A hoist for raising and lowering objects may be attached to a vehicle. The hoist includes a support column and a boom attached thereto; the boom can be raised and lowered by a hydraulic double action cylinder or otherwise. Both the support column and cylinder attach to a bracket, the bracket in turn being rotatably connected to a base unit so that the boom can be rotated as well as raised and lowered. The support column and boom can be adjusted with respect to one another and to the bracket, to balance loads and to adjust the reach of the hoist. Critical sections of the hoist, such as the portion of the boom that attaches to the support column, are reinforced with plates welded to the exterior of a rectangular tube. The connection between the support column and the bracket includes a nut to tension the column to the bracket. The base unit includes outriggers to support and stabilize the hoist, preferably three outriggers in a triangular configuration. Adjustments to the hoists can be made by inserting and removing penetrating pins through adjustment holes in the hoist members, which are quick and easy to make as well as strong and reliable.

Hoists for raising and lowering objects have been known since antiquity, and in more modern times hoist have been developed that may be attached to a vehicle. A boom capable of 360 degree rotation is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,864 of Amata (1989). U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,740 of Cox (1991) describes construction features such as square or rectangular tubular structural members, concentrically cooperating with a trailer hitch, drawbar, hand operated connectors, and a frame permitting rollabout operation of the crane when it is not connected to a vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,935 of Fortenberry (1985) discloses a trailer having an adjustable steadying and load supporting outrigger.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,526 of Robinette (1993) discloses a mobile crane attachable to a vehicle drawbar and other surfaces. The Robinette device provides a measure of adjustability. It has a telescopic boom, and two outriggers of adjustable height. However, it is not fully adjustable, in that the boom lifting means (such as a hydraulic jack) is fixedly attached to a support column and boom. There is no way to adjust the height of the support column, or the attachment position between the boom and support column. The Robinette device may be suitable for lifting and moving relatively light loads, but it could fail and possibly cause injury if it were attempted to be used to lift relatively heavy objects such as, by way of example, an automobile engine. The boom of Robinette has a "support member," but attaches to the central column at a simple through hole penetrating the boom, which could fail at high loads. Set screws secure the position of the crane against unwanted rotation to some extent, but they too could fail at high loads. Further, the connection between the lifting means and the central column places high stress on the column, and raises the center of gravity of the device. The rotation mechanism between the central column and receiver may well serve some purposes, but does not provide a tensioning force between the column and the receiver and consequently could fail, particularly when heavy loads are moving on the boom. The Robinette device is only described herein to illustrate the differences between the known prior art and the present invention described, which provides an adjustable crane of greater intrinsic strength, adjustability, and convenience of use, among other advantages, than has heretofore been known.


A stacking connector is formed by a connector main body and a plug substrate, the connector main body has a substrate sandwiching member including a sandwiching gap into which the plug substrate fits, and a projection projecting into the sandwiching gap, the plug substrate has a concavity with which the projection engages in both top and bottom surfaces, and, after inserting the plug substrate into the sandwiching gap of the substrate sandwiching member, by sliding the plug substrate in a direction at right angles to the insertion direction, the concavity engages with the projection and the plug substrate is linked to the connector main body in an unremovable state.

For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-308124 discloses a technology for constituting an electromagnetic valve assembly by connecting a plurality of electromagnetic valves. In such an electromagnetic valve assembly, a stacking connector is attached to each electromagnetic valve, and stacking connectors of adjacent electromagnetic valves are connected to each other by a plug-in mechanism, so that electric signals such as serial signals, parallel signals, and electric power signals are transmitted and received between each of the electromagnetic valves.
As shown in FIG. 9, a publicly known stacking connector used for this kind of electromagnetic valve comprises a connector main body 1 including an insertion slot 3 and a plurality of socket terminals 4 for an electric connection, and a plug substrate 2 including a plurality of plug terminals 5 on both top and bottom surfaces thereof. An attachment side part 2a of the plug substrate 2 is inserted between ends of the socket terminals 4, and socket terminals 4 and plug terminals 5 corresponding to each other are bonded by solder 6, so that the connector main body 1 and the plug substrate 2 are connected to each other. Furthermore, an insertion side member 2b of the plug substrate 2 is inserted into an insertion slot of another stacking connector, so that the two stacking connectors are electrically connected to each other.
However, in the conventional stacking connector, when connecting the connector main body 1 and the plug substrate 2, the socket terminals 4 and the plug terminals 5 are bonded by the solder, and the solder 6 is used to secure the electric connection between both the terminals 4 and 5 and also to secure a mechanical bonding strength between the connector main body 1 and the plug substrate 2. Because of this, when the number of terminals is large, the soldering operation is cumbersome. Furthermore, when a detaching force is applied between the connector main body 1 and the plug substrate 2, and the force is directly applied to the socket terminals 4 and plug terminals 5, it is easy to cause solder flaking and damaged terminals.


The present invention is a backing paper for photographic roll film. The backing paper includes a paper base having a first side and a second side. Superposed on the first side of the paper base is an antistatic opacifying layer which includes polyethylene and at least 10 weight percent of conductive carbon black particles, the carbon black particles having a surface chemistry of less than 1.5 percent by weight.

A photographic roll film cartridge typically includes a flanged spool upon which is wound a long strip of backing paper to which has been attached on one side thereof a strip of light sensitive photographic film. The ends of the backing paper are positioned to extend beyond the ends of the film and constitute light protective leader and trailer strips for film which is interwound with the backing paper so that it separates adjacent revolutions of the film.
Roll film backing paper is paper which is attached to a roll of film. The purpose of the roll film backing paper is to provide an opaque back surface which acts as a lightlock for the film and to provide antistatic protection to the emulsion which is coated on the other side of the film. Typically roll film backing paper consists of a paper to which is laminated a plastic material containing carbon black particles. However, polymer backing papers used in the past have had a problem with adhesion of the carbon black and polymer blend to the paper. Prior art solutions to this adhesion problem include the use of adhesive copolymers and lamination. It would be desirable to have a backing paper which did not use adhesive copolymers or multiple laminations to provide adequate adhesion of the polymer blend to the backing paper.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,701 describes an antistatic backing paper for photographic roll film. This patent teaches that one can prepare an antistatic roll film backing paper for photographic roll film by applying a polyethylene layer to a paper substrate and then applying an opaque layer at a temperature high enough to bond to the polyethylene. The opaque layer consists of polyethylene and 7 to 10 weight percent mixture of conductive and nonconductive black particles. The mixture contains 20 to 80 weight percent conductive black particles. This patent also teaches that when the proportion of carbon black particles is more than 10 percent of the total weight of the polymer blend, the polyethylene melt cannot be readily extruded onto the paper base. Moreover, there is reduced adhesion of the polyethylene melt to the base.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,234 discloses a wrapping material for photographic materials produced by laminating layers on a paper support. The laminated layer includes a thermoplastic resin on one side of the paper support, the thermoplastic resin being a blend of high density polyethylene and low density polyethylene. The blend of polyethylene used in the examples has 5 weight percent carbon black.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,781 describes a material for packaging light-sensitive materials which consists of a laminate of a substrate, a polyethylene polymer layer which contains no light-shielding material and a laminate comprising a light-shielding material outside the polyethylene layer. Thus, this material is a composite laminate composed of a low density polyethylene film and a separate light-shielding layer.
There is a need for a polyethylene backing paper which has improved strength, friction properties and is easily manufactured. The present invention solves these problems by providing a single layer of polyethylene with conductive carbon black particles.

Antistatic opacifying layer for photographic roll film


A rear suspension architecture is provided for coupled rear suspension systems.

