The present invention is based on a tri-cellular grouping of three identical cells. Each cell of the tri-cellular group is driven by a directional antenna that radiates the cell from the center of the group. Multiple tri-cellular groups make up a cellular system having three axes at 0.degree., 120.degree., and 240.degree.. Each axis is comprised of seven total layers, one layer being a repeat of another of the layers. The 512 available system PN offsets are divided up into three groups of 24 offsets, one group for each axis. Each PN offset group is reused only in the direction to which it is assigned.

I. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to radio communications. More particularly, the present invention relates to cellular radiotelephone communications in a code division multiple access system.
II. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Cellular radiotelephone systems enable radiotelephone subscribers to communicate with land-line telephone networks while moving through a geographical area. High density, high capacity cells in typical cellular radiotelephone systems are made up of three directional antennas centrally located in the cell. Each antenna typically radiates into a 120.degree. sector of the cell. A number of these cells are operated by a service provider to form a cellular radiotelephone system.
The cell shapes are determined by both the radiation pattern of the antennas and the local conditions at the cell site. Cells, however, are typically idealized as hexagonal patterns since such a pattern closely approximates the ideal antenna radiation pattern.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) governs the use of the radio frequency spectrum, deciding which industry gets certain frequencies. Since the RF spectrum is limited, only a small portion of the spectrum can be assigned to the cellular industry. This assigned spectrum, therefore, must be used as efficiently as possible in order to allow as many frequency users as possible to access the spectrum.
Multiple access modulation techniques are some of the most efficient techniques for utilizing the RF spectrum. Examples of such modulation techniques used in the cellular industry include: time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), and code division multiple access (CDMA).
CDMA modulation employs a spread spectrum technique for the transmission of information. A spread spectrum system uses a pseudorandom noise (PN) sequence that spreads the transmitted signal over a wide frequency band. This frequency band is typically substantially wider than the minimum bandwidth required to transmit the signal. The spread spectrum technique is accomplished by modulating each baseband data signal, that is to be transmitted, with a unique wide band spreading code. Using this technique, a signal having a bandwidth of only a few kilohertz can be spread over a bandwidth of more than a megahertz. Typical examples of spread spectrum techniques can be found in Spread Spectrum Communications, Volume I, M. K. Simon, Chap. 5, pp. 262-358.
In a CDMA-type radiotelephone system, multiple signals are transmitted simultaneously on the same frequency. A particular receiver then determines which signal is intended for that receiver by a unique spreading code in the signal. The signals at that frequency without the particular spreading code intended for that particular receiver appear to be noise to that receiver and are ignored.
Three different PN sequences, well known in the CDMA art, are used in CDMA radiotelephone systems: Walsh codes, long PN codes, and short PN codes. Each PN sequence has a different function in the system. The Walsh code is the spreading sequence used by the radiotelephone. The long PN code is a scrambling sequence used by the radiotelephone. The short PN code is used by both the radiotelephone and the base station as a co-channel identifier.
The short PN code is a 15 bit sequence that identifies each sector of each cell in the system. Since the same frequency and one PN sequence is used in the system, a different short PN offset differentiates each sector to preclude the radiotelephone from communicating with a sector that is too distant for quality communication. A more detailed explanation of the short PN offset and other aspects of CDMA communication are found in the CDMA interim specification from the Electronic Industries Association/Telecommunications Industry Association (EIA/TIA) IS-95.
The short PN offsets are typically reused throughout a CDMA cellular system in the same manner as frequencies are reused throughout an analog cellular system. The PN offsets are assigned to a cluster of cells. This cluster of cells is then reused multiple times within the cellular system. Each PN offset is not used by other nearby radiotelephones within a cluster as this would lead to interference on the channel and a reduction in signal quality. This interference is referred to in the art as co-PN offset interference.
Another type of interference experienced by cellular radiotelephone users is adjacent PN offset interference. This interference is due to the energy slipover between adjacent PN offsets.
Both types of interference affect the signal quality, referred to as the carrier to interference ratio (.sup.C /.sub.I). This ratio is the signal strength of the received desired carrier to the signal strength of the received interfering carriers. A number of physical factors can also affect .sup.C /.sub.I in cellular systems: buildings, geography, antenna radiation patterns, radiotelephone traffic transmitting power, and radiotelephone traffic location within the cell.
PN offset planning is a method for optimizing offset usage, optimizing reuse distance, and reducing interference. A PN offset plan also attempts to maintain adequate reuse distance to an extent where co and adjacent PN offset interferences are acceptable while maintaining an adequate .sup.C /.sub.I margin. A .sup.C /.sub.I .gtoreq.24 dB is required by the IS-95 specification.
In order to accomplish these diverse requirements, a compromise is generally made so that the target .sup.C /.sub.I performance is acquired without jeopardizing system performance. However, the existing PN offset planning does not permit this since the reuse pattern is based on cell cluster reuse in which the antenna directivity and PN offset planning are not coordinated. As a result, they exhibit poor .sup.C /.sub.I performance.
Moreover, the conventional cluster reuse scheme inevitably reproduces the same neighbor list in co-PN sites (the neighbor list is well known in the CDMA art and is described in greater detail in IS-95). This may cause the radiotelephone to mistake a distant cell site for a near cell site since both have the same PN offset. There is a resulting unforeseen need for an improved PN offset assignment scheme to enhance .sup.C /.sub.I by coordinating PN offset reuse and antenna directivity.

Directional pseudonoise offset assignment in a CDMA cellular radiotelephone system


An improved method for producing a reticular nonwoven fabric in which the velocity of the transversely stretching line step can be much increased by providing the transversely stretching step with a longitudinally orienting step, thereby accelerating the whole production line. The method of the invention includes the continuous steps of: a first feeding step to feed a first film material; a longitudinally stretching step to stretch the first film material; a splitting step to split the longitudinally the stretched first film material; a laterally spreading step to spread the split film; a second feeding step to feed a second film material; a longitudinally orienting step to orient the second film material; a transversely slitting step to slit the oriented second film material; a transversely stretching step to stretch the slit second film material; and a laminating step to laminate the first film material with the second film material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing reticular nonwoven fabric. More particularly, the invention relates to a method for continuously producing the reticular nonwoven fabric in which a longitudinally oriented reticular first film material is laminated with a transversely oriented reticular second film material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A production method of this kind is described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-53383. This method comprises a continuous process of a longitudinal line step to form a longitudinal web, a transversal line step to form a transversal web and a laminating step to laminate the longitudinal web and the transversal web. The longitudinal line step comprises a continuous process of a film feeding step to feed a nonstretched film in the form of a continuous web, a transversely slitting step to form a number of transversal slits at small regular intervals in view of longitudinal direction, and a transversely stretching step to stretch transversely this transversely slit nonstretched film. Meanwhile, the transversal line step comprises a continuous process of a film feeding step to feed a non-stretched film in the form of a continuous web, a longitudinally slitting step to form a number of longitudinal slits at small regular intervals in view of transversal direction, and a longitudinally stretching step to stretch longitudinally this longitudinally slit nonstretched film.
In the longitudinal line step of this method, because the film is stretched in the longitudinal direction, the discharging velocity of the film is larger than the feeding velocity of the film. In the transversal line step, however, the velocity of feeding of film is the same as that of the discharging of film because the film is not stretched in the longitudinal direction but it is stretched in the transversal direction. The velocity of the whole line depends on the velocity of the transversal line because the velocities of both films must be made the same in the laminating step. Due to this reason, the method is not advantageous in view of the rate of production.

Method for producing reticular nonwoven fabric


A medical dressing comprising a backing layer and a self-supporting substrate. The backing layers form a perimeter around the self supporting substrate and hold the self supporting substrate in place on a wound.

Transparent film dressings are widely used as protective layers over wounds because they facilitate healing in a moist environment while acting as a barrier to contaminating liquids and bacteria. The films are also used as surgical drapes because of their barrier properties. Dressings and drapes fitting the above description are available under a number of trade names such as TEGADERM™ (3M Company, St. Paul, Minn.), BIOCLUSIVE™ (Johnson & Johnson Company, New Brunswick, N.J.), and OP-SITE™ (T. J. Smith & Nephew, Hull, England).
The polymeric films used in those dressings and drapes are conformable, i.e., the films are extremely thin, flexible and supple. They are typically supplied with a releasable protective liner covering the adhesive coated surface of the film. When the liner is removed, the adhesive coated film tends to wrinkle and adhere to itself, interfering with the smooth, aseptic application of the dressing to a patient's skin. Various delivery systems have been proposed to address this problem such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,685,682. The use of a removable carrier, which does not require tearing of the film after it has been placed on the patient, avoids the problems described above. The carrier also aids in accurate placement of the dressing on a patient. Even with the carrier however, the dressings can be difficult to place on an irregular body surface, such as a joint (e.g., knee, elbow) or shoulder.
In addition, the length of time over which the medical dressings may remain in place over wounds may be limited by many factors. Among the factors that may limit the usable life of a medical dressing is the accumulation of fluids within the wound. Some medical dressings have included the use of negative pressure wound therapy in which fluids are removed from beneath the wound dressings without requiring removal of the dressings from the patient. Dressings adapted for delivery of negative pressure wound therapy (such as those described in, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,969,880; 5,261,893; 5,527,293; and 6,071,267 (all to Zamierowski)) often have constructions that can compromise the sterility of the wound over which they are placed. These products often require a tube or wound drain that is introduced either through a multi-piece dressing or under a single piece dressing. In either case, it is difficult to obtain a good seal between the tube or wound drain and, during treatment, air can leak into the wound. That air can carry contamination into the wound and/or impair the effectiveness of the pressure-based therapy. These effects can be compounded by wounds on or around irregular surfaces, such as the knee, elbow, shoulders, heel, and ankle.
A need remains for a medical dressing that can be more effectively supported and/or more conformable for application to irregular surfaces, and particularly those associated with a joint, such as a knee, ankle or elbow, and particularly in wound therapy applications.

