A cooking device including cooking chamber, e.g. abraising pan, and a lid pivotally mounted to the chamber and arranged to be raised from a closed position to an open position and vice versa. The chamber includes plural sidewalls, each having a top edge lying in a common plane. The lid includes a top wall with an apron projecting downwardly from the top wall along the front and sides of its periphery. A pair of handles to raise and lower the lid are provided on the sides of the apron. A drip shield projects upward at an angle to the top wall of the lid along a rear portion of the periphery of the lid. The drip shield has a lower free edge which is spaced above the top edge of the cooking chamber when the lid is in the closed position to form a vent for excess steam to exit from the cooking chamber. The apron forms a convection flow space between it and the sidewalls of the cooking chamber. The convection flow space is in communication with the excess steam vent, whereupon air may enter between the apron and the sidewalls of the cooking chamber and flow in a convection flow path to cool the apron. Excess steam produced by the operation of the cooking device is carried through the vent by the convention current flowing through the flow path. The drip shield enables a portion of excess steam to condense on the drip shield for collection and removal. A torque tube is provided extending along but spaced from the drip shield to prevent twisting of the lid when it is raised and lowered. A spring operated piston is provided to facilitate raising and lowering of the lid.

This invention relates to cooking devices, in general, and, more particularly, to cooking devices, e.g., braising pans, including a lid which is particularly adapted to the food service industry.
The food service industry involves the preparation of substantial quantities of food for consumption by a large number of people. In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,531, which is assigned to the same assignee as this invention and whose disclosure is incorporated by reference herein, there is disclosed a multi-functional cooking device for the food service industry. That multifunction cooking device overcomes many of the disadvantages of the prior art individual cooking devices, rendering it particularly suitable for use in restaurants, cafeterias, hospitals, schools, colleges, prisons, airports, etc. The device of that patent combines a steamer, skillet, griddle, fryer, kettle, holding cabinet and oven into a single unit. That unit has a hollow base and a hollow lid. The base and the lid mate to provide an enclosed space for heating food. Heating means are associated with the base, to heat the interior space. Means are provided for lifting the lid relative to the base, and for maintaining the lid at a set position relative to the base. The base is adapted to receive water, so that when it is heated, steam will be formed in the space enclosed by the lid and base. The lower edge of the lid is recessed, and receives in the recess the upper edge of the base, whereby the mating of the two edges provides a junction to maintain steam within the space formed by the lid and base. A mechanism is provided for tilting the base at a predetermined angle, to facilitate the use of the base for grilling or frying foods.
The current state of the art of lids for commercial braising pans (also known as tilting frypans or skillets) is that such lids are typically manufactured from a flat piece of sheet metal folded with no more than a 1-inch apron, welded at the corners. The resulting construction is flimsy, with poor rigidity and frequently will not lie flat on the pan. Typically a handle is attached across the front of the lid to add some stiffening and be used to raise the lid. Notwithstanding the presence of such handles, the generally flimsy nature of the prior art lids allows some twisting to take place from the front across the lid. This twisting action can prove hazardous, since steam may leak out of the lid when the handle is grasped and raised, whereupon the person operating the cooking device may have his/her hand and/or arm burned by the leaking steam.
The prior art lids also frequently make use of a condensate drip shield so that condensation which would tend to run down the lid as it is lifted up is redirected back into the pan. Such shields are typically mechanically fastened or welded to the lid. This arrangement creates a food "trap" where pathogens may collect and makes cleaning more difficult (e.g., the mechanically fastened drip shields must be removed for cleaning). A steam vent also may be included on the lid to allow excess steam to escape when boiling vigorously in the unit. If a vent is not included or the vent is not opened, the steam tends to escape around the complete perimeter of the lid, condense on the cooler metal of the lid's apron and drip to the floor. The wet floor creates a significant slip hazard.
Examples of prior art lids for commercial cooking devices are shown in the following literature: Crown Food Service Equipment Ltd., Model GTS-30 and GTS-40 Gas Tilting Skillet, Crown Food Service Equipment Ltd., Model ELTS-30 and ELTS-40 Electric Tilting Skillet; Vulcan-Hart Co., Model E30TB and E40TB Braising Pans; Market Forge Industries, Inc., Models 30-STEM, 40-STEM, 30-STEL, and 40-STEL UniVerse Tilting Skillets, Market Forge Industries, Inc., Models 30-STGM, 40-STGM, 30-STGL and 40-STGL UniVerse Tilting Skillets; Groen (a Dover Industries company) Model CFPC/2 Braising Pan, Groen (a Dover Industries company) Model HFP/2 Braising Pan, Groen (a Dover Industries company) Model FPC/2 Braising Pan; Cleveland Range, Inc. Models SGL-30-T, SGL-40-T, SGM-30-T and SGM-40-T Gas Tilting Open Base and Modular Skillets, Cleveland Range, Inc. Models SEL-30-T, SEL-40-T, SEM-30-T and SEM-40-T Electric Tilting Open Base and Modular Skillets; Southbend (a Middleby company) Models BEMTS-30 and BEMTS-40 Braising Pans, Southbend (a Middleby company) Models BGMTS-30 and BGMTS-40 Braising Pans, Southbend (a Middleby company) Models BECT-24, BECT-30, and BECT-40 Braising Pans; and Legion Industries, Inc., the assignee of the subject invention, Model TES Tilting Braising Pan, and Legion Industries, Inc. Model TGSM/TGSE Tilting Braising Pan.
In view of the above a need presently exists for a lid for a cooking device and for a cooking device including a lid which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.