Most snowmobiles include a chassis, an engine, a transmission, and endless belt assembly designed to contact the ground and propel the snowmobile. Typical snowmobiles also include a pair of front skis support by a front suspension system. The endless belt assembly generally includes a rear suspension system designed to help the belt assembly maintain contact with the ground when riding over uneven terrain and provide the rider with a comfortable ride.
Generally, there are two types of snowmobile rear suspensions in the snowmobile industry: coupled and uncoupled. The term "coupled" is generally given to suspensions that have dependant kinematics front-to-rear and/or rear-to-front relative to the lower rails of the rear suspension. A suspension is coupled rear-to-front when the front portion of the lower rails is deflected vertically and the rear portion of the lower rails is forced to move vertically to some degree. A suspension is coupled rear-to-front when the rear portion of the lower rails is deflected vertically and the front portion of the lower rails is forced to move vertically to some degree. An uncoupled rear suspension is generally independent front-to-rear and rear-to-front relative to the lower rails of the rear suspension. A vertical deflection of the front portion of the suspension causes little to no vertical deflection of the rear portion of the suspension and vice versa.
Coupled suspensions differ from uncoupled suspension in at least two areas. There is a distinct stiffness or rate of deflection of the rear suspension per pound of force applied to the rear suspension for both the front and rear portion of the rear suspension. A coupled suspension combines the rates of both the front and rear portions of the rear suspension so the overall rate becomes higher than rate that may be achieved with an uncoupled rear suspension. Second, a coupled rear suspension may be used to control weight transfer to the rear suspension during acceleration of the snowmobile.
One embodiment of the present invention includes a snowmobile having a coupled suspension, the snowmobile comprising a chassis having a front end and a rear end, and a first lower rail positioned below at least a portion of the chassis. The snowmobile also comprising a first front control arm positioned adjacent the front end of the chassis. The first front control arm pivotally interconnects the chassis and the first lower rail. The snowmobile further comprises a first rear inverted control link interconnected to the first lower rail, and a first rear control arm positioned adjacent the rear end of the chassis and pivotally interconnected to the chassis and the first rear inverted control link. The first rear control arm is interconnected to the first rear inverted control link at a position below the interconnection between the first rear inverted control link and the first lower rail. Additionally, the snowmobile comprises a coupling member providing a controlled degree of freedom of movement between the coupling member and the first rear control arm until coupling between the first rear control arm and the first lower rail occurs.
Another embodiment of the present invention includes a snowmobile having a coupled suspension, the snowmobile comprising a chassis having a front end and a rear end, and a lower rail positioned below at least a portion of the chassis. The snowmobile further comprises a front control arm positioned adjacent the front end of the chassis. The front control arm pivotally interconnects the chassis and the lower rail. Additionally, the snowmobile comprises a rear control arm positioned adjacent the rear end of the chassis and pivotally interconnected to the chassis. The snowmobile also comprises a coupling member providing a controlled degree of freedom of movement between the coupling member and the rear control arm until coupling between the rear control arm and the lower rail occurs. The snowmobile further comprises a front bump stop supported by the chassis, and a rear bump stop supported by the chassis and positioned rearward of the front bump stop. The coupling member is configured to periodically move away from the front bump stop and toward the rear bump stop and periodically move away from the rear bump stop and toward the front bump stop during operation of the coupled suspension.
A further embodiment of the present invention includes a snowmobile comprising a chassis, a motor supported by the chassis, and an endless belt assembly including a belt and a coupled suspension, the coupled suspension including a lower rail, a front and rear control arm, a first and second bump stop, and a coupling member positioned between the first and second bump stops, the front control arm adapted to operably connect the lower rail to the chassis, the rear control arm adapted to operably connect the coupling member to the chassis, the first bump stop supported by the lower rail at a first position, the second bump stop supported by the lower rail at a second position, the coupling member pivotally supported to the lower rail, the coupling member being moveable between the first bump stop and the second bump stop, the coupling member configured to exert a horizontal and vertical force on the second bump stop, the vertical force being greater than the horizontal force.
Another embodiment of the present invention includes a snowmobile comprising a chassis having a front and rear end, a lower rail, a front control arm defining a first length extending between first and second spaced-apart ends, the front control arm positioned adjacent to the chassis front end, the front control arm pivotally coupled to the chassis on the first end and pivotally coupled to the lower rail on the second end, a rear control arm positioned adjacent to the chassis rear end and pivotally interconnected to the chassis and lower rail, a linkage assembly supported by the front control arm at a first position between the first and second ends of the front control arm, the first position being spaced-apart from the second end of the front control arm by at least a first distance, the first distance being defined by one-quarter of the length of the front control arm, and a shock absorber and pull rod each including first and second spaced-apart ends, the first ends interconnected to the rear control arm, the second ends operably coupled to the linkage assembly.
Another embodiment of the present invention includes a snowmobile comprising a chassis having a front and rear end, a lower rail having front and rear ends, and an endless belt assembly including a belt, a front control arm, a rear control arm, a coupling member, and a belt tensioning system, the front control arm positioned adjacent to the chassis front end and adapted to pivotally interconnect the chassis and the lower rail, the rear control arm positioned adjacent to the chassis rear end and adapted to pivotally interconnect the chassis and one of the coupling member and the lower rail, the coupling member providing a controlled degree of freedom of movement between the coupling member and the rear control arm, the belt tensioning system configured to maintain an appropriate belt tension during movement between the chassis and lower rail.
In yet another embodiment, a snowmobile having a coupled suspension comprises a chassis, at least one lower rail, at least one front control arm pivotally coupled to the chassis at a first end and pivotally coupled to the lower rail on a second end, a rear control arm positioned adjacent to the chassis rear end and pivotally interconnected to the chassis and lower rail, a front linkage assembly supported by the front control arm, a rear linkage assembly supported by the rear control arm; a tension rod extending between the front and rear linkage, an LFE operatively connected between the front linkage assembly and the rear linkage assembly, and extending along a longitudinal line of action (LOA), where the LFE front pivot point and a front pivot point of the tension rod being substantially along the LOA, and being spaced apart from each other.
The above mentioned and other features of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. Although the drawings represent embodiments of the present invention, the drawings are not necessarily to scale and certain features may be exaggerated in order to better illustrate and explain the present invention.

Suspension architecture for a snowmobile


A video compression/decompression procedure that provides a reliable, low bit video bit stream with some color features over relatively low bandwidth wireless networks. The procedure provides some pleasing color features in a video bit stream without needing a large bandwidth network like those needed for example for a MPEG 4 bit stream. The procedure provides the color features by using a bi-level Y luminance component and a number of UV chrominance combinations. The bi-level Y-component outlines the features of the image, while the UV-combinations describe the basic color information of the image.

1. Technical Field
This invention is directed toward a system and method for video compression/decompression. More specifically, this invention is directed towards a video compression/decompression system and method that provides a reliable, low bit rate video stream with some color features. This bit stream can be transmitted via relatively low bandwidth wireless networks.
2. Background Art
Network services are being developed towards allowing users to access information anywhere, any time, and on any device. Video is an important part of the information required to meet this demand. While it is relatively easy to transmit popular MPEG [1] or H.26x [2] video via a broadband network, it is not so easy to transmit video through wireless networks with limited bandwidths. The bottleneck of transmitting videos through any network is usually in the low bandwidth end.
As a solution to transmitting video under low bandwidth network conditions, a video form was previously proposed, called bi-level video [3]. Bi-level video is generated by converting a gray-scale image to a bi-level image and then compressing a bi-level image sequence into a bi-level video. Special considerations are taken into account in the threshold and compression processes so that the resultant videos possess low bit rate, clear shape, smooth motion, and low latency properties. Although bi-level video achieves a very low bit rate, its appearance is only black and white. A great improvement could be made to the bi-level video if color could be added to its black and white appearance, while maintaining its low bit rate qualities.
It is noted that in the preceding paragraphs, as well as in the remainder of this specification, the description refers to various individual publications identified by a numeric designator contained within a pair of brackets. For example, such a reference may be identified by reciting, "reference [1]" or simply "[1]". A listing of the publications corresponding to each designator can be found at the end of the Detailed Description section.

System and method for low bit rate watercolor video


A pointer detection apparatus includes a conductor pattern formed of intersecting first and second conductors. A signal supplying circuit generates transmission signals each comprised of a first code and a second code having an equal code length and having a predetermined relationship to each other, and supplies the generated transmission signals to the first conductors. A signal detection circuit is connected to the second conductors and detects reception signals, at least one of which corresponds to a variation of capacitance between the conductor pattern and a pointer. A correlation arithmetic operation circuit calculates, for each of the reception signals, first and second correlation values between the reception signal and first and second correlation value arithmetic operation signals corresponding to the first and second codes, respectively. A synthesis circuit calculates, for each pair of the first and second correlation values, a synthesis correlation value, based on which the pointer is detected.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a pointer detection apparatus and a pointer detection method for use, for example, with a touch panel. More particularly, the present invention relates to a pointer detection apparatus and a pointer detection method capable of detecting positions of a plurality of pointers according to a capacitive coupling method.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a method for position detection of a pointer used with a touch panel or the like, various sensor methods such as a resistive film method, a capacitive coupling method, and a capacitance method have been proposed. Recently, a capacitive coupling type pointer detection apparatus has been vigorously developed.
As a capacitive coupling method, two types of methods are available: a surface type (Surface Capacitive Type) method and a projection type (Projected Capacitive Type) method. The surface capacitive type method is applied, for example, in an ATM (Automated Teller Machine) and so forth, and the projected capacitive type method is applied, for example, in a portable telephone set and so forth. In both methods, a variation of a capacitive coupling state between a sensor electrode and a pointer, such as a finger or a capacitive pen, is detected to detect the position of the pointer.
A pointer detection apparatus, in which the projected capacitive type capacitive coupling method is applied, detects a variation of a capacitive coupling state between a pointer and a plurality of electrodes disposed in parallel with each other. The pointer detection apparatus includes the electrodes arranged in a predetermined conductor pattern on, for example, a transparent substrate such as a glass substrate or a transparent film, and detects a variation of a capacitive coupling state between a pointer and the electrodes when the pointer approaches the electrodes. For a pointer detection apparatus in which such method as described above is applied, various techniques have been proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-22158 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1), Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 9-222947 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 2) and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10-161795 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 3). In Patent Document 1, a technique is disclosed wherein a code-division multiplexing method that uses orthogonal spread codes is applied in a multi-user touch system. In Patent Document 2, a coordinate inputting apparatus which uses a pseudorandom code (PN code) is disclosed. Further, in Patent Document 3, a pen as a pointer to be used in a capacitive type coordinate apparatus is disclosed.
Recently, a pointer detection apparatus has been proposed, in which a method called cross-point capacitive coupling method is applied. In the cross-point capacitive coupling method, a plurality of electrodes are disposed both in an X direction and a Y direction to form conductor patterns, and a capacitive coupling state at each of the cross points is measured, at which the electrodes orthogonally cross each other. When a finger approaches a cross point, the capacitive coupling state at the cross point varies, and thus the position of the finger can be detected by detecting the coordinates of the cross point whose capacitive coupling state exhibits a variation.

