is MAPK-dependent. In what may be a clinical corollary, a prospective study of patients with far advanced glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in whom mild hypothyroidism was induced by propylthiouracil showed an important survival benefit over euthyroid control patients. We reported in 2004 that human breast cancer MCF-7 cells proliferated in response to T4 by a mechanism that was inhibited by tetrac. A recent retrospective clinical analysis by Cristofanilli et al. showed that hypothyroid women who developed breast cancer did so later in life than matched euthyroid controls and had less aggressive, smaller lesions at the time of diagnosis than controls. Thus, the trophic action of thyroid hormone on in vitro models of both brain tumor and breast cancer appears to have clinical support.
The cellular or tissue actions of thyroid hormone that are known to be initiated at integrin αVβ3 and that require transduction of the hormone signal via MAPK are summarized below. The integrin is a signal transducing protein connecting signals from extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins to the cell interior (outside-in) or from cytoplasm and intracellular organelles to ECM (inside-out). Binding of L-thyroxine (T4) or 3,5,3′-triiodo-L-thyronine (T3) to heterodimeric αVβ3 results in activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK; ERK1/2). Activated MAPK (phosphoMAPK, pMAPK) translocates to the cell nucleus where it phosphorylates transactivator proteins such as thyroid hormone receptor-β1 (TRIβ1), estrogen receptor-α (ERα) or signal transducer and activator of transcription-1α (STAT1α). Among the genes consequently transcribed are basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), that mediates thyroid hormone-induced angiogenesis) and other proliferation factors important to cell division of tumor cells.
There is thus a need in the art for thyroid hormone analogs that can bind to the cell surface receptor while not being able to enter the cell. Such reformulated hormone analogues would not express intracellular actions of the hormone and thus if absorbed into the circulation would not have systemic thyroid hormone analog actions.

Nanoparticle and polymer formulations for thyroid hormone analogs, antagonists, and formulations thereof


An image processing apparatus comprises a UI generating part to generate a first user interface including at least one UI menu item to select a function; a user input part to receive a user instruction to adjust a size of the UI menu item; and a controller to control the UI generating part to increase or decrease the size of the UI menu item of the first user interface depending on the user instruction, and display the UI menu item with the increased or decreased size.

Field of the Invention
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to display, image processing control, and more particularly, to a display apparatus, an image processing apparatus and a control method thereof, which can adjust a size of a UI menu item of a user interface according to a user's preference.
Description of the Related Art
Generally, a display apparatus such as a TV, a mobile phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), and a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP) displays a user interface (hereinafter referred to as "UI") to select a UI menu item on a screen. At this time, the user interface may include UI menu items that may be formed in various types. For example, the UI menu items may be arranged in a horizontal and/or vertical line. UI menu items, each of which has a text list, may also be formed. UI menu items, each of which has a label, may be formed in two dimensions. UI menu items, each of which has an elliptic shape or a circular shape to rotate, may be formed.
In a conventional art user interface, there are various methods by which a user may select a UI menu item. For example, the user may typically use a moving highlight or a fixed highlight to select a UI menu item by manipulating buttons up and down and/or right and left.
However, depending on the conventional art user interface, a size value of a UI menu item to be displayed on a screen is preset so that the UI menu item having a constant size corresponding to the preset size value is always displayed. Accordingly, if a plurality of UI menu items with constant size are formed, when a current-highlighted UI menu item is far away from a desired UI menu item, highlighting the desired UI menu item may be complicated. In particular, when the UI menu includes a lot of UI menu items, a problem may occur when highlighting the desired UI menu item.
Further, according to the conventional art user interface, as described above, the size value of a UI menu item to be displayed on a screen may be preset regardless of the user's preference. Accordingly, the user cannot select a desired UI menu item directly and easily. In particular, when a child or an impaired adult tries to select a desired UI menu item, they may have trouble accessing and controlling their user interface because it takes time to become familiar with how to access and control the user interface without adequate explanation.
If an input means such as a touch screen is employed, when the UI menu item includes a preset small size value, it is difficult to exactly select a desired UI menu item without inconvenience. Conversely, even if the UI menu item has a preset size value that is large, the user interface includes limitable UI menu items that can be displayed on a screen at once so that the user interface may not display all desired UI menu items at once.

Display apparatus, image processing apparatus and control method thereof


Systems and methods for presenting a single invitation to join a communication directed to a multimodal endpoint are provided. More particularly, a communication directed to a multimodal endpoint is delivered to the multimodal endpoint using only a single communication network at a time. A communication server handling an incoming communication directed to the multimodal endpoint first attempts to initiate a communication session using a first, preferred communication network. If the communication is completed or is responded to by the multimodal endpoint using the first network, an attempt to complete the communication using a second network is not initiated. Alternatively, if the first communication network is not available to deliver the communication to the multimodal endpoint, an attempt to complete the communication using the second communication network is initiated.

Multimodal endpoints are increasingly available. For example, many smart phones can support a number of network services. These can include, but are not limited to, cellular voice service, cellular data service, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. For incoming session requests, such as a voice call, although the device can be reachable by many technologies simultaneously, it is preferable to present one communication session request to the end user. However, in practice, the end user is typically presented with multiple communication session requests where multiple communication networks are available.
When there are different communication networks with different properties, calls may arrive at unpredictable times. If calls arrive at the same time, each incoming call can result in a "pop up" that appears at nearly the same time. This can confuse the user, or prevent the ability of the user to easily distinguish between and answer the desired incoming call attempt. In addition, users typically have a difficult time arbitrating between many incoming requests that actually represent the same call. If the delays are larger, it may be difficult for users to associate the different notifications together as alternative notifications for the same call. In addition, the behavior of the multimodal device may only allow a single incoming call at any one time. Therefore, if a call is answered, a later call may be rejected automatically due to resource contention on the target multimodal device. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a solution that presented a single communication session to a device with multimodal capabilities.

Method and apparatus for priority based session delivery to multimodal endpoints


A fuel cell system includes; a fuel cell which generates electricity by using a fuel gas and an oxidant gas as reaction gases; current control means which controls current of a fuel cell; voltage control means which controls voltage of the fuel cell; and heat value control means which calculates a heat value required by the fuel cell system and decides a target current value of the current control means and a target voltage value of the voltage control means so as to generate the calculated necessary heat amount, thereby controlling the heat value. Thus, it is possible to supply a heat required for the fuel cell system without increasing the size of the fuel cell system.

