A method and composition for stimulating skin function to prevent and reverse the effects of photoaging, without removal of the protective stratum corneum. The composition of the invention is a mixture of coarse pumice and an aqueous surfactant emulsion.

Human skin is composed of several layers, which include the dermis, epidermis, and stratum corneum. See MacKie, R. M., Clinical Dermatology (1996). The dermis has many elements, including vascular components which supply nutrients, fat cells which serve as energy depots and metabolic regulators, nerve cells, and elastic fibers. The epidermis lies exterior to the dermis and is composed of keratinocytes that produce growth factors important in the regulation of skin cell replication. The stratum corneum is the outermost barrier layer and is composed of cornified epidermal cells. The stratum corneum provides a barrier to loss of moisture and to environmental insults.
Skin is damaged by exposure to a variety of environmental factors, including ultraviolet light from sunlight or intentional tanning lights, and by tobacco smoke inhalation. Damage to skin is exacerbated by aging, and the combination effect is known as photoaging. Photoaging of skin results in thinning of the dermis, formation of the wrinkles, loss of skin elasticity, loss of natural oils, dryness, scaling, and irregular pigmentation. In the process of photoaging the collagen and elastin fibers of the dermis degrade and weaken, contributing to a thinning of the skin. In addition, microdeposits of fat are sometimes diminished in the skin. The muscle layers underlying the skin can also relax to contribute to a loose skin appearance. Conversely, some specific muscles associated with the skin can contract to cause frown lines, laugh lines, and other wrinkles or skin creases
The wide variety of treatments for photoaged skin and wrinkles may reflect, in part, the relative inefficacy of the treatments, the lack of control of the treatment by the individual, or the potentially adverse side effects of known treatments. Representative known skin treatments are discussed below.
A wide variety of chemical treatments have been used to resurface the skin Deep and mid-level treatments have used organic chemicals such as phenol or trichloroacetic acid. Undesirable after-effects from these treatments can include swelling, oozing, blistering, and pain More superficial chemical exfoliative treatments, or "peels," include treatments with alpha hydroxy glycolic, lactic, or other acids, are used to remove skin layers, and have been used in combination with abrasive treatments. By thinning the stratum corneum, alpha hydroxy acids increase the sensitivity of the skin to sunlight. Some reports also suggest that they increase long term production of wrinkles. More fundamentally, such treatments render the patient more susceptible to the deleterious effects of ultraviolet radiation.
Topical treatment with retinoic acid (Retin A) is another common skin treatment and is widely used for acne treatment. Retinoic acid affects cell function and results in a loosening of the cells at the surface of the skin. Serious concerns exist, however, regarding whether retinoic acid treatment may play a role in the development of skin cancers. In an experimental model, topical application of retinoic acid augmented photocarcinogenesis by reducing the latency period, increasing the total numbers of tumors, and decreasing survival time. Halliday, G. M. et al., Topical retinoic acid enhances, and a dark tan protects, from subedemal solar-simulated photocarcinogenesis. 114 J. Invest. Dermatol. 923 (2000).
Abrasion techniques with wire brushes, diamond grinding wheels, microderm abrasion, or more recently, with laser ablation, are also used to smooth wrinkles and skin scars. Another abrasion method involves abrasion of the stratum corneum with aluminum oxide abrasives, e.g. Brasivol®. Marks, R. The effects of an abrasive agent on normal skin and on photoaged skin in comparison with topical tretinoin, 123 Br. J. Dermatol. 457 (1990). In this method, the desquamation (i.e. stripping) of the stratum corneum is increased. Moreover, several changes in the skin were noted: the epidermal labeling index, i.e., the replication of keratinocytes, was increased, the cutaneous blood flow was increased, the force necessary for skin extensibility was increased, and skin thickness was increased. However, increased desquamation is also associated with increased sensitivity to sunlight and thereby to photodamage of the skin, including wrinkling and dryness, and to an increased risk of neoplasia. Moreover, the method is reported to lead to minor dermatitis that can require use of hydrocortisone. U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,747
Abrasive skin cleaners are old in the art. The manufacture of Lava brand soap was begun in the nineteenth century. U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,476 to Kinsman, et al. discloses a soap bar having pumice or other abrasive. U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,666 to Dotolo discloses an abrasive hand cleaner having D-limonene and from about 2.5 to about 11 percent pumice by weight. U.S. Pat. No. 3,092,111 to Saperstein, et al. describes a composition and method using aluminum oxide for the therapeutic abrasion of human skin for the treatment of acne to induce desquamation.
Various treatments of aged skin have been proposed. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,747 to Stiefel describes a method for improvement of firmness and tone of aged skin by repeated desquamation using a suspension of fine aluminum oxide abrasive. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,963 to Smith discloses use of cerebrosides, which are biological regulators, to inhibit the repair of a disrupted skin moisture barrier.
Surgical techniques have also been used to improve skin appearance. Among these are facial reconstructions, including "face lifts," which are used for more general aesthetic effects, and surgically remove the slack in loose, inelastic skin.
What has not been available is a way of stimulating renewal of the skin without topical biological regulators, desquamating abrasives, or exfoliating chemicals.

Method and composition to prevent and treat photoaging of skin


Systems and methods for handling macro compatibility for documents at a storage system are provided. A document to be stored on a network-based storage system is identified. The document is created using a first document processing application that uses a first programming language that is incompatible with the network-based storage system. The document includes macros in the first programming language. A semantic context for an object included in a macro is determined. The macro defines a function to be performed with respect to the object. In response to a determination, based on the semantic context of the object, that the object corresponds to multiple object types, a set of candidate object types for the object is identified. The function is converted into multiple sets of operations represented in a second programming language. Each set of operations is associated with a candidate object type and one set of operations is to be performed with respect to the object responsive to receiving an indication of a candidate object type for the object during execution of the macro. The document including the multiple sets of operations represented in the second programming language is stored on the network-based storage system. The second programming language is compatible with the network-based storage system.

A document (e.g., a word processing document, a spreadsheet document, etc.) can include macros. A macro refers to a user-created automated task that is performed for the document by a document processing application on a client device. The client device can perform the automated task of the macro by executing a series of operations associated with the macro.


An elastic resin material having a thermoplastic elastic resin as a main component is heated and melted, and the elastic resin material is discharged in a film or a linear shape from a discharge mechanism to form a film-shape or a linear-shape intermediate product. At a temperature above the temperature region at which the elastic resin material elastically deforms, extending is performed until the thickness or width of the film-shape intermediate product or the thickness of the linear-shape intermediate product assumes a prescribed value; with a cooling roller, the intermediate product is cooled to the temperature region at which the elastic resin material elastically deforms, and the intermediate product is hardened, forming a film-shape or linear-shape elastic member. The elastic member is stretched with a stretch roller to a prescribed stretching ratio, and the stretched elastic member is laminated on and bonded to a first base material sheet.

An elastic composite sheet that is excellent in stretchability is used for the back sheet of a disposable diaper and the like. FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration showing a manufacturing method of the elastic composite sheet. As shown in FIG. 8, a thermoplastic elastic resin is extruded from a T die 111 to form a film-shape object 103′ in a molten state. Then, the film-shape object 103′ is cooled by a chill roller 120. Then, the cooled film-shape object 103″ is sandwiched between two sheets of continuous nonwoven fabric 102 and at the same time, embossing is performed thereon. The embossing is performed by pressurization and nipping with an embossing roller 112 having a multiplicity of dot-shape convex portions 112a formed on the surface thereof and a backup roller 113. An elastic composite sheet 101 in which the layers are bonded and integrated by the embossing is wounded by a winding roller 116. As the nonwoven fabric 102, a nonwoven fabric is used that is stretchable at least in a lateral direction (a direction vertical to the flow direction and the thickness direction of the nonwoven fabric 102) (for example, see Patent Literature 1).

Elastic composite sheet manufacturing method


The invention provides methods for treating post-surgical articular or incisional pain and/or discomfort in a patient. The invention further provides improved surgical methods and controlled release formulations for treating an articular injury of a joint in a patient, in which a collagen formulation is used in conjunction with a surgical procedure to treat the articular injury or the side effects of the surgical procedure. Collagen formulations of the invention and their use, in addition to the surgical procedure, may provide at least one or more of the following benefits: reduced patient pain, shortened recovery time and/or improved joint condition (including treatment of the underlying articular injury). Moreover, the methods and compositions of the invention can be used in conjunction with essentially any surgical procedure used to treat an articular injury. The invention further provides compositions and methods for treating post-surgical articular or incisional pain in a patient as well as a catheter for use in the methods of the invention.

