Disclosed is a high-strength hot-dip galvanized steel sheet having small material anisotropy and excellent formability with an ultimate tensile strength of 980 MPa or more. The hot-dip galvanized steel sheet includes a hot-dip galvanized layer formed on a surface of a base steel plate. The base steel plate contains C, Si, Mn, O, P, S, Al and N within predetermined ranges and a balance including Fe and inevitable impurities. The hot-dip galvanized layer contains Fe at less than 7 mass % or 7 to 15 mass % and a balance including Zn, Al, and inevitable impurities.

Reduction of weight of members such as cross members and side members of automobiles has been considered so as to support trends for reduction of fuel consumption in recent years. In terms of materials, from the viewpoint of securing strength and impact safety even when being thinned, a steel sheet has been made higher in strength. However, the formability of materials deteriorates along with the rise of strength thereof. In order to implement lighter weight of the members, a steel sheet which satisfies both of the press formability and the high strength has to be produced. In particular, excellent ductility is required in the case of forming the structural member or the reinforcing member of automobiles that has a complicated shape.
Recently, as a frame member of the automobile, a steel sheet having ultimate tensile strength of 440 MPa or 590 MPa is mainly used. In order to further reduce the weight, development of a high strength steel sheet of 980 MPa or more is preferred. In particular, when the steel sheet of 590 MPa class is replaced with the steel sheet of 980 MPa class, it requires an elongation equivalent to the 590 MPa class. Thus, development of a steel sheet of 980 MPa or more having excellent elongation is desired.
As the steel sheet having excellent total elongation (El) in a tensile test, there are complex structure steel sheets in which a soft ferrite serving as a primary phase is used in a steel sheet structure to ensure the ductility and a residual austenite is dispersed as a second phase to ensure strength.
As the steel obtained by dispersing the residual austenite, there is a TRIP (TRansformation Induced Plasticity) steel which uses martensite transformation of the residual austenite at the time of plastic processing, and applications thereof has been expanded, recently.
In particular, the TRIP steel has excellent elongation compared with precipitation strengthened steel and DP steel (steel consisting of ferrite and martensite), and thus expanded application is highly desirable. However, since this steel ensures excellent formability using martensite transformation at the time of forming, large amounts of residual austenite are required to ensure the formability. In order to ensure the residual austenite, it is required to add large amounts of Si. Further, in order to ensure the strength of 980 MPa or more, there is a tendency that alloy elements are added in large amounts and a texture easily develops. In particularly, the development of the texture of orientation groups {100} <011> to {223} <110> or the texture of an orientation {332} <113> promotes a material anisotropy. For example, as compared with the total elongation in the case of performing the tensile test on a steel strip in a direction parallel to a rolling direction, the total elongation in the case of performing the tensile test in a vertical direction is greatly inferior. Consequently, even though the steel sheet has characteristics of a good elongation in one direction and an excellent formability, it is difficult to apply to a member having a complicated shape.
On the other hand, hot-dip galvanized steel sheet and alloyed hot-dip galvanized steel sheet having excellent corrosion resistance has been known as a steel sheet for automobile. The steel sheet is provided with a plated layer made of a zinc containing Fe of 15% or less on a surface of the steel sheet to have the excellent corrosion resistance. The hot-dip galvanized steel sheet and the alloyed hot-dip galvanized steel sheet are manufactured in a continuous-type hot-dip galvanizing line (hereinafter, referred to as a CGL) in many cases. In the CGL, the steel sheet is degreased, then is annealed by an indirect heating with radiant tubes under a reducing atmosphere which contains H2 and N2, then is cooled to near a temperature of a galvanizing bath, and then is dipped in a hot-dip galvanizing bath. Thereafter, the steel sheet is subjected to a plating treatment.
In the case of manufacturing the alloyed hot-dip galvanized steel sheet, the steel sheet is dipped in the galvanizing bath and is then re-heated, so that the galvanized layer is subjected to an alloying treatment. At this time, an in-furnace atmosphere is an atmosphere at which Fe is reduced, and the steel sheet can be manufactured without oxidizing Fe, so that it is widely used as a manufacturing facility of a galvanized steel sheet.
However, Si is easily oxidized compared with Fe, and Si oxide is formed on the surface of the steel sheet while passing through the CGL. The Si oxide is responsible for galvanizing faults due to poor wettability with the hot-dip galvanizing. Alternatively, since the oxide inhibits an alloying reaction of Fe and zinc, there has a problem in that the alloyed hot-dip galvanized steel sheet cannot be manufactured.
With respect to this problem, a method of achieving both of the excellent formability and a plating property, in particular, a means of improving the plating property of steel containing Si in large amounts is disclosed in Patent Literature 1 in which annealing is performed once, then pickling is performed to remove the oxide on the surface of the steel sheet, and then the hot-dip galvanizing treatment is performed once again. However, this method is undesirable in that the annealing of two times is performed, and thus the pickling after heat treatment and a passage of the galvanizing line leads to a significant increase of processes and an increase of cost.
As the means of improving the plating property of the steel containing Si, a method of suppressing oxides of Si or Mn by making in-furnace atmosphere to be a reducing atmosphere of easily oxidizable elements such as Si and Mn or a method of reducing the formed oxides is disclosed in Patent Literature 2. In this method, pre-plating or surface grinding is performed on materials having a poor plating property prior to entering the galvanizing line. However, as a process of the pre-plating or the surface grinding increases, the cost increases. In addition, since the high strength steel sheet generally contains Si and Mn in large amounts, it is difficult to achieve an atmosphere capable of reducing Si in the steel sheet containing Si of 0.5 wt % or more which is a target of the present invention, and thus huge facility investment is required, resulting in increasing the cost. In addition, since oxygen released from the reduced oxides of Si and Mn changes the in-furnace atmosphere into an oxidizing atmosphere of Si, it is difficult to stabilize the atmosphere in the case of performing massive production. As a result, there is a concern in that defects such as unevenness of plating wettability or alloying unevenness occur in a longitudinal direction or a width direction of the steel sheet.
As a means of achieving both of the excellent ductility and a plating property, Patent Literature 3 discloses a method in which cold-rolling is performed, then the surface of the steel sheet is subjected to a pre-plating treatment with metals such as Ni, Fe, or Co and is subjected to a plating treatment while passing through a heat-treatment line. This relates to a method of pre-plating metals, which are difficult to oxidize compared with Si and Mn, on a surface layer of the steel sheet and manufacturing the steel sheet not containing Si and Mn on the surface layer of the steel sheet. However, even when the surface of the steel sheet is subjected to the pre-plating treatment, these elements diffuse into the inside of the steel sheet during the heat treatment, and thus a large amount of pre-plating should be performed. Therefore, there is a problem in that the cost remarkably increases.
As a means of solving these problems, Patent Literatures 4 to 6 propose a method in which Si oxide is not formed on the surface of the steel sheet but is formed inside the steel sheet. This can increase oxygen potential in the furnace and can oxidize Si inside the steel sheet to suppress diffusion of Si into the surface of the steel sheet and formation of the Si oxide on the surface.
In addition, Patent Literatures 7 and 8 do not relate to TRIP steel but to galvanized steel sheet and disclose a method of setting the inside of the furnace to be the reducing atmosphere at an annealing process of CGL. Moreover, Patent Literature 9 discloses a method of providing a jet flow of a predetermined flow rate in a galvanizing bath to prevent galvanizing faults by scum.
However, the conventional techniques are extremely difficult to simultaneously provide the corrosion resistance, the high strength, and the ductility.

High-strength hot-dip galvanized steel sheet and high-strength alloyed hot-dip galvanized steel sheet having excellent formability and small material anisotropy with ultimate tensile strength of 980 MPa or more

NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION


Disclosed is a dual-purpose cane, which includes a shaft unit, a handgrip unit, which is provided at the top side of the shaft unit and alternatively set between a first mode for use as a handgrip and a second mode for use as a seat, and a footpiece unit, which is provided at the bottom side of the shaft unit and alternatively set between a received position for enabling the cane to be used as a walking stick and an extended position for enabling the cane to be used as a chair.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates a cane for walking and more particularly, to a dual-purpose cane that can be alternatively set between a first mode for use as a walking stick and a second mode for use as a chair.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional cane is a walking aid for supporting a handicapped person to walk. A cane can also be used as a mountaineer's aid when climbing a mountain. A conventional cane is simply a stick with a handgrip at the top for gripping. When a handicapped person walked with a cane for a certain distance, the handicapped person may need to take a rest. However, it is difficult to find a seat or suitable place on the way for sitting. US Design Pat. D400,724 disclosed a design of cane with a seat. This design comprises a plurality of frame bars and a seat. When the frame bars are gathered together, the device is used as a walking stick. When the frame bars are extended out, the extended frame bars support the seat above the ground for sitting. This structure of cane is functional, however it requires much storage space when collapsed. Because of bulky structure, the design of cane is not suitable for use as a mountaineer's aid when climbing a mountain.