A fuel cell generates electric energy by causing a reaction between an oxidizing gas and a hydrogen gas serving as a fuel gas. A fuel cell system that is incorporated in an automobile or the like is controlled so as to convert chemical energy in hydrogen fed to the fuel cell (hereinafter called "hydrogen energy") into electric energy at high efficiency (hereinafter referred to as "high-efficiency power generation") during normal operations. Therefore, a fuel cell that performs high-efficiency power generation has a small proportion of conversion from the hydrogen energy to thermal energy, and shows a small quantity of heat generation.
As a consequence, a heat quantity necessary for warming up the fuel cell to a temperature suitable for electric power generation (in the vicinity of 80° C.) fails to be generated. Moreover, when the fuel cell system has a heating apparatus, the thermal energy produced from the fuel cell at the time of the high-efficiency power generation is small, and is insufficient for the heat source for heating. In view of this, a fuel cell system that aims at supplementing the deficient heat quantity has been under development.
A fuel cell that is caused to generate electric power at low efficiency by reducing the amount of air to be supplied is known as a conventional fuel cell system (for example, see Patent Document 1). This enables an increase in the heat generation quantity for warming up the fuel cell.
A conventional fuel cell system having a heating apparatus is provided with heating means for heating a cooling medium, and a heat exchanger for supplying the heat used for the heating for air-conditioning in a cooling medium circulation passage of the fuel cell, for the purpose of supplying a heat quantity necessary for heating (hereinafter referred to as a "heating heat quantity") (see, for example, Patent Documents 2 and 3). In the case where the heat generation quantity from the fuel cell is small, the deficient heat quantity is supplied by heating the cooling medium by means of the heating means.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-2004-30979
Patent Document 2: JP-A-2004-311229
Patent Document 3: JP-A-2007-38952

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method of preparing a window module includes providing a metal frame having a first major surface, applying a structural glazing tape to the first major surface of the metal frame, and positioning a glass panel overtop the structural glazing tape. The structural glazing tape includes a polymer foam tape having first and second major surfaces, an adhesive layer overlying the first major surface for bonding the structural glazing tape to the structural frame, and a release layer overlying the second major surface. The method further includes filling a channel defined by the glass panel, the metal frame, and the structural glazing tape with a curable sealant, and curing the sealant to bond the glass panel and the metal frame together.

Structural glazing can allow for the production of a glass facade without framing elements separating the glass panels from one another. Glass panels are mounted on a respective concealed peripheral frame and then secured to the supporting structural framing. Sealing between adjacent glass panels and between the panels and the structural framing is performed by means of silicone sealant. The sealant can bond the glass panel to the structural framing to hold the glass in place.
Structural glazing systems make it possible to obtain continuous glazed facades in which the various glass panels are spaced from one another by very narrow gaps, having a width of the order of 15 mm, usually fully or partly occupied by a silicone sealant, which produces a regular checker-like partition among the glass panels.
Typically, the glass is positioned relative to the frame with a spacer, such as an extruded polymer or a foam tape. The spacer maintains a gap between the glass panel and the frame which can be filled with the silicone sealant to form a strong bond between the frame and the glass panel. The spacer remains within the module and can be visible through the glass. There is an ongoing need for improved spacers that can couple the desired aesthetic appearance and ease of installation.

SAINT-GOBAIN PERFORMANCE PLASTICS CORPORATION


A mechanism for dynamically performing Network Address Translation that allows external devices to contact internal host systems that would otherwise be hidden behind a NAT device is discussed. The dynamic NAT mechanism of the present invention maps internal host system addresses to external network addresses and reconfigures the NAT configuration of the network firewall to account for the new mapping on demand. Domain Name Service (DNS) lookup requests for an authorized internal system serve as a trigger to create a new mapping between the internal host system and the external network address. The new mappings may have a lifecycle controlled by dynamic leases that are created for each new mapping.

One side effect from the explosive growth of the Internet is that there are insufficient routable addresses to service all of the systems that may want to connect to the Internet. To address this shortage, a technique known as Network Address Translation (NAT) was developed which allows multiple hosts to sit behind a device (a firewall/router) and share one or more Internet-routable addresses. The firewall is usually considered the edge of the network for an organization. The Internet side is considered the 'outside' and is reachable using external addresses. The hosts belonging to the organization (company, school, homeowner, etc.) are on the 'inside' and use internal or local addresses. The local addresses are not typically routable on the Internet, and hosts on the inside of the firewall are, for the most part, hidden from the Internet. For outbound connections to the Internet, NAT converts a local address to an external address which allows a connection to the Internet to be made from a local system. In the usual case, all of the outbound connections share a single address. The firewall maintains state information about open connections so that it can pass reply packets from Internet hosts back to the correct internal host.
One consequence from the use of NAT is that NAT has the effect of limiting the visibility of hosts from the Internet. This prevents external devices from setting up communications with most internal hosts in a network. While this effect is usually considered a good thing from a security standpoint, in that it prevents unwanted communications from unknown external devices, it also limits any desired communication initiated from external devices to internal hosts. To address this lack of visibility, in a simple case, a firewall may be configured to direct all inbound traffic to a single internal system. In a slightly more complicated case, the inbound traffic can also be selectively routed depending on the port number/protocol. For example, one internal host can receive all inbound FTP traffic, and another can receive all inbound TELNET requests. However, for a given external address, it is still the case that only one host can receive inbound traffic for any given protocol. In an environment where access from outside the network to several internal systems using the same protocol is required, NAT is overly restrictive. For example, each employee of a company may want to be able to occasionally use SSH to connect directly to the workstation on their desk. That's not possible if the workstations are behind a NAT box. Similarly, while some NAT devices provide the ability to support multiple external addresses, their behavior is similar to having multiple NAT boxes each with one external address. Each external address/protocol set may connect to a different internal system, but the number of connections is limited to the number of external addresses. Thus, for example, if a company has three external addresses and fifty internal systems then three of the internal systems are reachable and the remaining forty-seven internal systems are externally inaccessible.

System and method for increasing host visibility in network address translation environments


A multilayer heat-shrinkable film having an uncommon but valuable combination of properties is disclosed. The film comprises a core layer of HDPE. Each skin layer comprises linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), or mixtures thereof. The core layer comprises greater than 80% by weight of a HDPE having an ER greater than 3.0, a MI2 from 0.1 to 1.0 dg/min., and a density from 0.940 to 0.970 g/cm3. The film has good shrink in the transverse direction, good appearance, and excellent stiffness.

