The carpet tape dispenser has a convex forward wall, a concave rearward wall, and at least one sidewall joined to the convex forward wall and concave rearward wall to define an arcuate main body having a channel therein. At least one plate is fixed to the arcuate main body and extends forward from at least one side wall. The arcuate main body and at least one plate define a view window. An iron engaging arm is fixed to the arcuate main body and adapted to receive a heating iron. A tape mounting arm is fixed to the arcuate main body and extends upward at an angle from the iron engaging arm. A tape holder having an arcuate base and at least one vertical side skirt extending upwardly from at least one edge of the arcuate base is mounted to the tape mounting arm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to apparatus for joining two abutting pieces of carpeting. More specifically, the present invention is a carpet tape dispenser for carpet seaming tape used in the seaming operation between carpet strips, which are normally installed within a home or place of business.
2. Description of the Related Art
A roll of wall-to-wall carpeting typically comes in standard widths of nine, twelve, fifteen or eighteen foot widths. In order to produce a continuous piece of material that will sufficiently cover a floor area, the carpet must be cut and joined together. When this occurs, a carpet installer will join the abutting sections of carpet together with seams. A carpet seaming tape is placed on the floor underneath the carpet backing to secure the abutting carpet edges that are being joined together.
The carpet seaming tape normally has an adhesive strip on the upper surface that is heated by a heating iron to a temperature sufficient to melt the adhesive. Once the adhesive is melted, the abutting edges of the two carpet sections are pressed onto the melted adhesive strip. After the adhesive cools, the two sections of carpeting are bonded in abutted relationship to achieve the appearance of an uninterrupted piece of carpet.
A common practice employed by carpet installers is to manually position the carpet seaming tape beneath the edge portions of carpet pieces to be joined by lifting those edge portions and physically placing the carpet tape in position. However, it is often difficult and time consuming to accurately position the tape centrally beneath the seam being formed. Moreover, the installer often has to reposition the carpet tape to ensure that it is centered between the abutting edges of adjacent carpet sections when applying the heating iron.
Accordingly, there is a need for a carpet tape dispenser that will properly position the carpet seaming tape for an even distribution of adhesive between the abutting edges of the carpet pieces to be joined. There is a further need for a carpet tape dispenser that will reduce carpet installation time by providing a means to dispense the roll of carpet seaming tape while simultaneously heating the adhesive with the heating iron.
Various devices have been proposed for dispensing carpet seaming tape. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,091, issued Apr. 8, 1986 to Lane, describes a tape holding container having a spindle within the container to dispense a roll of tape. A pair of cylindrical tape guides are positioned at the front and rear of the container to direct the tape from the roll through a discharge passage and across a trailing plate to be heated by a heating iron.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,810, issued Mar. 8, 1988 to Brooks, discloses a carpet tape dispenser having a main frame carried by divergent legs and runners. A roll of carpet tape is mounted on a stub extending transversely from a frame member fixed to the main frame. A tape guide is located between a pair of carpet separating arms that extend below the main frame. A handle is pivotally mounted to the main frame to allow the dispenser to be drawn or pushed along the carpet seam. As the dispenser is moved, the guides lift and separate the opposed carpet edges so that the seaming tape can pass between and beneath the separated edges.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,390, issued Mar. 1, 1994 to Roman et al., shows a carpet tape seam applicator having a pair of U-shaped bracket portions that are pivoted together at their open ends and have a removable spindle mounted adjacent the pivot to carry a roll of carpet tape. Small wheels are mounted to a tape guide shaft that is positioned at one end of the applicator and a bracket arm is located at the opposite end of the applicator to receive a handle portion of a heat bonding iron. The tape is fed over the tape guide shaft and is unrolled onto the floor surface as the small wheels of the applicator move forward.
Other patents showing carpet seaming tape dispensers include U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,040, issued Apr. 22, 1986 to Anderson (carpet seaming apparatus with a flexible elongated backing of non-stick heat reflective material); U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,396, issued Sep. 23, 1986 to Scarborough (carpet seaming apparatus that includes a hot glue dispensing gun with a nozzle); U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,150, issued Sep. 26, 1995 to Hoopengardner (tape dispenser used in conjunction with a seaming iron); U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,186, issued Feb. 14, 1995 to Knockum (carpet seam tape apparatus with a clamp to engage the carpet seam tape); and U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,178, issued Oct. 16, 2001 to Givens (carpet seaming tool constructed to eliminate the transfer of heat from the iron to the carpet).
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a carpet tape dispenser solving the aforementioned problems is desired.


A rechargeable battery, including an electrode assembly having a first electrode plate, a second electrode plate, and a separator, a first terminal electrically connected to the first electrode plate, a case accommodating the electrode assembly and the first terminal, and a cap assembly sealing the case. The first terminal includes a first collector plate in the case electrically connected to the first electrode plate of the electrode assembly, a first electrode terminal exposed to a top surface of the cap assembly, the first electrode terminal having a first terminal hole passing through a top and bottom surface of the first electrode terminal, and a first connection terminal having a first side electrically connected to the first electrode terminal and a second side electrically connected to the first collector plate, the first connection terminal having a first fuse hole at the first side.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to a rechargeable battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Low capacity rechargeable batteries may be composed of a single cell, and may be used for portable small electronic devices, such as mobile phones, and camcorders. Large capacity rechargeable batteries may be composed of a plurality of cells connected in the form of a pack, and may be used drive motors of hybrid electric vehicles.


This invention relates to a method for managing the risk of an adverse interaction between teriflunomide and a substrate of breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) and/or organic anion transporting polypeptide B1 and B3 (OATP1B1/B3).

Teriflunomide is a novel oral disease-modifying therapy (DMT) for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (RMS). Teriflunomide blocks de novo pyrimidine synthesis, which inhibits the replication and function of activated (but not resting) lymphocytes.
The compound of (Z)-2-cyano-3-hydroxy-but-2-enoic acid-(4′-trifluoromethylphenyI)-amide (also known as teriflunomide, Formula I) is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,709.

The use of teriflunomide for treating multiple sclerosis is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,794,410. In vitro, teriflunomide inhibits of human OATP1B1 with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 7.1 μM, OATP1B3 with an IC50 of 7.04 μM, OAT3 with an IC50 of 1.3 μM and BCRP with an IC50 of 0.15 μM.
Rosuvastatin, a hypocholesterolemiant drug, is a selective, reversible, competitive inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutarylcoenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, the rate-limiting enzyme that converts HMG-CoA to mevalonate early in the cholesterol pathway. Rosuvastatin is a substrate for NTCP, OATP1B1, OATPB1B3, organic anion transporter 3 (OAT3) and BCRP transporters.
During an interaction study with teriflunomide, it is now found that administration of this active principle together with rosuvastatin causes an increase in the plasma concentration of rosuvastatin.

Methods for reducing the risk of an adverse teriflunomide and rosuvastatin interaction in multiple sclerosis patients


A broadcast receiver and a method for displaying channel information are disclosed, in which video signals of each channel are displayed in a multi-PIP mode when a channel list is displayed, so that a user can identify the channel list through video. Therefore, since broadcasting channel program information is displayed in real time in the multi-PIP mode of a video type, the user can share the broadcasting information with a broadcasting station in real time. Also, since the user can readily identify information on various broadcasting channels on a channel edition screen, it is possible to facilitate channel edition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a broadcast receiver, and more particularly, to a method for displaying channel information, in which channel information is displayed to allow a user to readily view it.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Digital broadcasting has been studied and developed based upon high picture quality, multi-channel, and multi-function. Particularly, broadcast providers have schemed out digital broadcasting of multi-channel and high picture quality to provide consumers having various tastes and various levels as well as the existing users with their desired broadcasting contents. To this end, a digital broadcast receiver suitable for such a trend toward multi-channel broadcasting is required.
A plurality of channels are essentially required to provide various broadcasting contents. In this case, there occurs some difficulty in selecting a channel for providing desired information among various channels.
In other words, in the related art, since only a channel number is displayed for channel edition such as setting a preference channel list, there occurs inconvenience in that a user should directly select a corresponding channel or refer to a broadcasting program list so as to acquire information on the channel.
In this case, a problem occurs in that the user requires much time and key input operation. Also, a problem occurs in that the user should fully search for respective channels to select a desired channel from a broadcasting program having a plurality of channels.

Broadcast receiver and method for displaying channel information


Methods and systems for alignment of a subject for medical imaging are disclosed, and involve providing a reference image of an anatomical region of the subject, the anatomical region comprising a target tissue, processing the reference image to generate an alignment reference image, displaying the alignment reference image concurrently with real-time video of the anatomical region, and aligning the real-time video with the alignment reference image to overlay the real-time video with the alignment reference image. Following such alignment, the subject may be imaged using, for example, fluorescence imaging, wherein the fluorescence imaging may be performed by an image acquisition assembly aligned in accordance with the alignment.