Pointer detection apparatus and pointer detection method


A structural member xe2x80x9c(10)xe2x80x9d comprises a generally Z-shaped cross section. Two flange members (14, 16) are bonded to opposite sides and opposite ends of a diagonal web xe2x80x9c(12)xe2x80x9d. Each flange member xe2x80x9c(14, 16)xe2x80x9d has one surface xe2x80x9c(28)xe2x80x9d which is bonded to the web xe2x80x9c(12)xe2x80x9d and at least two additional surfaces xe2x80x9c(30, 32)xe2x80x9d at right angles to one another. The cross section of the web is six sided, each end of the cross section including a side which is continuous with one of the right angled sides of its associated flange member and another side which acts as a side load bearing surface for the structural member.

This invention relates to structural members adapted to be used as beams, joists, studs, posts, lintels, columns or as base and top plate members.
It is known to provide composite structural members designed to reduce the amount of solid wood fiber used and to improve the load bearing capacity of the member, as compared to solid lumber. U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,894 to Lau discloses such a structural member having a X-shaped cross section and comprising two isosceles triangle-shaped flanges bonded to opposite sides and ends of parallelogram-shaped web.
However, Lau""s use of wedge-shaped flanges and a parallelogram-shaped web limits the load bearing capacity of the member on two of its four sides as such loads are borne on the narrow longitudinal edges of the flanges and web. This in turn limits the ability to use the member in horizontal load bearing applications, or to effectively combine several such members in side by side relationship to form multi-unit composite members such as would be useful for example to produce posts or columns.
Lau also suggests that the flanges of the structural member may be produced simply by diagonally (WORD USED BY LAU) halving 2xc3x973 or 2xc3x974 lumber to produce two isosceles triangular wedges. But in fact, more than one cut would be required to do so. As a result, fabrication of the structural member is not as simple as Lau suggests, nor is it as cost effective as is the present invention in terms of manufacturing steps or the volume of solid wood fibre consumed per unit.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved composite structural member made of wood or wood fibre products wherein economical use of solid wood fibre is made and which is relatively easy to manufacture. It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a simple method of producing a composite structural member from solid lumber having standard dimensions.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a composite structural member which has good load bearing capacity on substantially all of its sides and which is capable to being combined with other such members into a multi-unit member.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a useful cross sectional profile of a structural member which may selectively be made using materials other than wood or using a combination of wood and such other materials.
According to the preferred embodiment of die invention, a structural member is provided comprising a generally Z-shaped cross section. Two flange members are bonded to opposite sides and opposite ends of a diagonal web. Preferably, the flange members and the diagonal web are made of wood or wood fibre products and xe2x80x9cthe flangexe2x80x9d members are cut from standard dimensional lumber.
Each flange member has one surface which is bonded to the web and at least two additional surfaces at right angles to one another. The cross section of the web is six sided, each end of the cross section including a side which is continuous with one of the right angled sides of its associated flange member and another side which acts as a side load bearing surface for the structural member.
In another aspect of the invention, the structural member has a cross sectional profile which is defined within an imaginary rectangle, and has a diagonal web member and two flange members disposed on opposite sides of the web member. Each of the flange members has two sides which are coplanar with the sides of the imaginary rectangle and the web portion has at least four surfaces which are coplanar with the sides of the imaginary rectangle.
In another of its aspects, the invention comprises a composite assembly of such structural members secured in side by side relationship. This is particularly useful when each structural member has a cross sectional profile whose longer side has a length which is an even multiple of the length of its shorter side.
According to a method of making the structural member according to the invention, a piece of solid lumber having a rectangular cross-section is sectioned so as to produce at least two equal segments. Each has interior angles consisting of two right angles, one acute angle and one obtuse angle. An elongated web having a generally rectangular cross section and two opposed planar surfaces is provided. Two longitudinal cuts are made obliquely across the planar surfaces of the web substantially at one edge of the web. The two cuts are at a right angle to one another. Two additional longitudinal cuts are made obliquely across said planar surfaces substantially at the other edge of the web. They too are at a right angle from one another. The at least two equal segments are then bonded to opposite sides and opposite ends of said web.
The sectioning step described above may in fact produce only two equal segments by performing a single longitudinal oblique cut through the central longitudinal axis of the lumber. Four or more equal segments may also be obtained depending on the width of the lumber and the desired dimensions of the resulting structural member. In the case of four equal segments, the sectioning step of the method comprises the steps of:
longitudinally sectioning said piece of lumber into two equal pieces each having a rectangular cross section;
longitudinally sectioning each of said two equal pieces with an oblique cut so as to produce four of said equal segments.
The present invention minimizes the use of solid wood, presents good side load and end load bearing capacity, allows composite structural members to be produced and provides the advantage of ease of manufacture with a minimum number of cuts.
In another of its aspects, the invention comprises an elongated, integrally formed structural member having cross section comprising a diagonal web portion having major opposed planar surfaces, and two edge portions extending along opposite lateral edges of said web member, characterized in that each of said edge portions comprises two parallel and spaced surfaces extending in a same direction from said web portion, and a third surface extending perpendicularly to said two parallel between the ends of said two parallel surfaces. The web portion includes at least two surfaces which are parallel to said third surfaces.
Other aspects of the invention will be appreciated by reference to the description of the preferred embodiments which follows and to the claims.


This disclosure relates to a computer assistant for a surgeon with a graphical representation of a dynamic knee score for a knee surgery. A processor receives computer tomography data of a current patient's knee and user input from the surgeon, the user input comprises an identifier of a knee implant. The processor then retrieves multiple machine learning model parameters indicative of a machine learning performed on historical patient records. For multiple values of a rotation of the tibial component and a slope of the tibial component the processor configures a post-operative kinematic model performs a kinematic simulation and estimates a current patient outcome by applying the machine learning model. Finally, the processor generates a shaded surface spanning the multiple values of a rotation of the tibial component and a slope of the tibial component on a user interface to graphically represent the estimated current patient outcome for each of the rotation and slope.

Osteoarthritis is the degenerative loss of cartilage tissue in a joint, and is the most common joint disease in the Australian community with approximately 15% of the population adversely affected. Of these, the knee is a common site for osteoarthritic symptoms to emerge, which can cause debilitating pain and loss of functional ability for the sufferer. Incidence increases dramatically with age, with as many as ⅓ of people showing radiographic evidence of knee osteoarthritis in the 60-69 years age group, though a smaller portion suffer symptomatically. As such, the growth in this demographic group in line with the aging population and the consequent increase in work demands placed upon this population group are contributing to an acceleration in the incidence of knee osteoarthritis across the population as a whole. Incidence is also increasing among younger age groups associated with risk factors such as obesity, joint injury and repetitive stress on the joint as a result of physical labour, further contributing to the burgeoning societal burden of knee osteoarthritis.
One treatment for end-stage knee osteoarthritis is Total Knee Replacement (TKR). One goal is to effect pain relief and recover functional ability for the sufferer. As a result of the enormous benefit that can be delivered to patients in terms of lifestyle improvement and work capability, the surgery is considered to be highly successful. The primary objective measure for success is survivor analysis with regards to revision rate, which sits at 6.5% over a 12 year window. Interestingly, this figure is vulnerable to underestimation as the conventional tracking of a patient endpoint when they undergo revision surgery implies two other success conditions: either the patient dies before undergoing a revision surgery they may require in the future or a patient's health deteriorates with age to the point where it is deemed safer not to operate even if a revision surgery is required. Nevertheless, this statistic masks a greater problem: as many as 20% of patients report dissatisfaction with the pain relief and functional outcomes of their surgery after 1 year. Due to the relative ease of data collection and hence wider adoption in joint registries of survivorship based data, as well as the relatively greater exposure of the practicing surgeon to a smaller number of highly dissatisfied patients affected by outcomes such as implant loosening than a larger number of less dissatisfied patients, there exists the potential for a bias in favour of mechanically 'safer' but not necessarily patient outcome optimal surgical decision making.
When considering survivorship with a wider range of endpoints incorporating negative pain or functional outcomes over time, the effective survivorship rate has been shown to be about half of all patients. In order to increase the success of actual patent outcomes, surgeons could make small changes in the surgery parameters. However, surgeons rarely have the tools that allow them to investigate which parameter change would have a positive impact for a particular patient.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present disclosure as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.
Throughout this specification the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.