The joints of the skeletal system are the sites at which bones meet (articulate). In addition to bone, joints are formed by muscle, tendons and ligaments. Furthermore, protection of the joint is provided by cartilage and connective tissue, as well as by synovial fluid within the joint. When stressed, or as a result of the aging process, joints are prone to injury or degradation, leading to pain, impaired movement and decreased quality of life. Thus, approaches for repairing or treating damaged joints are highly desirable.
The earliest surgical approaches for joint repair involved cutting open the joint, referred to as open joint surgery or arthrotomy. However, because of the highly invasive nature of such procedures, the patient requires a hospital stay, often suffers severe and prolonged pain and faces a very long recovery time. In cases of extensive joint damage, surgical techniques have progressed such that reconstruction or replacement of the joint (arthroplasty) is an option. Again, however, these techniques are associated with considerable pain and recovery time for the patient.
The development of arthroscopic methods for articular surgery has greatly reduced the pain and recovery time experienced by patients as compared to arthrotomy. In arthroscopy, a small fiberoptic viewing instrument (the arthroscope), made up of a lens, light source and video camera, is inserted into the joint via a tiny (about ¼ of an inch) incision called a portal. Other portals are used for insertion of small (only 3 or 4 mm in diameter) surgical instruments. A video image is sent from the arthroscope to a television monitor, allowing the surgeon to have a clear view of the entire joint while operating. To maintain a clear field of view, the joint is continuously irrigated with an irrigation fluid during arthroscopic surgery. Various irrigation fluids have been tested, including water, 0.9% normal saline, Ringer's solution, 20% sorbitol, 2–10% mannitol and 1.5% glycine (Gradinger, R. et al. (1995) Arthroscopy 11:263–269; Mah E. T. et al. (1997) Arthroscopy 7:24–32). An irrigation fluid referred to as Synovisol, which is isomolar, nonhemolytic, nonantigenic, has a low viscosity and is nonconductive, has also been tested (Marshall, G. J. et al. (1988) Arthroscopy 4:187–193). A consequence of the need to continuously irrigate the joint during arthroscopy is that the normal synovial fluid is flushed from the joint.
The viscoelastic properties of synovial fluid are provided by the glycosaminoglycan molecule hyaluronan. Cross-linked forms of hyaluronan, referred to as hylans, have been used intra-articularly (for a review see e.g., Balazs, E. A. and Denlinger, J. L. (1989) Ciba Found. Symp. 143:265–275). For example, hylan fluid has been used as an irrigation fluid in arthroscopic surgery of the temporomandibular joint (McCain, J. P. et al. (1989) J. Oral Maxillofac. Surg. 47:1161–1168). Hyaluronic acid (HA-Hyalgan) and hylan G-F 20 (Synvisc) also have been used in the treatment of osteoarthritis (Frizziero, L et al. (1998) Clin. Exp. Rheumatol. 16:441–449; Marshall, K. W. et al. (2000) J. Orthop. Res. 18:416–425; Kroesen, S. et al. (2000) Clin. Rheumatol. 19:147–149). Use of hylan G-F 20 intra-articularly, however, has been reported in at least one case to induce an acute attack of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate arthritis (Kroesen, S. et al. (2000) Clin. Rheumatol. 19:147–149). Na-hylan, a chemically modified sodium hyaluronate jelly, also has been used to reduce postsurgical tendon adhesions (Weiss, C. et al. (1986) Bull. Hosp. Jt. Dis. Orthop. Inst. 46:9–15; Weiss, C. (1987) Bull. Hosp. Jt. Dis. Orthop. Inst. 47:3139).
Arthroscopy has now become a common surgical procedure in current medical practice with almost 700,000 knee and shoulder arthroscopies performed each year in the United States. The post-operative course for these patients is marked by significant pain and resultant loss of limb function for the initial 3–5 days. Therapeutic intervention typically involves injection of a local anesthetic (e.g. bupivacaine) into the operated joint at the end of the procedure, resulting in pain relief for about 6 hours. It has been suggested that an intra-articular dose of approximately 10 mg produces analgesia of the joint (Creamer J. Rheumatol. (1996) 23:1031–1036). Thereafter, the patient is managed by administration of oral narcotics (e.g. Vicodin) and/or acetaminophen, and often neither of these results in sufficient pain relief. There exists a clinical need for a single dose product that can provide short term (2–5 days) post-arthroscopy pain relief.
Other surgical procedures are also often associated with significant pain, such as incisional pain. Such procedures include, most often, abdominal, breast and spinal operations, including cesarean births, hernia repair, hysterectomy, mastectomy, and breast augmentation. Other surgery involving pain or discomfort due to incision includes podiatry procedures.
An exogenous fibrin clot is another type of material that has been used in joint repair. An exogenous fibrin clot has been shown to promote fibrocartilaginous repair in an animal model of triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) injury (Whately, J. S. et al. (2000) Arthroscopy 16:127–136). Furthermore, an exogenous fibrin clot has been used to enhance repair of an injured meniscus (Rodeo, S. A. and Warren, R. F. (1996) Clin. Sports Med. 15:469–481).
U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,073 by Daniels et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,537 Luck et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,208 by Wallace et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,071 by Harrell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,131 by Sundsmo et al., EP 338813 by Tsunenaga et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,640 by Smestad et al. describe collagen formulations for use in soft tissue or connective tissue augmentation, for example reduction of skin wrinkles or scars. U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,377 by Goodson and U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,670 by Higashi et al. describe compositions containing collagen for the treatment of periodontal disease.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,083,918 and 6,165,983 by Klaus describes the use of collagen formulations for the treatment of degenerative arthrothopies while U.S. Pat. No. 3,966,908 by Balassa describes the use of cartilage powder for such treatments. Neither Klaus nor Balassa teach the use of particular types of collagen. Collagen from bovine skin sources, as used in Klaus, is generally Type I collagen, but, without further processing, would contain immunogenic telopeptide sequences (Rubin et al. (1965) Biochemistry 4(2):181–190). The collagen in cartilage powder is predominantly Type II collagen, which is frequently used to provoke immunogenic reactions in rats and other animals in order to model rheumatoid arthritis (Myers et al. (1997) Life Sci. 61(19):1861–1878; Brahn (1991) Clin. Orthop. 265:42–53). Steffen (1975) A. Immun.-Forsch. Bd. 150:432–446) examines the immunogenicity of soluble human collagen in rabbit knees. U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,273 by McMichael describes collagen containing formulations for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,796 by Lee et al. describes a composition comprising a hydrophilic polymer suspended in a hydrophobic carrier and its use for replacing natural lubricating fluids of the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,108 by Silver et al. describes the production of biodegradable matrices using crosslinked collagen.
Despite advances in articular surgical methods, there still exists a need for approaches that are effective in diminishing patient pain, increasing joint mobility post-surgery and/or reducing recovery time and that are generally applicable to the various articular surgery options (e.g., arthrotomy, arthroscopy, arthroplasty) or other surgical procedures associated with incisional pain. When providing extended treatment of pain or discomfort, as through the controlled release of pharmaceutical agents, it is essential that the compositions or devices employed for the controlled release of substances are non-immunogenic and well tolerated by the patient (Cooperman et al. (1984) J. Am. Acad. Dermatol. 10:638–646; DeLustro et al. (1988) Dermatol. Surg. Oncol. 14:57–65; DeLustro et al. (1987) Plast. Reconstruct. Surg. 79:581–592; Frank et al. (1991) Plast. Reconstruct. Surg 87:1080–1088).
Citation of the references above is not an admission that these references, or the information disclosed therein, is prior art.

Methods and compositions for improved articular surgery using collagen


A network terminal includes: an oscillator circuit; a communication processing unit which transmits and receives communication data through a transmission path, using the clock; a controller unit which controls a function of the network terminal, using the clock; a clock control unit which causes the oscillator circuit to start or stop oscillating, and supply the clock; and a signal detecting unit which monitors a wave detection signal communicated through the transmission path in the case where the communication processing unit is not operating, and generates an activation signal according to which the clock control unit causes the oscillator circuit to start oscillating at a time when the wave detection signal exceeds a threshold value. The signal detecting unit is operable without using the clock, and the controller unit switches a detectable wave detection signal by changing a circuit constant of the signal detecting unit.

There are network apparatuses such as battery-driven mobile devices, coping machines which uses long waiting time, and network audio visual (AV) devices. Recent years have seen increasing demands for saving power to be consumed by these network apparatuses.
Conventionally, WAKE ON LAN has been known as a technique for saving power using a network. This power saving technique has been widely utilized as a scheme for causing a given device to transition from a waiting mode (waiting state) to a normal operation mode (normal operation state), using a data signal which is referred to as a magic packet.
For example, Patent Literature 1 reports such a power saving technique for causing a given device to transition from a waiting mode to a normal operation mode. Patent Literature 1 discloses a scheme for causing a device to transition from a waiting mode to a normal operation mode when a data pattern of a packet received through a network matches any one of a plurality of preset data patterns.

Network terminal, method for controlling the same, and network system

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


An acoustical sound system that triangulates the position of an unknown external sound source by computer analysis. The external sound intensity is measured in three fixed sound sensors. The computer inputs the sound intensities and by the inverse square law of intensity vs distance calculates the coordinates of the external sound source. In addition, once the source's position is known, the computer points a paraboloid microphone and speaker combined, towards the direction of the sound source. This allows a more localized bidirectional link between the source and other electronic connection source.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to drive-up ordering stations in fast food restraints. Specifically to. the sound system of remote ordering by sound speaker & microphone connection.
2. Prior Art
Doi (U.S. Pat. No. 4,037,052) has a paraboloid pickup (microphone) assembly. Srour etal, (U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,100) has a similar acoustical detector with paraboloid reflector. Zlevor (U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,790) shows a portable directional microphone that has a paraboloid reflector. All of these systems do not have a bidirectional communication of the paraboloid reflector.
Saylors (U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,183) teaches a way to determine distance by sonar methods. However, it does not require triangulation technique.