Medical imaging relates to techniques and processes of producing a visual representation of an aspect of a subject's body for clinical analysis and/or medical intervention. Examples of medical imaging include computed tomography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Medical imaging can also include optical modalities such as fluorescence medical imaging.
In medical imaging applications, careful setup of the subject for imaging is important. Specifically, in instances where image data is going to be compared with previous or future images, it is desirable to reproduce the positioning of the imaging means (e.g., the camera or imaging head) in relation to the anatomical region of interest of the subject, or vice versa, such that the field of view and orientation of the region of interest is the same or close to the same relative to the imaging means for all images. Alignment of the positioning in this fashion helps to ensure reproducibility over time and minimizes inaccuracies in the assessment of subjects undergoing assessments. Furthermore, such alignment techniques facilitate the use of quantitative image analysis to aid in the comparative assessments.
Currently available technologies for alignment of a subject to be imaged are cumbersome. Typically, positioning of the subject and/or the imaging means is based on approximation of the positioning of the subject by the operator by visual comparison of the subject to a previously acquired image. Such an approach may be time consuming; may be difficult to perform when the subject has issues with mobility; and may be affected by the level of operator experience, visual subjective judgment, and the amount of time the operator takes to perform the setup. Alignments achieved using such an approach may be inaccurate or unreliable. Accordingly, less than optimal imaging may result.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A mudmat in which the bearing plates of the mudmat are fabricated of a non-corrosive, man-made structural material such as plastic. The plates, formed of such a material, are lightweight, easily fabricated and generally less expensive than the prior art plates and their associated support structure. In one preferred embodiment, the plates are formed of extruded polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or a fiber reinforced composite such as thermoset resin reinforced with glass fibers (GRP). The individual plates are supported by standard frame members. The PVC or GRP plates are of such a size, shape and weight that they can easily be transported to, assembled and attached to the offshore jacket at the jacket fabrication site. Being formed of such materials, the plates are corrosion resistant, eliminating the need for cathodic protection. In addition, the PVC or GRP plates are much lighter in weight than the wood or metal plates of the prior art, such that they have much less impact on the buoyancy and weight of the jackets to which they are attached. In one preferred embodiment, the plates may be corrugated to enhance resistance to horizontal and vertical displacement forces placed on the offshore jacket.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for temporarily supporting an offshore platform substructure or jacket on soft, unconsolidated ocean floors, and more particularly to a mudmat that is lightweight and corrosion resistant.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Currently, much of the hydrocarbons produced from the earth are extracted from beneath the ocean floor. Various types of structures have been employed in these offshore extraction operations. Typically, the structures consist of a horizontal working platform or equipment deck which is supported above the water's surface by a substructure, commonly referred to as an offshore jacket. Offshore jackets are most often fabricated onshore, towed or transported by barge to the drilling site, and lowered to the proper position on the sea floor.
Generally, an offshore jacket is comprised of at least three substantially vertical legs that are interconnected by framing or cross-bracing members to form a triangular or rectangular base, wherein a leg is disposed at each corner of the base. In its upright position, the jacket rest on the sea floor with the bottom of the legs resting on the sea floor or slightly penetrating into the soil. The jacket is secured to the sea floor with piles which are either driven through the legs or driven through sleeves attached to the legs.
In many areas of the world, the soil of the sea floor is unconsolidated and very soft resulting in very low allowable bearing pressures. These soft sea floors occur frequently near the mouths of large rivers that empty into the oceans. Sea beds in the world which exhibit high hydrocarbon content but are characterized by soft soils from river deltas include areas in the Gulf of Mexico, west Africa and southeast Asia.
The low bearing pressures of these unconsolidated sea floors create jacket support problems during installation of offshore platforms. Specifically, without adequate support, the legs of a jacket will sink into the sea floor, causing the jacket to either fall onto its side or settle lower than design specifications. In any case, jacket settling due to a soft sea floor can negatively effect the alignment of the jacket as it is positioned at the drilling site. In this same vein, difficulties often arise during pile driving operations, which are generally completed within one to two weeks of placing a jacket in position on the sea floor. As a pile is driven into the sea bed through a sleeve, the leg or portion of the jacket to which the sleeve is attached tends to sink into the soft mud under forces applied during the pile driving operation, thus effecting the overall alignment of the jacket.
One solution to the difficulties associated with unconsolidated sea floors is to provide a structure that spreads the downward forces applied to the jacket over a larger area of the sea floor. The most common structure for accomplishing this task is called a mudmat. A mudmat has a very large surface area that rests against the sea floor (as opposed to the comparatively small surface area of a jacket leg), distributing the load of the jacket over a larger sea floor, thus allowing the jacket to properly stand on the soft sea floor and to provide stability during pile-driving operations.
Mudmats are typically comprised of framing members which are attached to and provide support to a bearing plate. The bearing plate rests against the sea floor and provides the large surface area for force distribution. The mudmats themselves are attached to the bottom of a jacket, most often adjacent the legs of the jacket. Originally, bearing plates were fabricated from wood timbers with large amounts of steel support structure to back the bearing plates. These "wooden mudmats", however, are characterized by a number of drawbacks. The large, long timbers most suitable in fabricating such mudmats are often difficult to obtain and comparatively expensive. Such mudmats also require substantial amounts of man-hours to assemble and require large mounts of steel to provide the necessary backing support structure. Finally, although wooden mudmats provide some buoyancy in water, approximately 5-10 pounds per square foot, such mudmats are comparatively heavy in air, weighing approximately 30-40 pounds per square foot. The bulky nature of these prior art mudmats, i.e., large surface areas combined with comparatively large weights, render such mudmats difficult to manipulate and install.
One solution to the drawbacks associated with wooden mudmats has been to fabricate mudmat bearing plates out of stiffened steel plates, corrugated steel plates or steel sheet piles. These "steel mudmats" offer a number of improvements over wooden mudmats. Steel mudmats require less backing support structure than wooden mudmats. In addition, steel mudmats typically weigh less than wooden mudmats. Specifically, steel mudmats typically weigh in air approximately 22-30 pounds per square foot. However, steel mudmats have their own drawbacks. Steel mudmats are themselves comparatively heavy and are characterized by high fabrication costs. More significantly, steel mudmats are subject to high corrosion rates unless protected in some manner.
The functional life of mudmats is approximately the one to two weeks required for the pile-driving operations to be completed. After the installation of the piles, the mudmats become functionally useless for the remaining life of the offshore platform. However, offshore platforms are designed for a functional life of typically 10, 20, or 30 years, depending upon the development of the oil and gas field. Though the mudmats are functionally useless, steel mudmats are parasitic in nature in that they contribute to the drain of the cathodic protection that is provided for offshore platforms.
The cathodic protection is necessary to prevent oxidation and corrosion of the offshore platform and to prevent the subsequent reduction in its structural integrity. Aluminum-alloy ingots typically serve as the sacrificial anodes to protect the offshore platform. Since steel mudmats are generally attached to a jacket by welding to become part of the jacket structure, the mudmats are electrically connected to the offshore platform and contribute to the drain of the sacrificial anodes.
One solution to the problem of cathodic drain by the mudmats is to remove the mudmats from the jacket structure after pile-driving is complete. Typically, mudmat removal includes the use of divers who must be sent to the sea floor to cut the mudmats from the jacket. In addition, since the mudmats are generally bounded by permanent framing structure, the mudmats are extremely difficult to remove in one piece, and thus must be cut into smaller pieces that can be maneuvered around the permanent framing structure and lifted to the surface. This procedure is repeated over and over again for every piece of the mudmat until all pieces have been removed. Although effective, mudmat removal is undesirable because the procedure is costly and time consuming. Thus, there remains a need for mudmats that do not present a drain on the cathodic protection provided for the offshore platform itself, nor require removal following their useful life.
Turning back to the weights of both wooden and steel mudmats, offshore jackets are typically designed to have small amounts of reserve buoyancy, approximately 7-12% of the weight of the jacket, to permit ease in lifting, manipulation and positioning. The addition of heavy wooden or steel mudmats at the base of a jacket can negate this buoyancy and the beneficial effects realized by the buoyancy. To counter the weight of the mudmats, therefore, additional buoyancy must then be added to the top portions of the jacket. This is generally accomplished by providing larger diameter members for the legs and framing members. In so doing, however, not only is the overall cost of the jacket increased, but the susceptibility of the jacket to external wave forces is also increased. In other words, because of the small amounts of reserve buoyancy, offshore jackets are generally very sensitive to weight and buoyancy forces. As larger diameter members are incorporated into the structure, this sensitive balance is disrupted. Specifically, the larger diameter members provide a greater surface area against which ocean currents and waves can act. Not only can this require additional bracing to withstand these lateral forces, it can result in the need for enhanced pile support through either the addition of more piles or an increase in the depth to which piles are driven into the sea floor.
For the forgoing reasons, there remains a need for mudmats that will not adversely effect the weight and buoyancy of an offshore jacket to the degree of the prior art mudmats. The mudmats should avoid the need for cathodic protection or removal. In addition, the mudmats should exhibit lower fabrication costs than prior art mudmats. Finally, it would be desirable to provide mudmats that can be more easily fabricated and installed than prior art mudmats.