Heat-shrinkable films have a variety of uses. For example, they are often used to wrap groups of bottles, cans or cartons. Typically, films are applied at room temperature and then placed under a heat source to shrink. The shrink properties of the film including shrinkage in the transverse direction are important for these applications. Films of low density polyethylene (LDPE) are commonly used because of the excellent heat-shrink and optical properties of LDPE. However, LDPE has relatively poor strength and low modulus. To improve costs, there is an emphasis on using thinner films. As films become thinner, the detriments of LDPE become more significant. There have been different approaches to solve this problem.
One approach has been to make the film from a polymer blend. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,306,969 describes a film from a blend of polyethylene components that are closely matched in density and exhibit shrink in the direction of orientation. U.S. Pat. No. 7,439,306 teaches a method based upon Vicat softening points to select components to make a polyethylene blend useful for shrink films. While making a film from a blend can improve some properties, other properties are diminished.
Another approach has been to prepare multilayer films. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,368,545 teaches that core layers may be used to provide strength, impact resistance, and other properties to a film and teaches that haze can be lowered by extruding the core layer at a temperature at least 30° C. higher than the skin layers. There is no discussion of shrink. U.S. Pat. No. 6,187,397 teaches heat-shrinkable polyethylene film. In the background discussion, they teach that films have been obtained by coextrusion of three layers, more specifically a central layer of LDPE sandwiched between two linear low density polyethylene layers. They state that the central layer may include HDPE to impart stiffness, but generally the central layer comprises more than 50% by weight of LDPE. U.S. Pat. Appl. Publ. No. 2005/0064218 discloses a multilayer film containing metallocene-rich skin layers and a core containing 1-50% by weight HDPE. They state that the HDPE may be prepared by any process and Ziegler-Natta prepared HDPE is preferred. No shrink values are given. U.S. Pat. No. 7,442,786 teaches a film structure containing at least two layers, a metallocene polyethylene layer and a layer comprising from 99 to 50% by weight LDPE and 1 to 50% by weight HDPE. They state that the HDPE may be prepared by any process and Ziegler-Natta prepared HDPE is preferred. No shrink values are given.
LDPE films with good shrink properties are known, and it is known to make multilayer films and that HDPE can be used to improve the stiffness. Apparently, heat-shrinkable films with good stiffness that have good shrink properties in the transverse direction are not known.


A circuit includes a gain stage, first and second amplifiers, and a comparison circuit. The gain stage has an input and an output. The first amplifier has an input and an output. The input of the first amplifier is coupled to the input of the gain stage. The second amplifier has an input and an output. The input of the second amplifier is coupled to the output of the gain stage. The comparison circuit is coupled to the outputs of the first and second amplifiers. The comparison circuit is configured to compare signals on the outputs of the first and second amplifiers and to generate a fault flag signal responsive to the output signal from the first amplifier being different than the output signal from the second amplifier.

Electronic systems have multiple electronic components connected together to perform one or more functions. An output signal from a first component (e.g., an integrated circuit, "IC") may be provided as an input signal to a second component. The second component responds to the signal from the first component to perform a certain function. If the first component delivers an erroneous signal to the second component, the second component may react in an undesirable way thereby potentially detrimentally impacting overall system behavior.


In an information processing apparatus having a handwriting input unit made of an integral structure of a handwriting coordinate input device and a plane display, the screen of the handwriting input unit is constituted by one or more areas, and there are provided a form defining unit for defining in advance a process operation for each area and a stroke interpretation executing unit for executing the process operation defined by the form defining unit when a handwritten stroke is inputted to the area. It becomes therefore possible to input data with a realistic sense of writing data on a paper with a pen without intercepting human thinking processes, while considerably improving man-machine interface.

A conventional handwritten input information processing apparatus realizing a realistic sense of writing data on a paper with a pen is disclosed, for example, in British Patent Laid-open Publication No. GB2193827A, Germany Patent Laid-open Publication Number DE3511353Al, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication JP-A-63-184130, and SIG CHI, Volume 18, Number 2, (1989), pp. 73 to 74.
A conventional apparatus of the type that formatted data is entered in a touch screen manner is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication JP-A-63-158623 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,356).
The above-described conventional techniques include the feature that data can be entered on a screen directly or in a touch screen manner.
A further conventional apparatus in which an operation description is designated at a particular area (icon, menu) on a CRT screen and the operation description is executed upon a click (switch-on or off) of a mouse, is disclosed in the Complete Hyper Card Handbook, Bantom Books Inc., Goodman. D(1987).
A user interface of a recent workstation, may include a tool kit of X windows as disclosed, for example, Nikkei Computer, April 24 Issue, 1989, pp. 81 to 92. This interface is featured in an.object-oriented environment.
The above-described conventional techniques do not consider the handwriting environment of allowing a realistic sense of writing data on a paper with a pen and also executing data writing while understanding an intent of a user. They therefore have a shortcoming in that they are incapable; of becoming adapted to human thinking processes. This problem will be further detailed with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.
Consider now that a formatted mail document shown in FIG. 2 is processed with a computer. The formatted mail document G100 shown in FIG. 2 is divided into areas G110 to G210. It is necessary for a computer to understand the contents entered in the receiver input area G130, transmitter input area G150, item input area G170, and contents input area G190, hence it is necessary to recognize a handwritten character stroke. An input to the receiver input area G130 is used as the information to identify a receiver to which this document is mailed. It is not necessary for the computer to process the information entered in the comment input area G210. It is sufficient if the content of the comments written by the receiver of the document is sent back to the transmitter. Therefore, a handwritten input stroke is not transformed into character information but it is used directly as a handwritten image comment.
If a formatted mail document is to be formed by a computer using a conventional method, it is necessary as shown in FIG. 3 to enter a handwritting after designating the areas G220 and G230. For example, it is assumed that data is first handwritten in the transmitter area G150 and the comment area G210, and then this mail document is transferred. In this case, a user operates in the following manner.
(1) designate "character" at the menu area G220 with a pen 2, PA1 (2) input a handwritten character in the transmitter input area G150 with the pen 2, PA1 (3) designate "image" at the menu area G220 with the pen 2, PA1 (4) input a handwritten comment in the comment input area G210 with the pen 2, and PA1 (5) check the contents of the screen, and if OK, designates "transfer" at the menu area G230.
As above, a user must consider the menu operations (1), (3), and (5) this thereby posing a problem of adapting to the human thinking processes.
A conventional touch screen type format input apparatus has a hierarchic menu structure. Therefore, it has on one hand an advantage that data can be inputted by sequentially designating menus. However, on the other hand, it presents a problem in that a form is limited to a particular type and data is required to be selected from menus so that it is difficult to deal with a variety of forms.
With an X windows tool kit or a HyperCard, as shown in FIG. 4, data is input through an interactive manner with a CRT screen upon a click of a mouse used as a pointing input device. It is not possible to operate by contacting a pen directly with the screen, or to enter a character or graphics through handwriting. Thus, there is an inability of interacting with the processing apparatus with a realistic sense of writing data on a paper with a pen.
There is another problem associated with the above-described conventional techniques. Namely, a conventional information processing apparatus has a size of a desk top or lap top apparatus so that it is not portable like a note book and cannot be used in all types of environments.