Sound system that determines the position of an external sound source and points a directional microphone/speaker towards it


A hotspot access point enables a mobile wireless device to resume a service with a network server when service is interrupted by the mobile device moving out of the coverage area of the access point. A short-range communication link is established by the access point with the mobile device based on a local identification of the device. The access point requests additional information from the wireless device. The additional information relates to a wide area network identification of the device. The mobile device transmits additional information to the access point which stores the local area identification and additional identification. The access point transmits to the mobile device a coded identificator of the wireless device based upon the local area identification and a network identification of the device. The access point determines whether service with the mobile device is open and establishes a wide area connection with the mobile device.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to mobile communications devices, methods, and systems. More particularly, the invention relates to mapping wireless proximity identificator to subscriber identity for hotspot based wireless services for mobile terminals.
2. Description of Prior Art
"Hotspot" based wireless services relate to adhoc networks using short-range wireless systems, typically Bluetooth, and provide proximity based wireless services to mobile terminals at "hotspots" or public spaces where people crowd together—airport terminals, shopping malls, sporting events and the like. The hotspot services can be related to any type of service associated with the hotspot, e.g. Internet connection; airline reservations, shopping, real time ticket purchase for sporting events and amusement park admission, billing services for wireless communication within the coverage area, and the like. A hotspot can be tailored to and dedicated to one service only or provide a range of related services, e.g. airline, train and bus schedules at different terminals; hotel, motels, residences and the like. The services are provided in a coverage area via a hotspot access point or hotspot server which at the front end uses 802.11 or WLAN technology and at the back end provides a high speed wired or wireless connection to the Internet. Presently, short-range wireless systems allow a mobile wireless terminal coupled to an access point to resume an Internet contact with a service provider after the contact has been interrupted by the mobile device moving out of the coverage area of the access point. See Ser. No. 09/985,193, filed Nov. 1, 2001, assigned to the same assignee of the present invention and fully incorporated herein.
Hotspot wireless systems, however, do not provide service providers with the ability to contact a mobile device after moving out of the coverage area of the access point serving the service provider. Further, hotspot wireless system are not able to recognize a mobile device having received past services upon entering the coverage area or continue consumer relations with the mobile device after leaving the coverage area. Moreover, many hotspot services are not browser/Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) based and rely upon Short Messaging Service (SMS)/Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) An advantage of SMS/MMS messaging is Global System Mobile (GSM) based terminals do not require any type of additional client functionality since SMS/MMS messaging is a standard feature in such terminals.
It would be desirable in hotspot wireless systems to provide a wireless identificator for a terminal to allow a service provider to maintain an established service session with a mobile device when the mobile device leaves the coverage of the access point. It would be further desirable to enable a hotspot to map the wireless identificator to subscriber or user identity for terminal recognition. It would be still further desirable to allow the service provider to provide alternative communication links with the mobile device when the short-range link is opened. It would be still further desirable to incorporate a service provider in an access point with the option of selecting alternative communication links, both short-range and cellular, to maintain communication sessions with the mobile device when the mobile device leaves the coverage area or continue consumer relations with the terminal at later dates when special services are available from the service provider. The incorporation of the service provider into the access point as a stand-alone-terminal would lower hardware costs through integrated solutions and lower communication costs by direct communication with the user.
Prior art of interest with respect to proximity based services includes:
1) WO 02/076041 A2, published Sep. 26, 2002 discloses a communication system comprising a beacon storing a portion of available data and having access to all of the available data over a first network. The beacon is arranged to communicate with a client terminal over a second network to supply data from the stored portion of available data. The client terminal has access to all of the available data over a third network. Upon a request by a client for data of the available data not within the stored portion, a network is selected from the first network and the third network in dependence on one or more predetermined criteria, the requested data being accessed over the selected network.
2) U.S. Pat. No. 6,400,722 issued Jun. 4, 2002 discloses a wireless data network includes a wireless packet switched data network for end users that divides mobility management into local, micro, macro and global connection handover categories and minimizes handoff updates according to the handover category. The network integrates MAC handoff messages with network handoff messages. The network separately directs registration functions to a registration server and direct routing functions to inter-working function units. The network provides an intermediate XTunnel channel between a wireless hub (also called access hub AH) and an inter-working function unit (IWF unit) in a foreign network, and it provides an IXTunnel channel between an inter-working function unit in a foreign network and an inter-working function unit in a home network. The network enhances the layer two tunneling protocol (L2TP) to support a mobile end system, and it performs network layer registration before the start of a PPP communication session.
3) U.S. Pat. No. 6,580,914 issued Jun. 17, 2003 discloses a method and apparatus provide location based filtering for searching for information in response to a request from a mobile handset. The handset detects location information from the mobile network with which the handset is in communication and forwards the location information as part of an information request to an information database. The location information is used as a filter for selecting a response to the information request.
None of the prior art discloses or suggests a hotspot access point (a) enabling a service provider to maintain an established service session with a mobile terminals that leaves the physical coverage of the access point; (b) continuing consumer relations with a terminal after departure from the coverage area or at later times for special services of interest to a user; (c) communicating with the terminal via SMS/MMS messaging; (d) selecting optional communication links to maintain a communication session between a mobile device and a service provider when the terminal leaves the hotspot coverage area, and (c) incorporating a service provider in an access point to select a communication link in establishing a communication session with a mobile device while lowering hardware costs and communication costs.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Mapping wireless proximity identificator to subscriber identity for hotspot based wireless services for mobile terminals


A glove, preferably for use by a golfer, including a front section, a back section, and a flexible knuckle section. The front section comprises a substantially inelastic material having good gripping qualities that substantially covers the palm, the front of the thumb and the front of the fingers. The back section comprises a substantially inelastic material having good gripping qualities that substantially covers the back of the hand, and preferably the back of the index finger and back of the thumb. The knuckle section comprises a substantially stretchable, resilient material that substantially covers a knuckle of the middle, ring, and/or little fingers. Preferably, the knuckle section covers the top knuckle of the ring and little fingers, thereby providing a comfortable, flexible glove that does not interfere with the golfer's grip on a golf club.

Golfers may typically wear a glove on one hand to give them better control of and grip on their golf club, as well as to protect their hand. Conventional golf gloves are generally manufactured from leather or synthetic materials, providing desired gripping qualities that substantially minimize slippage of the club during use.
Because leather and similar materials are substantially inelastic, however, they may not provide the most comfortable fit. Generally, a golfer's hand is inserted into a glove with the hand and fingers fully extended. Fasteners or snaps typically included on the back of the glove are then drawn tight and fixed. When the golfer subsequently grips a club, the hand is wrapped around the shaft, drawing the back of the glove tight as the fingers are bent. This tension imposes pressure on the knuckles of the hand, creating discomfort which may distract the golfer.
Stretchable, elastic materials may be substituted for the leather-like materials, but they are generally slippery and provide poor gripping qualities. In addition, many golfers use an interlocking grip when grasping a club whereby fingers from one hand interlock with those of the other. Use of such a grip may cause the fingers of one hand to overlap the back of the other hand. Providing a different material for the back of the glove presents the golfer who uses such a grip with an unusual texture or slippery surface which may distract him or her during play.
Thus, there is a need for a golf glove that provides improved comfort without substantially compromising the desired gripping qualities of the glove.


The present invention relates to polymeric metal complexes comprising metallic complexes covalently bound to conjugated polymers and luminescent materials containing such polymeric metal complexes. The invention further relates to electronic devices in which the active layer includes such polymeric metal complexes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to polymeric metal complex compositions comprising metallic complexes covalently bound to conjugated polymers. The invention further relates to electronic devices in which the active layer includes such polymeric metal complex compositions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Organic electronic devices that emit light, such as light-emitting diodes that make up displays, can be used in many different kinds of electronic equipment. In all such devices, an organic active layer is sandwiched between two electrical contact layers. At least one of the electrical contact layers is light-transmitting so that light can pass through the electrical contact layer. The organic active layer emits light through the light-transmitting electrical contact layer upon application of a voltage across the electrical contact layers.
It is well known to use organic electroluminescent compounds as the active component in light-emitting diodes. Simple organic molecules such as anthracene, thiadiazole derivatives, and coumarin derivatives are known to show electroluminescence. Semiconductive conjugated polymers have also been used as electroluminescent components, as had been disclosed in, for example, Friend et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,190, Heeger et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,109, and Nakano et al., Published European Patent Application 443 861. Polymeric materials with stilbenyl or oxadiazole side chains have been reported by Holmes et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,914. Complexes of 8-hydroxyquinolate with trivalent metal ions, particularly aluminum, have been extensively used as electroluminescent components, as has been disclosed in, for example, Tang et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,678. Complexes of Iridium with phenylpyridine, phenylquinoline, or phenylpyrimidine ligands have been disclosed as electroluminescent compounds in Petrov et al., Published PCT Application 02/02714.
Electroluminescent devices with an active layer of polyvinyl carbazole (PVK) doped with metallic complexes of iridium have been described by Burrows and Thompson in published PCT applications WO 00/70655 and WO 01/41512. Electroluminescent emissive layers comprising a charge carrying host material and a phosphorescent platinum complex have been described by Thompson et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,303,238, Bradley et al., in Synth. Met. (2001), 116 (1–3), 379–383, and Campbell et al., in Phys. Rev. B, Vol. 65 085210.
Small molecule light-emitting materials are usually deposited by evaporative techniques. The equipment required for such processes can be quite expensive and may not be adaptable to continuous processing. Small molecule light-emitting materials can be coated from solution. However, they have a tendency to crystallize with evaporation of the coating solvent, which reduces their electroluminescent effectiveness.
There is a continuing need for electroluminescent materials having improved electrical efficiency.