Disclosed is a digital filter having phase-adjustment ability, and more particularly to a digital filter system which can restore the phase of data transmitted via digital radio communication and thereby enhances the noise-immunity of data and the correct bit decision. The digital filter mainly includes a hold back data unit, a digital filter unit, and a signal phase modify unit to remove noises in the signals and to modify and restore correct digital wave-form signals. The digital filter having phase-adjustment ability is suitable for use in digital radio phones, pagers, etc. commonly found in the radio communication systems.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital filter having phase-adjustment ability, and more particularly to a digital filter system which can restore the phase of data transmitted via digital radio communication and thereby enhances the noise-immunity of data and the correct bit decision.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Living in this modern society featured with highly developed information science, people face the necessity of exchanging information with others everyday. The way of transmitting information becomes more and more important. It has become very popular for people to use digital radio signals in their remote and non-face-to-face communication.
High-frequency signals received by a receiver of a digital radio communication equipment are demodulated. The resulting digital signals are usually distorted by external noises combined with the signals. Therefore, a digital filter is required to filter out such noises so that a modified and correct wave form of the received digital signals can be obtained to allow completely correct decision of data based on the received signals. Most conventional digital wave filters are so designed that their sampling frequency and count sampling point will cause the following drawbacks:
1. Data obtained from the filtered signals shall have inconsistant lengths, that is, the wave forms of high level 1 and low level 0 are uneven. Therefore, it is possible that an incorrect signal is read during data decision.
2. In addition, since it is not easy to decide whether a wave form is really delayed, temporarily delayed, or simply incorrectly read due to too many noises, it is usually to process the phase adjustment after wave filtering with complicated logical procedures through multi-level state control, such as an IF-THEN statement. However, in view of the responding speed of such phase adjustment, it is possible to have a response that is too slow.
It is therefore the inventor has developed a means to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks existed in the conventional digital filter systems.

Digital filter having phase-adjustment ability


Provided are a differential amplifier circuit and a method of generating a bias voltage in a differential amplifier circuit. The differential amplifier circuit is turned on or turned off in response to an input voltage and includes a differential amplifier and a bias circuit. The bias circuit provides a first bias voltage to a gate of a pull-down transistor included in the differential amplifier when the differential amplifier is turned on and provides second bias voltage which is lower than the first bias voltage to the gate of the pull-down transistor when the differential amplifier is turned off.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit, and more particularly, to an amplifier circuit and a method of generating bias voltage in an amplifier circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Differential amplifier circuits are widely used in a semiconductor memory device such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM). The differential amplifier circuits amplify only a voltage difference between voltages applied to two input terminals. If the same voltage is applied to two input terminals, the output voltage of the differential amplifier circuits is not affected.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a conventional differential amplifier circuit 100. Referring to FIG. 1, the differential amplifier circuit 100 includes a bias circuit (or a bias voltage generating circuit) and a differential amplifier. The differential amplifier circuit 100 can be, for example, a data output driver of a semiconductor memory device.
The bias circuit includes a current source 105, an NMOS transistor 110 in a diode configuration, and a bias capacitor CB to prevent bias voltage noise from being generated in a bias node NB.
The NMOS transistor 110 performs as a voltage source. A terminal of the current source 105 is connected to a source voltage VDD, a source of the NMOS transistor 110 is connected to a ground voltage VSS, and a terminal of the bias capacitor CB is connected to the ground voltage VSS.
The differential amplifier includes load resistors R1 and R2 connected to the source voltage VDD, input NMOS transistors 115 and 120 respectively connected to first and second input voltages VIN1 and VIN2, and a bias transistor 125 including a source connected to the ground voltage VSS. The bias transistor 125 is an NMOS transistor and performs as a current source transistor.
The bias circuit provides constant bias voltage to a gate of the bias transistor 125 of the differential amplifier through the bias node NB.
The differential amplifier generates an output voltage VOUT through an output node NO by amplifying a voltage corresponding to the difference between the first and second input voltages VIN1 and VIN2. Levels of the first and second input voltages VIN1 and VIN2, respectively, input to the input NMOS transistors 115 and 120 of the differential amplifier can swing between the source voltage VDD and the ground voltage VSS.
A turn-on operation (or an activation operation) of the differential amplifier circuit 100 will now be described below.
The bias transistor 125 pulls down a voltage of a common node NC to the ground voltage VSS in response to a bias voltage generated in the bias node NB. When the first input voltage VIN1 is activated to a logic high level (for example, source voltage VDD) and the second input voltage VIN2 is at a logic low level (for example, the ground voltage VSS), the first input transistor 115 is turned on and the differential amplifier circuit 100 performs a turn-on operation. Thus, the output voltage VOUT, i.e., the voltage of the output node NO, is at a logic low level. A turn-off operation of the differential amplifier circuit 100 is performed when both of the first and second input voltages VIN1 and VIN2 are at a logic low level (for example, the ground voltage VSS).
Since current is provided to the common node NC through the load resistor R1 when the first input transistor 115 is turned on, a voltage of the common node NC can be higher than the ground voltage VSS. A voltage of the common node NC can increase a voltage of the bias node NB by parasitic coupling capacitance CC between the common node NC and the bias node NB. Noise corresponding to voltage rising of the bias node NB is referred to as "bias kick-back noise" or "kick-back noise." Since the bias transistor 125 is turned on strongly by the kick-back noise, a high electric current can flow through the bias transistor 125. Accordingly, power consumption of the differential amplifier circuit 100 increases. Also, noise such as a swing range change of the output voltage VOUT can occur due to the kick-back noise affecting voltage of the bias node NB.
FIG. 2 is a graph of bias voltage variation generated in the bias node NB of FIG. 1 versus time. That is, FIG. 2 indicates a voltage variation of the bias node NB of FIG. 1 in the turn-on and turn-off operations of the differential amplifier circuit 100 of FIG. 1.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, at time TON when the first input transistor is turned on, the bias voltage is increased from a level of the constant bias voltage VB1 to a higher voltage than the voltage VB1 by the coupling capacitance. Noise corresponding to voltage rising of the bias voltage indicates the kick-back noise.
The following known approaches have been used to reduce the kick-back noise. The first approach is to increase the amount of current flowing through the NMOS transistor 110 of FIG. 1 by increasing the current amount of the current source 105 of FIG. 1. The second approach is to increase the size of the bias capacitor CB of FIG. 1. The third approach is to provide a counter coupling capacitance, which has opposite polarity to the coupling capacitance generated in the bias node NB of FIG. 1, to the bias node NB. However, the first approach can increase power consumption; the second approach can increase the total area of the differential amplifier circuit 100; and the third approach can also increase the total area of the differential amplifier circuit 100, since an extra circuit is required to generate the counter coupling capacitance provided to the bias node NB.

Amplifier circuit and method of generating bias voltage in amplifier circuit


An internal combustion engine for a small planing boat for preventing supercooling of the internal combustion engine before warm-up while enabling efficient cooling of the internal combustion engine after warm-up. An internal combustion engine for a small planing boat includes a first cooling water path B through which cooling water introduced from a jet propulsion pump flows toward an internal combustion engine main body via an exhaust manifold. A second cooling water path C is provided through which cooling water introduced from the jet propulsion pump flows toward an exhaust pipe via an oil cooler. A bypass cooling water path D is provided for branching a part of cooling water in the second cooling water path C which flows out from the oil cooler, so as to merge into cooling water in the first cooling water path B which flows into the internal combustion engine main body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine mounted in a small planing boat that planes across the water.
2. Description of Background Art
In an internal combustion engine mounted in a small planing boat, cooling of the internal combustion engine is effected by using the water on which the small planing boat is floated as cooling water. Water is introduced from the downstream positive-pressure side of a jet propulsion pump driven by the internal combustion engine, and is supplied to desired portions of the internal combustion engine.
While cooling water is made to circulate in the cooling system of an internal combustion engine mounted in a vehicle that travels on the ground, in the cooling system of an internal combustion engine mounted in a small planing boat, new cooling water is constantly supplied to cool the internal combustion engine. Accordingly, during cold operation, supercooling may occur before the warm-up of the internal combustion engine.
When supercooling of the internal combustion engine occurs, the amount of blow by gas that blows through the gap between the piston and the cylinder increases, and so-called dilution, whereby fuel dissolves into lubricating oil to dilute the lubricating oil, proceeds to accelerate degradation of oil.
In view of this, in an internal combustion engine mounted in a small planing boat, cooling water passes through the exhaust system before being supplied to the internal combustion engine main body. See, for example, JP-A No. 2003-49645.
In the cooling system for the internal combustion engine of the water jet propulsion boat (small planing boat) disclosed in JP-A No. 2003-49645, the cooling water introduced from the water suction port of the jet propulsion unit is branched to form two cooling water paths.
One of the cooling water paths is a path leading to the cylinder and then to the cylinder head of the internal combustion engine main body via the upstream-side exhaust pipe and the exhaust manifold. The cooling water that has been raised in temperature in the upstream-side exhaust pipe and the exhaust manifold is supplied to the water jackets of the cylinder and cylinder head, thereby preventing supercooling of the internal combustion engine before warm-up to alleviate dilution of lubrication oil.
The other cooling water path is a path leading to the downstream-side exhaust pipe and then to the muffler via the oil tank. The cooling water that has cooled the oil in the oil tank is supplied to the downstream-side exhaust pipe and the muffler to thereby cool the downstream side of the exhaust pipe and the muffler.
However, once the internal combustion engine has been warmed up, in the former cooling water path for cooling the internal combustion engine main body, the temperature of the cooling water that has passed through the upstream-side exhaust pipe and the exhaust manifold is too high. Since such high-temperature cooling water is supplied to the water jackets of the cylinder and cylinder head, the internal combustion engine cannot be cooled efficiently.