Handwritten input information processing apparatus and handwritten input information system using the same


A visual paging device comprises a LED or LCD screen for displaying a personal message which can be input by the user through a keyboard on the device itself or through a computer at a rental location to which the device can be releasibly connected or, by an infrared remote keyboard. A stand supports the screen on a wheeled base for easy transportation from the rental location to a meeting area and is adjustable in height enabling the message to be displayed above a crowd.

Various types of devices for displaying differing identifying information are known, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,936 issued May 29, 1990 to Friedman et al teaches one such device which includes a display panel with illuminated numbers which can be selectively programmed by a user to identify the street number of a residence. However, such device is constructed specifically for mounting on the wall of the residence.
Another type of device is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,997 issued Feb. 27, 1990 to Chen et al, which device is attached to an arm of a patient for temperature measurement which is displayed on an LCD screen.
In addition, a variety of programmable electronic message signs are currently commercially available. They are used for advertising and information in stores, banks, offices, airports etc.
However, none of these devices are suitable for visually paging individuals arriving at crowded mass meeting places because of specific design or their bulky construction.
Traditional approaches to paging arriving visitors have been by holding hand-written signs carrying the messages concerning the name of the individual or contact overhead, above the crowd. However, this is extremely laborious and requires the person meeting the arriving visitor to remain at the arrival point for a long period of time, possibly taking several hours when delays are experienced for example in customs when the arrivals area is extremely crowded. Furthermore, the contact cannot leave the area for even only a very short time as there is a real risk of missing the visitor.


According to one example, there is provided a method or system for modifying the surface topography of a substrate support.

In various industries substrates are often required to be supported on substrate supports prior to processing operations being performed on the substrates. Examples of such industries are the printing industry, the semi-conductor manufacturing industry, and other sheet material manufacturing industries.
In the printing industry substrates are generally secured to a substrate support prior to printing being performed on the substrate. In industrial printing systems, substrates are often secured to a substrate support using a vacuum-based substrate support which has an arrangement of vacuum orifices in fluid communication with a vacuum pump.
Vacuum-based substrate supports are generally designed according to the characteristics of the substrates with which they are intended to be. For example, a substrate support intended to secure lightweight flexible substrates may have a small number of vacuum orifices distributed across the substrate support, whereas a substrate support intended to secure a heavier-weight rigid substrate may have a larger number of larger vacuum orifices distributed across the substrate support. The size of vacuum orifices may also be chosen based on the types of substrates intended to be used with the substrate support.
Where a mix of different substrates are to be secured, a general purpose substrate support may be designed that offers a compromise between the differing requirements. However, such designs often have shortcomings.
Furthermore, using substrates smaller than a substrate support creates problems in that when vacuum orifices are not covered by a substrate this results in a general loss of vacuum pressure, may lead to an increase in noise, and may have other undesirable consequences.

Method and system for modifying a surface topography

Hewlett-Packard Industrial Printing LTD.


An optical adjusting apparatus having an optical adjusting lens to perform image stabilization and auto focusing includes a base supporting a lens barrel on which the optical adjusting lens is mounted, a first driver to move the lens barrel in a first direction, a plurality of first ball bearings disposed between the base and the first driver, a second driver to move the lens barrel in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction, and a plurality of second ball bearings disposed between the first driver and the second driver.

1. Field of the Invention
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the exemplary embodiments relate to an optical adjusting apparatus, and more particularly to an optical adjusting apparatus where an optical image stabilizer function and an auto focusing function have been integrated.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, in the field of electronic devices such as smart phones, slimness is emerging as the main topic or design goal. In order to make such electronic devices slimmer, various attempts are being made to make various components that are mounted inside the electronic devices slimmer. For example, there is a tendency of designing optical adjusting apparatuses to be included in camera modules such that an image stabilization function and an auto focusing function are provided in one module.
Conventional optical adjusting apparatuses designed to include an image stabilization function and an auto focusing function integrated in one module provide power to an image stabilization driver through a suspension wire supporting the image stabilization driver.
However, conventional optical adjusting apparatuses are much affected by component deviations of suspension wires, and current consumption is also a problem. Furthermore, in conventional optical adjusting apparatuses, when the image stabilization driver moves, due to the suspension wire, tilt may occur in the entirety of the apparatus, thereby decreasing the resolution which is a problem.