Conformable medical dressing with self supporting substrate


A ventilation system for an attic or rafter space that mimics the appearance of the roofing material and thus has little effect on the appearance of the building. In one aspect primary vents are installed in the roof deck below the roof tiles, and the roof tiles are mounted to as to provide air spaces in between them and thus allow air flow from the primary vents to the outside. In another aspect a secondary vent is constructed to look like the surrounding field tiles and is installed over each primary vent. One or more vent openings in the secondary vent and an opening in the primary vent conduct air between the attic or rafter space and the outside. The secondary vent has a frame with one or more vent openings and a cap covering each opening shielding the ventilating space. Frames are formed in one piece and are made to fit each different size and type of roofing tile. The caps and the frame are ribbed for rigidity. The caps are made in one size only to minimize manufacturing and inventory complexity, thus any cap may be fitted on any frame.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to roof vents, and more specifically to passive attic vents for use with tile roofs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Energy efficiency is a serious consideration in building design and construction. Many building codes require builders to minimize energy requirements to maintain comfortable living spaces. One of the most common energy losses in a home is due to heat transfer through the attic. In warm climates, heat builds up in the attic from solar energy incident on the roof or from heat transfer up from the living space. If the attic is allowed to become too hot, the installed insulation becomes ineffective and the attic heat is transferred to the living space below. In colder climates, moisture builds up in the attic, robbing the insulation of much of its R value. Consequently valuable heat in the living space is conducted out through the attic.
Early efforts at minimizing energy losses through the attic focused on the insulation between the living space and the attic and ignored the effects of the heat and/or moisture build-up. As insulation improved a point was reached where more insulation was not necessarily better or possible due to space limitations. Gable vents and dormer type passive ventilation systems have been incorporated to ventilate the attic. These ventilation devices conduct excess heat and or moisture out or the attic thus maintaining the efficiency of the installed insulation. However, both gable and dormer ventilation systems are clearly visible and often require extensive architectural manipulation to minimize their esthetic effect on the structure.
In geographical areas that are typically warm and dry such as the American Southwest, many homes have low pitch, hip roofs which have no gables, and dormers may have a significantly effect the aesthetics of a design if improperly located or too numerous. Therefore, these systems have proven to be inadequate. In colder and or wetter climates such as the Eastern United States, snow buildup, or driven snow or rain counteract the conventional passive ventilation devices and usually block the vents and or reintroduce more moisture than was originally present thus minimizing the benefit of the vents.
Passive attic vents which attempted to camouflage their appearance have been marketed in recent years. These camouflaged vents are generally a closed device made for direct conduction of air from the attic or waste vents and are often made of plastic or other material amenable to mold manufacturing. The direct conduction or one-piece construction may limit air flow and may provide a direct path for moisture such as driven rain or snow into the attic thus minimizing the benefit of the vent. To improve the conventional ventilation technology it is necessary to understand clay or concrete roof construction.
A roof is designed to shed rain and snow and shield the living space from sun. A roof is composed of structural elements to support its weight and form a slope to assist in shedding rain and snow.
The first structural element is the roof rafter 8 or truss which creates the basic slope of the roof as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. Secured on top of the rafters or trusses, such as rafter 8, is a layer of wood 6, such as planks, plywood or oriented strand board (OSB). Nailing plywood 6 to the roof rafters forms a sloped diaphragm or structural layer D.
Structural layer D forms a very strong structural element and is likely to leak only along the seams between sheets of plywood 6 if left as the complete roof. However, wood requires frequent attention and treatment to retain its weather resistance, and thus is not a good long term roof material.
Plywood 6 is usually covered with lapped layers of roofing felt 4 or paper or other suitable material which is treated with tar and or other chemicals to render it water resistant. The lapped layers of felt 4 may become sealed together by the heat on the roof and form a true water proof membrane or layer and could be used for a roof topping. However conventional roof felt or paper such as felt 4 is fairly fragile and susceptible to damage from sun or wind. If left unshielded in the sun it would dry and crack in a short time and thus is inadequate as a lone weatherproofing material.
By covering felt 4 with a layer of material resistant to sun and other weather effects, felt 4 may be protected from direct solar radiation and may produce a weather-tight roof. Layer 2 may be composed of asphalt shingles, wood shingles, clay tiles, concrete tiles, metal tiles or similar conventional materials. In this example, layer 2 is composed of interleaved clay tiles such as cap tiles 2C and pan tiles 2P. Battens, such as batten B, may be used as securing sites for metal, clay or concrete tile roofs.
Layer 2 sheds the majority of rain and snow and is generally impervious to long term weather effects. Layer 2 does have many small openings and spaces between the tiles or other elements, thus felt 4 remains as the waterproof layer and sheds any water or snow which passes through layer 2.
Referring now to FIG. 8, conventional camouflaged vents, such as vent 7, provide a direct and closed conduction path P for attic air or waste vent air. In a passive ventilation system, the volume of air conducted via path P is limited by the cross sections at opening O and inlet I and the temperature differential between the air AI in the attic and air AO outside the attic. To permit adequate attic ventilation, many conventional vents, such as vent 7, will be needed. Due to the directness of path P, wind driven rain or snow may be blown into opening O and travel directly into the underlying attic space bypassing tile layer 2 and water proof felt layer 4.
Due to the complex shapes required, conventional camouflaged vents, such as vent 7 are often fabricated from moldable materials such as plastics. Plastic permits a vent to survive moisture yet may not be as durable as conventional roofing materials due to the effects of solar radiation and/or airborne chemicals.
What is needed is a new roof system incorporating an improved passive ventilation system that can be simply manufactured from highly durable material and will not affect the appearance of a building design if used in adequate numbers to properly ventilate the attic and or rafter spaces, and is useable on many roof configurations and with many types of conventional roofing materials.
The present invention provides a new roofing system that incorporates an open attic or rafter space ventilation technique. The new roofing system includes solid conventional roofing materials such as clay or concrete tiles combined with two or more primary vents conducting air through the structural layer and the water resistant membrane.
Thus, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a ventilated roof comprising a roof structural layer through which air is to be ventilated; a primary vent disposed in the structural layer to provide an air flow passage therethrough having a first venting performance; a plurality of tiles mounted on the structural layer to form a tile layer thereover and arranged to provide air flow passages between adjacent tiles having a combined second venting performance; and a secondary vent disposed in the tile layer to form an outer roofing layer therewith and having an air passage therethrough with a third venting performance smaller than the first venting performance, the outer roofing layer being in air flow communication with the primary vent to provide a venting air flow passage for venting said air.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for ventilating a roof comprising the steps of providing a roof structural layer through which air is to be ventilated; selecting a primary vent having a first venting performance; mounting the primary vent in the structural layer to provide an air flow passage therethrough; selecting a plurality of tiles; arranging the tiles on the structural layer to provide air flow passages between adjacent tiles; mounting the tiles on the structural layer to form a tile layer thereover having a combined second venting performance; selecting a secondary vent having an air passage therethrough with a third venting performance smaller than the first venting performance; and mounting the secondary vent in the tile layer to form an outer roofing layer therewith in air flow communication with the primary vent to provide a venting air flow passage for venting said air.
In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a ventilated roof comprising a roof structural layer through which air is to be ventilated from an attic; a primary vent disposed in the structural layer to provide an air flow passage therethrough having a first venting performance; a plurality of tiles mounted on the structural layer to form a tile layer thereover and arranged to provide air flow passages between adjacent tiles having a combined second venting performance; and a secondary vent disposed in the tile layer to form an outer roofing layer therewith and having an air passage therethrough with a third venting performance, the outer roofing layer being in air flow communication with the primary vent to provide a venting air flow passage having a fourth venting performance greater than the second venting performance for venting the air from the attic.
In a further aspect, the present invention provides a method for ventilating a roof comprising the steps of providing a roof structural layer through which air is to be ventilated; selecting a primary vent having a first venting performance; mounting the primary vent in the structural layer to provide an air flow passage therethrough; selecting a plurality of tiles; arranging the tiles on the structural layer to provide air flow passages between adjacent tiles; mounting the tiles on the structural layer to form a tile layer thereover having a combined second venting performance; selecting a secondary vent having an air passage therethrough with a third venting performance; and mounting the secondary vent in the tile layer to form an outer roofing layer therewith in air flow communication with the primary vent to provide a venting air flow passage having a fourth venting performance greater than the second venting performance for venting said air.
In a still further aspect, the present invention provides a ventilated roof comprising a roof structural layer through which air is to be ventilated; a primary vent disposed in the structural layer to provide an air flow passage therethrough having a first venting performance; and a plurality of tiles mounted on the structural layer to form a tile layer thereover and arranged to provide air flow passages between adjacent tiles in air flow communication with the primary vent to vent the air and having a combined second venting performance.
In yet another further aspect, the present invention provides a method for ventilating a roof comprising the steps of providing a roof structural layer through which air is to be ventilated; selecting a primary vent having a first venting performance; mounting the primary vent in the structural layer to provide an air flow passage therethrough; selecting a plurality of tiles; arranging the tiles on the structural layer to provide air flow passages between adjacent tiles in air flow communication with the primary vent; and mounting the tiles on the structural layer to form a tile layer thereover having a combined second venting performance.
In still another aspect, the present invention provides a ventilated roof comprising a first roofing layer having a primary vent through which air from an attic is to be ventilated, and a second roofing layer constructed from a plurality of similar roofing tile elements disposed over the first roofing layer and having an effective third vent in air flow communication with the primary vent to vent said attic, said effective third vent combining air flow passages between the tile elements.
And in yet another aspect, the present invention provides a method for ventilating a roof comprising the steps of selecting a first roofing layer having a primary vent through which air from an attic is to be ventilated; selecting a plurality of similar roofing tile elements; and disposing the tile elements over the first roofing layer to form a second roofing layer having an effective third vent in air flow communication with the primary vent to vent said attic, said effective third vent combining air flow passages between the tile elements.
Another aspect of the present invention combines new, easy to manufacture, unitary structural ventilation tiles or secondary vents into the roof shield layer over a water resistant roof layer. The primary vent or vents may be sized large enough to benefit from the secondary ventilation in addition to the primary, rafter space ventilation.
The new tile or secondary vent tile may be of hollow construction using durable materials such as steel, copper, aluminum, or any other suitable material. The secondary vent tile provides some secondary attic ventilation through the roof shield layer in addition to the primary ventilation provided by the permeability of the roof shield layer. The interaction of the one or more primary vents and the secondary vent(s) in the roof shield layer and the permeability of the roof shield layer generate greater air flow from an enclosed air space such as an attic or rafter space due to a given pressure or temperature differential than the calculated net free ventilation area (NFVA) of the primary vents would anticipate.
In another aspect of the present invention one or more secondary vents in the roof shield layer may be generally co-located with one or more primary vents in the weatherproof roof structural layer.
In another aspect of the present invention the unitary structural vent tile or hollow tile is easily manufactured and is as easily installed as a conventional roof tile. A structural vent tile or hollow tile according to the present invention may be made from a contiguous piece of material thus minimizing hand labor and resulting in greater manufacturing efficiency.
In another aspect of the present invention one or more primary vents may be located to maximize airflow from the attic and one or more structural ventilation tiles or secondary vents may be located to minimize visual awareness of their presence and/or provide adequate secondary ventilation and prohibit direct ingress of water, snow or other foreign material through the structural ventilation tile(s) and one or more primary vents into the attic.
These and other features and advantages of this invention will become further apparent from the detailed description and accompanying figures that follow. In the figures and description, numerals indicate the various features of the invention, like numerals referring to like features throughout both the drawings and the description.