Internal combustion engine for small planing boat


An apparatus is provided to electrically protect a circuit for USB protection against excessive voltage and/or current such as ground loop damage. A circuit is connected between electrical components where at least one of the connections is a USB connection. There is a possibility for the ground points of the electrical components to be at different voltage potentials and can create a ground loop. The apparatus can include a voltage limiting circuit connected to circuit lines which connect to the USB connection, and circuit breakers or resistors can be connected to the circuit lines between the USB connection and the connection to the other electrical component. In some aspects, the connections at either end of the circuit can all be USB connections. The components of the apparatus protect the connected electrical components from receiving more power than they can tolerate, and protect a user of the electrical components from injury caused by excess power.

Modern vehicles typically have one or more diagnostic systems, generally having separate computer control modules or electronic control units (ECUs) to control various functions of the vehicle. Some examples include a powertrain control module (PCM), engine control module (ECM), transmission control module (TCM), and anti-locking brake system (ABS). The vehicle diagnostic systems often have self-diagnostic capability to detect and alert the driver of problems the vehicle may be encountering. When a problem is found, a diagnostic trouble code or DTC is set within the computer's memory. DTCs are as general or as specific as the manufacturer desires.
To retrieve and decipher DTCs, an auto repair technician needs to connect to the vehicle and be able to communicate with the vehicle. A device, such as one or a combination of a VCI, a diagnostic tool, a scan tool, a PC or the like is typically used to communicate, retrieve, and decipher the DTCs. In one typical implementation, the VCI translates between the vehicle communication protocol and a PC communication protocol. In this case, the communication protocol between the VCI and the PC may be a Universal Serial Bus (USB). In this scenario, the PC serves as the user interface portion of the diagnostic system. Alternatively, one could use a scan tool, which would communicate with the vehicle directly and has its own discrete user interface. The VCI is typically equipped to communicate in various communication protocols such as Controller Area Network (CAN), SAE J1850 VPW, PWM, ISO 9141, and others. These communication protocols may be specific to the various automobile manufacturers and others may be fairly standardized, at least at the physical layer.
A cable is typically used to interface the VCI with the vehicle. Although the VCI typically has a SAE J1962 type connector having 16 pins for various communications, controls and measurements, the use of different pins for different functions varies between the different modules in the vehicle and can also vary with different manufactures of the vehicles. In some instances, the VCI may implement other types of connectors and other types of cables may be substituted for the cable with the SAE J1962 type connector, for example an Ethernet cable or a universal serial bus (USB) cable. Similarly, the VCI may also be connected to other devices and the vehicle itself by one of these cables.
The VCI connection supplies a ground signal to the devices connected to it so that, for example, the diagnostic tool can use that signal as a reference signal. Without a good ground signal, the measurements received by the diagnostic tool may not be accurate. The ground signal can be from the vehicle ground.
A problem known with this approach involves excessive voltage and/or current such as ground loop damage to the associated components. For example, a ground loop can occur in a conductor connecting two points that are intended to be at the same potential, often ground, but are actually at different potentials. Ground loops created by improperly designed or improperly installed equipment are a major cause of noise and interference in electrical systems. They can also create an electric shock hazard, since ostensibly "grounded" parts of the equipment, which are often accessible to users, are not at ground potential. When multiple components are connected together, such as the VCI and the diagnostic tool, the components may include ground points which could be at different potentials and cause a ground loop.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an apparatus to protect the electrical components of the connected devices from damage, and to protect a user of the devices from injury that could be caused by excessive voltage and/or current such as a ground loop.

Device and process for protection against excessive voltage and/or current in systems having USB connections and the like


A dry etcher for etching a thin film on a wafer, includes an etching chamber having the wafer loaded therein and a supply system for supplying a reaction gas to the etching chamber to etch the thin film on the wafer. A loadlock chamber controls an etching atmosphere before and after the wafer is loaded in and unloaded from the etching chamber. A pumping device pumps the reaction gas out of the etching chamber and the loadlock chamber after the thin film is etched. A heater or cleaning device prevents any residual reaction gas remaining in the etching chamber and loadlock chamber from condensing on the wafer when the wafer is exposed to ambient atmosphere after exiting the loadlock chamber. The heater or cleaning device may be disposed in the etching chamber or the loadlock chamber.

An etcher is an apparatus used in manufacturing semiconductor devices, which, according to the object of the process, selectively eliminates various thin films such as silicon film, polysilicon film, and silicon oxide film, formed under a photoresist film. The etching may be classified as wet etching using chemicals or dry etching using gas. The etcher apparatus would thus be referred to as a wet etcher or a dry etcher.
FIG. 1 schematically shows the construction of a conventional dry etcher. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional dry etcher includes a wafer carrier 4, an etching chamber 5, loadlock chambers 6, and a gas discharger 7.
The wafer carrier 4 loads wafers 2 from a wafer cassette 1 and carries the wafers 2 via a conveyer 3 into the loadlock chamber 6. A reaction gas is input into the etching chamber 5, in which a high degree of vacuum is maintained. The loadlock chambers 6 are interconnected to the etching chamber 5 through entrances 5a and 5b. The loadlock chambers 6 are at approximately the same environment as that in the etching chamber 5.
The gas discharger 7 pumps/purges out the reaction gas remaining in the loadlock chamber 6 and etching chamber 5 after the etching process is completed, so as to maintain the high degree of vacuum in the loadlock chamber 6 and etching chamber 5.
When etching polysilicon films and the like by means of the dry etcher as described above, Cl.sub.2, HBr, or the like is usually used as the reaction gas. Such gases exhibit a strong tendency to condense when they are exposed to an atmospheric state. Although, the gas discharger 7 seeks to pump/purge out the reaction gas remaining in the loadlock chamber 6 and etching chamber 5 after the etching process, some portion of the reaction gas still remains that is condensed and liquified on the wafers. The wafers containing the liquified gas are then subjected to the succeeding manufacturing process.
However, such condensed and liquified gas on the wafers must be eliminated because it can degrade the quality of the semiconductor as well as cause downstream manufacturing process problems. Generally, a separate device or a separate process is employed to eliminate the condensed and liquified gas. Such separate devices or processes, however, cause delays in the manufacturing process and increase the cost of manufacturing a semiconductor device.
In light of the foregoing, there exists a need for an etcher and method of preventing gas remaining on a wafer after the wafer is etched from being condensed on the wafer, without having to resort to a separate device or a separate treatment method.

Dry etcher apparatus for preventing residual reaction gas from condensing on wafers after etching


A launch vehicle to transport at least one payload into an earth orbit, wherein the launch vehicle comprises a plurality of solar cells on its outer surface. Furthermore, a manufacturing method for a launch vehicle with a plurality of solar cells on its outer surface and a transport method for at least one payload using a launch vehicle with a plurality of solar cells on its outer surface are provided.

The present invention relates to a launch vehicle to transport at least one payload into an earth orbit, a method to manufacture a launch vehicle and a method to transport a payload into an earth orbit.
Launch vehicles are used in aerospace to transport payloads, such as, in particular, components or supply material for a space station or also satellites, from the earth's surface into a designated orbit. The respective payload is arranged usually behind a payload fairing of the launch vehicle and protected against damaging factors during launch and/or flight by means of this.
The launch vehicle can, in particular, be designed as a multistage rocket, which can jettison so-called "lower stages" with empty fuel tanks or propulsion units that are no longer required so that only a relatively light so-called "upper stage" of the rocket has to fly to the designated orbit. Due to the reduction of mass, in this way, a higher orbit can be reached. In particular, the payload fairing can be capable of being jettisoned after the rocket exits the atmosphere.
The launch vehicle or also a transported payload generally contains electrical and electronic components that have to be supplied with electrical energy during the transport flight. For this purpose, batteries are usually provided in the launch vehicle.