A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate having a plurality of conductive layers. The device further includes buried contacts and buried vias, which connect the interconnect layers respectively. At least one of the contacts and vias are dummy contacts and dummy vias.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a fabrication method thereof, and more particularly to a semiconductor device for improving the characteristics of contact (via) resistance in the entire semiconductor device and to a fabrication method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical semiconductor device will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B. FIG. 1A is a plan view depicting a part of a top face of a typical semiconductor device (a semiconductor chip). FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1A sectioned at the dashed line 1B to 1B.
As seen from FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, a typical semiconductor device 100 includes a semiconductor substrate 112.
This semiconductor substrate 112 has a first face 112a and a second face 112b which faces the first face 112a. In the first face 112a side, an element 113, such as a transistor, is formed, and on the first face 112a, a first insulation film 114 is formed covering the element 113.
In the first insulation film 114, a contact hole 116 is formed, which reaches the element 113 through the first insulation film 114. This contact hole 116 is filled with a conductive material to form a buried contact 116a in the contact hole 116.
A first interconnect section 122 is electrically connected to a top face 116aa of the buried contact 116a. The first interconnect section 122 extends on a surface 114a of the first insulation film 114. A line length of the first interconnect section 122 has a relatively long length, and is, for example, within a range of 1 mm to 5 mm.
A second insulation film 130 is formed to cover the surface 114a of the first insulation film 114 and the first interconnect section 122.
In the second insulation film 130, a via hole 132 is formed which extends through the second insulation film 130 to reach a part of the first interconnect section 122. This via hole 132 is filled with a conductive material so as to form a buried via 132a.
In this case, an area ratio of opening areas of the contact hole 116 and the via hole 132 with respect to a total surface area of the semiconductor device 100 is 2% or less. Merely one or two or the like via holes 132 are formed in the entire semiconductor device 100.
A second interconnect section 142 extends on a surface 130a of the second insulation film 130. The second interconnect section 142 is electrically connected to a top face 132aa of the buried via 132a.
Now a cumulative resistance distribution of the buried contacts 116a and the buried vias 132a in the typical semiconductor device 100 having the above-mentioned configuration will be described with a reference to FIG. 2.
FIG. 2 is a graph depicting cumulative resistance distributions of a semiconductor device having the above-mentioned configuration. A line length of an interconnect is 1 mm. The ordinate represents cumulative resistance distributions (%) and the abscissa represents resistance values (Ω) of buried contacts or buried vias. A phantom line A in FIG. 2 represents a set of comparison data, which indicates measured values when the interconnects section 122 is not grounded. A phantom line B in FIG. 2 represents measured values in case buried contacts are formed and the interconnect section 122 is grounded thereby.
As seen from the phantom line A in FIG. 2, across thereof each of the resistance values is about 10Ω since the interconnect section 122 is not grounded, merely a little dispersion is observed in the resistance distribution.
As seen from the phantom line B in FIG. 2, a set of comparison data indicates that about 50% of the measured resistance values have respectively higher values, such as 50Ω, and the resistance distribution shows a larger dispersion.
Japanese Patent Kokai No. 2000-208703 discloses a configuration of a semiconductor device wherein when a potential dividing circuit is formed in which a plurality of resistance elements are arranged, dummy patterns of resistance elements are arranged outside of resistance elements located at both ends so that fabrication dispersion is avoided by making uniform a density of paths contained in an entire pattern.
Japanese Patent Kokai No. H06-085080 discloses a fabrication method of a semiconductor device for preventing a generation of contact defects due to a dispersion of an etching speed caused by an in-plane distribution density of contact holes in an etch back steps performed after filling contact holes with tungsten (W), wherein dummy contact holes, to which an interconnect is not connected, are opened near predetermined contact holes, both predetermined contact holes and dummy contact holes are filled with conductive material, and an etch back step is performed.
Such a problem has been encountered in a semiconductor device having buried contacts and buried vias of the above-mentioned configuration, that a buried contacts and buried vias have higher resistance so as to causes a drop in voltage and a path delay in a circuit operation, which adversely affects electric characteristics of the device.
Therefore a technology for providing a semiconductor device having a configuration is desired, which can stabilize a circuit operation by making contact (via) resistance distribution between layers of a semiconductor to be less-dispersed.

Dummy buried contacts and vias for improving contact via resistance in a semiconductor device


A mechanical joint is formed from a hollow structure of material that can be shaped so that bringing opposite sides of the external walls forming the hollow together forms a socket. For example, by compressing together opposite external sides of a hollow structure, such as a tube, a socket with a continuous double wall is formed. The socket is configured to provide a snap fit with a moveable member. A flexible member is positioned in the socket and attached to the moveable member, so that the moveable member can be controlled for placement in an out of the socket. The flexible member may also twist to permit the moveable member to be located in any position necessary to allow the moveable member to be engaged in the socket or disengaged from the socket, reducing the need for precise component tolerances. The joint is useful in structures that have multiple configurations. For example, the joint finds application in structures such as portable game goals, where it is desirable for the structure to collapse from an erect position for game play into a collapsed configuration for transport.

The invention relates to a mechanical joint for collapsible structures. U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,231 discloses a collapsible structure, in particular a game goal, with an elbow joint having an arm with a gap therein. A frame member inserts into the gap in a fixed or upright position and is removed from the gap to collapse the structure. A flexible member connected to the frame member and the portion of the elbow having the gap allows the frame member to move into and out of the joint while remaining connected to the overall structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,776 discloses a corner or straight joint for a collapsible structure with a socket portion that accommodates a moveable member with multiple degrees of motion. In this joint the moveable member is connected with a threaded or otherwise twistable connection to the rod of a heim joint which rotates on a roll pin. The moveable portion moves in and out of the socket portion to erect and collapse the structure, as frame members are attached to the fixed and moveable portions of the joint.

Mechanical joint for collapsible structures


The present invention relates to a transdermal preparation having a backing and an adhesive layer laminated on the backing, wherein the adhesive layer contains 4-ethylene-2(3H)-indolone and a physiologically active compound, and wherein the 4-ethylene-2(3H)-indolone is present in an amount from 0.001 to 4 mass % of the total mass of components of the adhesive layer.

Ropinirole is provided as oral preparations in the form of hydrochloric acid addition salts, and used for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Patent Literatures 1 and 2 each describe the inventions relating to the production processes of ropinirole as a drug substance and high purity ropinirole hydrochloride as a drug substance. Also, transdermal preparations containing ropinirole are disclosed in, for example, Patent Literatures 3 and 4. Patent Literature 5 describes that, in a transdermal drug delivery system, the liquid body and the basic form of low-molecular weight drugs exhibits excessive plasticizing effects on a polymer.
Meanwhile, 4-ethylene-2(3H)-indolone having the following molecular structure (alternative name: 4-ethylenyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-indol-2-one. Hereinbelow, this compound may be abbreviated as "4E indolone") is given a CAS No. 120427-93-2, and known as a decomposition product of ropinirole N-oxide.

Transdermal preparation comprising a ropinirole derivative


In a method for automatically monitoring traffic, traffic data are recorded at several measuring points of the traffic network. The time-dependent positions of the upstream back-up flank and of the downstream back-up flank are estimated continuously according to characteristic relationships which take into account the flow and the density of the traffic in the back-up, the point in time at which the upstream back-up flank passes a respective first measuring point, the point in time at which the downstream back-up flank passes this measuring point as well as the flow and the average vehicle speed at this first as well as at a second measuring point which is situated upstream of the upstream back-up flank.