A pillow for supporting the head and neck of a user has a tubular structure, wherein the tubular structure has a first conical half and a second conical half. A depression is formed between the first conical half and the second conical half, the depression supporting a neck of a user.

Travelers who are forced to sit for a long time in an upright posture have long struggled with obtaining adequate neck support and back support so that back or neck problems are not made worse as a result of their having to sit for a long time in planes, cars, buses, or trains. As a result of this problem, different types of neck pillows have been developed.
In general, most neck pillows are horseshoe-shaped collars which fit around the neck of the wearer. The horseshoe-shaped neck pillow, ideally, fits around the neck and sits on the shoulders and supports the back of the neck to prevent the head from tilting sharply to one side, so that any hinging of the neck (such as might occur when a person nods off to sleep) is minimized. Neck pillows also fill in the gap directly between the neck and the chair which also provides support and assist with relaxing when in a confined space.
In the past, there are two primary types of horseshoe-shaped neck pillows, pre-filled with materials and inflatable. The inflatable type of neck pillows are compact and allow the user to easily store the inflatable type of neck pillow in the luggage of the user until required by the user. When the user needs the inflatable type of neck pillow, the user needs to remove the inflatable type of neck pillow from the user's luggage and then must inflate the inflatable type of neck pillow. Unfortunately, this requires the user to spend several minutes blowing and or breathing air into a fill port of the inflatable type of neck pillow. This is both time consuming and can be exhausting to many users. Further, unless the inflatable type of neck pillow is properly inflated, the inflatable type of neck pillow tends to provide insufficient support. If the pillow is too inflated, the support is too stiff while if under inflated, the support is insufficient. Additionally, the regular plastic material used to contain the air within inflatable pillows may cause the user to retain heat during use as it is not necessarily a breathable material directly behind the wearer's neck.
Another type of horseshoe-shaped neck pillows are pre-filled with foam, feathers, or organic granular or bark-type materials. The problem with these types of horseshoe-shaped neck pillows are that they take up space in the user's luggage. The bulky form factor for these types of horseshoe-shaped neck pillows can take up approximately ⅓ of a carry-on piece of luggage and with today's limited carry-on capacity, portability has become an important value proposition when buying neck support devices. Further, once the traveling time is over, this type of horseshoe-shaped neck pillow becomes a weight to be carried around and stored until the next usage. From a functional perspective, these types of horseshoe-shaped travel or neck pillows can push the neck too far forward which is uncomfortable and not an appropriate position for the neck.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a device and method that overcomes the above problems.


An environmental control system comprises room temperature measurement apparatus, a plurality of thermal sensors fixed on a mattress over abed, a plurality of humidity sensors fixed on the mattress over the bed, an air conditioning unit for varying the room temperature, and a control circuit. The control circuit determines a thermal sensation of a sleeper from measured values by a plurality of thermal sensors , determines a perspiratory sensation of the sleeper from the measured values by a plurality of humidity sensors, and controls the air conditioning unit so as to let the temperature of the air in the vicinity of the bed be different from the room temperature by an amount prescribed by the combination of the room temperature value and the thermal and perspiratory sensation values, thus maintaining a comfortable condition in the bedroom and on the mattress.

The present invention relates to an environmental control system and to a method of environmental control and in particular to a control system which provides feed back control of temperature and humidity and a method of controlling temperature and humidity. The system and the method are each particularly useful for providing an individual with comfortable sleeping conditions.
In order to offer comfortable sleeping conditions, it is a common practice to warm a sleeper by means of an electric blanket, an electric under blanket, or a foot warmer. An alternate method of warming and cooling a bedroom is with the use of an air conditioner. However, this practice does not provide for temperature and humidity control on the surface of a mattress.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A surveying apparatus comprises an observation optical system having an image sensor for outputting a digital image signal and a zoom optical system, a reference-pattern projection optical system for making a reference pattern enter the observation optical system in an infinity state and for forming an image on the image sensor, a rotation mechanism capable of rotating in two directions, a horizontal angle detector and a vertical angle detector for detecting a horizontal angle and a vertical angle of rotation in the two directions of the rotation mechanism, and an arithmetic control unit. The arithmetic control unit measures the horizontal angle and the vertical angle of a sighting point based on detection results of the horizontal angle detector and the vertical angle detector and based on a difference between the reference pattern on the image sensor and the sighting point of the observation optical system.

The present invention relates to a surveying apparatus in which an observation optical system is provided with a zoom function.
A surveying apparatus, for instance, a sighting telescope used in a total station or the like has a high power of approximately 30-power and has a problem that it is difficult to perform sighting on a measuring point with a sighting telescope from the beginning. Therefore, in the past, the sighting is performed on the measuring point first visually or by using a sighting device and then, the sighting is performed on the measuring point with the sighting telescope. However, since the visual sighting, the sighting device and the sighting telescope are largely different in power and even if the sighting is performed on the measuring point visually or by using the sighting device, to catch the measuring point in a field of view of the sighting telescope.
Moreover, by providing the zoom function in the telescope, in a state where the measuring point is observed by the telescope, it is possible to change the power but the zoom mechanism is structurally poor in stability of an optical axis and it is difficult to keep a sighting position and thus, the zoom mechanism has not been used in the surveying apparatus, particularly in the total station.