A compound and method of making a compound for use as a diagnostic or therapeutic pharmaceutical comprises a functionalized hydroxyalkyl phosphine ligand and a metal combined with the ligand.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to pharmaceuticals, and especially radiopharmaceuticals for use as diagnostic and therapeutic agents. More specifically, the present invention relates to compounds and methods of synthesizing compounds which utilize both mono- and multi-dentate ligands which form stable complexes with metal compounds without the need for external reducing agents for use as diagnostic or therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals.
2. Background Art
Because of the favorable physical properties, widespread availability, and low cost of .sup.99m Tc, this radionuclide continues to be the most attractive candidate to formulate diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals for scintigraphic imaging studies in patients (Jurisson et al., 1993). Re, a chemical analogue of Tc, has two radioisotopes (i. e., .sup.186 Re and .sup.188 Re; .sup.186/188 Re) that have physical and production properties that make them among the most attractive beta-emitting radionuclides for formulation of new therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals (Volkert et al., 1991; Troutner, 1987). .sup.105 Rh is another important beta-emitting radionuclide for use in preparing therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals (Troutner, 1987). Since the chemical properties of Tc and Re are often identical (although, not always) many ligand systems can be used as a basis to synthesize bifunctional chelating agents (BFCAs) that are capable of forming chelates with .sup.99m Tc that have the same structural and physicochemical properties as the corresponding .sup.186/188 Re chelates.
Development of sophisticated molecular probes in the design of new .sup.99m Tc-, .sup.186/188 Re, and .sup.105 Rh radiopharmaceuticals will provide for future advances in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. While many important single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) radiopharmaceuticals are effectively used as specific tools for diagnosis of human disease, accelerated development of many new site-directed synthetic derivatives (e.g., immunologically derived molecules, receptor-avid molecules, etc.) will provide a multitude of opportunities for further technological advances for both diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Many difficulties encountered in the design of highly selective radiolabeled drug carriers must be overcome (e.g., problems in efficient drug delivery to target sites, in vivo metabolism, rates of clearance of radioactivity from non-target tissues relative to target tissues, etc.). The physicochemical characteristics of the .sup.99m Tc-, .sup.105 Rh-, and .sup.186/188 Re-chelate moiety attached or fused to the site-directed molecule will play a crucial role as an inherent determinant of the effectiveness of the final drug product. In addition, the ability of .sup.99m Tc or .sup.186/188 Re to label the final product under conditions amenable for routine formulation of radiopharmaceuticals is also an essential consideration.
Labeling of biomolecules with .sup.99m Tc or .sup.186/188 Re to produce effective radiopharmaceuticals presents many challenges. It is necessary to produce .sup.99m Tc and/or .sup.186/188 Re labeled drugs that have high in vitro and in vivo stabilities. Several different ligand frameworks have been developed that form .sup.99m Tc or Re chelates exhibiting minimal or no measurable in vivo or in vitro dissociation. These chelates have provided radiopharmaceutical chemists with a selection of .sup.99m Tc-chelates that have a range of physicochemical characteristics. The formation of .sup.99m Tc (viz Re) products in high yields with high radiochemical purity (RCP), however, usually requires the presence of large quantities of excess ligand during the formulation processes that are used for routine pharmaceutical preparation. Unfortunately, the high specific activities (i.e., GBq/.mu.mole or Ci/.mu.mole) required for radiolabeled site-directed synthetic derivatives being developed precludes the use of many of these chelation systems, thus, severely limiting the choice to only a few ligand backbones.
High specific activity (Sp. Act) radiolabeled agents can be prepared using either preformed .sup.99m Tc- or .sup.186/188 Re bifunctional chelates (BFCs) or post-conjugation chelation with the radioactive metals where a chelating moiety is already appended (Parker, 1990) or fused (Lister-James et al., 1994; Knight et al., 1994) to the biomolecular targeting agent. Even though maximization of Sp. Act can be achieved by separation of the radiolabeled from the non-radiolabeled molecules, practically it is more desirable to employ chelation systems that require small quantities of the chelates. In the formation of products that will be ultimately used as FDA approved .sup.99m Tc/.sup.186/188 Re radiopharmaceuticals for routine patient care applications, it is most desirable to keep the number of steps for the formation of the drug-product to a minimum, ideally to one step, as is the case for most .sup.99m Tc- "instant kits".
One of the few ligand systems shown to be effective for preparation of high yield, stable .sup.99m Tc chelates using small quantities of chelator are the amido-thiol class of ligands (Fritzberg et al. 1988, Rao et al., 1992, and Chianelli et al, 1994). Generally, these types of multi-dentate ligands contain at least four donor atoms and one or two thiol donor groups in combination with 2-3 amido donor groups. Several N.sub.2 S.sub.2 or N.sub.3 S amido-thiol frameworks have been used to synthesize BFCAs and include diamido-dithiol (DADS) ligands (Fritzberg et al., 1988), monoaminemonoamide (MAMA) ligands (Rao et al., 1992; Gustavson et al., 1991) and mecaptoacetylglycylglycyl-glycine (MAG.sub.3) ligands (Chianelli et al., 1994). While the amido-thiol ligands make effective BFCAs for .sup.99m Tc and .sup.186/188 Re, the range of their physicochemical properties are limited, conditions for routine labeling can be difficult to reduce to practical utility and external reducing agents (e.g., Sn(II) are usually present during labeling with .sup.99m Tc or .sup.186/188 Re, which can cause irreversible alteration of the site-directed moiety reducing or eliminating specific in vivo localization.
Other ligand systems that have also been used for .sup.99m Tc labeling include N.sub.2 S.sub.2 -amine-thiol ligands, propylineamineoxime (PnAO) derivatives and the hydrazino nicotinamide (HYNIC) system. The former two derivatives form neutral lipophilic .sup.99m Tc-chelates, that while beneficial in some respects, result in high non-specific binding in vivo and poor clearance from non-target tissues (Muna et al., 1994; Noch et al., 1994). The HYNIC system does not form a well-defined product with .sup.99m Tc (Abrams et al., 1990a; Abrams et al., 1990b). All of these systems usually form chelates with .sup.99m Tc with the necessity of external reducing agents.
Ligand backbones containing trivalent phosphine donor groups have been shown to be effective in forming stable .sup.99m Tc and .sup.186/188 Re chelates in high RCP. Phosphines not only chelate .sup.99m Tc (or Re), but they are capable of reducing both pertechnetate and perrhenate to lower oxidation states, and, therefore, do not necessarily require the presence of an external reducing agent e.g., Sn(II)!. Diphosphine ligands have been extensively used in the development of .sup.99m Tc-radiopharmaceuticals, particularly those that are used as .sup.99m Tc-labeled myocardial perfusion agents (Deutsch, 1993; Nowotnik and Nunn, 1992; Kelly et al., 1993). Unfortunately, most of these chelates utilize alkyl-phosphine donor groups and the phosphines are rapidly oxidized (to phosphorus oxides) in aqueous solutions containing O.sub.2 and require stringent conditions for manufacture of the drugs and for ultimate routine formation of the final product. For these reasons, ligands that contain alkyl phosphine donor groups have limited flexibility for the design of new drugs and do not form a rational basis to prepare most phosphine-based BFCAs for use in preparing site-directed radiopharmaceuticals. Aromatic phosphines have also been reported for use with Tc and Re, however, the high lipophilicity of the resulting chelates minimize their potential utilization as BFCAs for in vivo applications.
A small ligand system containing phosphine donor groups with good solubility in aqueous solutions and not oxidized by O.sub.2, but still capable of reducing .sup.99m Tc0.sub.4.sup.- or .sup.186/188 ReO.sub.4.sup.- and/or strongly chelating reduced Tc or Re, would find widespread applicability in formulating new radiopharmaceuticals or new BFCAs.
Most other bifunctional chelation systems require the presence of an external reducing agent (e.g., Sn.sup.+2) or prereduction of .sup.99m Tc0.sub.4.sup.- or .sup.186/188 ReO.sub.4.sup.- to lower metal oxidation states (e.g. .sup.99m Tc-glucoheptonate). Water soluble phosphine groups containing low molecular side arms attached to each phosphine P-atom would provide versatility in ligand design and could be used as both as a reducing agent for .sup.99m Tc0.sub.4.sup.- (or .sup.186/188 ReO.sub.4.sup.-) under conditions used for routine .sup.99m Tc-radiopharmaceutical preparation and as an efficient complexing agent for the reduced forms of Tc or Re.
Applicants use a mono-dentate phosphine ligand and a series of multi-dentate ligands containing functionalized hydroxyalkyl phosphines that are stable in aerated aqueous solutions and will form highly stable .sup.99m Tc and .sup.188 Re chelates. Unlike prior art alkyl phosphine based ligands designed to reduce or chelate .sup.99m Tc or .sup.186/188 Re, the hydroxyalkyl phosphine groups are not sensitive to the presence of oxygen when dissolved in aqueous solutions. Other water soluble phosphine ligands with good oxidative stability have also been used as reducing agents, however, the side chains attached to the phosphine donor P-atoms in these ligands are bulky and produce highly charged phosphines which limit their utility in radiopharmaceutical development (Pasqualine et al., 1994).
Most other bifunctional chelation systems require the presence of an external reducing agent (such as Sn(II) or NaBH.sub.4) or prereduction in order to reduce the .sup.99m Tc0.sub.4.sup.- (or .sup.186/188 ReO.sub.4.sup.-) from the +7 oxidation state to lower oxidation states (e.g., .sup.99m Tc-GH) that are more readily chelated.
The ligands containing one or more hydroxyalkyl phosphine donor groups of the present invention require no external reducing agents, however, the ligand can be used as coordinating groups when used in conjunction with other reducing agents or .sup.99m Tc-synthons. The resulting .sup.99m Tc and Re complexes produced with these phosphine containing ligands exhibit excellent in vivo stability as well in aqueous solutions including human serum.