This application claims the priority of 196 47 127.3, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a method for automatically monitoring traffic, including analysis of back-up dynamics, in which traffic measuring data are recorded at several measuring points of the traffic network.
Methods of this type are customary in the field of traffic routing engineering for recognizing disturbances or back-ups. In such methods, data concerning the traffic situation (such as the traffic flow and the average vehicle speed) are recorded at measuring points, for example by means of induction loop systems and/or beacon systems, and the measured data are appropriately analyzed. In order to forecast back-up dynamics between adjacent measuring points, different traffic models were developed. Two serious difficulties occur, however, in the development and use of such traffic models. On the one hand, the determination of the model parameters frequently depends on outside influences, such as the momentary environmental and weather conditions. Thus, a parametric pattern of one model which was validated once may suddenly change profoundly for the same road section of the traffic network; for example, because the road is becoming increasingly wet. On the other hand, it is difficult to develop a model which is valid for the whole possible vehicle density range and for different traffic situations.
Conventional methods of this type are disclosed in the following publications: F. Busch, "Automatic Recognition of Disturbances on Expressways--A Comparison of Methods", Dissertation, Karlsruhe, 1986; K. Everts, et al., "Comments Concerning the Traffic Flow Analysis, the Detection of Disturbances and the Traffic Flow Prediction for Influencing Traffic in Outlying Areas", Forschungsgesellschaft fur Stra.beta.enund Verkehrswesen, FGSV-Bericht 358, 1992; J. Acha-Datsa and F. L. Hall, "Implementation of a Catastrophe Theory Model for the Incident Detection Component of an Intelligent Highway System", 12th Congreso Mundial IRF, Madrid, 1993, Page 579; G. J. Forbes, "Identifying Incident Congestion", ITE Journal, June 1992, Page 17; H. Zackor, et al., "Investigations Concerning the Traffic Flow with Respect to Capacity and in the Case of an Instable Flow," Forschung Stra.beta.enbau und Stra.beta.enverkehrstechnik, Volume 524, 1988; and L. Kuhne, "Traffic Flow on Highways", Phys. B1., 47 (1991), Page 201.
German patent document DE-0S 44 08 547 A1 discloses a method for detecting traffic and recognizing traffic situations in which traffic data, such as vehicle speeds, traffic volume and traffic density, are determined at several measuring points. From the traffic data of two neighboring measuring points which form a measuring section of a certain route length, traffic parameters are formed. Specifically a speed density difference is determined according to a predetermined relationship, a trend factor is formed from the relationship of the traffic volumes at the two measuring points, and a traffic volume trend of each measuring point is derived from the rise of the tangent of the time-dependent traffic volume course. These three traffic parameters are processed using fuzzy logic to recognize critical traffic situations in the measuring section in question. The result is utilized to generate corresponding control signals for alternating traffic lights.
German patent document DE-OS 43 00 650 A1 discloses a method for determining vehicle-type-related traffic flow data on roads. The number of passing vehicles and their lengths are detected in successive measuring intervals at different observation points, taking into account the driving direction, and the data thus obtained are analyzed to determine a density condition variable. The value of the density condition variable is compared with a limit value and the amount and the direction of the deviation from the limit value are used to draw conclusions regarding the start of a back-up, the existence of a back-up, or a clearing-out of the back-up.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of the type mentioned above which, with a given measuring point distribution over the traffic network, can determine reliably the time-related and space-related change of traffic congestion, at relatively low expenditures.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a method which is suitable for predicting travel time and for automatically controlling traffic influencing systems.
These and other objects and advantages are achieved by the present invention, which uses plausible assumptions to continuously estimate the time-dependent positions of the upstream and downstream flanks of a traffic back-up, based on characteristic relationships which utilize the recorded traffic measuring data in a manner which is easy to analyze. In this case, the word "downstream" applies to the driving direction in a particular considered lane; that is, in the case of a back-up, the back-up direction pointing to the start of the back-up. The word "upstream" on the other hand, applies to the opposite direction; that is, in the case of a back-up in the considered lane, the back-up direction pointing to the end of the back-up.
An important advantage of this method is the fact that it operates reliably without any additional validation of the parameters, theoretically for unlimited distances between measuring points, in different traffic situation scenarios, such as different road conditions, in the form of wetness, snow, etc. In contrast, models which try to reconstruct the traffic flow by solving differential equation systems require a large number of validating parameters.
In one embodiment of the invention the selection of the two measuring points whose measured traffic data are entered into the analysis of the back-up dynamics appropriately follows the location change of a back-up. Thus, the traffic measuring data which are situated as close as possible to the back-up flanks are always used. This has an advantageous effect on the precision of the analysis of the back-up dynamics.
In another embodiment of the invention, the process is used for predicting the travel time for drives on back-up stressed traffic network sections.
Still another embodiment of the invention permits an adequate consideration of entry roads and exit roads which are situated between two measuring points of a road section and which, in turn, are provided with corresponding measuring points for traffic entering and exiting there.
Yet another embodiment takes into account a change in the number of lanes of a back-up stressed road section between the corresponding measuring points.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Method for the automatic monitoring of traffic including the analysis of back-up dynamics


Provided is a method of generating ink amount data which is the used amounts of inks of respective colors when an image is printed, by analyzing image data of the image, the method including: extracting a character area, of which a saturation value is equal to or less than a predetermined value, from the image by analyzing the image data; dividing the character area into a character contour area which is a contour part of the character and a character inside area which is the inside of the character; and converting the image data of the character contour area and the image data of the character inside area into the ink amount data of at least one type of achromatic color ink and at least three types of chromatic color inks, wherein the converting of the ink amount data includes converting the image data of the areas into the ink amount data such that the chromatic color inks are largely used in the character inside area compared with the character contour area.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a technology of printing a character with high quality in a printing apparatus.
2. Related Art
In a printing apparatus, various colors can be output by utilizing a combination of C-, M- and Y-color inks. For example, a blue color can be output by utilizing a C-color ink and an M-color ink, and a red color can be output by overlapping and outputting the M-color ink and a Y-color ink. In addition, a black color can be printed by overlapping the C-color ink, the M-color ink and the Y-color ink by the same amount. By utilizing the combination of the C-, M- and Y-color inks, various colors can be output.
Meanwhile, in such a printing apparatus, if a black character is printed by overlapping the C-, M- and Y-color inks, the amount of ink is large. Thus, the ink may be oozed and thus the character may be blurred. Therefore, a technology of printing a character without blurring by mounting a black color ink (K-color ink) in addition to C-, M- and Y-color inks and printing the character using only the K-color ink is developed (JP-A-10-200769).
However, if the character is printed using only the K-color ink, printing quality may deteriorate by revealing a background color of a printing sheet. That is, if printing is performed using only the K-color ink, since the ink amount is reduced compared with the case where the printing is performed using three-color inks of C, M and Y, when a hitting position of the ink is slightly deviated, the deviated part is not covered by the ink and the background color of the printing sheet remains. Accordingly, the background color of the printing sheet is revealed at some places of the character and thus printing quality may deteriorate. The K-color ink and the C-, M- and Y-color inks may be combined. However, in this case, since the C-, M- and Y-color inks are utilized, a character with blur impression is susceptible to be obtained. In addition, since the K-color ink is utilized, the hitting position of the ink may be deviated and thus printing quality may deteriorate. Accordingly, this is not an efficient solution.