Techniques for hierarchy visualization for organizations are described. An apparatus may comprise an information retrieval component and a profile construction component. The information retrieval component may be generally operative to retrieve information regarding a plurality of individuals from a plurality of data repositories. The profile construction component may be generally operative to create a plurality of profiles from the retrieved information, wherein each profile combines information regarding an individual from the plurality of data repositories. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Information regarding the makeup of large organizations has become increasingly available in electronic form. However, information regarding individuals within that organization is frequently spread among multiple data repositories, making a search of all the available information laborious for a user. Further, information retrieved from multiple repositories may be laborious to correlate, making more difficult the task of building a unified profile for an individual. Similarly, if a searching user wishes to learn the relationship between an individual and others in their organization, this relationship information may also be spread amongst the multiple data repositories. As such, a user wishing to gather information about an individual and their relationship to others in an organization may find themselves inefficiently attempting to perform a multitude of searches and manage a plethora of unconnected information. It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present improvements have been needed.


A multi-port connector having DisplayPort and HDMI connector includes a seat body, a DisplayPort, an HDMI connector, a sealing lid and an outer casing. A first slot and a second slot are respectively arranged on the seat body. At back of the seat body, there is a recessing part, at upper portion of which an assembling opening communicated to the first slot is arranged. A plurality of slots are arranged on a wall surface of the recessing part. The DisplayPort is assembled in the first slot, while the HDMI connector is assembled in the second slot. The sealing lid is assembled to the recessing part. A protruding portion arranged at the sealing lid is assembled to the assembling opening. On a wall surface of the sealing lid, there are a plurality of striping ribs snapped into the slots. The outer casing externally fitted to the seat body is arranged a first perforation and a second perforation at front side face thereof. The first and second perforations respectively correspond to a plug-in opening of DisplayPort and a slot of HDMI connector, while a set of assembling legs are extended at a bottom part of a side face of the outer casing. The multi-port connector is to provide a plug-in function for the transmitting lines of the Displayport and the HDMI.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention in general relates to a connector, in particular, to a multi-port connector.
2. Description of Prior Art
Following a continuous progress of technology, there are many computer peripherals are manufactured successively. For example, in order to make computer able to be electrically connected to these peripherals of new generation, there are many connecting ports, with various specifications, arranged on a computer's motherboard, so that the computer can be electrically connected to the peripherals through various transmitting lines, making the computer able to output control signal or transmit data to the peripherals, or receive data transmitted back from the peripherals, vice versa.
Please refer to FIG. 1. In recent years, the size of computer has a trend of miniaturization, so the volume of a computer's motherboard 100 is shrunk as well. Under the conditions of a shrunk volume and a limited space of the motherboard 100, how to arrange a plurality of connecting ports with various specifications therein has become a challenging issue for the relative industry. According to the prior arts, as shown in FIG. 1, a printer's connecting port 200 is directly screwed at a supporting body 300, by which the connecting port 200 is overlapped to another or other connectors 200a, 200b, or it is possible to add slots to the connectors with same specification, for example, a USB connector 400 or a PS/2 connector 500, both of which have multi-slots.
Currently, there is a new technical specification of monitor, making consumers use PC, TV, and projector with clearer picture and less connecting lines. This new specification is called "Displayport", which can make audio and image signals of good quality share a common cable, and which has four transmitting channels in total, thus that the data transmitting speed can maximally reach 10.8 Gb per second, while its needed channel number is less than that of current cable interface. In addition, the high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) that is the most popular one currently can provide a data transmitting bandwidth maximally reaching 5 Gbps and can transmit uncompressed audio frequency signals and video frequency signals of high definition. It is unnecessary for the HDMI transmitting interface to undergo a digital/analogous or analogous/digital conversion before transmitting signals, so a video signal transmission with good quality can be obtained. The biggest benefit of applying an HDMI interface is that only one HDMI cable is needed to simultaneously transmit video and audio signals, instead a plurality of cables are needed for connection according to the prior arts, so an installation of home theater system is simplified significantly.
However, if it is needed to arrange a DisplayPort and an HDMI connector on a motherboard 100, as shown in FIG. 1, it has to sacrifice a connecter or use the supporting body 300 to overlap the DisplayPort and the HDMI connector over another or other connectors 200a, 200b due to the limited space in the motherboard 100. This way of arranging the connecting ports of DisplayPort and HDMI onto the motherboard 100 causes a lot of inconveniences to the motherboard 100 in terms of manufacturing procedure.
Accordingly, aiming to solve aforementioned shortcomings, after a substantially devoted study, in cooperation with the application of relatively academic principles, the inventor has finally proposed the present invention that is designed reasonably to possess the capability to improve the prior arts significantly.

Multi-port connector having DisplayPort connector and HDMI connector


The principles of the present invention include a system and method for assessing business activities. The method includes retrieving historical data associated with a business activity. At least one statistical model is generated based on the historical data. Knowledge is developed based on the statistical model(s). The knowledge is applied to at least one predetermined rule. Validity of the statistical model(s) is assessed based on the application of the knowledge using the predetermined rule(s). A valid statistical model is recommended to a user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to business assessment tools, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a method and system for assessing and planning business operations utilizing rule-based statistical modeling.
2. Description of the Related Art
Statistical analysis has long been used to analyze past events and predict future trends based on the past events. Statisticians often develop statistical models that are used in performing the statistical analysis. Developing and applying such statistical models is technically difficult, requires a great deal of understanding, and is often a trial and error process. Furthermore, interpretation of the results to determine validity of the statistical models requires significant conceptual analysis and expertise.
Statistical analysis may be utilized by businesses that are interested in improving their ability to assess their current fiscal state and predict future activities. For example, businesses that produce consumer goods are interested in determining production and inventory requirements to meet future market demands. Data representative of past events, such as sales, advertising efforts, pricing, etc., may be utilized by the statistician in developing the statistical models.
Since the development of computers, software tools have become a significant asset for statisticians in developing statistical models for businesses. However, these software tools are limited in functionality and intelligent features. Some software tools provide time-series analysis capabilities, but do not support regression analysis. High-end spreadsheet programs provide statistical analysis functions, such as regression and analysis of variance, but rely on an operator to (i) understand the statistical analysis functions, (ii) know how to apply the functions, and (iii) interpret results of the statistical analysis functions. For example, in the case of regression analysis, the operator needs to evaluate a resulting correlation coefficient, and determine whether the correlation coefficient indicates that a relationship between two parameters (e.g., sales and pricing) is strong enough to warrant use of a regression model in further analyses. In a case of performing analysis of variance, once a statistical tool has calculated the F-value for the analysis of variance (the quotient of the total sum of squares divided by the error sum of squares), the operator is required to compare the F-value to a corresponding value accessed from a table of statistics. This comparison provides an assessment of the significance of the variance and serves as the indication that the variance is either due to chance or some other factor that must be determined through further analysis.
From the above examples, it should be understood that statistical analysis is non-trivial. Initially, the statistician must first determine useful parameters or historical data for assessing and predicting a future trend. Secondly, the statistician must utilize multiple statistical tools and understand how to apply the statistical tools to develop a statistical model. Thirdly, the statistician must interpret results produced by the statistical tools to determine whether the developed statistical model is valid. Fourthly, if the statistical model is invalid, then the statistician must determine whether alternative statistical models can be utilized, where each of the alternative statistical models have different results that may have to be analyzed in different ways to determine if the alternative model(s) are valid. Because of the complexity involved in producing a valid statistical model, in general, only highly skilled statisticians are capable of performing such work.

Method and system for assessing and planning business operations utilizing rule-based statistical modeling


The present invention relates to a radio communication trunking system control method. According to the control method, a channel (f1), which is normally used as a control channel, is used as a telephone communication channel when a plurality of channels (f2-fn), used as telephone communication channels, are being used. For example, the channel (fn) has been adapted to be able to operate not only as a telephone communication channel but also as a control channel. When the telephone communication using the channel (fn) is completed, the channel (fn) is established as a control channel in place of the channel (f1). In this way, the currents consumed by wireless units accommodated in a trunking system can be reduced, and the time period for which the trunk operation is inoperative can be significantly reduced.

Regarding a wide frequency bandwidth trunked radio communication system, an analog trunking system using a control channel and a telephone communication channel has been described in Japanese Patent No. 2724917 specification 1. In the analog trunking system according to this Patent Document, when all telephone communication channels are busy, a control channel for communicating control signals is used as a telephone communication channel, whereby all wireless relay channels are assigned as telephone communication channels. However, the above analog trunking system of the Patent Document has the following problems.
Specifically, when all telephone communication channels are busy, a control channel is used as a telephone communication channel, and thus a state where there exists no control channel temporarily occurs. In such state, a wireless unit accommodated by a wireless relay having a control channel cannot await a control signal. Accordingly, the wireless unit will frequently perform scanning operation, thus increasing current consumption.
A further problem is that when a control channel is switched to a telephone communication channel, in the site using the channel, the trunk operation cannot be performed until the telephone communication by the above channel is completed.
An object of the present invention is to make switching between control channel and telephone communication channel more efficient and to reduce current consumption in a wireless unit and at the same time to reduce the time period for which the trunk operation is inoperative.