Hydroxyalkyl phosphine compounds for use as diagnostic and therapeutic pharmaceuticals

The Curators of the University of Missouri


A filament applicator includes a frame which defines a machine axis through which an elongate element may be guided at an application station at which filaments are to be applied to or introduce into the elongate element, such as an optical cable. A plurality of chambers are provided, each of which defines a chamber axis substantially parallel to the machine axis and mounted on the frame for rotation about the machine axis. Each chamber is substantially closed and has a panel at an axial end of the chamber which is movable between an open position for inserting and removing a wound package of filament material within the chamber and closed position for substantially sealing the chamber and preventing air turbulence within the chamber upon rotation about the machine axis. Each panel has an opening therein through which the filament material can be removed from the wound package. Each filament is guided from an associated opening in a door or panel of a chamber to the machine axis for winding about or introduction into the elongate element. By sealing the chambers during operation, the applicator speed can be significantly increased, above 500 rpm, while maintaining control over the relatively flimsy, lightweight and soft filaments, such as synthetic KEVLAR fibers.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to machinery for manufacturing cables and other conductors and, more specifically, to an apparatus for applying soft filaments to continuous elongate articles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the manufacture of conductors and cables it is frequently necessary to apply elongate filaments to one or more continuous elongate elements. For example, in the manufacture of optical cables, a bundle of optical fibers are frequently moved through an application station at which a plurality of filaments are typically applied to or introduced into the bundle prior to being brought to an extrusion station at which an outer plastic covering or jacket is applied to encapsulate and shield the optical fibers. The elongate filaments that are introduced may be, for example, a bundle of very soft and flexible strands or fibers. Such filaments, while very soft and flexible, are extremely strong in tension and may be used, with or without additional rigid cores, in order to eliminate or minimize tension and, therefore, stretching of the optical fibers, the optical and electrical properties of which are very sensitive to tension. One of the problems that has been encountered is efficiently applying or introducing such Kevlar filaments into the cable. One specific example of such an optical cable has a "tight coated" construction, in which a plastic buffer is extruded directly onto the coated fibers to form a buffered fiber. While there are many different variations of such cable design, in a simplex structure, one or two light buffered fibers are surrounded with aramid yarn strength members and with a plastic jacket. However, one of the problems with introducing the aramid yarn filaments into the cable has been the difficulty of controlling and handling the filaments, particularly under higher speed conditions. Such filaments are typically very soft, flexible, lightweight and flimsy. Once unwound from a cop, a cylindrical or conical mass of such filamentary material wound on a quill or tube, the removed filament is very much subject to the forces that manifest themselves in such machine, including gravity, centrifugal force, and air turbulence. When the optical fibers are passed along the machine axis at the application station and the wound packages of filamentary materials are rotated about the machine axis and about the cable into which the filament is to be introduced, it has been found that above relatively low threshold rotational speeds it becomes very difficult, if not impossible, to control the filamentary material of the type under discussion, particularly the softer and flimsier forms of such filaments. Depending on the nature of the filamentary materials used, such threshold rotational speeds can be in the range of 100-150 rpm. At higher speeds, any such filamentary materials which fly off the wound packages or cops are extremely difficult to control and turbulence makes it very difficult to control the filaments, in some cases causing the filament to engage and snag the machine parts, become twisted and possibly even knotted, rendering the filament difficult to use and subject to damage. Such difficulties may necessitate the stopping of the applicator, resulting in down time and unnecessary loss of efficiency of operation.

Apparatus for applying soft filaments to continuous elongate articles


In a keyless entry control apparatus having a fault diagnosis unit provided separately from a car and a keyless entry C/U, the fault diagnosis unit transmits a signal to each control unit connected to a communication line, and when receiving a communication enabling signal transmitted from the keyless entry C/U, the fault diagnosis unit can communicate with the keyless entry C/U. In the case where ID codes are entered in the keyless entry C/U, a signal for setting the keyless entry C/U to ID entry mode is transmitted from the fault diagnosis unit to the keyless entry C/U. The keyless entry C/U which received the signal is set to ID entry mode, and transmits entry information of the ID codes entered in an EEPROM to the fault diagnosis unit immediately. The entry information is displayed on a display device of the fault diagnosis unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a keyless entry control apparatus which is capable of locking and unlocking a door by means of an instruction from a transmitter which is remotely controlled, more specifically, a keyless entry control apparatus which is capable of entering ID codes of a transmitter therein.
2. Prior Art
A keyless entry unit, which locks and unlocks a door of a car according to an instruction from a transmitter which is remotely controlled, is known. In such a keyless entry unit, inherent ID codes are allocated respectively to transmitters, and locking and unlocking information and the ID code information are transmitted from the transmitters. Then, on a car side which received the information, a check is made as to whether the received ID codes agree with previously entered ID codes, and only when both the ID codes agree with each other, the door can be locked and unlocked by the transmitter.
In the case where the ID codes of the transmitter are entered to the keyless entry unit, the keyless entry unit is temporarily set to ID-entry-mode, and the ID codes are transmitted from the transmitter. If the procedure for setting to ID-entry-mode is simplified, the keyless entry unit might be set to ID-entry-mode when an operator does not intend to do so. As a result, an effect of preventing a theft is lowered. For this reason, in a conventional method, only when operation members, such as an ignition key, are operated following a determined procedure, the apparatus can be set to ID-entry-mode.
However, in order to improve the effect of preventing a theft, the procedure for setting to ID-entry-mode should be complicated. As a result, time required to enter the ID codes becomes longer, and there is high possibility of a mistake in the operating procedure.


A unified microphone pre-processing system includes a plurality of microphones arranged within a vehicle passenger compartment, a processing circuit or system configured to receive signals from one or more of the plurality of microphones, and the processing circuit configured to enhance the received signals for use by at least two of a telephony processing application, an automatic speech recognition processing application, and a noise cancellation processing application. The method includes receiving signals from one or more of a plurality of microphones arranged within a vehicle passenger compartment, and enhancing the received signals for use by at least two of a telephony processing application, an automatic speech recognition processing application, and a noise cancellation processing application. A computer readable medium containing executable instructions to cause a processor to perform a method in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is also described.

Currently, for automotive applications, different microphones and processing components may be used for telephony, speech recognition, and active noise reduction. For example, a single cardioid microphone may be placed in the headliner above the driver to provide best reception for telephony; and omni-directional microphones may be placed on the rear-view mirror to provide best reception for automatic speech recognition (ASR). Additional microphones, typically one per passenger, may be placed above the driver and passenger head to enable active noise reduction to cancel the effect of, for example, engine noise.
The use of multiple microphones and processing components may be expensive, and may have be of compromised quality, as the number of microphones available for each purpose is limited by cost and design constraints.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.

Unified microphone pre-processing system and method


A method for producing a semiconductor light receiving device includes the steps of growing a stacked semiconductor layer on a principal surface of a substrate, the stacked semiconductor layer including a light-receiving layer having a super-lattice structure, the super-lattice structure including a first semiconductor layer and a second semiconductor layer that are stacked alternately; forming a mask on the stacked semiconductor layer; forming a mesa structure on the substrate by etching the stacked semiconductor layer using the mask so as to form a substrate product, the mesa structure having a side surface exposed in an atmosphere; forming a fluorinated amorphous layer on the side surface of the mesa structure by exposing the substrate product in fluorine plasma; and after the step of forming the fluorinated amorphous layer, forming a passivation film containing an oxide on the side surface of the mesa structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing a semiconductor light receiving device and a semiconductor light receiving device.
2. Description of the Related Art
International Publication No. WO2011-089949 discloses a compound semiconductor photodiode array. The photodiode array is combined with a silicon read-out integrated circuit (ROIC) to constitute a photodetector module.
Image sensors include, for example, a photodiode array that includes a plurality of photodiodes. Such a photodiode array is classified into a planar-type photodiode array and a mesa-type photodiode array. In the mesa-type photodiode array, pixels are arranged at higher density as compared with the planar-type photodiode array. By arranging pixels at high density, a high-resolution image sensor is produced. In image sensors including a mesa-type photodiode array, each of the photodiodes includes a mesa structure. In addition, the mesa structure includes an optical absorption layer having a super-lattice structure, for example. The super-lattice structure included in the optical absorption layer is exposed in an atmosphere at a side surface of the mesa structure. In general, the exposed side surface of the mesa structure is covered with a passivation film to protect the side surface of the mesa structure.

Method for producing semiconductor light receiving device and semiconductor light receiving device


A sewing machine of a small size is enabled to deal with a fabric of an increased size to be sewn. A vertical spacing between an upper shaft mechanism and a lower shaft mechanism is adjustable. A need for a special control circuit which is designed for matching rotational positions of an upper and a lower shaft is dispensed with. At this end, a flexible wire 30 is used to connect an upper shaft unit 1 and a lower shaft unit 2 together. A single electric motor 10 is disposed within one of the upper and the lower shaft unit while a speed increasing mechanism 20 (or a speed reducing mechanism) is disposed in the other. An air cylinder 40 enables the vertical position of the upper shaft unit 1 to be adjustable.