Launch vehicle with solar cells, manufacturing method and transport method


A coin dispensing device assures dispensing operation of coins while protecting a driving member from overloading. In addition, the coin dispensing device prevents the coins from jamming. The device comprises a mechanism for storing loose coins, a first rotary member associated with a central feed aperture for receiving the loose coin from the loose coin storing mechanism and feeding the loose coin into the central feed aperture in a one-by-one basis, a stationary member for defining an elongated slot associated with the central feed aperture essentially at the inner end thereof for receiving the loose coin fed therethrough, the elongated slot forming a dispensing path for the loose coins fed from the central feed aperture, a second rotary member for pushing out the loose coin in the elongated slot toward a dispensing outlet, the second rotary member carrying a pushing member movable across the elongated slot for exerting feeding force to the loose coin within the elongated slot for pushing out the coin within the elongated slot in one-by-one basis, a driving element for rotatingly driving the first and second rotary members, and a feed mechanism provided in the first rotary member for sweeping the loose coins on the first rotary member into the central feeding aperture.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coin dispensing device. More specifically, the invention relates to a coin dispensing device which is suitable for use in an automatic vender machine and so forth for dispensing change.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, various coin dispensing devices have been used. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,942,544, to Breitenstein discloses a coin dispensing device for a gaming equipment, such as a slot machine, in which a bowl-shaped hopper is provided on the interior of the gaming machine. Coins inserted by the patron fall into the hopper and become the coin supply to be dispensed in the event that the patron achieves a winning combination of the slot machine. On the back wall of the hopper, there is provided a pin wheel device that rotates through the coin supply and picks up individual coins around the periphery of the pin wheel. As the pin wheel rotates, the coins on the top of the pin wheel are fed along a knife track to a location where each coin exits the interior of the gaming machine and is dispensed into a coin tray for access by the patron. U.S. Pat. No. 4,398,550, to Shireman, discloses a pair of rotating, overlapping disks each with a plurality of coin receiving apertures. The disks rotate in opposite angular directions and coins are transferred from one disk to the other disk when the apertures line up. The axes of the disks are offset in that only one aperture in the upper disk lines up with one aperture in the lower disk so that only one coin dispensed at a time. A coin dispensing device that utilizes the Shireman apparatus must be large enough to accommodate the diameters of each of the two overlapping disks.
Further prior art has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,919, to Dabrowski, in which an apparatus uses a single rotating disk at the bottom of the hopper. The rotating disk is provided with a plurality of peripheral slot like passages that receive coins from the hopper and then spin the coins off the disk at a particular angular position so that the coins can be dispensed into a coin tray.
In addition to the foregoing, U.S. Pat. No. 32,799, to Abe, U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,566 to Tanaka, U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,478 to Abe, U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,515 to Goepner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,531, to Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,373, to Glinka, U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,282, to Childers, U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,128, to Ristvedt, U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,274, to Abe, U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,625 to Okada, Asaki Seiko U.S.A. Inc. catalog (Aug. 20, 1989, can be listed as disclosing the relevant prior art. However, it should be noted that the listing of the prior art above should not mean the list is exhaustive and as the result of extensive search. Therefore, the foregoing statement should be appreciated as a disclosure of the prior art presently known to the applicants and the owner of the invention.
Typically, a conventional coin dispensing device includes a loose coil dispensing mechanism which receives the weight of loose coins stored in a coin storage, such as a hopper. In such construction, the accurate operation of the coin dispensing mechanism cannot be assured due to the weight of the coins loaded thereon. In particular, when relatively large amount of coins are stored in the loose coin storage, the operation of the coin dispensing mechanism can become uncertain.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, there is a proposal in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-94695 (corresponding to the co-pending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 07/645,966, entitled "Coin Dispensing Device", by Stanley P. Dabrowski), in which the coin dispensing mechanism will not directly subject the weight of the coins stored in the coin storage.
In the practical construction disclosed in the above-mentioned co-pending Japanese Patent Application, a coin dispensing device for dispensing loose coins from a coin hopper comprises a base plate, a first rotating disk mounted on the base plate, which first rotating disk has a central feed aperture, a fixed disk mounted to the base plate and beneath the first rotating disk, the fixed disk having a dispensing slot aligned with the central feed aperture, a second rotating disk mounted on the based plate and beneath the fixed disk, the second disk offset from the dispensing slot, and the second rotating disk including at least one pusher ball on the surface thereof cooperating with the dispensing slot, whereby loose coins from the coin hopper are fed into the central feed aperture of the first rotating disk, from which the coins fall into the dispensing slot in the fixed disk and are dispensed down the dispensing slot by the movement of the pusher ball on the second rotating disk and exit the coin dispensing device. The first rotating disk has a supply member. The supply member has an arc shaped side wall which is connected with the first rotating disk in tangential direction at one end. The other end of the arc shaped side wall is terminated at the central feed opening. The arc shaped side wall extends vertically.
The entire disclosure of the above-identified co-pending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 07/645,966 is herein incorporated by reference for the sake of disclosure.
However the invention of Dabrowski in the co-pending U.S. Pat. Application as identified above, provides certain improvement for operation of the coin dispensing mechanism by avoiding the load of coin from loading thereon and thus for loose coin dispensing performance, there are still remained problems to be solved.
For instance, in the supply member provided in the first rotating disk, since the arc shaped side wall is oriented vertically, force is exerted on a plurality of coins in a direction of aligning the coins to occasionally cause interlocking of a plurality of coins, when the coins are guided to the central feed aperture from the coin hopper according to counterclockwise direction of the first rotating disk. In such case, smooth rotation of the first rotating disk is interfered so that the coins cannot be guided to the central feed aperture. Although the push ball employed in the second rotating disk as the pushing means is advantageously employed for avoiding excess load to be exerted on the motor for rotatingly driving second rotating disk by the construction in which the push ball is normally biased by a spring to fall onto the fixed disk through the central aperture of the first rotating disk and slides below the coins with depressing the spring downwardly to prevent the excess load from being exerted on the motor when the interlocking of the coins to be dispensed is caused by the action of the push ball, it can make it impossible to dispense the coins by sliding of the push ball below the coins.


The invention relates to an artificial positive control reagents based on antibody conjugates that are used in immunochemical detection methods and to processes for the preparation of these reagents.

The invention relates to artificial standard and control reagents for use in immunochemical detection methods and to processes for the preparation of these reagents.
Customary immunological methods for diagnosing diseases associated with production of specific antibodies against any pathogen such as viruses, bacteria, allergens, autoantigens or certain pharmaceuticals are based on the ability of these antibodies to form complexes with antigenic structures on the causative agent. In some of these methods, a sample whose content of specific antibodies is to be tested is contacted with the antigenic structures of the pathogen, these antigenic structures being attached to suitable carrier materials. Specific antibodies which are present in the sample are bound and detected as immune complex with the antigenic structures of the pathogen which are immobilized on the carrier material. It is possible to use for this antibodies or other receptors, for example protein A, which are able to form complexes with the specific antibody in the sample. As a rule, the detection reagent carries a label which makes it possible to establish the amount of the bound specific antibody by measurement techniques. Commonly used labels are: radioactive isotopes, enzymes, fluorescent, phosphorescent or luminescent substances, substances with stable, unpaired electrons, erythrocytes, latex particles, metal sols.
Control and standard sera which contain a defined quantity of the antibodies to be detected are required for these immunochemical methods. A positive control serum of this type makes it possible to test the utilizability of the reagents used in the assay. Standardization and thus comparability of assay results which have been obtained on different days or in different laboratories additionally become possible. Quantitative determinations are possible with the aid of standard sera.
A technique which is frequently practized for the preparation of positive control or standard sera comprises taking blood from patients whose disease is caused by defined causative agents, obtaining the serum, and adjusting the control or standard serum to a particular content of specific antibodies directed against the pathogen by mixing sera from different patients.
The disadvantages of this method are that a sufficient number of people whose blood contains these antibodies must be available. Furthermore, there are often medical reasons for not taking blood from such people, for example in the case of children, or there is a risk that the blood of the patient is infectious and no suitable methods for killing this pathogen are known.

Artificial positive controls derived from bifunctional conjugates


An electroactive polymer actuator and a method for manufacturing the electroactive polymer actuator are provided. The electroactive polymer actuator includes an actuator unit which is a laminate of a plurality of deformation layers; and a support layer which supports the actuator unit so that the actuator unit provides displacement corresponding to a voltage if the voltage is applied to the actuator unit. Therefore, it is possible to provide an electroactive polymer actuator suitable for a compact mobile device with a low driving voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to manufacturing an electroactive polymer actuator, and more particularly, to manufacturing an electroactive polymer actuator using deformation layers having a multilayer structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, actuator technologies using electroactive polymers (EAPs) have become widespread, and EAPs are often referred to as artificial muscle actuators due to the similarities with human muscles.
EAPs are polymers whose shape is modified when electronic stimulation is is applied to them. They can be used a sactuators or sensors. Polymers can be actuated not only by electronic stimulation, but also bychemical stimulation, heat, or other types of stimulation. EAPs can have several configurations, but are generally divided in two principal calsses: (1) electronic EAPs, in which actuation is caused by electrostatic forces between two electrodes whci squeeze the plymer (e.g., dielectric elastomers and electrostrictive polymers); and (2) ionic EAPs, in which actuation is caused by the displacement of ions insider the polymer. Examples of ionic EAPs are ionic polymer metal composites (IPMCs), conductive polymers, ionic polymer gels, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), carbon nanotubes, and shape memory polymers. Some of EAPs are actuated in a liquid such as a chemical solvent and others are actuated in the air by electric energy.
Increasingly, there are efforts to reduce the size, mass, and power of actuators as well as use them to operate biologically inspired devices. Electroactive ceramic actuators (for example, piezoelectric and electrostrictive) are effective, compact actuation materials and they are used to replace electromagnetic motors. However, while these materials are capable of delivering large forces, they produce a relatively small displacement on the order of magnitude of fraction of a percent. For high-performance camera modules suitable for mobile devices, which have auto-focus and zoom functions, actuators of large displacement are required. A conventional ceramic piezoelectric actuator can be deformed to reach the maximum ratio of deformation of 0.1%, but a polymer actuator is capable of reaching approximately 5%. However, during the operation of the a polymer actuator, a difference in the deformation of an elastomer and the deformation of a metal electrode causes delamination or performance degradation, which in turn is detrimental to reliability of the product. Additionally, in order to maintain the performance of the polymer actuator while reducing the driving voltage, there is a need for technologies to laminate thin actuators into a multilayer structure.