A disclosed technology can accurately measures the data frame loss between a pair of communication devices even when link aggregation is present between the communication devices. A communication system includes a transmitting device, receiving device, a plurality of transmitting and receiving links, and a measuring device. The transmitting device duplicates for the same number of times as the number of transmitting and receiving links a data frame loss measurement frame in which the total number of transmitted data frames is written, and then transmits them to the transmitting and receiving links. The receiving device writes the total number of received data frames in the received data frame loss measurement frame. The measuring device measures the data frame loss between the transmitting and receiving devices by subtracting the total number of data frames received by the receiving device from the total number of data frames transmitted by the transmitting device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology that, without the sequence of data frames and data frame loss measurement frames being switched from a normal sequence to an incorrect sequence, accurately measures data frame loss between transmitting and receiving devices that have a plurality of transmitting and receiving links.
2. Description of Related Art
A technology is known that measures data frame loss using Ethernet (registered trademark) OAM (Operation Administration and Maintenance) or MPLS-TP (Multi-Protocol Label Switching-Transport Profile).
A technology that measures data frame loss between a pair of communication devices is disclosed in ITU-T Recommendation Y.1731. The pair of communication devices are MEP (Maintenance Entity Group End Point) devices. The MEP on the transmitting side measures the number of transmitted data frames, and writes this number in a data frame loss measurement frame. The MEP on the receiving side measures the number of received data frames and writes this number in the data frame loss measurement frame. By then subtracting the number of received data frames from the number of transmitted data frames, the data frame loss between the MEP on the transmitting side and the MEP on the receiving side is measured. However, when a relay device is installed between the pair of communication devices, then, when viewed from this relay device, it is not possible to determine whether the data frame loss occurred on the transmitting side or on the receiving side.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication, (JP-A) No. 2008-244870, a technology is disclosed that, when a relay device is installed between a pair of communication devices, determines whether a data frame loss has occurred on the transmitting side or on the receiving side as viewed from this relay device. The relay device is an MIP (Maintenance Entity Group Intermediate Point) device. The MEP on the transmitting side measures the number of data frames being transmitted and writes this number in a data frame loss measurement frame. The MIP measures the number of received data frames and, in addition to writing this number in the data frame loss measurement frame, measures the number of data frames being transmitted and writes this number in the data frame loss measurement frame. The MEP on the receiving side measures the number of received data frames and writes this number in the data frame loss measurement frame. By then subtracting the number of data frames received by the MIP from the number of data frames transmitted by the MEP on the transmitting side, the data frame loss between the MEP on the transmitting side and the MIP is measured. Further more, by subtracting the number of data frames received by the MEP on the receiving side from the number of data frames transmitted by the MIP, the data frame loss between the MEP and the MEP on the receiving side is measured. However, no consideration is given to the existence of link aggregation between the MEP on the transmitting side and the MIP, and neither is any consideration given to the existence of link aggregation between the MIP and the MEP on the receiving side.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication (JP-A) No. 2008-131615, consideration is given to the existence of link aggregation between the pair of communication devices. In addition, by transferring an OAM frame in all of the links from the MEP on the transmitting side to the MEP on the receiving side, it is possible to detect which of the links between the MEP on the transmitting side and the MEP on the receiving side an obstruction has occurred in. However, no consideration is given to measuring the data frame loss between the MEP on the transmitting side and the MEP on the receiving side.


Disclosed are a signal transmission method, device and equipment based on drilling equipment, and a medium, the signal transmission is applied to a signal transmission system of the drilling equipment, the signal transmission system includes a master node and a plurality of slave nodes, and the master node communicates with the slave nodes through a 1-wire bus. The signal transmission method includes: sending, by the master node, an instruction signal coupled by a TTL signal and a data request signal to a specified slave node, wherein the data request signal is a critical identifiable signal with the same period as the TTL signal so as to ensure that the system can identify the logic level of the instruction signal and occupy the 1-wire bus in real time; and receiving, by the specified slave node, the instruction signal, decoupling the instruction signal to obtain the data request signal, obtaining a reply signal according to the data request signal, coupling the reply signal with the TTL signal to obtain a feedback signal, and sending the feedback signal to the master node.

When drilling equipment is used, each node not only needs to identify a TTL signal, but also needs to transmit a data request signal in real time. Most of the existing solutions are that the signal is respectively transmitted through multiple signal lines, in drilling equipment, electrical connection between the equipment can only depend on a conductive slip ring, a process of arranging multiple signal lines on a conductive slip ring may greatly increase the cost, meanwhile, the multiple signal lines need through holes, so that the cost of punching through holes is high, and in addition, the strength of a drill collar may be affected by excessive through holes, and a drill pipe instrument cannot bear the downhole high-pressure environment due to increase of the number of drill holes.
Therefore, in the prior art, the signal transmission by drilling equipment through multiple signal lines has the problems that the cost is high, and the pressure bearing capacity of a drill pipe instrument is reduced.

Signal transmission method, device and equipment based on drilling equipment, and medium

INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES


A plasma display panel provides increased brightness over an entire screen while simultaneously reducing power consumption. The plasma display panel includes a rear substrate, a plurality of address electrodes disposed parallel to each other on the rear substrate, a first dielectric layer covering the address electrodes, light emitting cells defined by a barrier rib formed on the first dielectric layer and covered with fluorescent substance, a front substrate, a plurality of sustain electrode pairs, each of which includes a scan electrode and a data electrode and disposed on the front substrate and intersecting the address electrodes, and a second dielectric layer covering the sustain electrode pairs. The parts of the address electrodes which intersect the address electrodes are defined as discharging portions, and areas of subsequent discharging portions are larger than areas of preceding discharging portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display panel, and more particularly, to a plasma display panel providing increased brightness over the entire screen while simultaneously reducing power consumption.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a plasma display panel 8 similar to one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,566,812, which is hereby incorporated by reference. The plasma display panel 8 includes a rear substrate 10, address electrodes 20 disposed on the rear substrate in parallel, a first dielectric layer 30 covering the address electrodes 20, a barrier rib 40 disposed on the dielectric layer 30 with a grid shape to define a light emitting cell 50, a front substrate 60, sustain electrode pairs 70 formed on a lower surface of the front substrate 60, a second dielectric layer 80 covering the sustain electrode pairs 70, and an MgO layer 90 covering the second dielectric layer 80. The MgO layer 90 improves durability of the second dielectric layer 80, and is not essential for operation. The plasma display panel 8 is manufactured by adhering the front substrate 60 to the rear substrate 10. A discharging gas (not shown) is provided in the light emitting cell 50 when the front substrate to and the rear substrates 10 are joined together, and a fluorescent substance is formed on the lateral surface of barrier rib 40 and the upper surface of the first dielectric layer 30. Ultraviolet rays irradiate from the discharging gas due to the discharge between the electrodes, and the ultraviolet rays excite the fluorescent substance. The energy level of the fluorescent substance, now excited, is lowered by generating visible light rays.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the plasma display panel shown in FIG. 1, wherein various layers of the plasma display panel are illustrated in shadow. The light emitting cell 50 is disposed above the address electrode 20, and a sustain electrode pair 70, including a data electrode (X1, X2, . . . , or Xn) and a scan electrode (Y1, Y2, . . . , or Yn), is disposed above the light emitting cell 50. Address discharging occurs between the scan electrode (Y1, Y2, . . . , or Yn) and a discharging portion (R1, R2, . . . , or Rn) of the address electrode 20 crossing the scan electrode (Y1, Y2, . . . , or Yn) In order for the discharging to occur, a sufficient amount of positive ions gather on the upper surface of the first dielectric layer 30 by the operation of address electrode 20, immediately before the address discharging occurs. Thus, the scan electrodes (Y1, Y2, . . . , or Yn) and the address electrodes 20 are reset immediately before address discharging occurs, so that the positive ions gather on the upper surface of the first dielectric layer 30.
As shown in FIG. 2, each of the discharging portions R1, R2, . . . , and Rn of the address electrodes 20 in the conventional plasma display panel 8 has the same area. When the areas of the discharging portions R1, R2, . . . , and Rn of the address electrodes 20 are equal and the discharging area is excessively large, power consumption increases greatly. On the other hand, if the discharging area is too small, the brightness of light emitted from a light emitting cell is not high enough where a subsequent scan electrode Ys and a subsequent discharging portion Rs are disposed; however, the brightness of light emitted from a light emitting cell is high enough where a preceding scan electrode Yp and a preceding discharging portion Rp are disposed.
Moreover, the brightness of light emitted from a light emitting cell is degraded where the subsequent discharging portion Rs is disposed because address signals are sequentially applied to the scan electrodes Y1, Y2, . . . , Yn. That is, while address discharging occurs between the preceding scan electrode Yp and a preceding discharging portion Rp due to a transmission of the address signal to the preceding scan electrode Yp, the subsequent scan electrode Ys and a subsequent discharging portion Rs are in a discharged state after reset. In this discharged state, positive ions gathered above the subsequent discharging portion Rs combine with electrodes, and thus, the amount of positive ions above the subsequent discharging portion Rs is not enough for address discharging to occur when address discharging should occur above the subsequent discharging portion Rs. Therefore, address discharging between the subsequent scan electrode Ys and the subsequent discharging portion Rs is degraded.