The invention relates to a drive unit for a sewing machine, which may be utilized in an industrial sewing machine or embroidery machine.
A prior art unit of this kind is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 44,351/1989.
A drive unit for a sewing machine generally comprises an upper shaft for driving a sewing needle for an elevating motion, and a lower shaft for driving a shuttle race in which a lower thread is loaded for rotation. Since it is necessary that the upper and the lower shaft be driven in exact synchronism, an electric motor, serving as a drive source, is connected to the upper shaft, and a connecting rod having a gear mounted thereon is disposed vertically so that gears on the connecting rod are effective to connect the upper and the lower shaft together, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 44,351/1989.
When using a drive unit thus constructed, it is necessary to dispose the connecting rod at a location removed from a sewing needle or the like in order to avoid an interference of the connecting rod with a movement of a fabric being sewn or an embroidery frame. However, because the size of the entire sewing machine cannot be allowed to increase freely, the distance between the location of the connecting rod and the sewing needle is not so large in actuality. Accordingly, the fabric being sewn or the embroidery frame can be moved in a range which is limited by the location of the connecting rod, thus preventing a fabric of a larger size from being sewn.
The presence of the connecting rod also prevents the location of the upper and the lower shaft from being displaced. In other words, the vertical distance between the upper and the lower shaft cannot be changed, and hence the height of an article such as an embroidery frame which must be moved into and out of the space defined between the sewing needle and a throat plate is subject to a limitation by the length of the connecting rod, which means that an article having an increased height cannot be used.
To accommodate for this, Japanese Patent Publication No. 44,351/1989 utilizes independent electric motors for driving the upper and the lower shaft, respectively, thus dispensing with the connecting rod. The elimination of the connection between the upper and the lower shaft removes any interference with the movement of a fabric being sewn, and accordingly, a sewing machine of a small size is capable of sewing a large fabric.
However, the upper and the lower shaft must be driven in synchronism with each other, and accordingly when they are driven by independent motors, a complex control circuit is required in order to assure the synchronism, resulting in an increased cost of the sewing machine.


Circuit elements are operated as a function of a state of at least one change-over signal, in each case with a particular respective clock mode. Timing analysis is carried out by means of a description of the circuit. The description contains information as to whether the change-over signal is a quasi-static signal which does not change during operation of the circuit, and the descriptions for the circuit elements each contain information as to the state of the change-over signal with which the respective circuit element is operated in which clock mode. In the course of the timing analysis of a timing path which contains the circuit elements, the analysis unit checks whether the change-over signal is a quasi-static signal, and, if so, combinations of respective particular clock modes of the circuit elements that presuppose different states of the change-over signal are not taken into account.

Timing analysis plays an important role in the design of circuits. In the course of timing analysis, a check is made, for example, as to whether a signal is available on time and for long enough in order to be sampled in a controlled manner by a rising edge of a clock signal (so-called setup-and-hold response). Signal propagation times within a circuit can also be analyzed here.
The embedding of timing analysis into the process of development of a circuit is represented schematically in FIG. 1. The circuit is present to begin with in the form of a description at register level, e.g. in the form of RTL (register transfer level) description A. This RTL description A is converted by a synthesizer 1 into a description at gate level (gate-level description) B which, for example, may be available in VHDL (Very High Speed Integrated Circuit Hardware Description Language) or Verilog. This description B is supplied to an analysis unit 4 which carries out the timing analysis—that is to say, which analyses the timing of the circuit described by the description at gate level B. Restrictions E arising therefrom are supplied in turn to the synthesizer 1, so that the restrictions can be used for an optimization of the description at gate level B. The description at gate level B that has been optimized in this way is processed by a layout device 2, in order to obtain a layout description C. This layout description C is supplied in turn to the analysis unit 4. In particular, layout-conditioned signal propagation times or clock propagation times can be analyzed in this manner. Restrictions F arising from this, which may relate, for example, to lengths of signal paths, are supplied in turn to the layout device 2. Once the layout C has been optimized in this way, it is accepted by a unit 3 and made available for further processing in the form of description D of the circuit.
The various devices 1 to 4 here are ordinarily implemented as software in data-processing equipment. A widespread type of software for static timing analysis is, for example, the program package PrimeTime® from Synopsis®.
However, these timing analysis tools are able to process only one timing case or timing mode at a time. Real circuit designs always have various timing modes or operating modes, for example a normal operating mode and a test mode in which a circuit can be tested after production. In the test mode, phase-locked loops, for example, are bridged, and all the flip-flops or latches of the circuit are clocked with the same clock signal. In the normal operating mode, on the other hand, the clock frequencies are generally significantly higher, and various areas of the circuit are operated with various clock signals.
In the course of a process for circuit design, in general both operating modes are checked separately within the scope of the timing analysis.
Timing-analysis algorithms are also frequently integrated within the layout device 2 from FIG. 1, in order to take the timing of the circuit directly into account in the layout. Here at least, various operating modes have to be taken into account in parallel, in order not to violate timing requirements of another operating mode by an optimization of one operating mode.
Control signals ordinarily serve for changing over between the operating modes. These control signals do not change during operation of the circuit and may therefore be designated as quasi-static. These signals change over various circuit elements of the circuit between various clock modes, for example between various clock signals that are being used.
This will be elucidated on the basis of a simple circuit which is represented in FIG. 2. This circuit consists of three flip-flops 5, 6, 7 which each have a data input D, an output Q, an inverted output Q and a clock input, identified by a triangle. A data signal m is supplied to flip-flop 5. The output Q of flip-flop 5 is connected to the input D of flip-flop 6 via a path 8; the output Q of flip-flop 6 is connected to the input D of flip-flop 7 via a path 9.
Two different clock signals h and k are supplied to the circuit. By means of a change-over switch or a multiplexer 10, either the clock signal h or the clock signal k is supplied to flip-flops 5 and 6, depending on a change-over signal g. The clock signal k is always supplied to flip-flop 7. For example, k may be a clock signal that is used only in a test mode, whereas both signal h and signal k are used in normal operation of the circuit.
In this circuit, two timing paths—namely timing path 8 from flip-flop 5 to flip-flop 6 and timing path 9 from flip-flop 6 to flip-flop 7—have to be analyzed. In principle, with such a circuit it would be possible for the change-over signal g to change over from one clock-pulse period to the next. This could have the result, for example, that at the output of flip-flop 5 a signal generated with clock signal h is output which, after the change-over of the change-over signal g, is then processed further with clock signal k in flip-flop 6.
However, if the change-over signal g is a quasi-static signal which switches between various operating modes of the circuit but which is not changed itself during operation of the circuit, this case cannot occur. This case must accordingly be excluded in the course of the timing analysis, in order that no error messages are generated here or no false optimization is performed. Hitherto this has been defined by definition of so-called "false paths" between all the affected circuit elements downstream of the change-over switch 10. A typical syntax with which a program for timing analysis would be instructed to carry out the timing analysis for this circuit would look as follows:create_clock-period 22.4-waveform {0 11.2}[get_ports{CLK1}]create_clock-period 11.2-waveform {0 5.6}[get_ports{CLK2}]create_generated_clock-name "CS_high"-source[get_ports{CLK1}][get_pins {Mux1/Z}]create_generated_clock-name "CS_low"-source[get_ports{CLK2}][get_pins }Mux1/Z}]-addset_false_path-from [get_clocks{CS_high)}]to [get_clocks{CS_low}]set_false_path-from [get_clocks{CS_low)}]to [get_clocks{CS_high}]
In the first two lines, the two clock signals h, k are defined as CLK1 and CLK2 with different waveforms and clock-pulse periods. In the next two lines, two auxiliary clock signals CS_high and CS_low are defined, with which the dependence of the output of the change-over switch 10 on the change-over signal g, which does not itself appear in the description, can be established. In the last two lines, the false paths are finally defined, by virtue of which it is to be ruled out that timing paths in which, for example, flip-flop 5 is driven with clock signal h and flip-flop 6 is driven with clock signal k are considered in the timing analysis.
In the case of the relatively simple circuits represented in FIG. 2, such false paths are still relatively easy to define. However, here the change-over switch 10 and the quasi-static signal g associated with it already have to be known especially, in order to be able to define the false paths appropriately. For larger circuits—which comprise a plurality of change-over switches, several quasi-static change-over signals and a plurality of circuit elements downstream of the change-over switches—a very precise knowledge of the circuit and a great deal of time are necessary to define the false paths correctly.

Process and device for timing analysis of a circuit


A tissue response in a predetermined unit of volume or area tissue of interest is determined by excluding some data of the adjacent tissues based upon a blood flow direction with respect to the tissue of interest. The exclusion is based upon a predetermined time-related parameter such as time-to-peak and mean-transit time in the fitted curves of the uptake of a contrast agent in the adjacent tissues and the tissue of interest. Furthermore, the blood flow direction is determined in terms of a 3D vector based upon a plurality of weighted individual vectors from the adjacent or neighboring voxels with respect to the voxel of interest.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a conventional ultrasound imaging system includes a processing unit 1, a display unit 2, a cable 3 and an ultrasound transducer unit or probe 4. The probe or transducer 4 is connected to the processing unit 1 via the cable 3. The processing unit 1 generally controls the transducer unit 4 for transmitting ultrasound pulses towards a region of interest in a patient and receiving the ultrasound echoes reflected from the patient. The processing unit 1 concurrently receives from the transducer unit 4 in real time the reflected ultrasound signals for further processing so as to display on the display unit 2 an image of the region of the interest.
Diagnostic imaging includes the assessment of blood perfusion for several applications and especially in ultrasound analysis. The perfusion assessment is based on the analysis of a sequence of ultrasound contrast images that are obtained after administering an ultrasound contrast agent (UCA) to a patient. One exemplary UCA is suspensions of gas bubbles in a liquid carrier and is referred to as gas-filled microvesicles. Another kind of UCA is suspensions of porous microparticles of polymers or other solids, which carry gas bubbles entrapped within the pores of the microparticles. In general, the contrast agent acts as an efficient ultrasound reflector of ultrasound waves which result in echo-power signal. Since the contrast agent flows substantially at the same velocity as the blood in the patient, its tracking provides information about the perfusion of the blood in a region of interest.
In a typically implemented destruction-replenishment technique, the organ is perfused with the contrast agent such as microbubbles at a constant rate, and the microbubbles are then destroyed by a flash of sufficient acoustic energy in the imaging plane. Quantitative information about the blood perfusion is derived by measuring echo-power signal over time of the replenishment or reperfusion of the microbubbles in a region of interest (ROI). The above measuring technique requires a constant and continuous supply of the contrast agent, called infusion. The continuous administration requires a specific push-syringe pump introducing an additional level complexity in the medical contrast exam. In addition, increase in cost is possible because more than one vial of contrast agent may be necessary. Finally, potential bio-effects may result from the use of a high acoustic energy level in combination with microbubbles.
Another perfusion technique is a bolus that is a single dose of the contrast agent which is provided over a short period of time, typically in the range of 2 to 20 seconds. In comparison to the destruction-replenishment technique, the bolus technique is simpler to control and is less costly. Following bolus intravenous administration in bolus, the contrast uptake in a given organ increases over time (wash-in phase) to reach a maximum value and then gradually decreases (wash-out phase). In general, since the contrast uptake kinetics is spatially varying in the body, the current mathematical modeling techniques known in the art are not necessarily suitable for a rigorous representation of the perfusion process.
Upon focusing in one particular region of interest (ROI), certain mathematical models may be suitable for a rigorous representation of the perfusion process. On the other hand, the blood flow is all inclusive or non-discriminatory in its direction with respect to the ROI.
For the above reasons, it remains desirable to refine the assessment of the perfusion process for a rigorous representation of the perfusion process in a particular ROI.