Electroactive polymer actuator and manufacturing method thereof


Eyebolt mounting devices are disclosed. In an aspect, the present disclosure provides an eyebolt bracket assembly for mounting a musical instrument to a rod. The assembly has a bracket having a first side having a first opening, a second side having a second opening, and a top side having a third opening. The bracket houses an eyebolt member having a threaded portion and an eye opening portion. The eye opening portion has an eye opening, an outer surface, and inner surface. A spring is disposed on the threaded portion and to apply a variable tension force to the eyebolt member. The threaded portion passes through the third opening and receives a washer and a fastener. The eyebolt member is held to the bracket by the fastener and is movable within the bracket.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Musical instruments may be mounted on rods or other static objects in order to stabilize the instrument while it is played, as well as to advantageously position the instrument. In particular, percussion instruments such as cowbells, blocks, cymbals, tambourines, bells, triangles, drums, gongs, and the like may be mounted from metal rods ranging in diameter from less than half an inch to more than an inch and a half (12-36 mm).
In order to mount on such rods, a mounting bracket must be attached to, or integrated into the design of, the instrument. Many mounts utilize a set screw. Set screw-based mounts comprise a bracket and a set screw. The bracket is attached to the instrument at one end portion. The rod passes through a portion of the bracket. The bracket is configured to removably accept the set screw. When the set screw is inserted into the bracket, it presses against the rod, thereby holding the attached instrument in position via the friction force between the rod and the set screw. Some set screws further comprise a grip which enables a user to hand tighten the set screw, eliminating the need to use additional tools, such as a screw driver, to place or remove the mounting bracket. Such designs may slip or otherwise fail due to the limited contact surfaces between the set screw and the rod.
Other mounting brackets utilize an eyebolt. Eyebolt-based mounts comprise a bracket, an eyebolt, and a fastener. The bracket is attached to the instrument at one end portion. The bracket is configured to insertably receive the rod at a bracket opening. The eyebolt is positioned such that the rod may pass through an eyebolt opening when the rod is inserted into the bracket opening. The bracket further comprises an eyebolt thread opening. The eyebolt threads pass through the eyebolt thread opening to an attached fastener. The fastener (e.g., a nut or wing nut) may be tightened or loosened, causing the inner surface of the eyebolt opening to press against the rod on one side of the rod and causing a portion of the inner surface of the bracket opening to press against the rod, thereby holding the attached instrument in place via the friction force between the rod and the eyebolt. Such designs comprise an eyebolt with a circular inner surface cross section, which may reduce the contact surfaces between the eyebolt and the rod where the rod has a small diameter.
Given the foregoing, apparatuses are needed that facilitate mounting of instruments to rods of multiple diameters, without reducing the holding force of the apparatus.


An outdoor lighting control method and apparatus for use with an outdoor lighting fixture that automatically detects the changing length of the day and provides for automatically turning off the light after a shorter period of illumination during shorter summer nights and after a longer period of illumination during longer winter nights. The control method measures the elapsed time interval over which night sets in, for example, by sensing light levels characteristic of the onset of dusk and the onset of night and measuring the elapsed time between the two sensed light levels, and then automatically turns on the lighting fixture for nighttime operation for a duration that depends on the measured elapsed night-onset time.

The present invention relates to outdoor lighting controls for automatically turning a light on and off at night and is more particularly directed to a control technique for adjusting the length of time a light stays on at night to take into account the variation in the length of the night with the seasons.
A popular form of outdoor lighting fixture turns itself on automatically at night. The lighting fixture includes a light sensor for detecting the presence of daylight. Some such lighting fixtures are able to operate in several different modes. In one mode, commonly called dusk-to-dawn mode, the fixture comes on automatically when the daylight sensor no longer senses the presence of daylight and turns off automatically when the sensor first begins to detect daylight at dawn. In another mode, commonly called accent mode, the lighting fixture comes on automatically at night at a reduced level of illumination so as to provide a low level of accent lighting. Such a mode is commonly used in conjunction with a motion detector. The lighting fixture comes on at nightfall at the reduced level of illumination, and then when motion is detected, the fixture comes on at the full-brightness level, returning to the reduced level of illumination shortly after motion is no longer detected.
Some models of outdoor lighting fixtures also include a switch, which allows the user to manually select the length of time the light stays on after it first turns on automatically. For example, the user may be presented with a choice of 3, 5 or 7 hours on-time or all night operation.
Other forms of switches are known which may be wired into the electrical circuit providing power to the outdoor lighting fixture. Such switches allow the user to manually set the times at which the lighting fixture turns on and off.
There is a problem with such control mechanisms, however, in those latitudes away from the equator where the length of the day (and night) varies with the season. In the summer months when the day is longer, the user may only want the lighting fixture to stay on for two or three hours. During the winter months when it may already be dark before dinnertime, the user may want the light to stay on for six or more hours. With the popular outdoor lighting fixtures presently available with automatic turn-on control, the user has to manually reset the on-time duration as the length of the day changes with the seasons.


Rubber articles are coated with a powder-free copolymer coating to provide improved mold release characteristics, improved donning characteristics, and improved tactile feel. The copolymer is formed by the polymerization of a at least one copolymerizable silicone oligomer, at least one alkyl acrylate, and at least one hard monomer. The hard monomer, when homopolymerized, has a glass transition temperature of at least 0.degree. C. The copolymers are preferably formed by a sequential polymerization process.

Rubber articles made from natural or synthetic rubber include surgeons gloves, physicians examining gloves, workers gloves, prophylactics, catheters, balloons, tubing, sheeting and the like. Some articles, in particular, gloves, require the ability of donning i.e. the ability of the rubber article to be slid on and off skin (tissue) surfaces without undue clinging or friction. Surgeons gloves require wet donning, i.e., the ability to be slid over wet skin surfaces, while physicians examining and workers gloves require the ability to be slid over dry skin surfaces. Other rubber articles, like catheters and tubing, require some means to isolate the rubber from body fluids and tissue.
While this invention pertains to polymeric coatings for all rubber articles, it will focus on gloves, which are the most complex of rubber articles in terms of use and manufacture. To achieve acceptable donning properties, the rubber surface of a glove which comes in contact with skin or tissue has to be modified to reduce friction.
Surgeons gloves, as of today, require the donning surface to be sufficiently hydrophilic in order to absorb moisture that may be present on the surface of skin or tissue when the article is donned. Hydrogel coatings as described, for instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,813,695, incorporated herein by reference, have been employed to achieve this property.
Examination and other gloves, by contrast, do not have a hydrophilicity requirement but still require the ability of the rubber article to be slid over skin (tissue) surfaces with minimal drag or friction.
Traditionally, this has been achieved by applying talc or other powdered materials, such as modified corn starch, over the skin or tissue contacting surface. Talc can no longer be used, and other powders can contaminate the field of work. The same applies for gloves used by workers in dust-free environments such as in the manufacture of computer chips and other electronic articles.
With reference to FIG. 1, the conventional way of manufacturing rubber gloves has been to dip a mold or former in the shape of the article to be formed in a coagulant slurry containing calcium nitrate and calcium carbonate. After drying, the mold is immersed in a rubber emulsion (latex) for a time sufficient for the rubber to coagulate and form a coating of desired thickness. The formed coagulated rubber article is oven cured, cooled, and then dipped into a starch slurry. The starch coated surface is dried to provide a powder coat. After cooling, the rubber article is stripped from the mold. This turns the glove inside out. The mold is cleaned and recycled.
Water leaching may be, and usually is, employed as part of the procedure to remove rubber impurities.
The methods and materials of glove manufacture are also described, for instance, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,411,982 and 3,286,011 to Kavalier et al., both incorporated herein by reference, "Polyurethane Latexes for Coagulation Dipping," Sadowski et al., Elastomerics, August 1979, pp. 17-20, incorporated herein by reference, and in "Dipping with Natural Rubber Latex," Pendle et al., Natural Rubber Technical Bulletin, also incorporated herein by reference.
Halogenation, e.g. chlorination, and other chemical surface treatments have been used to eliminate the need for a powder coat on the final product to enable dry donning. While effective, this step is expensive and has the shortcoming of reducing shelf life of the rubber article. It would be desirable to provide a rubber article with a powder-free donning surface without resorting to the expensive and article-deteriorating practices now in vogue. This could substantially reduce the cost of manufacture and maximize the shelf life of the rubber article.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,852 to Joung, incorporated herein by reference, proposed to covalently bond an RTV silicone coating to the interior surface of a rubber surgeons glove after formation of the glove. This is stated to reduce but not eliminate the need for a donning powder.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,008, also to Joung and incorporated herein by reference, applies a covalently bonded silicone or urethane to the outer surface of the glove and halogenates the inner surface. The halogenated inner surface eliminates the need for a donning powder.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,928, also to Joung and incorporated herein by reference, teaches the deposition of a lipo compound (lipid or lipophilic substances) in place of a powder of mineral origin in combination with a surfactant in a coagulant solution to form a uniform film on a glove mold onto which the rubber is coagulated. The lipo compound and surfactant enable stripping of a formed glove from its mold.
These and other proposals have not achieved commercial acceptance.