Graphical representation of a dynamic knee score for a knee surgery


In a steam generator or boiler used in a nuclear reactor, the secondary water is supplied via at least one pipe (48) issuing directly into the bottom of an annular recirculation space (32) formed between the outer envelope (10) and an inner envelope (26) surrounding inverted U-tubes (24), on the side of the cold branches of the tubes. A perforated collar or flange (56) placed in the annular space (32), above the pipe (48), produces a pressure drop or flow limitation preventing the rise of the feed water and controls the circumferential distribution of the recirculation water, which drops from the separators (28).

As more particularly illustrated by FR-A-2 477 265, a boiler equipping a nuclear power station normally comprises a vertically positioned outer envelope, whose inner space is subdivided into two parts in the height direction by a horizontal plate known as a tube plate. The ends of the tubes of a bundle of inverted U-tubes are fixed to the tube plate and issue below the latter respectively into an admission collector or header and into a discharge collector or header for the water circulating in the primary circuit of the reactor and known as primary water. The water circulating in the secondary circuit of the reactor and known as secondary or feed water is injected into that part of the boiler positioned above the tube plate.
In the boiler described in FR-A-2 477 265, the feed water is injected by a semitoroidal, main supply collector, positioned above an annular recirculation space formed between the outer and inner envelopes covering the bundle of tubes and having its lower edge spaced from the tube plate.
The feed water introduced into the boiler by the main supply collector drops into the annular space and then rises between the tubes of the bundle within the inner envelope. The heat taken from the primary water circulating within the tubes then has the effect of evaporating the feed water when it enters the upper region of the lower envelope. The steam thus formed then traverses separators and driers, which lower the moisture content of the steam before the latter escapes to the turbines of the secondary circuit used for driving the electricity generators of the power station.
The condensation water held in the separators, generally referred to as recirculation water, descends again by gravity into the annular recirculation space, in order to again pass through the inner envelope of the generator.
The positioning of the main supply collector of the boiler above the annular recirculation space leads, as shown in FR-A-2 477 265, to the equipping of the collector with inverted J-shaped tubes, in order to prevent pressure jumps and surges, which might occur during the restarting of the pumps of the secondary circuit as a result of a pumping out of the supply collector. However, this procedure suffers form the disadvantage of complicating the manufacture of the boiler and consequently extending the manufacturing process and making it more expensive.
Moreover and as illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,804,069, 3,896,770 and 3,916,843, consideration has also been given to supplying the feed water to a boiler by directly connecting a feed water admission pipe to a lower part of the inner envelope, so as to make the water penetrate directly at the bottom of the cold branches of the tubes of the bundle. Deflectors positioned facing the admission pipe and around the cold branches then form a device for preheating the feed water circulating between the tubes.
Even though the solution described in the latter documents avoids the disadvantages caused by the installation of the main supply collector in the upper part, it suffers from the disadvantage of the subjecting the lower parts of the cold branches of the tubes to significant transverse flows and of not permitting controlled distribution of the feed water flow rate over the boiler cross-section.
Moreover, if migrating bodies such as welding rods, screws, bolts, etc., inadvertently introduced into the secondary circuit during their manufacture, enter the steam generator by the admission pipe for the feed water, they can jam between the tubes of the bundle and damage the tubes.
Moreover, the existing boilers in which the introduction of the feed water takes place in the bottom of the secondary part do not make it possible to carry out a controlled distribution of the feed water and the recirculation water on the periphery of the boiler, whereas such a controlled distribution would be desirable in order to bring about an optimum reconciliation between the contradictory requirements, among which reference is mainly made to:
obtaining maximum efficiency of the steam generator in normal operation; PA1 the need to ensure a satisfactory operation of the steam generator during an incident requiring the use of a standby or emergency supply collector, generally positioned above the annular recirculation space; and PA1 reducing to a minimum the thermal stresses suffered by the outer envelope and the tube sheet of the boiler. PA1 a vertically axed, outer envelope, PA1 a horizontal tube plate tightly fixed within the outer envelope, PA1 a bundle of inverted U-tubes having hot branches and cold branches and each having two ends fixed to the tube plate and issuing below the latter, respectively into an admission collector and into a discharge collector for the primary fluid, PA1 an inner envelope covering the tube bundle and having a lower edge spaced from the tube plate and forming with the outer envelope an annular recirculation space, PA1 secondary water supply means, and PA1 means for the separation of recirculation water able to drop again through the recirculation space and secondary steam which can be extracted from the boiler, the separating means being positioned above the inner envelope. The secondary water supply means comprises at least one supply pipe issuing directly into the annular recirculation space, at least one perforated collar being placed in the annular recirculation space at a higher level than that of the supply pipe, so as to oppose any raising of the secondary water into this space and so as to ensure controlled circumferential distribution of the recirculation water descending into the space.

Steam generator with device for the distribution of feed water and recirculation water in the secondary part


A planar antenna comprises an emitting circuit plate having an emitting element made of a micro-strip antenna element, a first dielectric plate, and a feeder circuit plate having a feeder line, in which said feeder line are electromagnetically connected to said emitting element in said emitting circuit plate, and said emitting element is a ring circular emitting element containing a cross bridge conductor in the center thereof.

This invention relates to an antenna having a tri-plate structure which utilizes a micro-strip antenna (MSA) as its emitting element.
FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional planar antenna called ring micro-strip antenna of coaxial feeder type and FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along the lines 1B--1B.
As shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, in this planar antenna 100, a ring circular emitting element 101 made of micro-strip antenna element is formed on a side of a dielectric plate 102, a ground plate 103 made of metallic foil is formed on the other side of this dielectric plate 102 and then a core conductor 105 of a coaxial connector 104 is connected to a feeding point provided on part of the ring circular emitting element 101 such that an external conductor 106 of the coaxial connector 104 is connected to the ground plate 103. In the planar antenna 100 having the above structure, generally impedance matching between the ring circular emitting element 101 and the feeder line (core conductor 105 in the coaxial connector 104) is carried out by changing a ring ratio (b/a) between an outer diameter a and an internal diameter b of the ring circular emitting element 101.
However, if the ring ratio (b/a) is increased to ensure impedance matching between the ring circular emitting element 101 and the feeder line (core conductor 105 in the coaxial connector 104), a high impedance characteristic of more than several thousands is indicated, thus it is impossible to perform impedance matching by changing the ring ratio (b/a) widely. Although a variety of substitutive proposals have been presented, existing proposals contain such problems as a number of laminated layers is increased too much, a special matching circuit is required or the like. Additionally, it has not been easy to restrict cross-polarization component by ensuring symmetrical pattern by securing a symmetry in main mode.


The present invention relates to a User Equipment (UE), a base station and a method for selecting a Remote Radio Head (RRH). A UE, including: a storage unit configured to store a code book including a plurality of precoding matrixes which contain a precoding matrix having an element zero corresponding to an antenna; a precoding matrix selection unit configured to select the precoding matrix to be used according to the code book stored in the storage unit; and a report unit configured to report an index of the precoding matrix selected by the precoding matrix selection unit. In the preferred embodiments, elements of a same precoding matrix for antennas of same RRH are all zero or non-zero.