Method and system for quantitative vectorial perfusion based upon blood flow direction using 4D medical imaging


A memory cell comprises a nanowire structure comprising a channel region and source/drain regions of a transistor. The nanowire structure also comprises as first conductor of a capacitive device as a vertical extension of the nanowire structure.

Advances in integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing, and specifically semiconductor device manufacturing, are making many different types of memory devices available for use in logic chip designs. For example, memory devices may include dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices that include a capacitor to store charge and an access transistor. Generally, in current semiconductor manufacturing, a DRAM cell may include a planar field-effect-transistor (FET) and a metal-insulator-metal capacitor (MIMCAP). Due to the physical structure of each, the FET and MIMCAP for a DRAM cell are typically formed horizontally next to each other.

Vertical heterostructure semiconductor memory cell and methods for making the same

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited


A mobile digital fluoroscopy system comprises either a G-arm (18) stand (1) having two X-ray beam transmitter (21,23)/receiver (22,24) pairs arranged at right angles to each other or a C-arm having a single transmitter/receiver pair. Protective collimator shutter plates (1060) at each transmitter limit the X-ray irradiation area. These collimator plates are properly adjusted via servo motors prior to or during the operation, by fingertip movements, touching collimator representations on a touchscreen for each transmitter/receiver pair, to provide both protection to the surgeon and patient and sufficient fluoroscopic view to the surgeon of the operation site of interest in the body.

In orthopedic surgery environment, there is a need for allowing full access to the operating area with total control at each step. Therefore, X-ray imaging using C-stands or G-stands comprising imaging systems is commonly used, wherein a C-stand only has one X-ray imaging device while a so-called G-stand comprises two such imaging devices, with their axes oriented at an angle to each other.
A symmetrical G-stand may in some circumstances be preferable to a C-stand, since it comprises two perpendicularly mounted X-ray imaging devices, and is thereby able to provide both frontal and lateral X-ray imaging with fixed settings. The ability to simultaneously see the surgical area in both a frontal and lateral view reduces the need to move and adjust the equipment during surgery, thus reducing both surgery time and radiation dose. When the need to move the equipment is reduced, better sterility is also achieved.
X-ray imaging devices may be used for accurate positioning of implants thereby creating a safer and more reliable method of surgery. The X-ray devices are fixed in perpendicular relation to each other and may be tilted somewhat for better access and views.
A general problem in the technical field of X-ray imaging is to protect personnel involved in surgery as well as parts of the patient's body, not part of an area of interest, from unnecessary exposure to X-ray radiation. A common way to achieve this is that the X-ray beam is narrowed by protective lead collimator shutters.
A problem with conventional systems is to easily and accurately narrow or widen the X-ray beam, used for imaging, to the area of interest as the area of interest may change, e.g. during surgery. There is a need to improve the user's or surgeon's understanding of what the selected area of interest is and to improve the method of changing the area of interest during use of the X-ray imaging device, e.g. as surgery proceeds.
In presently used systems, keyed in numerical values are often used to adjust the physical positions of the collimators. This is very indirect, difficult and non-intuitive. These difficulties will result in non-optimal setting of the collimators, and most likely overexposure X-ray radiation.


The invention relates to a device for operating an annular combustion chamber (15) which is equipped with combined burners (1) for liquid (4) and gaseous fuels (9), in particular burners of the double-cone design, each burner (1) having a fuel lance (3), with at least one additional air passage (7), for feeding the liquid fuel (4) and an airblast nozzle (2) for atomizing the liquid fuel (4), into which airblast nozzle (2) atomizing air (5) is fed from outside the burner hood (13), and an adjusting mechanism being provided for at least partly throttling the inflow of the atomizing air (5) during gas operation, wherein the adjusting mechanism is an external valve (21) which is arranged in a main feed line (19), coming from the compressor outlet (18), for the atomizing air (5), the main feed line (19) leading into a ring line (20), and the ring line (20) being connected to the head (24) of each fuel lance (3) via one branch line (23) each.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of combustion technology. It relates to a device for operating an annular combustion chamber for gas turbines which is equipped with combined burners for liquid and gaseous fuels, in particular burners of the double-cone design, each burner having an airblast nozzle for atomizing the liquid fuel, into which airblast nozzle atomizing air is fed from outside the burner hood, and the inflow of the atomizing air being at least partly throttled during gas operation.
2. Discussion of Background
To achieve the lowest possible NOx emissions, burners are operated close to their lean extinction limit. As a result, however, the control range of the burners is greatly restricted. In order to remove this disadvantage, internal piloting is used, for example, during part-load operation of a gas turbine, during which piloting the fuel gases are enriched with additional fuel near the axis. The stability range of the burners is thereby extended so far that reliable operation is guaranteed even under part-load conditions.
To operate a burner alternatively with gaseous or liquid fuel, it is known to atomize the liquid fuel by means of an airblast nozzle. To this end, air is injected near the axis, i.e. in the center of the burner. In the same way as the combustion air in premix burners of the double-cone design, the basic construction of which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,861 to Keller et al., this atomizing air is extracted from a plenum outside the burner.
However, the injection of the atomizing air takes place not only during the fuel-oil atomization but also in gas operation, during which, however, no air at all is required for the atomization. In gas operation of the burner, this additional air destabilizes the flame, on the one hand due to the mixture being made leaner and on the other hand due to the incident flow itself. This leads in turn to a distinct reduction in the lean extinction limit of the gas flame.
DE 44 24 599 A1 discloses a method and a plurality of devices for operating a combined burner for liquid and gaseous fuels, in which this disadvantage is removed by provision being made to control the inflow of the atomizing air, the inflow of the atomizing air being at least partly throttled during operation with gaseous fuel.
To this end, according to DE 44 24 599 A1 the airblast nozzle, for example, is designed in such a way that the pilot-gas passage leads upstream of the atomizing cross section into at least one atomizing-air passage so that the throttling of the atomizing air is effected by means of the pilot gas. This embodiment has the disadvantage that, during operation of the burner with gaseous fuel, work has to be carried out with additional pilot gas not only during the starting phase but constantly.
In another embodiment described in DE 44 24 599 A1, in which the burner is fastened in the burner hood by a burner support having an integrated air-inlet opening for the blast air, and a fuel lance adjoins the burner support upstream for the feed of the liquid fuel, an adjusting mechanism, e.g. in the form of a displaceable or rotatable sleeve, is arranged on the fuel lance or the burner support, which adjusting mechanism at least partly closes the air-inlet opening for the atomizing air during operation of the burner with gaseous fuel. This solution has the disadvantage that the adjusting mechanism is arranged in the interior of the machine and is therefore difficult of access.
GB 2 091 409 A discloses an airblast nozzle in which the inflow of the combustion and atomizing air is jointly controlled in accordance with the demand of the combustion chamber. To this end, two different metering valves are arranged which are acted upon by a common piston. This solution has the disadvantage that no separate control of the atomizing air is possible. In addition, the valves are arranged directly on the nozzle and are therefore exposed to high temperatures.

Device for operating an annular combustion chamber equipped with combined burners for liquid and gaseous fuels


The present invention provides a studless tire excellent in performance on ice and snow in which digging friction is improved without losing adhesion friction. The studless tire has a tread comprising specific short fiber or plate-like material dispersed in diene rubber so as to be oriented in the tread thickness direction, wherein when measured at 25° C. the tread has a complex elastic modulus E1 in the tread thickness direction, and the sheet has a complex elastic modulus Eα in the extrusion direction and a complex elastic modulus Eβ in a 90° direction from the extrusion direction, when the rubber composition is made into 2 mm sheets with a roller and these moduli fulfill the following equation,60≦(E1−Eβ)/(Eα−Eβ)×100≦100and the tread has a specific tread rubber hardness. The tire is obtained using a tread prepared by extruding a rubber composition containing diene rubber and specific short fiber or plate-type material in a tube shape, thereby orienting the short fiber in the circumferential direction of the tube shaped rubber, then cutting the obtained rubber sheet parallel to the extrusion direction, rotating each piece 90° and laminating.