Acrylic emulsion coating for rubber articles


A system for automatically processing claims is disclosed. The system includes an application that runs on a computer. Technicians use the application to complete claims information. Claims information includes information related to damage to a company asset. The system can determine the nature and possible location of a malfunction and redirect technician resources appropriately. In another aspect, the system can receive information from multiple technicians and can determine if a single incident caused multiple technicians to be deployed and can produce a single bill that includes the costs associated with dispatching multiple technicians.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an automated claims transaction system and method. More particularly, the invention is directed to an automated system and method of reporting and processing claims of damage to company property, where the company operates a network.
2. Background of the Invention
Current systems and procedures used to report damage to company property are generally manual, labor-intensive and inefficient.
FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a Prior Art system for reporting damage to company property. When a customer 100 is experiencing problems, for example, with his or her telephone service, customer 100 would inform the company's customer service division 102. Customer service division 102 would then generate a report and the report would be sent to dispatch division 104.
A "division" is a portion of a company that performs a particular function or act. A division can be fully automated, meaning that an automated division would include only machines and/or computers. On the other hand, a division can include only human employees. A division can also include both human employees and machines and/or computers. This definition of "division" is used throughout the specification and claims, unless otherwise noted.
After reviewing the report, the dispatcher will dispatch a technician 106 to the scene. After the technician 106 has arrived at the scene, and conducted appropriate diagnostic tests, isolated the problem 108 (for example a damaged cable), and repaired the problem, technician 106 will complete a company property damage form 110.
After returning back to the company, technician 106 turns in the company property damage form 110 to his or her supervisor 112. The supervisor 112 reviews the company property damage form 110 to ensure that the form has been properly completed. Once supervisor 112 has approved the form, supervisor 112 then sends company property damage form 110 via company mail 114 to billing division 116. If the company property damage form 110 is improperly completed, then billing division 116 returns form 110 back to supervisor 112 via company mail 114. This process continues until form 110 is properly completed. The longer it takes to for billing division 116 to get the necessary information, the more likely it becomes that the information becomes unavailable or more difficult to obtain. Once the company property damage form 110 is properly completed, billing division 116 then manually re-enters all of the information contained in the company property damage form 110 into a billing system 116 and finally generates a rendered bill 118. This bill 118 is subsequently mailed to the party responsible for the damage.
The Prior Art system suffers from a number of shortcomings and disadvantages. The use of a paper damage form, and the subsequent routing of the form, is very slow and time-consuming. It is often difficult, if not impossible, to produce and render a bill within, for example, 30 days of when the technician has made the repair. Further, in the Prior Art system, there is no communication from the technician to the dispatch system. The dispatch division and the repair and billing divisions are separated and there is no communication between the two divisions. As demonstrated later in connection with the disclosure of the invention, this failure to communicate often causes an ineffective and inefficient allocation of technician resources.
FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a telecommunications network and includes a central office 202. A trunk line 204 extends from the central office 202 to a crossbox 206. While the described example of a network is a telecommunications network, the principles of this invention can be applied to any network including a cellular network, a fiber-optic network, a cable network, an electrical network, a network that includes water and sanitation or any other network where there is a distribution or collection of matter, energy or signals. Three branch lines emanate from crossbox 206. The first branch line 208 extends from crossbox 206 to region A 210. Typically, region A would be a neighborhood or housing development. Region A can include, for example, houses 212, 214 and 216. The second branch line 218 extends from crossbox 206 to customer 220. Customer 220 may be a large customer or a company that requires many telephone lines. The third branch line 222 extends from crossbox 206 to Region B 224. Region B again could be a neighborhood or a housing development or an apartment building.
In the context of a telecommunications network, telephone lines are typically labeled as twisted pairs and as twisted pair numbers. In the following example, trunk line 204 includes twisted pairs 1 through 600. The first branch line 208 includes twisted pairs 1 through 200, the second branch line 218 includes twisted pairs 201 to 400, and the third branch line 222 includes twisted pairs 401 to 600.
In the case of simple repairs (for example, if house 212 has a local problem with its telephone wiring), the customer at house 212 would notify the company to report the problem. The company would then dispatch a technician 232 to house 212. The technician would resolve the problem and, after returning to the company, would inform others at the company of the nature of the problem and the cost of the repair.
For larger and more complex problems, the following scenarios often occur in the Prior Art. Consider the situation where portions of trunk line 204 have been severed. For example, heavy construction equipment, such as a backhoe, has severed portions of trunk line 204 while excavating at a site. Assuming that the damage to trunk line 204 damaged twisted pairs 1 through 200, this would in turn cause the entire region A to be without service from the network.
It is likely that the company will receive many calls from customers in the region indicating a malfunction. In the example, the customer at house 212, the customer at house 214 and the customer at house 216 will inform the company of the malfunction. In response, the company dispatches a first technician 232 to the first house 212, a second technician 234 to the second house 214 and a third technician 236 to the third house 216. After all three technicians arrive, they would discover that the problem lies not within the internal wiring of the customer's house or the wire from the telephone pole to the house, but that a problem has occurred somewhere else in the network.
After the company has been informed by these technicians, it is likely that the company will dispatch a special technician either to branch line 208 to determine if the malfunction has occurred there or to trunk line 204. Since the first three technicians have realized that the problem does not lie within the houses to which they were dispatched, the three technicians return back to the company, or are assigned by the company to other tasks.
To attend to the possible branch line or trunk line problems, the company will dispatch a fourth technician 230 to trunk line 204. The technician will discover the nature of the problem, that is, that a backhoe has severed portions of trunk line 204 and has damaged twisted pairs 1 through 200. The technician will repair the damage and will return back to the company.
If the damage to trunk line 204 has been caused by another company (the owner or operator of the backhoe), the company that owns the network preferably bills the company responsible for the damage to trunk line 204, or in the alternative, the company that owns the network could also bill its insurance carrier for damage to its network. In the Prior Art system, the only task that would be billed to either the company causing the damage or the insurance company would be the time logged by the fourth technician 230. All of the time logged by the first three technicians 232, 234 and 236, would not be accounted for, and the company would lose significant revenue by failing to account for the time spent by these other technicians. In addition, the company will have dispatched four technicians when only one technician would have been sufficient to solve the problem.
In failing to quickly recognize the nature of the problem, the company has wasted valuable resources by dispatching the first three technicians, who are unnecessary to resolving the problem. Additionally, the company has also lost revenue because the company could not correlate the time spent by the first three technicians with the damage incident to trunk line 204.

Technician communications system with automated claims processing

AT&T Delaware Intellectual Property Inc.


An apparatus is provided for magnifying a display surface of an indicator and forming an image of the display surface at a forward place distant from a driver and other passengers in a motor vehicle. The apparatus comprises an indicator (11), a concave mirror (15), and a half mirror (13). The concave mirror (15) and the half mirror (13) serve to enlarge an image (20) of a display surface (12) of the indicator (11) and form the enlarged image at a forward place distant from a driver and passengers in a vehicle. The apparatus is provided with a cylindrical lens portion (14) by which the magnifying power of the image (20) in right and left directions is set at 1.2 to 2.5 while the magnifying power in up and down directions is set at 1.2 to 1.6.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for magnifying a display surface of an indicator, such as a meter or gauge, and forming an enlarged image of the display surface at a forward place distant from a driver and other passengers in a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a display image magnifying apparatus for a vehicle is known as shown in FIG. 21. In FIG. 21, reference numeral 1 designates an indicator on which information given by a speedometer, a tachometer, a fuel gauge, and the like is displayed, reference numeral 2 designates a half mirror, and reference numeral 3 designates a concave mirror. A beam of light emitted from a display surface 1a of the indicator 1 passes through the half mirror 2 and reaches the concave mirror 3. An image of the display surface 1a enlarged by the concave mirror 3 is formed over the concave mirror 3 as a virtual image. Light from the image is reflected by the half mirror 2 and proceeds toward an eye point of the driver.
As a result of the reflection of the light by the half mirror 2, the image 1b of the display surface 1a is formed at a forward place distant from the driver. Since the image 1b viewed by the driver is enlarged and formed at the distant place, the image 1b is very easy for the driver to discern.
The size of each character in the image 1b is determined such that each character falls within a visual angle of the driver, and the size of the image 1b is determined such that the image 1b is viewed within an eye range of the driver and with both eyes of the driver.
However, in the conventional apparatus, an optical axis 5 is arranged to extend through the eye point of the driver. For this reason, when the image 1b of the display surface 1a is viewed from, for example, an assistant driver's seat (passenger seat) which Is a point other than the eye point of the driver, a direction in which the image 1b is viewed considerably deviates from the optical axis 5. In addition, a distance between the display surface 1a and the concave mirror 3 measured from the eye point of the driver is different from a distance therebetween measured from the assistant driver's seat. This causes distortion of the image 1b. The higher the magnifying power is, the worse the distortion of the image 1b becomes.
Generally, distortion of the image 1b in right and left directions can be corrected by brain action of a viewer so as not to feel a great difficulty in viewing, but distortion thereof in up and down directions cannot be corrected by the brain action and therefore the image 1b is very difficult to discern.
Another magnifying apparatus is known in which a cylindrical lens is disposed between an indicator 1 and a half mirror 2 so as to lower the magnifying power in up and down directions and heighten the magnifying power in right and left directions (see Japanese Patent Application Early Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 4-103437). However, this apparatus is constructed for a driver to easily and clearly view an image of the indicator 1. In the apparatus, no attention is paid to a case in which the image of the indicator 1 is viewed from an assistant driver's seat. For this reason, disadvantageously, the image is very difficult to discern when viewed from the assistant driver's seat.