Plasma display panel having discharging portions with increasing areas


A device for illuminating a body cavity may include an elongate tube, at least one lens element, and at least one deployable element. The elongate tube may include an internal lumen extending between a distal opening at a distal end and a proximal opening at a proximal end opposite the distal end. The at least one lens element may extend substantially across a diameter of the internal lumen of the elongate tube. The at least one deployable element may include a light source. The at least one deployable element may be operably coupled to a region of the elongate tube proximate the distal end and may be configured to be moved between an insertion position and a deployed position.

Laparoscopy is used in both diagnostic and surgical procedures. Currently, MIS procedures, as opposed to open surgical procedures, are routinely done in almost all hospitals. Minimally invasive techniques minimize trauma to the patient by eliminating the need to make large incisions. This both reduces the risk of infection and reduces the patient's hospital stay. Laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures in MIS use different types of endoscopes as imaging means, giving the surgeon an inside-the-body view of the surgical site. Specialized endoscopes are named depending on where they are intended to look. Examples include: cystoscope (bladder), nephroscope (kidney), bronchoscope (bronchi), laryngoscope (larynx+the voice box), otoscope (ear), arthroscope (joint), laparoscope (abdomen), gastrointestinal endoscopes, and specialized stereo endoscopes used as laparoscopes or for endoscopic cardiac surgery.
The endoscope may be inserted through a tiny surgical incision to view joints or organs in the chest or abdominal cavity. More often, the endoscope is inserted into a natural body orifice such as the nose, mouth, anus, bladder or vagina. There are three basic types of endoscopes: rigid, semi-rigid, and flexible. The rigid endoscope comes in a variety of diameters and lengths depending on the requirements of the procedure. Typical endoscopic procedures require a large amount of equipment. The main equipment used in conjunction to the visual part of the endoscopic surgery are the endoscope body, fiber optics illumination bundles, illumination light source, light source controller, imaging camera, camera control module, and video display unit.
The laparoscope is a rigid endoscope as illustrated in FIG. 1. It allows for visualization of the abdominopelvic cavities for diagnostic or surgical techniques. The laparoscope is inserted into the peritoneal cavity via a cannula that runs through the abdominal wall. There are many different features of laparoscopes, such as the size and field of vision, which determine the effectiveness of the instrument.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the basic laparoscope is made up of a long thin tube 101 with an eyepiece 103 at one end for viewing into the patient. Fiber optic light introduced to the endoscope at fiber port 102, and launched into fiber optics 123 (FIG. 3) and 138 (FIG. 4), passes through the endoscope body 101, illuminating the area 124 that is being observed, as illustrated by radiation pattern 125 in FIG. 3. Laparoscopes are characterized by diameter and the direction of view. The direction of view is the angle 107 between the axis of the laparoscope 105 and the center field of view 106, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Typical endoscopes have lengths of approximately 30 cm and diameters in the range of 4 to 10 mm. Laparoscopes consist of two important lenses, the ocular lens at the eyepiece and the objective lens 122 at the distal end of the endoscope body 101 in FIG. 3. Other lens sets acting as relay lenses 121 in FIG. 3, are used in-between the objective lens and the eye piece or the CCD camera or image position 127. Imaging rays 126 traverse the length of the scope through all the imaging optics.
The rigid endoscope also comes in different viewing angles: 120 degree or retrograde, for viewing backward; 90 degree and 70 degree for lateral viewing; 30 degree (104 as illustrated in FIG. 1) and 45 degree for forward oblique views; and 0 degree for forward viewing. The angle of the objective lens 122 used is determined by the position of the structure to be viewed.
Other surgical instruments and tools are also inserted into the body, for the operation and specific surgical manipulation by the surgeon. The insertion is done through open tubes provided inside the endoscope body for instrument insertion, such as in gastrointestinal endoscopes, or through separate incisions in the abdominal or chest wall 113, using cannula 110 (straight or curved stainless steel or plastic tubes 101 which are inserted into a small opening or incision in the skin as illustrated in FIG. 2). The cannula opening 112a (receiving portion) at the proximal end 112 outside the body is used to receive and guide different instruments 300 inside the body, where they are exposed to the inside of the body at the distal end 111 (opening 111a) of the cannula 110 (FIG. 2). Cannulas can make a seal at the incision site 114.
In a typical gastrointestinal endoscope, a tool opening is provided at the distal end of the scope, where inserted medical instruments gain access to the body following the scope body.
Endoscopes can be diagnostic, for observation only, or operative, having channels for irrigation, suction, and the insertion of accessory instruments when a surgical procedure is planned. Thus, endoscope bodies also could provide mechanical or electrical control sections, buttons for valves such as a suction valve, a CO2 valve, a water bottle connector, a water feed, a suction port, etc. The common component that all endoscopes must be equipped with is a light guide section for illumination.
An illustration showing typical endoscope optics is shown in FIG. 3. Common imaging sections of the endoscope are an ocular or eyepiece, relay lenses 121 (in the case of rigid scopes), a flexible imaging fiber-optic bundle (in the case of flexible scopes), and an objective lens system 122. Endoscopes are either used as stand-alone units, with the surgeon looking into the scope from the ocular or eye piece of the endoscope, or in conjunction with digital cameras 127, where an image (rays 126) of the surgical site 124 is incident on the image capture device (charge coupled device or CCD) of the camera (127). Using a display device, the surgeon performs the operation looking at the image on the video monitor.
With recent technology improvements in the field of electronic imaging reducing the size of the image capture device (CCD), some endoscopes used in MIS and diagnostic procedures are equipped with a high resolution distal end camera system, commonly referred to as Chip on a Stick, one example of which is illustrated in FIG. 4. These flexible endoscopes use a CCD chip 137 at the distal end of the endoscope directly capturing the image through the objective lens 133, in which case the flexible part (132) of the endoscope body, contains only power (137a) and communication wires 137b for the CCD camera at the distal tip, rather than imaging optics 133 which is located in the rigid portion 131 of the endoscope. Light guides 138 are still necessary for this type of electronic scope to provide adequate lighting (134) of the surgical site 136 for imaging purposes.
Other, more complicated MIS systems make use of robotic surgical tools and instruments, and/or provide stereoscopic images of the surgical site for the surgeon, improving the surgeon's dexterity, precision and speed of operation. In these more sophisticated MIS imaging applications more specific types of illumination systems or multiple illuminators are used.
Endoscopes can have a variety of forms, ranging in diameter, tube length, and angle of view. However, all types of endoscopes commonly use optical fibers (123, and 138 in FIGS. 3 and 4) to illuminate the surgical site. Illumination is a very important part of laparoscopy because there is no light source inside the body. Fiber optic cold light is used to project light down the laparoscope from an external source. Large lamps with broadband output are used to couple light into the illumination light guides (123 and 138 in FIGS. 3 and 4), where light guides transfer the illumination light from the light source to the illumination fiber bundle (123, 138) inside the endoscope body 101. A typical scope attached to an illumination light guide (port 102) is shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4. One (FIG. 1) or more light guide bundles (FIGS. 3 and 4) are used to couple light into the endoscope illumination fiber bundles 123 and 138 of FIGS. 3 and 4.
The use of fiber bundles 123 and 138 inside the endoscope body 101 in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, or tube 101 occupies substantial space that otherwise could have been used by the imaging optics. This can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, showing the fiber optic illuminators 123 and 138 sharing the endoscope body 101 with the imaging optics (121, 122, 133). Limitations on the optical lens terrain (121, 122, 133) diameter, as well as the imaging fiber bundle thickness, correlate directly to the imaging resolution vs. size of the image. The larger the lens diameter or imaging bundle thickness, the better the resolution of the endoscope for a certain field of view (FOV) or image size. This is the main reason that larger diameter scopes are considered better in optical quality than narrower scopes. However, large scope diameters are not desirable for certain operations where space is limited on the operation site.
Different illumination fiber geometries are used to reduce the space constraint inside the scope body. For this reason, and to have a more uniform illumination, the imaging fiber bundles are also split in some cases to have two or more points of illumination at the distal end of the scope. In other types of scopes, illumination is made into a circular ring pattern at least at the distal end of the endoscope, similar to the ring illumination of microscopy.
The light source for the endoscope is either a xenon bulb, which creates a high intensity white light suitable for smaller-diameter endoscopes, a halogen bulb, which creates a yellowish light suitable for general endoscopic work, or a Metal Halide lamp. Since most broadband light sources also produce large amounts of Infrared Red (IR) wavelength light, IR cut filters and lamp dichroic reflectors (heat blocking filters and reflectors that reduce the radiation usually associated with heat production) are used in the illumination light source to prevent the transfer of IR radiation to the body. Thus, broadband visible cold light is highly desirable in laparoscopic procedures providing decreased thermal injury to tissues. Since most CCD cameras are also sensitive to IR radiation (due to Silicon absorption spectrum), extra IR cut filters are used in front of the camera to prevent glare caused by IR radiation in the camera.
Despite the precautions used in reducing the IR radiation, in actuality some amount of infrared radiation in addition to the visible light enters the fiber optic cable, and is transmitted through the cable and scopes (port 102, fibers 123 and 138) into the body. When the light leaves the endoscope tip, the level of infrared radiation has usually been reduced to a safe level through absorption by the optical fibers in the endoscope, and substantial losses at the cable connections (port 102). However, if the cable is not connected to the endoscope, the infrared output is not reduced sufficiently and even could have the capability of igniting some materials if the cable is left at close proximity to absorbing combustible material. This hazard exists in fiber illumination cables with high intensity light sources.
Additionally, higher outputs not only increase the risk of fire, but may introduce the risk of burns during close-range inspection of tissue with the endoscopes. Absorption of high-intensity radiation at visible light wavelengths may also cause tissue heating, where additional filtering of infrared wavelengths may not eliminate this hazard. Furthermore, with the increasing use of television systems with video cameras connected to the endoscopes, many physicians operate light sources at their maximum intensities and believe they need even greater light intensities to compensate for inadequate illumination at peripheral areas of the image where the illumination intensity falls rather rapidly using today's standard illumination fiber guides.
Typical light sources are also deficient in their flux and color management of their spectral output. A typical lamp spectral output requires time to come to an acceptable level during the warm-up procedure, both in terms of lumens output as well as color quality or white point on the color gamut. The color temperature of the lamp based illuminators, are typically deficient in producing the desirable color temperature (daylight color temperature of 5600 Kelvin) for typical endoscopic procedure. Color content of the lamp output also typically shifts during the life time of the lamp. Thus it is usually required to perform a white color balance adjustment in the camera controller each time an endoscope is used subsequent to the light source warm-up procedure to obtain realistic color image. A repeat of the white color balance adjustment may also be necessary if the lamp intensity is adjusted through a large range.
Typical high power lamps also have very limited life time, measured in hours (Typically 50, 500, or 1000 hours for Halogen, Xenon or Metal Halide depending on the lamp), where the light output of the lamp degrades to about one half of its original light output. Typical lamp manufacturers typically do not specify or have a failure criteria based on the color quality for the lifetime of the lamp.
Complicated and bulky optical schemes are incorporated in the light guide optical sources for effective coupling of the light into the illumination fiber bundles (123 and 138). Special non-imaging optics such as glass rods, and lens elements are used to also uniformly couple light into all the fibers inside the illumination fiber bundle. All these increase the cost and also size of having high brightness, uniform fiber optic illumination light sources. Typical high brightness light sources also incorporate powerful fans to dissipate the large amount of heat generated inside the light source package. In fact in a typical endoscopic procedure, light sources are one of the main sources of heat generation and the associated fans on the light sources are one of the main sources of noise in the surgical environment. Large package size of high power lamps also add extra burden to the premium space in a diagnostic and surgical environment.
Light sources normally give off electromagnetic interference (EMI), where the starting pulses from the lamp could reset or otherwise interfere with other digital electronics devices in today's surgical environment.
In an operating environment, the light source(s) are placed at a distance, on a table top or rack, mounted away from the patient and the endoscope. Fiber optic light bundles to transfer the light from the light source to the endoscope are used as light links between the light source and the endoscope. These fiber bundles are not only bulky and expensive, but their price increases by the length of the fiber bundle, whereas the amount of light transmitted goes down as the length of the fiber bundle increases. To conveniently place the light source and fiber bundle away from the operational site, longer fiber bundles are necessary, however the attenuation, or drop in the transmitted optical flux increases with the length of the fiber used as well, requiring more powerful light sources.
Use of fiber optic light guides as a means of transfer of illumination light from the proximal 122 to the distal end 111 of the endoscope also increases the chance of relative light loss. The relative optical light-loss measurement quantifies the degree of light loss from the light source to the distal tip of the endoscope. The relative light loss will increase with fiber-optic (123, 138) damage. Extra heat will also be generated in the broken fiber ends inside the endoscope. In fact the major failure mode for the fiber optic bundles delivering the light to the endoscope, and the optical system inside the endoscope is breakage of the fibers.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the illumination fiber bundle(s) port 102 commonly join the endoscope body at some angle near the ocular (103) at the proximal side 112 of the endoscope. The fiber guide body and the main endoscope body 101 are commonly joined together in a welding process at joint 108 illustrated in FIG. 1. The construction and design of this welded joint is often a weakness in the endoscope manufacturing and use, where after many operations, high temperature and high humidity sterilizations, and successive handling, this welded joint could get damaged and break, exposing the internal parts of the scope to the environment when the seal is broken.
Color CCD cameras use alternate color dies on the individual CCD pixels, to capture color images. Green and red, and green and blue pixels are alternated in rows. This spatial color sampling limits the color resolution of the color CCD cameras, since each pixel is dedicated to capturing a single color in the color image.
Three (3) chip CCD cameras (red CCD chip, blue CCD chip, and green CCD chip) are also used in high resolution applications, where all the pixels in each CCD are dedicated to detecting the single color content of the image. The individual color captured images from the 3 CCDs are then put together electronically, as the multi-color image is reproduced on the viewing display. Three chip CCD cameras are expensive and bulky.