The present invention relates to a process for preparing a rubber sheet in which short fiber is oriented in the circumferential direction of tube shaped rubber. Also, the present invention relates to a studless tire superior in performance on snow and ice and a process for preparing the tread of the studless tire.
In recent years, studless tires without spikes have come to be widely used as tires for driving on icy roads. In a studless tire, in order to improve performance on ice, road digging friction and adhesion friction must be increased. Therefore, various studies have been conducted to raise the friction coefficient of tread rubber to icy roads.
Also, a tire which uses as the tread rubber, a rubber in which short fiber (organic short fiber or inorganic short fiber) is compounded, is known to improve the strength, rigidity and abrasion resistance of a tire.
JP-A-2001-315504 suggests a method for preparing a tread by rolling a rubber composition in which short fiber is dispersed with a calender roll and folding the obtained sheet. However, when tread rubber is extrusion molded by a calender roll or extruder, the compounded short fiber is oriented in the extrusion direction, that is along the circumferential direction of the tire tread. As a result, the road scratching effect of short fiber does not function effectively in a large part of the tread rubber which touches the road and so the tire tread of this method is hardly used for a studless tire which requires high digging friction.
Also, there is a method in which short fiber compounded rubber containing short fiber with improved road scratching effect is used in a studless tire. Japanese Patent No. 2637887 suggests using thick short fiber having a diameter of 0.1 to 0.3 mm and a low aspect ratio as the short fiber. When thick short fiber is used, orienting the short fiber when extruding is difficult and so compared with conventional rubber in which short fiber is oriented in the tire circumferential direction, the chances of the ends of the short fiber coming into contact with the road increase, improving the scratching effect to a certain degree. However, the scratching effect is improved only to the degree in which orientation of the short fiber is lost and sufficient performance on ice cannot be obtained.
JP-A-2000-168315 suggests a method for improving the road scratching effect of short fiber and grip performance on ice by orienting short fiber perpendicularly to the tread surface (tread thickness direction). In this method, short fiber is oriented in the pushing direction near the siping by pushing a knife blade into an unvulcanized tread when vulcanizing the tire.
However, in all of the above methods, the orientation degree of short fiber is insufficient or producing a large number of tires is difficult in reality.
In this way, a tire excellent in performance on ice and snow, in which adhesion friction, digging friction and scratching friction on icy and snowy roads are simultaneously improved or obtained in a balanced manner, is currently still not available.

Process for preparing rubber sheet and tread and studless tire using same


A single ended to a differential signal converter. The single ended signal is passed through a high pass filter to block DC components. A positive and a negative version of the filtered signal are used collectively as the differential output of the converter. To allow accurate measurements on the input signal without waiting for the output of the high pass filter to settle, the differential outputs are offset by a dynamically generated signal representative of the midpoint of the filtered signal. That offset is generated by capturing a value representing the midpoint when a signal is first applied. This captured value is allowed to change with a time constant matching a time constant of the high pass filter. The converter may be used to connect a test instrument to a unit under test that generates test signals in a format that the test instrument is not specifically configured to measure.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to testing of electronic systems, and more particularly to signal converters.
2. Related Art
Test instruments are known for testing many types of electronic units under test. For example, instruments to test printed circuit boards and other electronic assemblies are known. Though test instruments come in many forms, a test instrument contains circuitry to generate or measure a test signal. To fully test an electronic unit, the test instrument may be programmable to control multiple parameters of test signals that are generated or measured. In sophisticated instruments, parameters relating to both the magnitude and timing of test signals, for example, may be programmed. Accordingly, test instruments may be sophisticated electronic devices.
Test instruments may be used during multiple stages in the lifecycle of an electronic unit. Test instruments may be used to make repairs after the unit has been fielded. In this role, the test instrument may be used to identify defective components that may be replaced or to identify other corrective actions that might be taken. In other scenarios, test instruments may be used during manufacture of the electronic units. In this capacity, the instruments may be used to identify defects such that the results of testing may be used to impact the manufacture of a device by conditioning certain operations on the results of testing. For example, manufacturing steps that result in the unit being packaged and shipped to a customer may be performed only if testing on a unit indicates that the unit is working properly. If the tests indicate that the unit is not working properly, the unit may be diverted such that different operations to rework or scrap the unit are performed.
Regardless of the specific reason for conducting tests, test instruments may be connected to the units in different ways, depending on the nature of the unit under test. For example, in some scenarios, the test instrument may be connected to a unit under test through a test fixture that contains probes to make mechanical and electrical connection to test points within the unit under test. In other scenarios, a test instrument may be connected to operational inputs and outputs of the unit under test. For example, an electronic unit designed to be connected to other electronic units over a bus may be tested through a port on the electronic unit designed to connect to a bus. Regardless of the nature of the connection, the test instrument may be configured to generate and measure test signals as may appear on that type of connection.

Fast single-ended to differential converter


A receiver, comprising an adaptive filter, performs blind equalization using a modified form of the constant modulus algorithm (CMA). This modified form of CMA is referred to as phase compensating CMA (PC-CMA). PC-CMA includes a phase-compensating term in the tap updating algorithm of the equalizer such that convergence to a straight constellation is achieved without the need of a rotator.

The present invention relates to communications equipment, and, more particularly, to blind equalization in a receiver.
In blind equalization, the adaptive filters of a receiver are converged without the use of a training signal. As known in the art, there are two techniques for blind equalization: one is referred to herein as the xe2x80x9creduced constellation algorithmxe2x80x9d (RCA) (e.g., see Y. Sato, xe2x80x9cA Method of Self-Recovering Equalization for Multilevel Amplitude-Modulation Systems,xe2x80x9d IEEE Trans. Commun., pp. 679-682, June 1975; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,152, issued Oct. 7, 1980 to Godard); and the other technique is the so-called xe2x80x9cconstant modulus algorithmxe2x80x9d (CMA) (e.g., see D. N. Godard, xe2x80x9cSelf-Recovering Equalization and Carrier Tracking in Two-Dimensional Data Communications Systems,xe2x80x9d IEEE Trans. Commun., vol. 28, no. 11, pp. 1867-1875, November 1980; and N. K Jablon, xe2x80x9cJoint Blind Equalization, Carrier Recovery, and Timing Recovery for High-Order QAM Signal Constellationsxe2x80x9dIEEE Trans. Signal Processing, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 1383-1398, 1992.) Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,807, issued Aug. 11, 1998 to Werner et al., and entitled xe2x80x9cBlind Equalization,xe2x80x9d presents a new blind equalization techniquexe2x80x94the multimodulus algorithm (MMA)xe2x80x94as an alternative to the above-mentioned RCA and CMA approaches.
However, for all blind equalization approaches the most fundamental performance issue is the ability to achieve reliable initial convergencexe2x80x94else the adaptive filter may converge to a wrong solution such as the well-known xe2x80x9cdiagonal solution.xe2x80x9d
We have discovered a technique for use in blind equalization of an adaptive equalizer that reduces the rate of occurrence of a diagonal solution. In particular, and in accordance with the invention, a receiver performs blind equalization by using a tap updating algorithm that includes a phase-compensating term.
In an embodiment of the invention, a receiver comprises an adaptive filter having a two-filter structure. The receiver uses a modified form of the CMA algorithm to perform blind equalization. This modified form of CMA is referred to herein as phase compensating CMA (PC-CMA). PC-CMA includes a phase-compensating term in the tap updating algorithm of the equalizer such that convergence to a straight constellation is achieved without the need of a rotator.

Phase-compensating constant modulus algorithm


The present embodiments relate to a control device for controlling an irradiation procedure, which is designed in such a way that a target volume is irradiated by at least two irradiation procedures. In each irradiation procedure, an energy of a particle beam is varied in such a way that the target volume is irradiated layer-wise in layers that are spatially arranged one behind another. A sequence in which the layers of the target volume are irradiated in one of the irradiation procedures is varied from irradiation procedure to irradiation procedure, in terms of a direction of incidence of the particle beam.

The present embodiments relate to a control device for controlling an irradiation procedure in a particle therapy unit, a particle therapy unit, and a method for irradiating a target volume.
Particle therapy is used for the treatment of tissue, such as tumor diseases. Irradiation methods used in particle therapy may, however, also be used in non-therapeutic fields. The non-therapeutic fields include, for example, research work in the context of particle therapy, carried out on non-living phantoms or bodies, or irradiation of materials. In such methods, charged particles are accelerated to high energies, formed into a particle beam and directed onto an object that is to be irradiated. The particle beam penetrates the object and releases its energy in a defined location, which leads to the destruction of the tissue in the defined location. The particles used are protons and carbon ions, but pions, helium ions and other types of ions are also used.
Compared to irradiation methods using x-ray beams, particle therapy has the distinguishing feature that the particles in the particle beam release the main part of their energy in an area that can be relatively well defined within the target volume. Exactly where the particle beam interacts with the target volume, for example, at what depth of the target volume in terms of the direction of the beam, depends mainly on the energy of the particle beam. The higher the energy of the particle beam, the further the particle beam penetrates into the target volume and the deeper is the area in which the particles discharge their energy onto the target volume. Accordingly, a target volume that is to be irradiated within an object may be irradiated with relative precision. Irradiation in surrounding areas may be avoided.
A target volume may be irradiated in a plurality of layers. The target volume is irradiated in a plurality of layers when the target volume in the direction of the beam is so large that the layer in which particles release their energy with a defined energy is so thin that the target volume cannot be captured by the particle beam by particles with the defined energy. Irradiation of the target volume often ensues in layers, the energy of the particles being adjusted in each layer to the depth of the layer in the object that is to be irradiated.
The energy of the particles is adjusted immediately in front of the object that is to be irradiated, and before the irradiation procedure, for example, in the area of the accelerator. The particles are accelerated to an energy that is required for irradiation, or in the area of the high-energy beam transport system with which particles are transported from an accelerator to an irradiation chamber.
Complex irradiation procedures, such as irradiating a plurality of layers, require complex control of the particle therapy unit and synchronization of the energy of the particle beam with the layers that are to be irradiated.