Metallic complexes covalently bound to conjugated polymers and electronic devices containing such compositions


A single bell crank for a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine or a compressor includes a single bell crank main journal (5, 28, 39) and a crank pin (21, 31, 46), wherein the crank pin (21, 31, 46) is vertical to the single bell crank main journal (5, 28, 39) and extends out, the axis of the crank pin (21, 31, 46) is offset relative to that of the single bell crank main journal (5, 28, 39), the front end of the crank pin (21, 31, 46) is tapered, at least one first positioning half hole (10-1) is provided on the circumference of the end face of the tapered end (9) and can match with a second positioning half hole (10-02) in a crank to form a positioning pin hole. A crank for a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine or a compressor includes a crank main journal (13, 52) provided with a taper hole (15,59) matching with the tapered end (9) of the crank pin (21, 31, 46), wherein the axis of the taper hole (15, 59) is offset relative to that of the crank main journal (13, 52); the inner diameter surface of the taper hole (15, 59) is provided with the second positioning half hole (10-2) corresponding to the first positioning half hole (10-1) in the single bell crank matching with the taper hole (15, 59), and the second positioning half hole (10-2) and the first positioning half hole (10-1) can form a complete positioning hole after the single bell crank and the crank are assembled together.

In a reciprocating type internal combustion engine or compressor, a conversion between a reciprocating motion of a piston and a rotary motion of a crankshaft is required to be realized, wherein the reciprocating motion of the piston is converted into the rotary motion of the crankshaft in the reciprocating type internal combustion engine, while the rotary motion of the crankshaft is converted into the reciprocating motion of the piston in the reciprocating type compressor. In current known technologies, the above-described conversion requires the use of a crank-link mechanism. The machine becomes bulky and heavy due to the existence of links in the crank-link mechanism, making it impossible to a complete balance.
In order to solve the above discussed problem, Chinese patent CN85100359A discloses a "reciprocating piston type internal combustion engine with crank-dual circular slide block", Chinese patent ZL95111404.2 protects a "reciprocating piston type internal combustion engine with crank-dual circular slide block", and Chinese patent ZL95111403.4 protects a "reciprocating piston type internal combustion engine with crank-multiple circular slide block". A common feature of the above internal combustion engines is that a thorough improvement is made on the crank-link mechanism of internal combustion engine in known technologies, by use of substituting the link with a circular slide block having an eccentric circular hole. The eccentric circular slide block is of a cylinder shape and is provided with an eccentric circular hole which is in parallel with the axis of the cylinder and passed through by a crank pin of the crankshaft. A piston of the internal combustion engine includes crown portions at both ends thereof and a guide portion connecting the crown portions, wherein the guide portion is provided with a circular hole thereon whose inside diameter surface matches with an outside diameter surface of the circular slide block so that the circular slide block is placed into the circular hole of the guide portion of the piston which matches with the outer periphery of the circular slide block. When the piston reciprocates in the cylinder under the push of combusted gas in the cylinder, the eccentric circular slide block rotates about its own center of circle and further drives the crankshaft to rotate in an opposite direction, so that the reciprocating motion of the piston is converted into the rotary motion of the crankshaft and then power is transmitted outwardly by rotating parts connected to the crankshaft. The ideas of the above patents can also be conveniently applied to a compressor to obtain a crank circular slide block compressor.
In the above discussed crank circular slide block type internal combustion engine or compressor, the crankshaft remains to be an indispensable part. The crankshaft has a main journal and a crank pin, wherein the main journal is used for supporting the crankshaft on the cylinder body by means of a bearing, and the crank pin passes through the eccentric circular hole of the circular slide block. Since the diameter of the main journal is larger than that of the crank pin, the main journal at both ends will necessarily completely enclose the left and right sides of the axis of the crank pin. Therefore, the problem with how to fit the circular slide block over the crank pin must be taken into consideration.
One of the ways to solve the above problem is to design the circular slide block as a split structure, i.e., the circular slide block is divided into two halves: a left part and a right part that are semi-circle respectively. Upon installation, the left part and the right part fit over the crank pin by facing them each other, and then bringing the two parts into an integral part by means of a lock-up structure. Although this method can solve the above problem, the circular slide block itself is small in size and the eccentric circular hole is also required to be provided, making the space for arranging the lock up structure limited. Besides, the circular slide block is subject to a very large force when the engine is in operation, therefore the lock up structure tends to fail. Therefore, this kind of circular slide block having split structure is not an optimum solution.

Parts for crankshaft of internal combustion engine or compressor, crankshaft, internal combustion engine and compressor

BEIJING SINOCEP ENGINE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


Novel polymerized dienes prepared by the step propagation, condensation type polymerization of acyclic dienes employing Lewis acid-free metal alkylidene complexes as catalysts.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the polymerization of acyclic dienes.
2. The Prior Art
There presently exist few useful step propagation, condensation-type polymerization methods. Reaction yields must be high (.congruent.99%) in order for useful polymers to form. There are only approximately twenty such polymerization methods described in the prior art and none produce useful polymers at ambient or room temperature.
Recently, an attempt was made to incorporate the metathesis of olefins reaction in step propagation, condensation-type polymerization (SPCTP) chemistry to polymerize dienes [Lindmark-Hamberg et al, Macromolecules, Vol. 20, p. 2449 (1987)]. The dienes were exposed to a tungsten hexachloride-ethyl aluminum dichloride catalyst; however, it was found that the metathesis polymerization reaction was limited by competing vinyl addition chemical reactions.
Olefin metathesis, ring opening polymerizations of strained cycloolefins have been extensively studied over the past twenty years [Gilliam et al, J. Amer. Chem. Soc., Vol. 108, p. 733 (1986); Swager et al, J. Amer. Chem. Soc., Vol. 109, p. 894 (1987); Schrock et al, Macromolecules, Vol. 20, p. 1169 (1987); Cannizo et al, Macromolecules, Vol. 20, p. 1488 (1987); Novak et al, J. Amer. Chem. Soc., Vol. 110, p. 960 (1988); Swager et al, J. Amer. Chem. Soc., Vol. 110, p. 2973 (1988); Cannizzo et al, Macromolecules, Vol. 21, p. 1961 (1988); Wallace et al, Macromolecules, Vol. 20, p. 450 (1987); Schrock et al, Macromolecules, Vol. 20, p. 1169 (1987); Murzdek et al, Macromolecules, Vol. 20, p. 2640 (1987); Knoll et al, J. Amer. Chem. Soc., Vol. 110, p. 4424 (1988); Krouse et al, Macromolecules, Vol. 21, p. 1885 (1988); Wallace et al, J. Amer. Chem. Soc., Vol. 110, p. 4964 (1988)]. Olefin metathesis reactions and catalysts suitable therefor are also described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,727,215; 4,681,956 and 4,427,595.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a high yield, efficient olefin metathesis, SPCTP process for polymerizing acyclic dienes to produce novel high molecular weight polymeric products having properties and characteristics not possessed by similar products prepared according to other methods.

Polymerized dienes prepared by step propagation, condensation type polymerization of acyclic dienes


An optical touch system includes a light source module, at least one image detecting module and a processing unit. The light source module provides a detecting light. The detecting light is transmitted in front of the base plane. The image detecting module detects an intensity variation of the detecting light. The image detecting module generates a detecting signal corresponding to the detecting light. When an object approaches or touches the base plane, at least a portion of the detecting light is obstructed by the object. The processing unit determines a position of the object with respect to the base plane according to the detecting signal, and determines that the object approaches or touches the base plane according to an intensity of a portion of the detecting signal corresponding to an obstruction position of the object. A method of touch detection and a computer program product are also provided.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates to a touch system, and more particularly, to an optical touch system.
The disclosure relates to a method of detection, and more particularly, to a method of touch detection.
The disclosure relates to a computer program product, and more particularly, to a computer program product for determining an action of an object approaching or touching a base plane.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, touch electronic products are favored by consumers due to convenience operation and high intuitiveness, and have gradually become the mainstream in the market. In the resistive, capacitive and rear projection touch screens that are conventionally used in the electronic products, the capacitive touch screen has the best touch-sensing performance, however, the manufacturing cost of the capacitive touch screen is the highest among the different touch screens. Furthermore, the applications for the capacitive touch screen are limited with the increase of the size of the touch screen. Moreover, along with the number of functions increasing in the electronic products, the touch operating method is no longer satisfying the demands from users on operating. Therefore, floating touch sensing electronic products have been further developed in recent years, so as to enhance the convenience and intuitiveness on operating for users.
Currently, a majority of floating touch sensing devices in the market employ a difference in capacitance effects which is generated by an object (such as a stylus pen) or finger being floated or touched the sensing device, to determine whether the object/finger is floated above the sensing device or is touched the sensing device, thereby providing different functions. However, when the object is slightly distant from the sensing device, the capacitive floating touch sensing device is prone to determine as no object due to the rapid declined in capacitance, and thus an error in detection or insensitivity is prone to occur during an operation. In comparison with the method such as using the finger to click in the air or the direct contact, that the user is required to utilize the specialized stylus pen in order to achieve the touch effect is less intuitive, although the use of the specialized stylus pen is capable of reducing the afore-described phenomenon. Hence, how to provide a floating touch device with high intuition and sensitivity has become one of the current issues to be addressed for people having ordinary skill in the pertinent field.