The Long-term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) heterogeneous network system includes a macro cell, a femto cell, a pico cell, an RRH and a relay. In which, the RRH has no signal processing capacity. Instead, the RRH forwards signals based on a base station, and transmits the signals of the base station indistinguishably in the form of radio wave with a transmitting power less than that of the base station.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the distribution of a base station and RRHs. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the base station is located at the center of a cell, and seven RRHs are provided in the coverage range of the base station, wherein the RRHs are uniformly distributed at edge positions of the cell, directly connected to the base station through optical cables and capable of forwarding signals transmitted by the base station. In conventional techniques, generally the base station determines a RRH used to serve the User Equipment (UE) according to the positions of the UE and the RRHs, and notifies the UE of an antenna to be measured. In such technique, since the antennas of the base station can be distributed on a plurality of RRHs, the number of antennas used by the base station and the number of antennas to be measured can be both reduced. When receiving signals from the base station and the RRH, or signals from a plurality of RRHs, the UE merges the received signals, which is corresponding to a macro diversity. By merging the signals, the signal strength at the client-side is enhanced and the system performance is improved.
But in the process of implementing the present invention, the inventor finds that the above technique has the following problem: when the UE is served by a plurality of devices (RRHs or base stations, hereinafter referred to as Service Equipments (SEs)), sometimes certain SEs have very low signal powers at the UE, and sometimes certain SEs have far lower signal powers than other SEs. The signals of the SEs of very low or far lower powers have no benefit in improving the reception performance of the UE, and even cause interferences and degrade the performance, while certain power shall be consumed when the RRH transmits the signals of the UE.
Meanwhile, when the UE is located at the edge of the RRH, in order to realize the selection of the RRH, the UE usually needs to measure the signal powers of respective RRHs. Sometimes the respective RRHs and the base station belong to the same cell, and the traditional mode that measures the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) based on Cell-specific Reference signal (CRS) cannot work under such scenario, thus a mode capable of distinguishing the respective RRHs is required to assist the base station to realize the selection of the RRH.
To be noted, the above introduction to the technical background is just made for the convenience of clearly and completely describing the technical solutions of the present invention, and to facilitate the understanding of a person skilled in the art. It shall not be deemed that the above technical solutions are known to a person skilled in the art just because they have been illustrated in the Background section of the present invention.

User equipment, base station and method for selecting remote radio head


A method for calibrating voltage sensors in a switchboard, using a communication bus which comprises the following steps: i. performing a measurement using a first voltage sensor; ii. transmitting an information derived from said measurement to an electronic device, through the communication bus; iii. using said information to calibrate a second voltage sensor.

The present invention relates to a method for on-line calibration of low accuracy voltage sensors through a communication bus. The method of the present invention is particularly useful for calibration of voltage sensors and consequently for voltage measurements in primary and/or secondary distribution electrical sub-stations.
Present solution in primary distribution for voltage measure is well known and is schematically reported in the diagram of FIG. 1. Voltage measure is usually an optional feature, integrated in the bay panel when required by means of standard voltage transformer or voltage sensors. Voltage measurement is normally required for busbar voltage measure on both sides of the circuit breaker and incoming feeders.
Voltage from the secondary winding of the voltage transformer is wired to the analog input of a suitable electronic device to implement the necessary protection, control and metering functions.
Present solutions needs high power voltage transformers in order to supply the information to a high number of devices. This involves also a lot of inter-panel cabling to bring the required information to all the devices.
Voltage measurement is therefore generally carried out when it is aimed at protection functions at a switchboard level, i.e. for under-voltage or over-voltage protection. Using expensive equipments and complicated cabling is much less reasonable and affordable when the voltage information is required for protection functions at a feeder level, such as, for example, for all directional current protection.

Method for on-line calibration of low accuracy voltage sensor through communication bus


Equipment for the collection of bar-code data from a plurality of work stations in a central processing station comprises an optical scanner at each work station connected to the central station by means of an optical fiber; all optical fibers arriving from the work stations are assembled in a fiber-assembly bracket with their rear ends arranged in one or more parallel lines positioned opposite a lens system; and the lens system transfers the alternating light and dark signals issuing from each fiber end to the photo-sensitive end of a corresponding channel of a detector, preferably a charge-coupled device. The detector converts the received light signals into electrical analog signals and transfers these to the central processing unit, where they are converted into digital signals for processing and storing in memory means.

The invention relates to control of the production of multiple articles by means of centralized information received by bar-code reading. It relates particularly to the control of various work stations and workers, each destined to fabricate or part-fabricate a certain article and to inform a central authority of the amount of work carried out within a given time interval.
In many industries parts of a whole assembly are manufactured by hand or machines at several work stations and are finally assembled in additional work stations by other workers. A typical example is the garment industry, where garment parts, such as sleeves, trouser legs, collars and so on are fabricated by workers using sewing and other machines and where the work is distributed in a manner that every part arrives at the assembly station or stations in quality and quantity required for an even flow of work. It will be understood that intricate parts which require more working time are distributed to more work stations than simple parts which can be made in a shorter period, and it is highly important that these operations be minutely controlled to prevent bottlenecks on one hand and idling of workers on the other.
The simplest and most expensive way of controlling product is by means of an inspector who walks from station to station and writes down the quantity of articles manufactured and the time taken therefore. This way has been mostly superseded, at least in modern plants, by attaching to every batch to be completed a label containing a bar-code defining the kind and quantity of the article to be prepared at each station. Upon finishing a batch the worker passes the label underneath a scanner which is connected to a processing unit, the latter transmitting the gathered information to a central processing unit.
This method is exact and provides the required information in real time, but its main drawback is the high cost of the data collecting equipment. It is, therefore, the object of the present invention to provide and transmit the information regarding completion of a certain work task within the prescribed time for immediate recording at the control office and for storage for future reference.
It is another object to reduce the cost of gathering information by conversion of the optical signal provided by the bar-code slip into digital information by means of a central multi-channel detector, and by subsequent conversion of the digital information into alpha-numeric information by means of a central processing unit.
It is another important object to provide equipment for the task at relatively low cost, in order to enable even small establishments to purchase and install the production control means according to the present invention.
And it is a final object to make operation of the bar-code transmission as simple as possible, enabling every worker to handle the equipment at ease without the requirement of previous and lengthy training.

Production control by multiple branch bar-code readers


A method and apparatus for suppressing the impact of a compensator on line distance protection is provided, wherein the method comprises: obtaining a first current of a line connected to a compensator or series converters in the compensator, and a first voltage of a bus connected to the compensator or the line connected to the compensator; exiting the series converters and series transformers if the first current is greater than a preset current threshold and a duration is greater than a first preset time threshold; exiting the series converters and the series transformers if the first voltage is less than or equal to a preset voltage threshold and duration is greater than a second preset time threshold set the output voltage of the series converters to zero, and if a second current of an element corresponding to the first current meets conditions which the first current needs to meet; and otherwise, canceling the setting of the output voltage of the series converters to zero and obtaining a first current if a second voltage of the line corresponding to the first voltage is greater than the preset voltage threshold and the duration is greater than a third preset time threshold.

With the rapid development of interconnect technology of power systems, power systems for long-distance transmission have been widely used. In the operation process of the long-distance power systems, it is easily affected by factors such as environment and load demand, and system fluctuations occur, resulting in the problem of degraded performance on system stability control performance, AC/DC hybrid power grid coordination, and power flow control capability. In the prior art, control devices such as a Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC), a Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC), an Interline Power Flow Controller (IPFC) and a convertible static compensator are used to solve the above technical problems.
At present, the literature on the impact of static synchronous series compensator or the connection with UPFC on AC protection in the prior art includes: "Unified power flow controller and its impact on relay protection", "Unified power flow controller and its impact on distance protection", "Research on adaptive distance protection with unified power flow controller circuit"; and patent documents include: patent document with application No. CN201510732288.6 and the title of the invention of "a distance protection method for transmission lines with unified power flow controller"; patent document with application No. CN201610309848.1 and the title of the invention of "a fast distance protection method and device for transmission lines containing UPFC"; patent document with application No. CN201510371762.7 and the title of the invention of "a current transient direction protection with a unified power flow controller transmission line based on pattern recognition", and patent document with application No. CN201510371647.X and the title of the invention of "a transient energy protection method for a transmission line with a unified power flow controller".
However, the above existing literature mainly optimizes the protection function of line protection apparatus for line distance protection according to the working principle and characteristics of SSSC, UPFC, IPFC or convertible static compensator, but does not consider the control protection response characteristics of apparatus such as SSSC, UPFC, IPFC or convertible static compensator when power system fails, which reduce the distance protection performance of the line protection apparatus on the transmission line in the power system, and have no industrial practicability.