Control device for controlling an irradiation procedure, particle therapy unit, and method for irradiating a target volume


An example method for flexible remote direct memory access resource configuration in a network environment is provided and includes determining whether sufficient remote direct memory access (RDMA) resources are available in a network environment to satisfy a request for RDMA resources, inserting the requested RDMA resources into a network profile, associating the network profile with a network interface endpoint in the network, and communicating the network profile over the network to a virtual interface card (VIC) adapter that processes RDMA packets, the VIC adapter configuring the requested RDMA resources in the VIC adapter's hardware and the requested RDMA resources being mapped to a host memory for use by the network interface endpoint. In specific embodiments, the VIC adapter allocates and identifies a region in local memory for managing the requested RDMA resources and reserved for the network interface endpoint.

A typical enterprise network, which can include data centers, contains myriad network elements, including hosts, load balancers, routers, switches, etc. The network connecting the network elements provides secure user access to various services and an infrastructure for deployment, interconnection, and aggregation of shared resource as required, including applications, hosts, appliances, and storage. Improving operational efficiency and optimizing utilization of resources in such networks are some of the challenges facing network operators. Network operators want a resilient infrastructure that consistently supports diverse applications and services and protects the applications and services against disruptions. The application workloads deployed in a typical datacenter can have varying level of latency and bandwidth requirements, which have to be supported by the network infrastructure. A properly planned and operating network provides application and data integrity and optimizes application availability and performance.

Flexible remote direct memory access resource configuration in a network environment


An apparatus includes: a print head having nozzles which can print different sized dots; a unit acquiring image data having M-value density information (M≧3) per pixel; a unit acquiring information regarding density unevenness of the nozzles; a unit performing N-valued processing (M>N≧2) on the acquired image to generate N-valued data; a unit generating print data from the generated N-valued data; and a unit that prints based on the generated print data, wherein the N-valued data generating unit determines generation ratios of the different sized dots for predetermined regions of the acquired image data based on the acquired density unevenness information, and performs N-valued processing (M>N≧2) on the image data based on the determined generation ratios.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, such as a printer of a facsimile machine, a copying machine, and OA equipment, a printing program, a printing method, an image processing apparatus, an image processing program, an image processing method, a recording medium having the program recorded thereon, etc., and particularly, the invention is suitable for a so-called ink-jet type printing apparatus which discharges fine particles of liquid inks of a plurality or colors onto a print sheet (printing medium) to draw predetermined characters and predetermined images, a printing program, a printing method, an image processing apparatus, an image processing program, an image processing method, and a recording medium having the program recorded thereon.
2. Related Art
Hereinafter, a printing apparatus, particularly a printer (hereinafter referred to as "ink jet printer") employing an ink jet system will be described.
Since ink jet printers generally provide low-price and high-quality color printed materials to be easily obtained, they have been widely used not only in offices but also by general users along with the widespread use of personal computers, digital cameras, and the like.
An ink jet printer is generally adapted such that predetermined characters and predetermined images are printed on a printing medium and thereby a desired printed material is produced by discharging (ejecting) particles of liquid ink in the form of dots from nozzles of a print head while a movable body called a carriage integrally provided with a cartridge and the print head reciprocates in a direction perpendicular to a sheet feed direction of the printing medium (sheet). Also, since the cartridge is provided with ink cartridges for four colors (black, yellow, magenta, and cyan) and a print head for each color, not only monochrome printing but also full color printing by combining the respective colors can be easily performed (furthermore, full color printing by combining six colors, seven colors, or eight colors in which light cyan, light magenta, etc. are added to the above four colors is also put to practical use).
Further, in the ink jet printer of the type that is adapted to perform printing while the print head on the carriage is caused to reciprocate in a direction perpendicular to the sheet feed direction, it is necessary to cause the print head to reciprocate from tens of times to 100 times or more in order to finely print an entire sheet. Therefore, an ink jet printer has a drawback in that the printing time is longer than printing apparatuses using other methods, for example, a laser printer using electrophotography, such as a copying machine.
In contrast, in an ink jet printer of the type in which a long print head having the same (or greater than) dimension as the width of a print sheet, and a carriage is not used, it is not necessary to move the print head in the width direction of the print medium and printing by a so-called one scanning (one pass) is provided. Therefore, the same high-speed printing as a laser printer is provided. Further, since a drive system, etc. for moving the carriage which carries the print head becomes unnecessary, this type of ink jet printer has an advantage in that a printer housing can be made compact and lightweight, and noise reduction also improves significantly. The ink jet printer of the former type is generally called a "multipass type" or a "serial" printer, and the ink jet printer of the latter type is generally called a "line-head type printer" "
Since the print head of such an ink jet printer is configured such that one row of or plurality of minute nozzles having a diameter of about 10 to 70 μm are arranged in a printing direction at regular intervals, a so-called "flight deflection phenomena" may occur, including a phenomenon that the ink discharge direction of some of the nozzles may be inclined due to manufacturing errors, a phenomenon that some nozzles may be disposed in positions which deviate from ideal positions, and a phenomenon that the landing position of a dot to be formed by the nozzles may deviate from a target point.
As a result, poor printing called a "banding (streak) phenomenon" may be caused in portions where printing is performed using the defective nozzles, thereby noticeably deteriorating printing quality. That is, if the "flight deflection phenomenon" is caused, the distance between dots discharged by adjacent nozzles will become uneven. As a result, a "white streak" (in a case in which a print sheet is white) will be generated in a portion where the distance between adjacent dots is large, and a "dark streak" will be generated in a portion where the distance between adjacent dots is short.
In particular, such a banding phenomenon tends to be caused more noticeably in the "line-head type printer" in which a print head or a printing medium is fixed one pass printing) than in the "multipass type printer" (serial printer) as mentioned above (in the multipass type printer, there is a technique that makes the banding inconspicuous by making the print head reciprocate several times).
Therefore, although research and development in hardware, including improvements in the manufacturing of a print head, improvements in the design thereof, etc. have been made in order to prevent poor printing caused by such a "banding phenomenon," it is difficult to provide a print head in which the "banding phenomenon" is 100% eliminated from the viewpoint of manufacturing cost, technology, etc.
Thus, under the present circumstances, in addition to improvements in hardware as mentioned above, a technique to reduce such a "banding phenomenon" using a so-called software technique, such as printing control, is also used.
For example, JP-A-6-340094 entitled "Ink-jet Recording Apparatus and Ink-jet Recording Method" suggests a method to reduce a "white streak" extending in a direction perpendicular to a nozzle arrangement direction, which is caused by the "banding phenomenon," by greatly changing the size of dots in the a driving direction (perpendicular to the nozzle arrangement direction) of a print head while the size of dots in the nozzle arrangement direction of the print head are made the same.
On the other hand, although such a banding phenomenon is caused by the flight deflection phenomenon as mentioned above, it is known that the banding phenomenon is also caused by the so-called "density unevenness."
That is, this "density unevenness" is a phenomenon in which a predetermined size of dot is no longer printed because the printing position is as normal, but the ink of each nozzle of the print head is not discharged as normal, unlike the printing deviation caused by the flight deflection phenomenon as mentioned above. Accordingly, in a case in which ink is not discharged at all (non-discharge) and the ink discharge amount is less than a specified value, no dot is printed or dots having a smaller size than a prescribed size are printed. Thereby, the density of only a line to be printed by the nozzle becomes low, and consequently a "white streak" or density unevenness similar to the "white streak" is generated in the portion. In contrast, if the ink discharge amount is excessively more than a specified value, dots having a larger size than a prescribed size are printed, and the density of a line to be printed by the nozzle becomes high, and consequently a "dark streak" or density unevenness similar to the "dark streak" is generated in the portion.
Therefore, for example, in JP-A-1-129667 and JP-A-3-162977, the variation with respect to the density data for every nozzle of a print head is considered density variation so as be corrected. Specifically, JP-A-1-129667 and JP-A-3-162977 suggest a method of trying to reduce any density variation by correcting the pixel value (density value) of a pixel of the image data corresponding to a nozzle whose ink discharge amount is less than a specified value so that the pixel value may be increased to a value greater than its original value, and in contrast, by correcting the pixel value (density value) of a pixel of the image data corresponding to a nozzle whose ink discharge amount is more than a specified value so that the pixel value may be decreased to a value smaller than its original value.
Further, for example, JP-A-2002-19101, JP-A-2003-136702, and JP-A-2003-63043 suggest a method of trying to reduce the density unevenness of a portion with dark density by using other colors for the color of the portion or increasing the ink discharge amount of a nozzle adjacent to a non-discharge nozzle with respect to a discharge failure phenomenon of a nozzle which does not discharge ink at all.
Meanwhile, in the above related art, with respect to the banding phenomenon resulting from either the "flight deflection" or the "density unevenness" caused by poor discharge, the effect of reducing the banding phenomenon can be exhibited somewhat, but it cannot be said that the effect is satisfactory. Further, it turned out that it is difficult to satisfactorily cope with the banding phenomenon resulting from both phenomena.
For example, although it is possible to reduce a "white streak" extending in a direction perpendicular to a nozzle arrangement direction by greatly changing the size of a dot as mentioned above with respect to the banding phenomenon resulting from "flight deflection," there is a problem in that the density of the portion becomes high and "density unevenness" is caused.
Meanwhile, although the method of using other colors for the color of a portion with dark density as mentioned above with respect to the banding phenomenon resulting from the "density unevenness" caused by poor discharge, can reduce a color difference, it cannot be said that the method is suitable for printing which requires high image quality because a color tone may change. Further, although the method of increasing the ink discharge amount of a nozzle adjacent to a non-discharge nozzle is effective in a portion with thin density, the ink discharge amount of the adjacent nozzle cannot be increased any more in a portion with dark density, but banding will still remain.