Method of generating ink amount data, device for generating ink amount data, and program thereof


A vapor storage device is provided. The vapor storage device includes a diffuser plate positioned on an axis of an inlet port and comprising one or more openings extending through the plate from a leading edge to a trailing edge and a dome coupled to the inlet port of the device and the diffuser plate, where the dome includes side walls spaced away from the diffuser plate.

Vapor storage canister, such as carbon canisters, are used in vehicles to reduce vapor emissions caused by temperature changes in the vehicle. For instance, temperature shifts in the fuel tank which may be caused by diurnal cycles, heat rejection from underbody components such as exhaust pipe and/or hot return fuel from engine can generate fuel vapors in the fuel delivery system. Fuel vapor is also generated during refueling because of air entrainment with liquid fuel, turbulence and temperature difference between tank fuel and fresh fuel. Furthermore for hybrid vehicles, fuel tank is sealed at high pressure. This pressure is released rapidly during refueling. This pressure change can also cause vapor generation. The fuel vapors may leak or permeate from the fuel tank if not properly sequestered. Therefore, in some vehicles fuel vapors are routed to carbon canisters for temporary storage to reduce emissions. The fuel vapors may be subsequently purged during certain operating conditions to prevent overfilling of the vapor storage canister. During purging operation fresh air is introduced into the canister causing desorption of the fuel vapors from the carbon in the canister. Then the mixture of air and fuel vapor is routed into engine via an intake system where they are combusted.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,246,729 discloses a fuel vapor storing device having a tubular diffuser with plurality of openings providing air into the device during purging. However, the fuel vapor storing device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,246,729 does not provide a desired amount of flow distribution in the device during purging. Specifically, the tubular diffuser may not generate flow patterns which evenly distribute the airflow through the device when purged. The tubular/annular diffuser described in aforementioned patent also increases pressure drop across canister because of narrow flow passages and flow turning. As a result, the desorption rate of fuel vapor into the intake air may be decreased during period of high inlet airflow. Consequently, there may be trade-offs between purging efficiency (e.g., the amount of fuel vapor purged from the canister per volumetric airflow) and the flow-rate of air during purging. As a result, a desired amount of fuel vapor may not be purged from the device in a desired period of time, preventing the device from being completely purged. Consequently, the device may reach maximum vapor storage, thereby increasing fuel vapor emission from the vehicle. This may be particularly problematic in plug-in electric hybrid vehicles (PHEV) where high purge rates are desired due to the limited window of engine combustion operation in the vehicle.
The inventors herein have recognized the above issues and developed a vapor storage device. The vapor storage device includes a diffuser plate positioned on an axis of an inlet port and comprising one or more openings extending through the plate from a leading edge to a trailing edge and a dome coupled to the inlet port of the device and the diffuser plate, where the dome includes side walls spaced away from the diffuser plate.
The dome and the diffuser plate enable uniform flow distribution even at high air flow rate in the canister while purging fuel vapor when compared to previous canisters which do not include domes or diffuser plates. Moreover, the dome and the diffuser plate do not unduly increase pressure losses in the device. Therefore, air may be introduced into the device during purging at a high flow rate while achieving a desirable fuel desorption rate. Consequently, diurnal and/or resting loss emissions are reduced and fuel economy is enabled in the vehicle in which the vapor storage device is included. Therefore, it will be appreciated that the technical results achieved by the vapor storage device include achieving uniform flow distribution of high velocity intake air introduced into the vapor storage device without unduly increased pressure losses in the device, thereby decreasing the amount of time needed to purge the device.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following Detailed Description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that the above summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in simplified form. These concepts are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure. Additionally, the above issues have been recognized by the inventors herein, and are not admitted to be known.

Vapor storage device having a diffuser plate and dome


A method for offloading a secure protocol connection, involving establishing the secure protocol connection between a host system and a remote peer, offloading the secure protocol connection to a network interface card (NIC) to obtain an offloaded secure protocol connection, determining whether a packet is associated with the offloaded secure protocol connection, and if the packet is associated with the offloaded secure protocol connection, identifying the offloaded secure protocol connection, performing cryptographic operations on the packet using at least one secret key to obtain a processed packet, and returning a status of the processed packet to the host system.