Method and apparatus for suppressing impact of compensator on line distance protection


A distance image representing a distribution of distances, each measured between the apparatus and each conceivable point existing on an object is input. The minimum points in the distance image are detected. The minimum points are some of the conceivable points on the object which have smaller distance values than the other conceivable points. The time differences, each representing a change which each point in the distance image assumes as time passes, are detected. A designating point for designating a command to the system is determined. The designating point is one of the minimum points which has changed in the time difference detected. A system is controlled in accordance with motion of the designating point determined.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device designed to input data for controlling or remote-controlling, for example, an electronic apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most of the data input devices (hereinafter called "control devices") hitherto developed to input control data are hand-held ones. A user operates a control device of this type, while holding it in hand. Control devices most commonly used in households are remote controllers. A remote controller has several buttons on it. The user holds it in a hand, aims it at an electronic apparatus and pushes one of the buttons. When the button is pushed, the remote controller emits an infrared beam to the apparatus, thus giving instructions to the apparatus.
Among the control devices hitherto developed, other than the hand-held ones, is a so-called touch panel. The touch panel comprises a transparent or opaque panel. When a user pushes any part of the panel with a finger or an elongated object, the touch panel inputs a data item representing the pushing of that part or the position of that part. A transparent panel may be mounted on a display screen displaying images of buttons. In this case, the user may push that part of the transparent panel located above one of the buttons displayed, thereby to input the data item indicating that the button has been selected.
In the field of image recognition, research has been done for a method of recognizing hand signaling and gestures. No practically usable methods have been developed, however. This is because various requirements are imposed, which are hard to fulfill in practice. More specifically, it is required that the background on which to display hands or a person be monotonous so that image data may be processed more easily. It is also required that the hands or the person be displayed in a relatively large size at the central part of a display screen.
Also, research has been conducted to facilitate image recognition. More precisely, an attempt has been made to develop a method in which stereoscopic analysis is performed on an object, based on trigonometrical survey, in order to recognize the three-dimensional shape of the object. Nonetheless, only a few cases are known in which image recognition techniques are applied to remote controllers.
A user cannot operate a remote controller unless he or she holds it in a hand. It is undesirable that the remote controller is held in a hand which has gotten dirty.
To operate a touch panel, the user need not hold anything at all. However, the panel may get dirty as the user repeatedly touches the panel with fingers. It may become so dirty that the images display on the display screen can no longer be seen through the panel. If the panel is dirty after a long use by a user, other users are discouraged to touch the panel in order to input data.
In the technique of recognizing hand signaling, achieved by processing the image data, the results are hardly reliable, greatly influenced by noise. The technique should therefore be improved to eliminate the influence of noise.
There is a great demand for control devices which can be operated by bare hands, without being held in hand or attached to a display screen. However, no control devices of this type have been provided.
Pointing devices, such as mouses, have hitherto been commonly used to control personal computers and the like. A pointing device is a data input device which is operated to input position data to a computer. Various types of pointing devices are available. The most popular of the pointing device is the mouse. The mouse comprises a housing and a ball contained in the housing. The ball can rotate in any direction with respect to the housing.
In use, the mouse is electrically connected to the computer and placed on a desk. Once the mouse is put on the desk, the ball contacts the desk top at one point. As the mouse is moved back, forth, leftward or rightward on the desk, the ball rotates with respect to the mouse housing. The angles through which the ball rotate in two directions are detected, either mechanically or optically. The data representing the angles detected is supplied to the computer In the computer, this data is processed into a direction and a distance, for which the cursor is moved on the display screen.
Pointing devices other than the mouse have been put to use for inputting data to computers. Among them are a touch pad, a track ball, a small joystick, a touch panel and a pen device.
The mouse is easy to operate to input data to the computer. However, the mouse can hardly be used unless there is a flat wide surface such as the top of a desk. To operate his computer outdoors, by using the mouse, the user needs to find something having a flat wide surface. In a train or a car, it would be impossible for him to use the mouse to input data to the computer placed on his laps. Even if a desk is provided, the mouse cannot be used if the desktop is covered with books, folders or documents. To use the mouse, the desktop has to be cleared.
Portable computers, each having a pointing device other than the mouse, are now used in increasing numbers. The pointing device on the portable computer is a track ball, a touch pad, a small joystick or the like. The track ball is rotated with a finger. The direction and distance the track ball is rotated are detected, and the data representing them is input to the computer. The touch pad, available in various types, can detect the position of any part touched. When stroked with the user's finger, the touch pad generates data representing the direction and distance it is thus stroked.
A small joystick is shaped like a lever. It is provided on a keyboard. In most cases, it protrudes upwards, from among "G", "H" and "B" keys. When the joystick is rotated, the direction and angle by which it is rotated are detected. The direction and the angles are converted into two data items which represent the direction and distance for which the cursor is to move on the display screen. The data items are input to the computer.
Pointing accomplished by using a mouse, a track ball, a touch pad, or a small joystick proceeds in the following sequence of steps:
1. Detect the position the cursor assumes now. PA1 2. Determine a target position to which the cursor is to be moved. PA1 3. Determine the direction and distance for which the cursor is to be moved. PA1 4. Input data items representing the direction and the distance, thus determined. PA1 1. Determine a target position on the screen, to which the cursor is to be moved. PA1 2. Touch that part of the panel which is aligned with the target position on the screen. PA1 second point-motion detecting means for detecting that the finger tip is moved to select a menu item.
Steps 1 and 2 are interchangeable. Steps 3 and 4 may be repeated so that the cursor may keep moving in various directions in different directions.
The movement of the operator's hand for using the mouse differs from the movement of his hand for using other pointing devices. When the pointing is made by using the mouse, the position of the mouse approximately corresponds to the position of the cursor. Of course, when the mouse is lifted up and then moved, the relation between the mouse position and the cursor position is changed. Further, if the mouse driver having a function of accelerating the cursor is used, the mouse position does not completely correspond to the cursor position. However, from a view point of short distance operation, it can be said that the mouse position approximately corresponds to the cursor position. In other words, when moving the cursor, the operator may move his hand holding the mouse similar to the movement of the cursor.
By contrast, when a track ball, a touch pad or a small joystick is used to move the cursor on the display screen, the motion of the cursor is different from the motion of the user's hand.
In the case of a track ball, the direction and angle by which the ball is rotated correspond to the direction and distance for which the cursor moves, as long as the ball is rotated at a single touch to move the cursor for a relatively short distance. To move the cursor for a longer distance, the user rotates the ball more than two times, repeatedly moving the hand back and forth. Obviously, the motion of the cursor is no longer the same as the motion of the hand.
In the case of a touch pad, the motion of the user's finger stroking the pad is similar to the motion of the cursor on the display screen, provided that the cursor is moved by a single stroke on the pad to move the cursor for a relatively short distance. To move the cursor for a longer distance, the user strokes the pad two or more times, moving his hand back and forth. Hence, the motion of the cursor does not correspond to the motion of the hand.
In the case of a small joystick, the direction in which the stick is rotated and the time for which the stick is held in the rotated position correspond to the direction and distance for which the cursor moves. While the user's hand is holding the stick at a rotated position, the cursor keeps moving. The user must rotate the stick minutely to adjust the position of the cursor as long as the stick is rotated at a single touch to move the cursor for a relatively short distance. To move the cursor for a longer distance, the user must rotate the stick two times or more, by repeatedly moving the hand back and force. Thus, the motion of the cursor does not correspond to the motion of the hand. Therefore, the motion of the cursor does not correspond to the motion of the user's hand.
The difference between the mouse and any other pointing device with respect to the relationship between the motion of the cursor and that of the user's hand is conspicuous, particularly for Steps 3 and 4 of the pointing described above. In Steps 3 and 4, the cursor is first moved a long distance and then moved repeatedly, each time for a much shorter distance. The user can move the cursor a long distance at a fairly high speed by using a mouse if he has grasped the preset speed ratio between the cursor and the mouse.
To move the cursor a long distance by using a track ball or a touch pad, however, the user must rotate the ball or stroke the pad, several times. To move the cursor a long distance by using a small joystick or a touch pad, he must rotate the stick, keep watching the cursor moving on the screen and rotate the stick back as the cursor gets near the target.
To move the cursor a very short distance in a desired direction by using a mouse, the user only need to move the mouse in the same direction. When the user uses a touch pad to move the cursor in the same way, the user may stroke the pad in the same direction, but it is difficult for him to move his finger smoothly on the pad due to the friction between the pad and the finger tip. If the user touches the pad rather lightly in order to move the cursor minutely, his finger will likely leave the pad, inevitably making a clicking error. To move the cursor a very short distance in a desired direction, the user may operate a small joystick. In this cases the user must repeat slightly rotating the stick and rotating it back, each time to move the cursor a little. It takes a long time to move the cursor, bit by bit.
Generally, the mouse excels in operability but is disadvantageous in terms of portability, whereas the touch pad, track ball and small joystick are quite portable but inferior in operability.
The user a touch panel in place of a mouse, to perform pointing. If a transparent touch panel is mounted on the display screen, the user can designate any desired point on the screen, merely by touching that part of the panel which is aligned with the desired point of the screen.
Pointing accomplished by using a touch panel proceeds in only the following two steps, far less than in the pointing achieved by means of a mouse, a track ball, a touch pad, or a small joystick
However, some problems arise when a touch panel is used to accomplish pointing. First, the user's finger touching the panel conceals that part of the displayed data which is located at the target position. Second, it is impossible to point anything displayed that is smaller than the finger tip. Third, the display screen gets dirty as it is repeatedly touched with fingers. Further, to drag a menu item on the display screen, the user needs to stroke the touch panel with his finger. The user is discouraged from stroking the touch panel, however, in fear of soiling the panel or feeling frictional touch on the panel.
The user may touch the panel, selecting any desired menu item and then touch the panel again at a different part thereof, in order to display the selected icon at that position on the screen which is aligned with the part of the panel he has touched again. If this is the case, the menu item does not appear as if being dragged to that position on the screen. This may be why touch panels are attached to the display screens of portable computers, though they are used as the operation panels of ATMs (installed at banks) which display large buttons and keys or are provided on word processors of a particular type.
Some touch panels are designed to be touched with a pen. They are more popular than any other pointing device, as a device for inputting data into personal electronic apparatuses. They have been commercialized as an input interface of pen computers and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants). When touched with a pen, the touch panel can select smaller menu items and gets less dirty than when touched with fingers, and can easily drag the selected menu item to any desired position on the display screen. In addition, the user can input data representing hand-written characters by writing the characters with the pen on the touch panel.
To use the pen in combination with the touch panel, the user has to hold the pen in a hand. This does not matter if the panel is attached to a PDA. When the touch panel is used along with a keyboards as in the case of inputting data into a portable computers it would be cumbersome for the user to lift one hand off the keyboard and then hold the pen instead in this hand, in order to point any desired item displayed on the screen. Even in the case of a touch panel on a PDA, the user may feel it troublesome to take the pen to point a desired item displayed on the screens though he may not feel it so troublesome when he moves the pen to input characters into the portable computer. Being a small item, the pen is likely to be lost. The pen may be tied to the touch panel by a string. If the pen is tied to the panel, however, it becomes difficult for the user to use the pen.
The user may designate any desired item displayed on the screen, without using a pointing device of any type. For example, a data input device may be used which processes the image data representing the user's hand, thereby detecting the shape and position of the user's hand. Such a data input device, if any, enables the user to designate a desired one of items displayed on the screen, only by pointing the desired item with a finger. As a result, the motion of the cursor is as faithful to the motion of the finger, as to the motion of a mouse. Needless to say, it is far easier to move a finger than to operate a touch pad, a track ball or a small joystick, in order to point any desired item on the display screen. In addition, no flat wide surface is required as in the case wherein a mouse is used to point any item displayed on the screen. The user need not touch the display screen, and the display screen can remain clean. Nor does the user have to hold a pen device in the hand.
Any desired item displayed on the screen may be designated by another method, without using a pointing device of any type. In this method, a color marker is used to mark a part of the user's hand, and the color-marked part of the hand is detected from an image of the hand. The method is widely employed by various apparatuses for determining and analyzing the motions of objects. It can be applied to pointing devices for use in combination with portable computers. However, it cannot be practiced without using expensive image-processing hardware. Nor can it work well if any garment the user wears happens to be of the same color as the marker Further, the user may not be willing to have his hand marked by the color marker. In view of these disadvantages, the method hardly seems practical.
Pointing systems have been made on a research basis, each recognizing the user's bare hand and the position of the tip of any finger, from an image of the user's hand. These pointing systems do not work well in most cases, because it is usually very difficult to distinguish the image of the hand from the images of other moving objects.
As has been mentioned, every pointing technique developed hitherto is advantageous in one respect and disadvantageous in another. It can hardly be said that a pointing device is available which functions well in combination with portable computers, even when the computers are used outdoors.