Optical touch system, method of touch detection and non-transitory computer readable medium recording program instructions


Accesses to logical pages of memory are monitored. Each logical page corresponds to a logical memory address and the accesses defining an access pattern. The logical memory addresses are logged in ordered pairs of consecutive logical pages in the access pattern. Upon receipt of a request to write data to a given logical page, a given ordered pair of consecutive logical pages containing the logical memory address of the given logical page as a first logical memory address in the ordered pair of logical memory addresses associated with that consecutive pair is obtained. A first physical memory address mapping to the first logical memory address is identified, and a second logical memory address from that identified consecutive pair. A second physical memory address mapping to the second logical memory address is identified, and the data and the second physical memory address are written to the first physical memory address.

Flash memory, which is a type of non-volatile computer readable memory that can be electrically programmed and erased, is used to store data persistently for embedded systems, personal computers and enterprise systems. A flash file-system accesses and stores data on flash memory and provides the operating system (OS) with file-system interfaces to read and to write to flash memory. For read and write operations, the flash file-system sends commands and data to the flash controller, which retrieves or stores the data into the flash memory. Thus, a flash file-system interacts with the flash controller, which interfaces with the flash memory, which can be implemented in a flash memory device. Flash memory is typically read and written in pages with each page having a size of 2K or 4K bytes. In addition, each page is associated with a 'spare area' that has a size of 32 or 64 bytes. The standard use for the spare area is to store information such as ECC (Error Correction Codes), Logical Page numbers and Erase counts, among other information. This spare area and the actual data area are read and are written together from flash memory by the flash controller (and by flash file-system).
File-systems make use of access pattern information. For example, sequential/strided access patterns may be detected by a monitoring unit of the file-system and used for optimizations such as pre-fetching. However, non-linear/non-strided access patterns are typically not captured. Capturing such information requires additional memory and extra storage space. For non-linear/non-strided patterns, making the captured access information persistent is very useful as this does not require the re-construction of information every time after a system re-start. In addition, multi-stream information is usually not captured by the file-systems. This may require maintaining multiple 'possible next accesses' for a particular access, resulting in larger memory and storage overhead.
Therefore, both flash file-systems and traditional file-systems do not provide ways to capture non-linear/non-strided patterns of memory accesses or multiple streams of memory accesses. Having persistent, multiple stream access information for non-linear/non-strided patterns is not only useful for the flash file-system for optimizations such as pre-fetching but can also be used by other tools for pattern analysis and mining.

Storing multi-stream non-linear access patterns in a flash based file-system

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A mounting structure for installing an electrical appliance module for mounting on the vehicle on board equipment of the instrument panelboard of the automobile wherein the connection of the connector of the wire harness of the body side is performed reliably and smoothly. There are provided a connector accommodating section B for the instrument panel P as the vehicle on board equipment, and a module mounting section 13 for the receptive connector C. The module mounting section 13 allows the receptive connector C to mount on the connector accommodating section B, and it allows the introducing projection 14 of the receptive connector C to insert into the fitting groove 3 provided at the electrical appliance module A. The electrical appliance module A can thus be assembled to the instrument panel, and the terminal of the electrical terminal receptive connector C of the electrical appliance module A is connected to the instrument panel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an assembling structure for installing an electrical appliance module to a vehicle body and, more particularly, to the assembling structure for installing the electrical appliance module in which switches, lamps, measuring instruments, and control circuits therefor are integrally assembled therewith, in order to mount them on a vehicle on board equipment such as an instrument panel section or a roof section of the automobile. Here, the electrical appliance module is an electrical appliance member consisting of the switches, the lamps, and the measuring instruments and electronic functional parts and flexible printed wiring board for controlling these switches, lamps, and measuring instruments.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An electrical circuit of the instrument panel for the automobile comprises wire harnesses formed in accordance with the given electrical circuit. The wire harnesses are arranged at a body of the automobile or the instrument panel by the manual operation. The circuit is formed in such a way that connectors of the wire harnesses are connected to the switches and connectors of the measuring instruments.
On the other hand, electronic parts are used in an automobile, and electrical control is highly improved, thereby in the instrument panel provided in front of the driver's seat, the density of switches and measuring instruments is increased. The electrical circuits are complicated. The number of wire harnesses which are employed for the circuit construction thereof is greatly increased, and the weight thereof also greatly increased. They are incapable of being installed into the limited space. The assembling operations are very troublesome and inefficient.
As shown in FIGS. 21 and 22, a meter module M is proposed by the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-96774 in which the electrical circuit of the instrument panel is simplified.
The meter module M comprises a measuring instrument panel on which meter display lamps or the like and driving circuit thereof are mounted, a power supply corresponding to vehicle electrical appliance members including the meter display lamps, an electrical junction box b in which a functional circuit for controlling distribution of input/output signals and controlling thereof is assembled, a cluster module d which is integrally connected together to the switch unit c including switches of the vehicle electrical appliance members, and a finish panel e mounted in front of the cluster module d.
The meter module M is mounted on a given portion of the instrument panel f. The meter module M is electrically connected to the wire harness g in such a way that the connector h connected to the wire harness within the vehicle is joined with the connector i connected to the meter module M.
However, in this meter module M, when the distance between the connector h of the wire harness g and the connector i of the side of the meter module M is long, a position deviation between the connector h and the connector i becomes large depending on the distance therebetween. Even if the expensive movable connector is adopted, it is difficult to perform the connection between the connector h and the connector i with the position deviation collected. There is the problem that the operability thereof is remarkably reduced.
Further, also in the relative large-type car such as a recreational vehicle ("RV") car, a large-type roof is employed and a large-type electrical appliance member such as air conditioner, a television, a room lamp, sun roof and so forth are installed thereon, thereby in the wire harnesses for connecting thereof, and arrangement thereof and connecting operation for the connector, there are the same problems as that of the instrument panel.

Assembling structure for installing electrical appliance module


A card connector for being assembled in an electrical device includes an insulating housing defining a receiving cavity and a sliding groove, a shielding shell covering on the insulating housing and covering up the receiving cavity to form a receiving slot between the shielding shell and the insulating housing, an ejection mechanism slidably assembled in the sliding groove of the insulating housing, a supporting unit inserted in the receiving slot, and a water-proof mechanism including pushing parts and water-proof parts. The electrical device includes a cover covered in front of the card connector. The pushing parts pass rearward through the cover to be respectively fixed with front ends of the supporting unit and the ejection mechanism. The water-proof parts are respectively worn around the pushing parts and press against the cover.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card connector, and more particularly to a card connector having a water-proof function.
2. The Related Art
An electrical connector is often disposed in an electrical device to realize signal transmission between the electrical device and peripheral equipments thereof. A card connector acted as one kind of the electrical connectors is frequently used in the electrical device, such as mobile phone, tablet PC (tablet personal computer) and digital camera, for receiving an electronic card therein.
However, there is often an interspace between the card connector and the electrical device after the card connector is assembled in the electrical device. As a result, the moisture and the water easily seep into the inner of the card connector through the interspace. It greatly reduces the working life of the card connector and the electrical device.


A ferromagnetic random access memory includes a first and second blocks. Each of the first and second blocks includes a switch transistor and memory cells connected in series between a first and second end. The memory cell includes a ferromagnetic capacitor and a cell transistor connected in parallel. A first plate line is connected to each of the first end of the first and second blocks. A first block selection transistor includes a current path one end of which is connected to the second end of the first block. A second block selection transistor includes a current path one end of which is connected to the second end of the second block. A first bit line is connected to each of another end of the current path in the first and second block selection transistors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ferromagnetic random access memory (FeRAM), and for example, to a ferromagnetic random access memory having a structure in which cells each consisting of a ferromagnetic capacitor and a transistor connected together in parallel are connected together in series.
2. Description of the Related Art
A ferromagnetic random access memory so-called TC parallel unit series connected ferromagnetic random access memory is known. In this memory, cells each consisting of a ferromagnetic capacitor (C) and a transistor (T) connected together in parallel are connected together in series, as shown in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-297078. A structure in which a plurality of memory cells each consisting of a ferromagnetic capacitor (C) and a transistor (T) connected together in parallel are connected together in series will hereinafter be referred to as a block. One end of each block is connected to a bit line via a block selection transistor. The other end of the block is connected to a plate line.
Normally, cell transistors of all the memory cells are on, with no voltage applied across their capacitors. Further, the block selection transistors are off. When a write or read is executed, the cell transistor of a memory cell to be accessed is turned off. Further, the block selection transistor in the block including this memory cell is turned on. In this state, the plate line is driven (the potential of the plate line is raised) to apply a voltage across the capacitor of the memory cell to be accessed. A potential corresponding to the polarization state of the capacitor is generated in the bit line.


A lever-type connector capable of preventing a worker from damaging a lever when removing the lever from a housing is provided. The lever-type connector includes a housing containing a contact, a wire cover and a lever. The wire cover includes a main body, stopper and a first tapered section formed between the main body and the stopper. The wire cover is attached to a rear side of the housing. The lever includes a pair of side plates and a connecting part that connects the pair of side plates to each other. The lever rotatably attaches to the housing by bridging over the rear side of the wire cover with the wire cover inserted between the pair of side plates in a thickness direction. The main body has a smaller thickness than a distance between the pair of side plates and the stopper has a greater thickness than the distance between the pair of side plates.