Conventionally employed computer systems commonly use both a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and an Internet Protocol (IP) processing layer to facilitate the transmission and receipt of data over a network system. Further, Network Interface Cards (NICs) are commonly used to enable computers to connect to a network. With the steadily increasing volume and rates of data transfer, processing at the TCP/IP layers can burden a system. To address this issue, network interface cards (NICs) have been designed that are capable of processing TCP protocol in hardware (i.e., TNICs). Using TNICs, the processing of message streams can be offloaded onto the TCP/IP layers of the TNIC, resulting in a reduced processing burden on the CPU of a system.
When secure data is exchanged over a network system, secure protocols, such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS), are used to secure web traffic. SSL and TLS make extensive use of encryption to secure the traffic exchanged between two peers in a network system. Communication through SSL/TLS can be divided into two phases: a handshake phase followed by a data transfer phase. During the handshake phase, one peer authenticates with the other peer and exchanges cryptographic keys using public-key cryptography. During the data exchange phase, the peers use the keys to encrypt the traffic to be exchanged between them.
Cryptographic operations using public and private keys are typically compute intensive operations. In order to alleviate the host from performing such operations, cryptographic hardware accelerators are often used to perform cryptographic operations. Typically, cryptographic hardware accelerators are implemented using a proxy or an accelerator card. If a proxy is used, the proxy performs both the SSL/TLS processing as well as the cryptographic processing. Specifically, the proxy communicates with the remote hosts using the SSL/TLS protocols on one side, and the hosts with non-encrypted traffic on the other side. The proxy implements a TCP/IP stack, SSL/TLS functionality, as well as cryptographic hardware capabilities. A proxy can be implemented as a standalone machine, part of a router or switch, or as a add-on card that plugs into a host computer. In a proxy implementation of a cryptographic hardware accelerator, the information carried as part of the original SSL/TLS data becomes unavailable upon reaching the host software that acts on the non-encrypted traffic.
Alternatively, an accelerator card is an add-on card that plugs into a host computer through an input/output (I/O) bus (e.g., peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus). The SSL/TLS protocol is implemented by the software executing on the host computer, and the cryptographic operations are performed in hardware by the accelerator card. The software component that implements the SSL/TLS protocol typically invokes the cryptographic hardware using e.g., a library, a framework, etc. Because the host software implements the SSL/TLS protocols when using an accelerator card, the SSL/TLS data crosses the 10 bus several times when the data is encrypted or decrypted. For example, when encrypted data is received, the data has to cross the bus once to go from the NIC (or TNIC) to the host memory, to go from the host memory to the accelerator card, and again to go from the accelerator card to host memory in decrypted form.


An on-line method for the continuous generation of alkali metal salts includes continuously reacting a source of acidity, a liquid having a low pH value, with a source of alkalinity, a liquid having a high pH value, while continuously monitoring an electrical parameter of the resultant in salt which is indicative of its pH value. The monitored value is used to adjust the relative flow rates of the input liquids so as to dynamically maintain the pH value of the resultant salt within a predetermined range. In the apparatus, the input liquids can be continuously supplied to a reacting element and the conductance of the resultant salt monitored for purposes of providing feedback control signals to adjust one or more flow rates.

The use of alkali metal salts as emulsifying agents in connection with the processing of food products is known. Representative emulsifying agents include sodium phosphates, polyphosphates and citrates which are often used in connection with the manufacture of process cheese.
It is known to use monosodium phosphate (NaH.sub.2 PO.sub.4) (MSP), disodium phosphate (Na.sub.2 HPO.sub.4) (DSP) as well as trisodium phosphate (Na.sub.3 PO.sub.4) (TSP) in connection with process cheese manufacturing. Similarly, it is known to use sodium and potassium citrates as emulsifying agents in connection with the manufacture of dairy products and process cheese.
The publication Process Cheese which bears a copyright date of 1992, published by D. Cooley & Co., Inc. describes, Page 47 and 48, the process of titrating phosphoric acid with a base so as to produce various salts. More particularly, MSP, DSP or TSP or blends thereof can be manufactured in accordance with the teachings of the above-noted publication by reacting phosphoric acid as (H.sub.3 PO.sub.4) well as MSP, DSP, TSP or blends thereof with a source of alkalinity such as sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate or mixtures thereof.
As is known, the process involves a sequential substitution of a hydrogen atom with a sodium atom to produce respectively MSP, DSP and TSP. It is also known to carry out the reaction in distinct batch steps.
Phosphoric acid can be reacted with sufficient sodium hydroxide to produce MSP. The MSP can be stored in liquid form at the premises of the salt manufacturer or at the premises of the cheese processor.
The liquid MSP can be withdrawn from a storage tank and reacted with additional sodium hydroxide on the batch basis to produce DSP or TSP or a blend thereof. The batch produced salt, at an appropriate pH value can then be introduced into the cheese processing as is known to those of skill in the art.
Batch processing of DSP and TSP, or blends thereof, while useful and effective in cheese processing, inherently has limitations with respect to smoothness of texture, flavor, metalability, softness, slice separation and the like in the final cheese product. It would be desirable to overcome and improve upon the known process.
Thus, there continues to be a need for improved devices and methods of creating emulsifying agents useable as food additives so as to improve the uniformity and consistency of the final processed food product. Preferably, such devices and methods would be incorporatable into existing manufacturing systems, used for example, to manufacture process cheese, without having to provide extensive and expensive additional processing equipment. Preferably, such improved devices and methods would also contribute to a reduction in the manufacture of excessive amounts of emulsifying agents which in turn will help reduce the cost of the final process cheese product to the ultimate consumer.

In-line/on demand reaction delivery method


A vehicle door lock device includes: a latching mechanism maintaining a vehicle door in a closing-stop state; an active lever having a support swiveling around a first support shaft, a link section disposed on the outer side from the support in a radial direction with the first support shaft as the center and having an outer circumferential section linked to and driven by an electric motor, a connection section connecting the support and the link section, and a first engagement section formed in one of an outer circumferential section of the support and an inner circumferential section of the link section; a release lever swiveling around a second support shaft disposed in the recessed portion to be parallel to the first support shaft, interconnected with the latching mechanism, and having a second engagement section engageable with the first engagement section so as to integrally swivel with the active lever.

In the related art, as a vehicle door lock device, a device disclosed in JP 2008-115615A (paragraphs [0049] to [0054] and FIG. 9 to FIG. 11) (Reference 1) is known. The device is configured to include an active lever which is driven to swivel by an electric motor, and a release lever which is interconnected with a latching mechanism and is able to release a vehicle door maintained in a state by the latching mechanism. Also, when the active lever swivels, a pressing section thereof presses a curved contact section of a release input board, and thereby the release input board swivels along with a rotary sliding board. Accordingly, a swivel-connection protrusion of the rotary sliding board presses a protruding contact section of the release lever through a certain free-running zone, and thereby the release lever swivels. The release lever swivels, and thereby the vehicle door maintained in a state by the latching mechanism is released.
Incidentally, Reference 1 discloses a configuration in which swiveling of the active lever is transmitted to the release lever through the release input board and the rotary sliding board, and thereby it is inevitable that the device is increased in size, overall. Therefore, the present applicant has studied a configuration in which the swiveling of the active lever is directly transmitted to the release lever such that the release input board and the rotary sliding board are eliminated. In this case, the release lever may have a curved contact section similar to the release input board and the pressing section of the active lever may press the curved contact section.
However, there is increasing demand for a device that is easily mounted to a vehicle, but on the other hand, there is demand for a device that is decreased in size, overall.