Method and apparatus for controlling computer without touching input device


Provided is a light-emitting device that has a high emission efficiency, excellent stability and temperature properties, and that generates light having a high color rendering property sufficient for practical use. This semiconductor light-emitting device (1) comprises a semiconductor light-emitting element (2) that emits blue light, a green phosphor (14) that absorbs the blue light and emits green light, and an orange phosphor (13) that absorbs the blue light and emits orange light, and is characterized in that the orange phosphor is an Eu-activated α-SiAlON phosphor having an emission spectrum peak wavelength within a range of 595 to 620 nm.

Semiconductor light-emitting elements such as a light-emitting diode (LED) and the like have advantages that they are small, have a little power consumption, and are able to stably perform high brightness light emission, and in recent years, a movement is ongoing to replace illumination devices such as an incandescent light and the like with illumination devices using a light-emitting device that emits white light and includes an LED. As the LED that emits the white light, for example, there is a combination of a blue LED and a Ce-activated. YAG fluorescent material that is indicated by a composition formula of (Y, Gd)3(Al, Ga)5O12:Ce.
In the light-emitting device having the above structure, the white light is achieved by mixing of blue light from the LED and yellow light from the Ce-activated YAG fluorescent material as the fluorescent material. In this structure, a red color component is deficient because of a light emission property of the Ce-activated YAG fluorescent material, and in a case of being used in a home illumination device and the like, for example, a disadvantage that human skin colors look unnaturally and the like occur.
Specifically, in the above light-emitting device, in a color temperature region defined by a neutral white color and a warm white color that are used in the illumination device, an average color rendering evaluation number (hereinafter, called Ra) is about 70 to about 75, and a special color rendering evaluation number (hereinafter, called R9) indicating how the red color looks is about −40 to about −5, accordingly, when used as an illumination device, the red color looks extremely poorly.
Because of this, to improve the above color rendering property such as Ra, R9 and the like, a structure and the like are proposed, in which besides the above blue LED, a yellow fluorescent material such as a YAG fluorescent material and the like, a green fluorescent material and a red fluorescent material of a nitride relative and the like are combined. Under the circumstances, a patent document 1 discloses a white light-emitting device that uses a blue LED as an excitation light source and is obtained by combining an orange fluorescent material and a green fluorescent material that have a light emission wavelength of 560 to 590 nm as a combination that has both high color rendering property and stability. Although not as a specific example of the white light-emitting device obtained by combining fluorescent materials, this document discloses an α SiAlON fluorescent material and a β SiAlON fluorescent material as examples of the orange fluorescent material and the green fluorescent material, respectively.
A patent document 2 discloses and proposes a combination of an Eu-activated α SiAlON fluorescent material as the yellow fluorescent material, an Eu-activated β SiAlON fluorescent material as the green fluorescent material, and an Eu-activated CaAlSiN3 fluorescent material as the red fluorescent material.
Besides, a non-patent document 1 shows a relationship between: Ra of a white LED obtained by combining a fluorescent material and a blue LED; and a theoretical limit of luminous efficacy that indicates a theoretical limit of luminous efficiency of a light-emitting device. A non-patent document 2 discloses a method that is described in the non-patent document 1 and used to measure internal quantum efficiency of a fluorescent material, and a non-patent document 3 discloses Eu-activated SrAlSiN3 as an example of another kind of fluorescent material that has a composition different from the fluorescent material disclosed in the present application.


A braid termination structure having an outer ring with an inner profile for fitting over the shielding braid for electrical and mechanical engagement therewith and being affixed to a shielding shell of an electrical connector wherein the braid is positively captured in an outer ring and is fixed thereto by welding.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to shielded electrical cable and shielded electrical connectors to be affixed thereto, and in particular to the termination of the shielding braid about the electrical cable.
2. Summary of the Prior Art
When terminating shielded electrical cable, it is common to electrically couple the shielding braid of the cable to a shield member of an electrical connector or electrical device. One way of accomplishing this is to attach the braid directly to the shield by welding or soldering. Another method is to include a crimp ring that fits about the braid of the cable and may be crimped thereto such that the braid is positively retained. After crimping, the crimp ring must be commoned with the connector shield. Another known solution is to crimp the braid directly to the connector housing. This may be accomplished by providing a flange that extends from the shield that would fit beneath the braid and provide a crimp ring thereover that, when crimped, tightly fastens the braid therebetween. It is also known to join the braid to a shield flange directly, as described above, but rather than using a crimp ring, a second ring is used that is press fit thereupon, thereby captivating the braid therebetween.
While the aforementioned concepts work reasonably well to form an electrical connection with the braid, they are not altogether satisfactory in some applications, such as with miniature connectors. For example, it is difficult to reliably common and affix a crimped ring to a shield of a connector as the outer surface of the crimp ring has been distorted by the crimping operation and the crimping does not always yield a positive engagement with the braid as the braid is typically flexible and not supported underneath. In addition, welding of the braid directly to the shield typically results in only an electrical connection occurring over only a portion of the braid and the heat produced may be sufficient to damage the shielding braid of the smaller cables associated with miniature connectors. While the concept of press fitting a ring directly about a braid spread over a flange of a shield works admirably, it does have a problem in that it is not always possible to form a flange in the connector housing. Especially in miniature connectors it may not be possible for the shielding to provide adequate structural integrity. What is needed is a way to reliably engage the braid, desirably over a large portion thereof. The structure used should be simple to use and adaptable to many operations without requiring excessive high precision tolerancing.

Shielding braid termination for a shielded electrical connector


Disclosed is a method for determining the presence and/or amount Oran analyte of interest in a liquid sample comprising the steps of: contacting the liquid sample suspected of containing analyte with a gas generating means (eg. catalase and peracid or peroxygen compound), which gas generating means forms a gas dependent upon the presence, absence or amount of analyte, which gas creates one or more bubbles in the liquid sample which act to alter the flow of liquid along a flow path; and determining an alteration of flow in the liquid wherein the alteration of flow of liquid along the flow path is indicative of the presence and/or amount of analyte in the liquid sample.