Vehicular apparatus for forming a display image distantly


An automatic anti-accident electrical outlet has a main body, a circuit board and an overload protector. The circuit board has insertion rods to be inserted into insertion holes of the main body. Through holes of the circuit board exactly coincide with electric wire insertion holes of the main body so that power can be output through the overload protector by the main body. When the electric current of the electrical outlet is overloaded, the overload protector on the circuit board automatically cuts off the electricity to let the electrical outlet no longer provide power. Moreover, an alarm lamp on the circuit board is illuminated to warn the user of the problem. After the problem has been troubleshot, a function restoration button on the overload protector is pressed to let the electrical outlet provide power again, and the alarm lamp on the circuit board simultaneously is illuminated.

Nowadays, various kinds of electric appliances have been invented, and bring much convenience and enjoyment to people. Electricity is required for the operation of electric appliances. However, hazards may occur due to breakdown of electric appliances, overload in use, damage of internal components or sparking of electric wires, among which sparking of electric wires is the most dangerous and causes the greatest harm.
Generally, sparking of electric wires results from improper use of electric appliances, common use of the same electrical outlet by several electric appliances, or breakdown of electric appliances. These problems cause an overload of the electric current in the electrical outlet and thus the hazard of sparking of electric wires. The results are catastrophic. Sparking of electric wires can damage the whole circuit system, and may endanger neighbors. In fact, many fires are caused by sparking of electric wires.
Usually, the electrical outlets on the wall of homes, public places and business offices are insufficient. Many people install an extension cord or a multi-electrical outlet in an electrical outlet for use of more electric appliances. Therefore, the electrical outlet bears a large load. When the load exceeds a certain value and the electrical outlet can bear no more, a short circuit or even sparking of electric wires occurs. R.O.C. Pat. No. 413,404 proposes an improved electrical outlet in which an overload protection circuit and a counter are used to cut off the power source when the electric current is overloaded. However, after the overload situation has been obviated, the normal function of power supply cannot be restored, hence causing inconvenience in practical application.

Automatic anti-accident electrical outlet


A sample plate 3 with a sample 4 placed thereon is initially set on a stage 2, and a visual image of the sample is taken with a CCD camera 14. This image is stored in an image data memory 23. Then, an operator removes the sample plate 3, sprays a matrix for a MALDI process onto the sample 4 and replaces the plate onto the stage 2. After that, when a predetermined operation is made, a clear image of the sample taken before the application of the matrix is shown on a display unit 24. On this image, the operator specifies a point or area for the analysis. The sample 4 may have been displaced due to the removal and replacement of the plate 3. Accordingly, an image analyzer 44 calculates the direction and magnitude of the displacement, for example, by recognizing the position of the markings provided on the sample plate 3. A displacement corrector 42 computes coordinate values in which the displacement is corrected. Thus, even if a displacement occurs, the mass analysis can be accurately performed on the point or area of the actual sample as specified on the clear visual image taken before the application of the matrix.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) is a technique suitable for an analysis of samples that barely absorb laser light or samples that will be easily damaged by laser light, such as protein. In this technique, a substance that is highly absorptive of laser light and easy to ionize is mixed beforehand into the sample, and this mixture is irradiated with laser light to ionize the sample. Particularly, mass spectrometers using the MALDI technique (which is hereinafter called the MALDI-MS) can analyze high molecular compounds having large relative molar masses without severely dissociating them. Moreover, mass spectrometers of this type are suitable for microanalysis. Due to these characteristics, the MALDI-MS has been widely used in recent years in biosciences and other fields.
In a MALDI-MS, reducing the spot size of the irradiation laser beam and relatively moving the spot on a sample provides an image that represents, for example, an intensity distribution of an ion having a specific mass (or two-dimensional distribution of a substance) on the sample. Such "imaging mass spectrometer" is expected to be particularly applicable, for example, in biochemical, medical and other fields to obtain distribution information of protein contained in biological cells (for example, refer to Non-Patent Document 1 and other documents).
In order to obtain useful information on a sample in the aforementioned application fields, it is desirable to perform the mass analysis with a high spatial resolution. The simplest yet most reliable method for improving the spatial resolution is to reduce the irradiation area of the laser beam so that the substance ionization can occur only within a small area. Normal types of MALDI-MS use a laser beam having a focused diameter of approximately several hundreds of μm, whereas the imaging mass spectrometer described in the aforementioned document uses a laser beam focused to be as small as approximately 30 μm in diameter. Furthermore, Non-Patent Document 2 and other documents disclose an example in which the laser beam was focused to a diameter of approximately 0.5 μm to obtain an image showing the substance distribution within a cell roughly several tens of μm in size. Due to such a high spatial resolution, these MALDI-MS systems can be used for a local analysis of a microsized area as well as for the determination of a one-dimensional or two-dimensional substance distribution.
In the case of performing a local analysis of a sample or obtaining a substance distribution image by means of, for example, an imaging mass spectrometer disclosed in the aforementioned documents, the sample is normally cut into a slice having a thickness from a few μm to several tens of μm and placed on a sample plate. Conventionally, the analysis process typically includes the following steps performed by an operator: removing the sample plate from the apparatus, placing a sample on the same plate, applying a matrix to the sample, and replacing the plate into the apparatus. Then, while observing the sample through a CCD camera or eyepiece, the operator specifies an analysis point or area by using the currently observed image (normally, a real-time image). Subsequently, a laser beam is delivered onto the specified point or area to perform the mass analysis.
The matrix, which is typically a solid, is subsequently dissolved in an organic solvent or the like, and the resultant matrix solution is placed on the sample. When the matrix solution is placed on the sample, a substance to be analyzed elutes from the sample into the solution. Subsequently, the solvent is vaporized to form a matrix crystal, with the aforementioned substance retained inside the crystal. Irradiating this crystal with a laser beam causes the ionization of the substance to be analyzed.
Various techniques have been proposed as a method for placing a matrix solution on a sample. One of the simplest methods is to drop a matrix solution of approximately several hundreds of nL onto a desired location. This operation can be performed with a commonly used manual pipetter and is therefore the simplest and inexpensive method. However, it has the drawback that the drop has such a large diameter (which is 2 to 3 mm for a drop of 500 nL) that the positional information of the substance to be analyzed will be lost after it elutes from the sample. This method is useful if a rough determination of the position suffices, but unsuitable for acquiring distribution information of a substance or performing a local analysis.
The most widely used method is to spray the matrix solution onto the sample. This method can uniformly place the matrix over a wide area of the sample and is suitable for acquiring substance distribution images. Due to the use of smaller droplets, the positional information is more precisely retained than in the aforementioned dropping method, so that the substance distribution image can be obtained with a high level of resolution.
Another conventional method includes discretely placing microsized droplets on a sample with an automatic pipetter. This method at least prevents the substance to be analyzed from moving between the neighboring droplets, so that the substance distribution image can be accurately produced. However, it is difficult to produce as small a droplet as in the spraying method, so that the spatial resolution of the substance distribution image cannot be equal to or higher than that achieved by the spraying method.
Regardless of which method is used, the matrix will eventually crystallize after the solution on the sample is dried. Although the matrix crystal is normally transparent, its observed image tends to be unclear due to the complex or fine shape of the crystal. FIGS. 13(a) and 13(b) are photographic images of a sample observed before and after a matrix solution is sprayed. The sample used in this example was a slice of a mouse's brain, onto which a CHCA solution was sprayed. As demonstrated in FIG. 13(b), the image of the sample surface becomes rather obscure after the matrix was applied. With such an unclear image, it is difficult to correctly select a specific area or point for the acquisition of a substance distribution image of a desired area on the sample or for a local analysis of a specific point on the sample.
Thus, the previously described imaging mass spectrometers using conventional MALDI techniques cannot always correctly perform the mass analysis of a desired point or area on a sample. Therefore, the user may possibly overlook really-required information or be forced to repeat the same analysis many times.    Non-Patent Document 1: Kiyoshi Ogawa et al., "Kenbi Shitsuryou Bunseki Souchi No Kaihatsu (Research and Development of Mass Microscope)", Shimadzu Hyouron (Shimadzu Review), Shimadzu Hyouron Henshuu-bu, Mar. 31, 2006, Vol. 62, No. 3/4, pp. 125-135    Non-Patent Document 2: B. Spengler et al, "Scanning Microprobe Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (SMALDI) Mass Spectrometry: Instrumentation for Sub-Micrometer Resolved LDI and MALDI Surface Analysis", Journal of American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 2002, Vol. 13, No. 6, pp. 735-748