In recent years, electric connectors having numerous terminals are being used in the field of automobiles and the like, and are continually become more and more advanced. With an electric connector having numerous terminals, a large force is necessary to mate together connectors and release the connection. Therefore, in the field of automobiles and the like, a lever-type connector to mate with and release from a mating connector utilizing effect of boosting by a lever is used.
Typically, a lever of a lever-type connector is formed in a U shape and includes a pair of side plates and a connecting part for connecting the pair of side plates to each other. Moreover, a rotating pivot for attaching a lever to a housing is provided on each of inner surfaces of ends of both side plates. When attaching the lever to the housing, a worker must spread the ends of the lever manually to join both of the rotating pivots to bearings in the housing, respectively. As a result, when attaching the lever to the housing, it is possible that the worker may spread the ends of the lever too much causing a problem.
Particularly, with a lever-type connector having many electrical terminals, there are cases where reactive force developed when mating with a mating connector increases and bending of the lever occurs. If bending of the lever occurs when mating a lever-type connector with a mating connector, the mating with the mating connector is incomplete. The lever is made of a hard material in order to prevent bending of the lever from occurring when mating a lever-type connector formed multipolar with a mating connector. However, if the lever is made of a hard material, cracking of the lever easily occurs when the worker is spreading the end of the lever.
As a result, a lever-type connector capable of preventing the worker from damaging the lever when attaching the lever to the housing has been developed.
As a conventional lever-type connector capable of reducing damages to the lever by the worker when attaching the lever to the housing, for example, the connector shown in FIG. 21 is well-known.
A lever-type connector 100 shown in FIG. 21 includes a connector housing 110, and a lever 120 attached rotatable in the connector housing 110.
The connector housing 110 includes a terminal receiving portion 111 for receiving a terminal, and an outer tube 112 encompassing the terminal receiving portion 111. A lever installing part 113 for installing the lever 120 is provided on either side of the outer tube 112. Both of the lever installing parts 113 are formed in a pouch form opening toward the front. A lead-in groove 114 is formed on either side of both of the lever installing parts 113. A pivot receiving portion 15 for holding a rotating pivot 123 of the lever 120 is provided on each back end of the respective lead-in grooves 114.
The lever 120 is overall formed in a U shape and includes a pair of side plates 121 (only one is shown in the drawing) and a connecting part 122 for connecting ends of the side plates 121 to each other. The rotating pivot 123 is provided extending inward on respective inner surfaces of the ends of the side plates 121. In addition, a gear piece 124 for joining to a rack 210 of a mating connector 200 is provided at the outer circumference of the respective rotating pivots 123.
When attaching the lever 120 to the connector housing 110, the end of the lever 120 is spread apart, first, and then both of the rotating pivots 123 of the lever 120 are inserted into the lead-in grooves 114 of the lever installing part 113, respectively. Next, the end of the lever 120 is moved while aligning the inner surface of both of the side plates 121 with the outer surface of the lever installing parts 113, and the rotating pivots 123 of both of the side plates 121 are joined to the pivot receiving portions 115 of the lever installing parts 113, respectively.
In this manner, with the lever-type connector 100, the worker does not need to perform the operation of spreading the end of the lever 120 and operation of moving the lever 120 to a predetermined position simultaneously. As a result, the worker may be dedicated to the operation of moving the lever to a predetermined position.
Accordingly, with the lever-type connector 100, provision of the lever installing parts 113 formed in a pouch shape allows easy application of the U-shaped lever 120 to the connector housing 110.
However, with the lever-type connector 100 shown in FIG. 21, a mechanism that aggressively spreads the end of the lever 120 is not provided. Accordingly, with the lever-type connector 100, damage of the lever 120 cannot be prevented when the worker spreads the end of the lever 120.
Moreover, there are cases where a contact may be replaced during maintenance of a lever-type connector onboard an automobile or the like.
In particular, with a lever-type connector having a wire cover, which covers electrical wires connected to contacts contained in a housing, the worker must remove the levers and the wire cover from the housing manually when replacing a contact.
As a result, with a lever-type connector with a wire cover, when removing the lever from the housing, there is a problem that the worker damages the lever by spreading the end of the lever too much.


A method of making a plastic container having a threaded wide-mouth finish includes providing a preform having at least an exterior surface of molded polyester construction. The preform is placed in a mold cavity having a first portion for forming a container body, a second portion adjacent to the first portion for forming a cylindrical finish wall without threads, and a third portion adjacent to the second portion for forming a trim dome or moil. The preform is expanded within the mold cavity to form a one-piece intermediate product that includes a body, a cylindrical wide-mouth finish wall and a moil. After removing the intermediate product from the cavity, the moil is severed from the end of the finish wall. At least one thread is then formed on the finish wall by engaging the finish wall with at least one thread-forming tool, which may be heated to facilitate the forming operation.

In the manufacture of plastic containers, such as monolayer or multilayer PET containers, it is conventional to mold a container preform having a body and a finish with one or more external threads. The finish typically is molded to its final geometry in the preform, while the body of the preform is subsequently blow molded to the desired geometry of the container body. Although this manufacturing technique is satisfactory for fabrication of containers with narrow-neck finish diameters, the throughput of the process is greatly reduced when employed for fabricating preforms and containers of larger finish diameters. For example, a preform mold cavity block that has ninety-six mold cavities for preforms with a 28 mm finish diameter would typically accommodate only forty-eight cavities having a 43 mm finish diameter for the same overall cavity block size. This throughput is even further reduced for wide-mouth preforms having a finish diameter greater than about 2.0 inches or 50 mm.
To address this manufacturing throughput problem, it has been proposed to fabricate a wide-mouth container by molding a narrow-neck preform and then blow molding the preform body within a cavity that forms the container body, a container finish with external threads, and a trim dome or moil. The trim moil must be removed from the container body and finish, along with the preform finish, after the container is removed from the blow mold. A problem with this technique is that the external threads on the container finish are blow molded, and are not as sharply defined and detailed as desired. Furthermore, this thread definition problem is exacerbated in the case of containers having at least an external surface of polyester construction, such as PET, because the polyester material can strain harden as it expands during blow molding, making it more difficult to force the finish material into the thread-forming portions of the blow mold. It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a method of making a plastic wide-mouth container, and/or a plastic wide-mouth container formed by such method, in which the container threads are formed in a post-molding operation so as to possess improved quality and definition.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a method of making a plastic container having a threaded wide-mouth finish includes providing a preform of molded plastic construction. The preform is placed in a mold cavity having a first portion for forming a container body, a second portion adjacent to the first portion for forming a cylindrical finish wall without threads, and a third portion adjacent to the second portion for forming a trim dome or moil. The preform is expanded within the mold cavity to form a one-piece intermediate container product that includes a body, a cylindrical wide-mouth finish wall without threads, and a trim moil. After removing the intermediate product from the cavity, the moil is severed from the end of the finish wall. At least one internal or external thread is then formed on the finish wall by engaging the finish wall with at least one thread-forming tool. In the preferred method of the invention, the cylindrical finish wall is exteriorly engaged by at least one first tool having at least one groove segment. The cylindrical finish wall is simultaneously interiorly engaged by at least one second tool having at least one rib segment, complimentary to the at least one groove segment, to force portions of the cylindrical finish wall into the groove segment and thereby form at least one internal or external thread. One or both of the first and second tools may be heated to facilitate the forming operation.
A wide-mouth blow molded plastic container in accordance with a second aspect of the present invention includes a hollow body and a cylindrical wide-mouth finish integrally blow molded with the body. The finish has at least one internal or external thread swage-formed in the finish wall after molding. At least the exterior surface portion of the finish wall preferably is of PET construction.


An exemplary media service personalization system maintains profiles for multiple media service access devices associated with an end-user account with a media service, generates a merged profile based on the profiles for the media service access devices, and directs a communal media service access device associated with the end-user account to personalize the media service based on the merged profile.

A media service, such as a subscriber television service, provides end users of the service with access to media content and/or information about media content. A provider of the media service may want to personalize the media service to end users in a manner that facilitates personalized experiences with the media service. Conventionally, such personalization is limited and/or difficult when multiple people associated with an end-user account with the media service (e.g., members of a household) use multiple media service access devices to access the media service through the end-user account, particularly when the media service access devices include both personal and shared devices associated with the end-user account with the media service.

Media service personalization systems and methods


Exemplary methods and assemblies for preventing corrosion of metal connector devices, e.g., zinc-galvanized joist hangers and fasteners, used for assembling outdoor structures such as decks from wood components pretreated with alkaline copper quat (ACQ), ammoniacal copper quat (ACQ-B), copper azole (CA), or mixtures thereof. Membrane barriers separate metal from wood, and seal around fasteners thus minimizing corrosion of the connector devices and fasteners.