Printing apparatus, printing program, printing method, image processing apparatus, image processing program, image processing method, and recording medium having the program recorded thereon


While a bending ability is maintained, it is possible to provide an outer appearance which is not made possible in the past. A door shutter includes a main body on a design surface side which is bent in a width direction through thin parts, and plural block pieces disposed between the thin parts on an underside of the main body, wherein an opening on a device side is opened or closed by sliding along a guide groove on the device side. On the main body, the thin parts are formed as a plane surface, and parts overlapping with the block pieces are formed in an upwardly convex curved shape.

The present invention relates to a bendable door shutter that is slid following a guide groove on a device side.
Among door shutters, there is one, as shown in Patent Document 1, having a main body on a design surface side which is bent via thin parts in the width direction, and plural block pieces (same as frame or core wood) disposed on the underside of that main body, for opening and closing a device opening by being slid following a guide groove having a curved part on the device side. Here, as the main body, a soft resin, or the like, is used in order to maintain bendability, the thin parts are formed at equal intervals, and each thin part and the parts between the thin parts are formed as a plane surface. As the block pieces, a hard resin, or the like, is used in order to give rigidity, and from the viewpoint of bendability, they are disposed integrally between the thin parts on the underside of the main body.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-90186
In the structure of the door shutter as above, in maintaining bendability, the design surface of the main body, that is, the part between the thin parts was limited to a plane surface. In other words, as the shutter, although it is preferable to make the design surface of the main body an upwardly convex curved shape, it was considered impossible in connection with that the bendability is impaired.
Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to solve the problems such as above, and to make it such that a cosmetic shape hitherto considered impossible can be given while maintaining bendability.


A cleavage pad for adhering to the skin wherein the outer contour of the cleavage pad is formed by a substantially concave contour and a substantially convex contour having rounded portions in the transitions of both contours, wherein a point of intersection A of the convex contour is provided with an axis of symmetry and a point of intersection B of the concave contour is provided with the axis of symmetry, and wherein a perpendicular projection of the point of the rounded portions of the largest spaced interval from the point of intersection A to the axis of symmetry produces a point C and the ratio of the distance AB/AC is less than 0.8.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a cleavage pad for adhering to the skin and a use of a cleavage pad.
(2) Description of Related Art
Pads or adhesive tapes for adhering to the human skin, hence for doing something against the formation of wrinkles are generally known. From U.S. Pat. No. 5,961,986 an adhesive pad which is adhered to the chest of the person for reducing wrinkles is known. In WO 2005/018351 A2 an anti-wrinkle brassiere for use during sleep is disclosed. US 2008/0280534 A1 shows a device which has to be put between the breasts for avoiding wrinkles in the chest region and from CA 2,575,534 a potentially adhesive pad for forming the chest is known. Here the cleavage pads are adhered to the regions in which the formation of wrinkles can occur or has already occurred.
The cleavage pads are based on the knowledge that wrinkles in the décolleté region are caused or at least facilitated through a compression of the skin over a longer period of time, such as e.g. during the sleep on one side. Here and also below, the compression of the skin means a compression of the skin in the plane of the skin surface. This problem is particularly important in the case of the female décolleté.
In the region between the breasts and the region being directly above that generally can be found a particularly strong formation of wrinkles. This is caused or intensified by the fact that during sleep in the case of lying on the side the lower breast is not moved downwards, because it lies on the lower arm or the mattress or optionally it is even moved upwards a little bit due to the lower arm, whereas the upper shoulder and the upper breast are moved downwards due to gravitation. In the middle region of the décolleté thus in a region with nearly equal distances to the breast nipples and the collar bones in a vertical view a nearly uniform distribution of the wrinkles can be found.
The cleavage pads known have a shape which has been optimized with the intention that all sites at which the formation of wrinkles can occur are covered by the pad. Since the stiffness of the known pads is so high that in the case that the person lies on the side a compression of the pad itself does virtually not occur or only in a negligible extent and the skin lying beneath is adhered to the pad, due to the pad no compression of the adhered skin occurs and this counteracts the formation of wrinkles. But this stiffness of the known pads results in a wearing comfort of the person which may partially be unpleasant. One reason for the unpleasant wearing comfort may be that pads known from prior art comprise an extension which is located in the region directly between the breasts, because there the formation of wrinkles may be considerably more distinct. When lying on the side, the upper breast may lie on the rim of this extension of the pad which is oriented upwards and this may cause an unpleasant feeling due to the increased sensitivity of the breast.


A saddle accessory apparatus is comprised of at least one panel of fabric material having a saddle seat covering portion shaped and sized to cover a saddle seat when mounted thereupon, and first and second flap portions, each extending from opposing sides of the seat covering portion and sized and shaped to cover the stirrup leathers of an English-style saddle, and all or substantially all of the fenders of a Western-style saddle. The apparatus protects the rider's bare legs when riding in shorts. Another embodiment of the apparatus includes riding implement retention means for retention of crops, bats, rods and the like and preventing them from falling to the ground if accidentally dropped.

Horseback riding for pleasure, sport or work is an activity engaged in the world over. Despite the longstanding popularity of horseback riding which can be measured in terms of millennia, riders continue to experience blisters, sores, scrapes, rashes and other such irritations on the legs, particularly the inner portions of the calves and thighs which result from movement of the legs in contact with various saddle parts. A wide variety of protective clothing and articles have been-developed over time to obviate this problem. All of them involve incorporation of a protective material between the rider's leg and saddle. Nearly all are worn by the rider or attached to the rider's legs.
For example, it is a common practice for riders, particularly those engaged in English-style riding, to wear riding breeches. Riding breeches are specifically designed for equestrian activities. Traditionally, they were tight in the legs, stopping about halfway down the calf, and had a pronounced flare through the thighs that allowed freedom of movement for the rider. However, with the advent of modern stretch materials such as spandex, modern breeches have no flare and fit skin-tight. Some are adapted with a gripping material, usually leather or a "grippy" synthetic on the inside of the thigh, knee and/or calf area to prevent wear and protect the skin. They are often worn with half chaps which are sturdy coverings for the legs that extend from the ankle to just below the knee. They afford protection from sweat and the stirrup leather component of English saddles.
In Western disciplines, it is more common to wear denim pants, some of which are specifically designed for riding in that they have eliminated the bulky inseam which tends to rub against the skin when riding. Western-style riders also wear a wide variety of accessories designed to protect the legs. Examples are chaps, chinks, armitas, woolies, and zamorros. Some of these are intended to protect the outer leg rather than the inner, but most afford protection to both.
A significant shortcoming of most of the above prior art leg wear articles is that they can be bulky and tend to retain heat generated by the wearer when riding, causing excessive sweating which can lead to skin irritations and discomfort. Particularly in warmer climates wearing of such articles is often undesirable. In fact, in warm climates it is often the desire of many riders to wear shorts rather than long pants and other protective wear in order to reduce sweating and expose the legs to the sun while riding. Such a practice, of course; is uncommon because having no layer of protection between the inner leg and saddle parts can easily damage the rider's skin.
One solution to the above described problem is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,233 issued to Majewski in 1992 which describes a method and apparatus for protecting a rider's legs while riding horseback on an English-style saddle. The Majewski apparatus suffer from certain shortcomings and limitations not the least of which is that it is not intended or suited for Western-style saddles. Moreover, the Majewski apparatus does not shield the rider's inner leg from contact with the saddle skirt, the free-end of the stirrup leathers, or the stirrup leather keeper. While the Majewski apparatus is likely useful in protecting the lower leg of the rider, it does not protect the entire leg. Moreover, it is not suitable for use on Western saddles which have a considerably different architecture than English-style saddles.
Other problems frequently encountered by Western and English riders who utilize communication aids (also referred to herein as "implements") in the form of a riding crops, bats, rods and the like while mounted atop a horse are that the communication aids, are frequently dropped by accident and there exist no effective means for temporarily stowing them on the saddle if the rider requires full use of their hands. When accidentally dropped, the rider is required to dismount in order to retrieve the implement. Temporary storage of the implement to gain full use of the rider's hands is usually accomplished by wedging the implement between the rider's thigh and the underlying saddle, and hoping that it doesn't drop out. Naturally, this method is uncomfortable and restricts the rider's freedom of movement, particularly during the post.
Accordingly, there is a need in the all for a leg protection apparatus that may be mounted to virtually any type saddle, whether English, Western or otherwise, and that protects the full length of the rider's inner leg while riding in short pants or thin leggings. Moreover, there is a need in the art for such an apparatus that includes means for temporarily stowing communication implements such as riding crops, bats, rods and the like while the rider is mounted, and for preventing such implements from being accidentally dropped.