A charger includes an output circuit unit to output a charging current to a secondary battery, a voltage detection unit to detect a voltage of the secondary battery, and a control unit to control the output circuit unit, whereby constant current charging and constant voltage charging are performed. The control unit decreases a constant current value of the charging current by stages during the constant current charging and determines that the secondary battery has deteriorated by using a first voltage drop value of the secondary battery occurring upon first conversion and a second voltage drop value of the secondary battery occurring upon second conversion.

Conventionally, a secondary battery has been used as a power source for a variety of types of a portable device or the like. As the number of charge and discharge cycles of a secondary battery increases, the discharge capacity thereof decreases. Accordingly, charging times of the secondary battery repeatedly used are limited. For this reason, some chargers that charge secondary batteries are configured to determine life spans of the secondary batteries when charging them.
This type of the charger includes a charging device that includes a battery voltage detection circuit configured to detect a battery voltage of a battery pack provided with a secondary battery and battery voltage gradient calculation means configured to calculate a battery voltage gradient based on the detected battery voltage and a battery voltage before a predetermined time (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-24541 (JP2007-24541A)).
If the voltage of the battery pack before the initiation of charging is equal to or lower than a predetermined voltage value and a battery voltage gradient within a predetermined time period after the initiation of charging is equal to or greater than a first predetermined value, the charging device disclosed in JP2007-24541A determines that the life span of the secondary battery has reached its end. Further, the charging device includes an LED which displays the status of life span deterioration of the battery pack.
Accordingly, the charging device is capable of determining the life span of the secondary battery and notifying a user of the deterioration status of the secondary battery in a simple manner.
Further, a battery deterioration measuring device that measures deterioration of a battery cell, i.e., a secondary battery, is known for including a voltage measurement unit configured to measure a voltage of battery cell, a current measurement unit configured to measure a charging current of the battery cell, and a control unit configured to measure the deterioration rate of the battery cell (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-123961 (JP2008-123961A)).
If the value of a charging current being supplied during the constant current charging of the battery cell is a first charging current value, the battery deterioration measuring device disclosed in JP2008-123961A obtains a first cell voltage from the voltage value measured by the voltage measurement unit.
Further, if the value of the charging current is changed to a second charging current value smaller than the first charging current value, the battery deterioration measuring device obtains a second cell voltage from the voltage value measured by the voltage measurement unit. Furthermore, in the battery deterioration measuring device, the control unit calculates an internal resistance of the battery cell based on the first cell voltage and the second cell voltage to determine the deterioration rate of the battery cell.
Therefore, according to JP2008-123961A, the batter deterioration measuring device may accurately determine the deterioration of the secondary battery to charge the secondary battery.
Meanwhile, there is a variety of secondary batteries, including a secondary battery whose internal resistance is high in an initial phase in which charging times of the secondary battery is small, and a secondary battery whose internal resistance is low in the initial phase, depending on the types or differences of secondary batteries. Moreover, the voltage of the secondary battery before the initiation of charging considerably varies depending on the remaining capacity of the secondary battery to be charged.
However, since the charging device described in JP2007-24541A uses the voltage before the initiation of charging to determine the life span, the possibility of erroneous determination may be increases because of the type or the remaining capacity of the secondary battery. In addition, the battery deterioration measuring device described in JP2008-123961 needs to accurately measure the charging current and voltage of the secondary battery and to calculate the internal resistance, and accordingly, there is a possibility of measurement errors.