Among the wood preservatives used in the last two decades for making outdoor wood constructions such as decks, chromated copper arsenate (CCA) has been the most popular. However, as arsenic is a known carcinogen, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and wood preservative industry have reached agreement, effective Dec. 31, 2003, to employ less toxic alternatives.
Two such alternatives, Alkaline Copper Quat (ACQ) and Copper Azole (CA), have been approved by the American Wood Preserver's Association for outdoor use. However, the present inventors believe these new treatments can create a serious problem in that they are more likely than CCA to accelerate the corrosion of metal fasteners that are typically are used in assembling wood decks. While all of these preservatives contain copper, which can leach out of the wood and deposit as an oxide on the metal fastener, thereby creating a galvanic potential and thus oxidation and corrosion, the inventors realize that CCA contains an anodic inhibitor (chromate) and a cathodic inhibitor (arsenate) to slow down corrosion, whereas ACQ and CA do not.
The present inventors believe that without such inhibitors ACQ and CA will facilitate corrosion in metal fasteners as well as in metal "joist hangers" and other metal connector devices used in deck assemblies and other outdoor wood constructions. Certain forms of ACQ, moreover, contain chlorides that exacerabate the corrosion problem. Failure of joist hangers could lead to injury or death, and must be avoided. Although decay resistant woods (e.g., redwood, cedar), woodfiber/plastic composites, and/or stainless steel fasteners and devices can be substituted, these are all far more expensive than using common stock lumber, fasteners, and joist hangers.
A less expensive method for assembling outdoor wood structures is needed.

Anticorrosion separator for wood deck fasteners


Breathing circuits for medical respiratory devices which have an inspiratory conduit for delivery of respiration-related aeriform substances to a patient, may also have a expiratory conduit, and, in any case are arranged to communicate with a patient interface, such as a wye (14), and have heating means for respiration-related aeriform substances in at least the inspiratory conduit. The heating means may be a heated-liquid heating tube (11) within at least the inspiratory conduit or an electrical heating wire (38) on or in an inspiratory conduit comprising respiratory hose (37). The tube is in circulatory relationship with a heated-liquid reservoir (13) and is arranged internally to contain heated liquid (30) from the reservoir, and to transfer heat from the liquid--by radiation and conduction from the tube wall--to the substances in the conduit. This transferred heat tends to inhibit or to control formation of dangerous aqueous condensate from the substances by compensating heat losses they otherwise sustain, enhancing their capacity to retain water vapor and providing an intra-conduit environment in which the condensate is unlikely to form. A manifold (12) enables the tube to extend to the expiratory conduit.

This invention relates to respiratory apparatus and, in particular, to breathing circuits with capability for maintaining humidified status of aeriform substances therein in order to inhibit or to control formation of condensate from the substances.
Respiratory apparatus is familiar in medicine and surgery for ventilation and therapy of the lungs, administration of anesthetics and other medicaments, and other procedures. The breathing circuit of exemplary respiratory apparatus, such as a mechanical pulmonary ventilator, implements delivery and exchange of aeriform substances for and from the patient by way of inspiratory and expiratory channels. Each channel provides a flow path enclosed by wall portions of a conduit and of a patient interface which, commonly, is a shaped tubular wye piece. The conduit may be a flexile hose or hose-like article. The wye piece has an inspiratory airway as the delivery end of the inspiratory flow path, an expiratory airway as the beginning of the expiratory flow path, and a third airway common to the other two. The wye piece may be joined with an endotracheal tube, a tracheostomy tube, or a face mask on the patient.
The background for this invention includes these points:
(a) A pulmonary ventilator, as an exemplary respiratory device, has a breathing circuit and a humidifier. The humdifier is up-path of the breathing circuit and serves to raise the temperature of and add water vapor to aeriform substances destined for the patient.
(b) Aeriform substances in the breathing circuit are likely to sustain heat losses to walls of the circuit's conduits. The losses decrease the capacity of the substances to retain water vapor.
(c) The ventilator does not provide means downpath of the humidifier for increasing absolute volume of water vapor in aeriform substances in its breathing circuit.
Safe and effective operation of a breathing circuit requires proper humidification and heating of aeriform substances delivered by the circuit. If water vapor in the substances in a conduit of the circuit reaches saturation level as a result, for example, of heat losses noted in point (b), aqueous condensate is likely to form. This condensate is recognized as hazardous and potentially fatal because, as it pools or accumulates, it harbors infective agents, may be inhaled by the patient, and may obstruct or occlude the inspiratory conduit thus restricting delivery of the substances and imposing increased labor of breathing on the patient.
Various products and methods have been proposed to deal with unwanted effects and liabilities of such condensate. My U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,865,106 and 3,945,378, and other patents, relate to breathing circuits in which the inspiratory conduit, to reduce heat loss therefrom, is coaxial with and located within the expiratory conduit. My U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,451 teaches closed-system condensate removal from breathing circuits. U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,744, to James Chua, discloses a breathing circuit with a coaxial arrangement of conduits and an electrical heating wire on the inspiratory conduit. U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,948, to Heinz Eilentropp, which is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses heatable respiratory hose with a heating wire or conductor on the outside of the hose and a connection to an electric power supply. Some such devices, products and methods are in service.
Electrical heating wires immediately proximate flammable or combustion-supporting inhalants, or aqueous condensate, may have unwanted safety implications. A regulatory alert was issued in 1993 because of safety problems reported in connection with electrical heating wires in ventilator breathing circuits. Accordingly, need continues for means and methods safely to control relative humidity and to inhibit and control condensate formation in breathing circuits.

Breathing circuits with humidity controls


A multistage transmission has a plurality of gear stages and an additional gear stage which may be engaged to transmit part of the input shaft torque before disengagement of an engaged gear stage. A friction clutch is used to engage the additional stage. Alternatively, a variable-ratio pulley connection may be used for the additional stage. Synchronization of the transmission input shaft with a gear stage to be engaged is attained by controlling the change in input shaft speed in accordance with a selected speed gradient.

This invention relates to multistage transmissions and to processes for shifting multistage transmissions.
In conventional multistage transmissions having an input shaft and an output shaft arranged so that the output shaft is axially parallel to the input shaft and can be connected to the input shaft by a pair of gear wheels, the flow of torque from the drive engine through the transmission to the motor vehicle wheels must be interrupted when shifting into a new gear. The length of this interruption in driving force is determined by the period of time needed to synchronize the transmission gears which are to be engaged after shifting.
European Published Application No. 01 73 117 discloses a process for shifting a multistage transmission in which the driving torque of the engine is transmitted to the motor vehicle wheels through a temporary engageable gear stage during the interruption in driving force that occurs during the process of shifting to a higher gear. The temporary gear engagement takes place simultaneously with the interruption in driving force so that the driving torque of the engine is transferred in sequence first from the lower gear stage to the temporary gear stage and then to the higher gear stage in order to transmit a driving force during the shift-up process.

Multistage transmission and shifting process therefor


An automatic soldering apparatus comprises a solder bath, and a plurality of component parts such as a jet flow nozzle, bolts, nuts and washers equipped in the solder bath, wherein a relative density of such component parts equipped in the solder bath of the automatic soldering apparatus is smaller than that of lead-free solder to be used in the automatic soldering apparatus. Preferably each piece of the component parts are made of titanium material or ceramic material having relative density of around 4.5. Further the lead-free solder includes 2.5 weight % of silver, 0.5 weight % of cupper, 1.0 weight % of bismuth, and tin for the rest, and having a relative density of around 7.5. Accordingly, in case of dropping the piece of components parts into the melting solder, the dropped piece can float on the melting solder without breaking the apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a jet flow type automatic soldering apparatus utilizing a lead-free solder for mounting a plurality of electronic parts on a printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally in a jet flow type automatic soldering apparatus, it is common that component parts equipped in a solder bath are made from stainless steel and a Sn (Tin)xe2x80x94Pb (Lead) based eutectic solder is employed as a melting solder. A relative density of no such Snxe2x80x94Pb based eutectic solder is about 8.4 (in the case of Tin(Sn): 63% , Lead(Pb) : 37%), and this type of Snxe2x80x94Pb based eutectic solder is suitable for mounting various electronic parts on a printed circuit board because of its superior characteristics such as temperature characteristic, soldering characteristic besides its reliability as a material.
However, the above-mentioned Snxe2x80x94Pb based eutectic solder includes lead (Pb) material. In view of the world wide environmental protection, the regulation of using such lead material has been reinforcing and it becomes common to use a lead-free solder in this field. Suppose the components of the lead-free solder are 2.5 weight % of silver, 0.5 weight % of cupper, 1.0 weight % of bismuth, and the rest is tin, and in this case, a relative density of such lead-free solder becomes about 7.5.
When a conventional automatic soldering apparatus employs such lead-free solder for the sake of the environmental protection, the component parts made of stainless steel such as a nozzle plate for a jet flow solder and fastening parts such as bolts, nuts and washers for fastening the nozzle plate to a predetermined position in the solder bath are used. In this case, a relative density of these component parts, namely the relative density of the stainless steel, is about 7.9 and this is larger than the relative density of the lead-free solder, namely about 7.5 as mentioned above. Accordingly, when some pieces of the component parts are removed by chance and dropped off from the equipped positions, they would sink into a bottom of the solder bath.
As described above, when the pieces of component parts equipped in the solder bath sink into the bottom of the solder bath, it becomes very difficult to discover and to pick up these dropped component parts, and further these dropped small component parts such as bolts, nuts and washers might be swallowed in the a jet flow pump provided for generating jet stream of the melting solder. These swallowed component parts might induce the breakage of the jet flow pump and the damage of equipment of the drive section in the automatic soldering apparatus.
Accordingly, in case of using the lead-free solder in accordance with the environmental protection, there remains many problems to clear such as sinking of dropped off component parts into the bottom of the solder bath, difficulty of early detection of the dropped component parts and the breakage or damage by such dropped off component parts.
In order to overcome above mentioned problem, this invention presents an automatic soldering apparatus characterized wherein, any of the component parts equipped in the solder bath are made from material having a relative density smaller than a relative density of a lead-free solder employed in the solder bath of the automatic soldering apparatus.
According to the present invention, the component parts equipped in the solder bath include a part or all of a jet nozzle, fastening parts for the jet nozzle, adjusting component parts or the like.
In accordance with the automatic soldering apparatus of this invention, the component parts equipped in the solder bath such as a nozzle plate for jet flow solder and fastening parts such as bolt, nut and washer for fastening the nozzle plate to a predetermined position in the solder bath are made from material having a relative density smaller than the relative density of the lead-free solder. Accordingly, in case where some pieces of the component parts are dropped off in the solder bath, such dropped off component parts can be floated on the surface of the melting lead-free solder due to the relative density difference of the component parts and the lead-free solder.
Thereby, it is prevented to take long time to find out the dropped off component parts and the damage of the equipment can be avoided and it becomes easy to discover and to recover such dropped off component parts.