Cheap, disposable assay devices e.g. of the sort routinely used at home or point-of-care, tend to fall into one of two types: lateral flow assay devices, and micro fluidics devices.
Lateral flow assay devices such as disclosed by EP291194, are those of the type in which a liquid sample is applied, directly or (more usually) indirectly, to a porous matrix, such as a nitrocellulose or paper filter. The liquid sample migrates along the porous matrix, generally mobilising a dried assay reagent or component (typically a labelled antibody such as a particulate labelled antibody) releasably immobilised on the porous matrix. Typically the labelled antibody forms a complex with the analyte of interest in the sample, which labelled complex is usually then captured in a detection region of the porous matrix, by a second antibody for the analyte of interest. Accumulation of the labelled binding reagent in the detection region or zone is therefore indicative of the presence, absence or extent of analyte in a liquid sample. It will be appreciated that other variants of lateral flow assays exist, in particular competition format assays in which a labelled reagent tends to be captured in the detection zone if the analyte is not present in the sample. Lateral flow assay devices are routinely used for example to determine the presence or absence of the pregnancy hormone hCG and to provide the user with an indication of either being pregnant or not pregnant.
Detection of labelled reagent at the detection zone may be carried out visually or by means a photodetector. Visual read non electronic assay devices have the advantage of being low cost, however a problem associated with such assay devices, especially pregnancy-testing devices and/or home-use assay devices, is that they provide an assay result as a signal of variable strength, which can require a degree of interpretation. This leaves the assay result open to misinterpretation, especially where the user or reader of the assay device has a preferred assay result in mind. These tests are often provided as threshold tests, with levels of labelled reagent below the threshold, in the case of a sandwich assay, indicating a negative result and levels of labelled reagent above the threshold indicating a positive result. As a consequence, electronic digital devices have been developed wherein the presence or amount of the labelled reagent is determined by means of a photodetector and the result of the assay displayed on an LCD display. Such digital devices have the advantage in that they provide an unambiguous result such as "YES" or "NO" which does not require interpretation. Such devices may be single use and therefore disposable. They are however expensive to produce as they typically require one or more photodetectors, one or more light sources such as an LED, a power source, an electronic circuit and a digital display. Furthermore the disposal of electronic devices has environmental issues.
In a microfluidics assay device, many of the same principles as used in a lateral flow assay may be employed. However, instead of the liquid sample being applied to a porous matrix, the sample is applied or fed into a conduit or channel, along which the liquid advances, usually by means of capillary action. A detection zone may be provided on an inner surface of the channel on which for example an immobilised binding reagent is provided. Micro fluidic devices have particular advantages in that the flow path is well defined and the device may be engineered to incorporate microfabricated elements such as bifurcations, mixing regions, flow control elements, time gates, filters and so on. Examples of microfluidic assay devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,852.
Assay devices for measuring an analyte wherein the rate of flow of a liquid along a flow path is indicative of the presence or extent of an analyte are known.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,498 discloses a micro fluidic device for the measurement of an analyte in, or a property of a fluid sample wherein reagents present in the device affect the flow rate of the sample. The device may comprise both a test capillary and a reference or control capillary.
EP456699 discloses an apparatus for testing the presence of a substance in a liquid comprising a sample application port connected to a number of fluid conduits upstream from respective indicator chambers. According to an example, agglutination reagents present in the fluid conduits interact with the sample in order to change its flow rate, for example, preventing the liquid from reaching an indicator chamber within the time frame of the assay.
A capillary device for testing for the presence of a substance is also disclosed by WO2004/083859. The device works by causing agglutination of a liquid sample in a test capillary in the presence of an analyte of interest (typically, human chorionic gonadotropin, hCG), which agglutination prevents the flow of liquid sample in the test capillary but not in a control capillary (which contains no agglutination reagents). The presence or absence of liquid sample at downstream portions of the test and control capillaries is detected by electrodes.
It is also known (e.g. from WO 2006/090144) to provide microfluidics assay devices in which a flow path is formed with a discontinuity therein, e.g. in the form of a portion of a flow path channel having an orifice or aperture too large to be bridged by the advancing liquid sample; and wherein the orifice or aperture can be filled by the same or another liquid (e.g. having flowed along a second flow path), thereby acting as a "bridge" allowing the liquid sample to advance past the discontinuity. This arrangement can form the basis of a "binary assay device", in which the presence or absence of the analyte of interest in a sample influences the rate of advance of the liquid sample along one or more different flow paths within an assay device, which in turn can determine whether a liquid flowing along a particular one of the flow paths enters an 'indicator' region of the assay device, thereby indicating in simple qualitative terms (e.g. "yes" or "no") the result of the assay, thus removing any element of subjectivity about interpretation of the assay result without the need for sophisticated electronics or other display means.
A variant of the arrangement described above is disclosed in WO2008/025945, in which there is a "race" between liquid flowing along a 'test' flow path and a liquid flowing along a reference flow path. There is a junction region in which the test and reference flow paths contact one another. If the liquid flowing along the reference flow path "wins the race" and reaches the junction region before the liquid flowing along the test flow path, then the further flow of liquid along the test flow path is prevented.

Assay device comprising bubble-forming means


A method for processing and analyzing digital terrain data utilizing Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED). The method comprises defining approach azimuth and visibility limitations angle which are used for defining directional fans by determining fan opening angle, fan azimuth, and maximal range for terrain analysis. At least one directional fan data set is constructed from at least one source point within the DTED, where the directional fan includes line of sight information between said source point and DTED points located within said directional fan. The method further comprises interrogating said data sets by one or more queries to obtain terrain information for given approach conditions.

Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED) generally consists of a two-dimensional array of terrain elevation points, each of which specifies the height of a terrain point above sea level. Therefore, it constitutes a convenience terrain map for computer representation and analysis. Unlike regular topographic maps, which represent terrains by continuous contour lines of equal heights, a DTED is, composed of equally distant terrain elevation points, and is analyzed and processed for construction of Digital Terrain Models (DTM) according to the specific requirements of the particular intended use.
For instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,396 a DTED in which intervals between adjacent points are of 300 ft is utilized to generate DTMs intended to help in flight navigation and mission management. The DTED is utilized to generate DTMs in which surfaces featuring potential danger (e.g., collision) to the air vehicle at its altitude, are displayed in different colors, according to the degree of threat they possess. Such DTMs can be easily generated by thresholding the DTED with respect to air vehicle altitude. However, this operation requires processing of each and every point in the DTED of interest, which can result in a costly computation time.
The computation complexity and processing time required to analyze a DTED become even more problematic when there is a need to examine the relations between the DTED points for extracting sophisticated DTMs. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,686 several DTMs are constructed from a DTED in which the intervals between adjacent points are typically of 800 meters. In said patent "hideability" and "flyability" DTMs are generated for mission planning. The "hidability" DTM is obtained by applying a "hidability transformation" to each and every point in the DTED. The "hidability transformation" is obtained by computing a line of sight area calculation between each point in the DTED to each and every point within an area of some radius R (on the order of thirty miles, i.e., computing a line of sight area to more than 11220 points within said radius). Similarly, the "flyability" DTM is generated by calculating a "slopeness" value to each and every point in the DTED, which is based on the heights of the eight points located in its proximity.
Because of such approach, a vast database is produced, most of which is eventually left unused and is therefore unnecessary. Other results of this approach are a large amount of memory and processing time required to carry out a specific query in such data bases.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the generation of such sophisticated DTMs involves many complex computations, and thus results in substantially long computation time which is unacceptable in real time applications. There is therefore a great need for improved DTED processing and analyzing methods, which allow faster processing and involve fewer computations in the DTM generation process.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and system for the fast and efficient generation of Digital Terrain Models (DTMO) utilizing a simplified and compact representation of DTED point.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and a system for DTMO generation, which requires a minimal set of data per point of area of interest, and which can be efficiently stored in a compressed form.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and a system for mission planning by terrain analysis and study, via on line update and inquiry of DTMOs.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method and a system for increasing compression rate of the data required for the construction of Mission Digital Terrain Models (MDTMO) for large terrain areas.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a method and a system for minimizing the inquiry time that is required to obtain the information required to construct MDTMOs, and to retrieve pertinent data from MDTMOs.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method and a system for the on line inquiry of mission state such as exposability of area and maps of dominance/weakness areas.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and a system for the on line analysis of mission state in combination of communication ability, exposability, and mission conditions such as weather and vehicle performance envelope.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

Method and system for processing and analyzing Digital Terrain Data

Rafael-Armament Development Authority Ltd.