Charger apparatus capable of determining deterioration of second battery

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


A spring energized stapler includes a “high start” design wherein a striker has a rest position above the staple track. A handle is pressed to energize a power spring while the striker remains stationary. At a predetermined position of the handle, the striker is released to eject a staple. A subassembly of a cage and the power spring provides a preload to the power spring in the rest position. The subassembly is separately movable from the handle to allow a handle pressing end to move farther than the striker's distance of travel. The handle includes a movable pivot location to enable enhanced motion of the handle pressing end. Alternatively, an optional lever links the striker to the power spring to provide leverage upon the power spring. A release latch may be mounted in front of the striker to be engaged by the lever or the handle.

Spring powered staplers and staple guns operate by driving a striker with a power spring. The striker ejects a staple by impact blow. In a desktop stapler, the staple is ejected into an anvil of a pivotably attached base. Two general principles are used. In the first design, the striker has an initial position in front of a staple track. The striker is lifted against the force of the power spring to a position above the staple track. The striker is released to impact and eject the staple. This design may be referred to as a "low start" stapler. A second design uses a "high start" position. That is, the striker has an initial position above the staples loaded on the staple feed track. The power spring is deflected while the striker does not move. At a predetermined position of the power spring deflection, the striker is released to accelerate into and eject a staple. Typical desktop staplers use a high start design. However, in such conventional high start designs, the striker is driven directly by the handle with no power spring to store energy that could be used to drive the striker. There is further no release mechanism for the striker since the striker simply presses the staples directly under handle pressure.
In conventional high start designs that do use a power spring, the power spring is either unloaded or preloaded in the rest position. Different methods are used to reset the mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,890 (Ruskin) shows a desktop stapler with a preloaded spring. Restrainer 42c is an element of the handle and moves directly with the handle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,063 (Perez) shows lever 53 with tips 48 engaging striker 24. At a predetermined position of handle 30, lever 53 is forced to rotate out of engagement from striker 24 and power spring 40 forces the striker downward. Swiss Patent No. CH 255,111 (Comorga A G) shows a high start staple gun with the handle linked to the power spring through a lever. There is no preload restrainer for the power spring so the spring stores minimal energy through the start of the handle stroke. Both references use a releasable link or release latch that is positioned behind the striker and de-linked by a direct pressing force from the handle. British Patent No. GB 2,229,129 (Chang) appears to show a high start stapler design. However, no functional mechanism to reset the striker is disclosed. Specifically, no linkage is described to lift the striker with the handle in a reset stroke. The lever 3 resembles a lever used in a low start stapler, but the lever does not lift the striker in any way. Instead, the striker is somehow lifted by a very stiff reset spring, yet no linkage is described to enable a reset spring to lift the striker against the force of the power spring.


A read head incorporating an image pick-up function includes a photoelectric conversion type light receiving arrays arranged on a substrate, for reading a medium, a convergent rod lens array arranged adjacent the light emitting element arrays, and a solid light emitting element of a surface emission type arranged in the vicinity of the convergent rod lens array.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a read head incorporating an image reading function.
2) Related Art of the Invention
Read heads have been widely used for facsimile systems, copying machines and the like. A conventional read head, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, is composed of a fluorescent tube 12 for illuminating a script 11, a convergent rod lens array 13, and a light receiving substrate 14 on which a plurality of light receiving elements 14b are mounted and arranged linearly. Since this kind of read heads have to use, as a light source, a fluorescent tube having a diameter of about 6 mm at most, the miniaturization thereof has been difficult. Even if light emitting diodes are used as a light source, there has been offered a disadvantage in that the distance between the light source and a medium to be read becomes longer.
These years, there has been a demand for a read head having a reading sensitivity which is linear with respect to the density of an image in order to read an image graph or an image having a density gradation from a medium to be read. Accordingly, it has been required to provide a read head which can irradiate light having a sufficient intensity to the medium to be read.

Read head incorporating an image pick-up function


An evaporator for steam generation is presented. The evaporator includes a plurality of primary evaporator stages and a secondary evaporator stage. Each primary stage includes one or more primary arrays of heat transfer tubes, an outlet manifold coupled to the arrays, and a downcomer coupled to the manifold. Each of the primary arrays has an inlet for receiving a fluid and is arranged transverse to a flow of gas through the evaporator. The gas heats the fluid flowing through the arrays to form a two phase flow. The outlet manifold receives the two phase flow from the arrays and the downcomer distributes the flow as a component of a primary stage flow. One or more of the plurality of primary evaporator stages selectively form the primary stage flow from respective components of the two phase flow, and provide the primary stage flow to inlets of the secondary evaporator stage.

Generally speaking, once-through evaporator technology may be employed within generating systems such as, for example, steam generating systems, and include multiple heat exchange sections or stages. Typically, there are two heat exchange stages. In a first or primary evaporator stage, a fluid such as, for example, feed water, is partially evaporated to produce a steam/water mixture. In a second or secondary evaporator stage the fluid is further evaporated to dryness and the steam is superheated.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional once-through evaporator 10 includes heat exchange stages, e.g., primary evaporator stage 20 and secondary evaporator stage 30 that each includes a parallel array of heat transfer tubes 22 and 32, respectively. Mass flow rate within internal portions of the tubes 22 and 32 is controlled by buoyancy forces, for example, density differences induced by heat transfer to the fluid in the tubes such that the mass flow rate is proportional to the heat input to each individual tube within the arrays of tubes 22 and 32. One type of evaporator uses vertical tubes arranged as a sequential array of individual tube bundles. Each tube bundle (e.g., a bundle 32A of FIG. 1), also referred to as a harp, has one or more rows of tubes that are transverse to a flow of a hot gas 40 (e.g., a flue gas). The individual harps 32A are arranged in the direction of gas flow so that a downstream harp (e.g., a harp 32B) absorbs heat from the gas of a lower temperature than the upstream harp 32A. In this way, the heat absorbed by each harp in the direction of gas flow is less than the heat absorbed by the upstream harp.
As shown in FIG. 1, the primary evaporator stage 20 (e.g., the array of tubes 22) receives a fluid 12 (e.g., feed water) at an inlet manifold 24 and distributes a water/steam mixture 14 (e.g., a two-phase flow) from an outlet manifold 26 of the primary evaporator stage 22 into the secondary evaporator stage 30 (e.g., the array of tubes 32) where dry-out and superheating takes place. The secondary evaporator stage 30 includes a plurality of inlets 34, one or more inlets at each of the harp bundles of the secondary stage 30. As such, the two-phase flow 14 passes through each branch of the secondary stage 30, e.g., harps 32A and 32B, and the harps disposed therebetween.
Operating experience has shown that flow instabilities can develop in the primary evaporator stage 20, which can lead to fluctuating temperatures within the tubes 32 of the secondary evaporator stage 30. The fluctuating temperatures can lead to fluctuating thermal stress within the tubes and may result in various tube failures such as, for example, tube cracks. Techniques are known to minimize flow instabilities in the primary evaporator stage. For example, it is known that by increasing the pressure drop across individual harps within the array of tubes 22, flow rates that would normally be controlled by buoyancy can be overcome. Techniques employed include installing an orifice in the inlet of each row of the tubes 22 or reducing an inside diameter of the inlets or tubes themselves.
Calculations show that different distributions of resistance for each row of tubes in the primary evaporator maintain stability over a range of operating conditions. However, this limits the stable operational range for a given primary evaporator configuration. For example, a set of orifices designed to provide stability at full load operation may not be effective in partial load operation. As such, instabilities may occur during operation at partial loads. Moreover, an additional problem that can limit the operation of the evaporator at low load is that at low mass flow rates the velocities in the downcomer, e.g., conduit 28 of FIG. 1, that passes the two-phase flow 14 from the outlet manifold 26 of the primary evaporator stage 20 into the secondary evaporator stage 30, may become too low to carry steam bubbles down and away from the outlet manifold 26. As a result there can be a build-up of steam either or both in a top portion of the downcomer (conduit 28) and/or at the primary evaporator outlet manifold 26. A build-up of steam may induce additional flow instabilities.
Accordingly, there is a need to develop systems and methods for mitigating flow instabilities and fluctuating thermal stress that can result therefrom to minimize tube failure.

Once-through vertical evaporators for wide range of operating temperatures


In one embodiment a method of making an electrostatic actuator includes: forming a first conductor over a first substrate to form a first structure; forming a flexible second conductor over a second substrate to form a second structure; forming an etch stop over the first conductor as part of the first structure or over the second conductor as part of the second structure; forming a spacer on the etch stop, the spacer selectively etchable with respect to the etch stop; etching the spacer through to the etch stop at a location of a gap between the first conductor and the second conductor; and bonding the first structure and the second structure together such that the first conductor is located opposite the second conductor across the gap.

The claimed subject matter relates to an electrostatic actuator that may be used in inkjet printing. In conventional methods for fabricating electrostatic actuated inkjet printheads etching is often used to control important dimensions, including the thickness of the conductive membrane and the width of the electrostatic gap between the control conductor and the conductive membrane. Conventional methods also require silicon substrates to support the use of dopant implants and other semiconductor processing materials.

Electrostatic actuator and fabrication method

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.