A simplified and compact remote control unit is presented. A light transmissive crystal, mounted to the housing, is unitary with one of the operative buttons with a flexible hinge therebetween so that a portion of the crystal serves as at least one of the operative buttons.

The present invention relates to remote control units, and more particularly, to remote control units which have simplified operation and are compact.
Many devices, such as television receivers, VCR's, radios and compact disc players, are available which can be remotely controlled by the user. Often the remote control units for such devices can be overly complicated for many users, e.g., a proliferation of buttons, as well as being bulky, especially if many buttons are used. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a remote control unit which has a simplified operation and is more compact.

Remote control unit with unitary crystal and button


The invention provides a method of making a formable hockey stick blade, the method comprising: (a) providing a core having a blade element with a thickness, the core being made of expandable foam having a Poisson ratio of at least 0.33; (b) forming a preformed stick blade by wrapping the core with a layer of fibers pre-impregnated with a thermoplastic material; (c) placing the preformed stick blade in a mold; (d) applying heat and pressure to the mold for bringing the thermoplastic material to its amorphous form and for compressing the preformed stick blade such that the thickness of the blade element of the core is reduced; (e) cooling the mold such that the thermoplastic material is set; and (f) removing the formable stick blade from the mold.

Typical hockey stick blades or replacement blades are generally made of a wooden core reinforced with one or more layers of synthetic material such as fiberglass, carbon fiber or graphite. The core of the blade may also be made of a synthetic material reinforced with layers of fibers material. The layers are usually made of woven filament fibers, typically soaked in a resin and glued to the surfaces of the core of the blade. Expandable fibers braids may also be used for recovering the core of the blade.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,996 discloses a sport implement comprising a blade structure having a core with an elongated insert and a peripheral frame. The blade structure is non-deformable at a first temperature and is formable at a second temperature that is greater that the first temperature and less than 250° F.
There is a demand for a formable hockey stick blade that has a weight, stiffness and strength adapted for high-level hockey players and can be heated and shaped repeatedly to selected curvatures.

Method of making a formable hockey stick blade


The present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and computer program product for providing access via a cellular access network to a packet data net-work, wherein control plane functions of a gateway device of a core net-work are emulated to the core network, and the emulated control plane functions are used to provide to the core network a set of parameters for local breakout.

As an enhancement to conventional macro enhanced NodeBs (macro eNBs) for bigger macro cells, Home base stations, Home NodeBs, Femto eNodeBs (eNBs) or any type of home access device (in the following referred to as "HNB") have become a widely discussed topic within 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as well as in the operator and manufacturer community. When deployed in homes and offices, HNBs allow subscribers to use their existing handsets—in a building—with significant improved coverage and increased broadband wireless performance. Moreover, Internet Protocol (IP) based architecture allows deployment and management in virtually any environment with broadband Internet service.
In current standardization activities, deployment scenarios involving Femto Base Stations in the context of 3G and LTE is attracting great interest from manufacturers and operators. The current status in 3GPP standardization activities is that HNB deployment has been acknowledged by several working groups and official documents have been drafted to capture the requirements concerning such HNB deployments.
In 3GPP specification TS 22.220, local IP access in home based networks has been described, wherein local IP breakout (LBO) from HNB to home based networks or to the Internet has been suggested in addition to ordinary IP based services via the operator's core network. Allowing for local breakout (also referred to as "route optimization") of IP traffic could both shorten the end-to-end route and reduce the load on relatively expensive IP backbones (which inherently provides a high quality of service).
Local IP access is intended to differentiate user's local IP traffic in the HNB so that local IP traffic to/from IP devices connected to home based networks is forwarded on the shortest path so that it does not transit outside the home based network (i.e. remains Intranet traffic). Moreover, local IP access traffic to the Internet does not necessarily transit across the operator's evolved packet core (EPC), i.e., the Internet traffic can be forwarded to and received from the Internet via a gateway local to a base station without having to transit through the operator's core nodes.
The current 3GPP specifications and contributions suggest integrating a General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) Gateway Support Node (GGSN) or another kind of gateway function into the HNB for implementing local breakout to home based networks or to the Internet. However, implementing a local gateway for local IP access into the HNB requires incorporation of lots of gateway functions (such as tunneling, charging, Home Agent etc.), so that complexity and processing load is increased and an agreed split between radio access network (RAN) and core net-work is violated. Furthermore, gateway devices are modelled as IP routers that perform IP lookup for routing user traffic to/from 3GPP specified bearer services. Thus, if local breakout was done at a GGSN-like IP router function in the HNB, this would lead to the disadvantage that every kind of inter HNB handover will result in a change of GGSN and thus require use of a cell reselection procedure. In other words, modelling a local gateway functionality within the HNB as an IP router would limit IP mobility and session continuation to work just when the served terminal device (e.g. user equipment (UE)) is connected to the current HNB. This would lead to a severe limitation e.g. in local area scenarios like in an office or campus where local IP access could be served through a multiple cells or base stations in the local area.
Moreover, the local gateway functionality within the HNB requires termination of additional core network (CN) interfaces in the HNB. This will lead to an undesired increase in complexity of HNB implementation. In addition, such additional terminations of CN interfaces in local IP access devices may harm implementation of local IP mobility in future local area scenarios by necessitating gateway relocation procedures on every inter access device handover in case of terminal movements within a local service area (e.g. office or campus LAN with multiple local area access devices (e.g. (base) stations).
As another issue, HNBs are no high availability nodes and may thus suffer from power failures or broadband access breaks. End users may switch them off anytime for energy saving purposes while they are not at home. This would add complexity to network exception case handling if CN interfaces were terminated in co-located gateways at such HNBs.
An even further issue is that according to the current standard a terminal device shall have only one serving gateway as a mobility anchor to the EPC at a time. In case a real local gateway is provided and controlled via a CN interface, there would be two gateways for each terminal, i.e., one in the EPC as usual and another co-located with the HNB, which is not desirable.
The WO2008/125729A1 discloses a method, radio system, mobile terminal and base station for providing local breakout or local IP access, wherein local access session or service management is performed at EUTRAN (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network) level when the need for core network interfaces to control the local gateway functionality can be eliminated. However, radio resource control (RRC) and non-access stratum (NAS) interfaces still need to be modified accordingly, which might lead to support or compatibility related problems.

Local breakout with parameter access service


This disclosure provides systems, methods, and apparatus related to printed circuit boards. In one aspect, a device includes a first board and a second board. The first board includes at least two pins defined at an end of the first board. The first pin and the second pin are positioned along a first line and parallel to the first line. The second board includes at least two slots defined at an end of the second board. The first slot and the second slot are positioned along a second line and are angled from the second line by about ±10° to 15°. Each of the pins in the first board is engaged with each of the slots in the second board and forms an electrical connection between the first pin and the first slot and the second pin and the second slot.

In agriculture, infrastructure monitoring, land management, and environmental research, sensor probes are used for soil or snow pack profiling. Some such sensor probes comprise a tube and sensors disposed in the tube. For example, the sensors can be positioned in the tube to measure soil parameters every about 5 centimeters (cm) to 10 cm at a depth of about 1 meter (m) to 2 m. Parameters including soil temperature, moisture, salinity, chemistry, porosity, and stability can be measured, providing important information for efficiency and resilience in agricultural activities. In the fields of infrastructure monitoring and land management, soil profile sensor probes can be used to assess snow pack properties, avalanche risk, road, levy, pylon, and building stability, and for the prediction of landslides.
Many different sensor probes, especially for agricultural applications, are commercially available. The available sensor probes are thick tubes (e.g., tubes having a large diameter) that are about 1 inches to 2 inches or more in diameter. The deployment of these sensor probes is time consuming and costly because boreholes are drilled in the ground in order to position the sensor probes. Drilling boreholes causes soil disturbance and in some cases inaccurate measurements.
The commercially available sensor probes include thick tubes because of the array of sensors in the tubes. Each sensor is placed on a printed circuit board (PCB) with connectors, and all the PCBs are wired together. Such sensor assemblies, including PCBs, wires, and connectors, are bulky. Such sensor assemblies are also labor intensive to assemble, increasing the cost of the sensor probes. For example, the cost for a commercial sensor probe may exceed $1000 for a 1-year lease. For these reasons, monitoring setups are usually limited to a few sensor probes even though higher measurement resolutions are usually desirable.

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