Cooking pan lid and cooking device incorporating same


An electronic device includes a touch panel, a time information obtaining section, and an authentication section. The time information obtaining section obtains time information for user authentication. The authentication section executes user authentication based on the time information obtained by the time information obtaining section. The time information obtaining section changes the time information according to a user's touch duration on the touch panel and changes an amount of change in time that the time information indicates according to a user's manner of touching the touch panel.

The present disclosure relates to computer-readable non-transitory storage media storing an authentication program for user authentication that is to be executed based on a touch duration on a touch panel, authentication devices, and authentication methods.
A method for executing user authentication based on a user's touch duration during which a user touches a touch panel has been known in which the user authentication is successful when the touch duration on the touch panel is within a specific period.

Recording medium, authentication device, and authentication method


A firearm holster assembly includes a firearm receiving portion and a clip and claw assembly. The clip and claw assembly includes a clip element configured to engage a piece of clothing of a wearer and a claw assembly. The claw assembly includes a base plate movably coupled to the firearm receiving portion and one or more spacer plates. The base plate includes a connection portion oriented between the clip element and the firearm receiving portion and a projecting element extending outward laterally from the connection portion, the connection portion and the projecting element together defining a first major surface and a second opposite major surface of the base plate, the first major surface configured to face outward from a body of a wearer. The one or more spacer plates are stacked on the first major surface of the base plate.

Holsters intended for discreetly carrying a defensive handgun are commonly used by private citizens and plainclothes or off duty police officers. Most people who carry a handgun prefer to carry it at belt level, positioned on or slightly behind the strong side hip. A few prefer to carry the gun on or slightly in front of the weak side hip, commonly known as crossdraw carry.
One style of concealment holsters includes an inside-the-waistband holster. Such holsters are sometimes worn inside the waistband of the wearer's pants, slightly behind the strong side hip, with only the upper lip of the holster and grip of the gun protruding from the pants. Such holsters are also sometimes worn inside the waistband of the wearer's pants in the front of the pants against a lower abdomen of the wearer, also known as an "appendix carry." A belt clip or loop secures the holster to the wearer's belt. The top of the holster is covered by a jacket, sweater, or untucked shirt.

Firearm holster assembly, clip and claw assembly, and related methods


A system and related method for acquiring high quality images of the iris of an unconstrained subject comprising a camera; a controllable focusing component; a focus controller component that controls the lens to focus at successively different points within a focus range, such focus control performed without any input from measurement of whether the image is in focus or out of focus, be it based from measurements of the image or other distance metrics to the subject; and a sharpness detection component that rejects the most out-of-focus images based on measurement of focus on the image is disclosed.

This disclosure relates to systems and methods for acquiring biometric and other imagery, biometric acquisition, identification, fraud detection, and security systems and methods, particularly biometric systems and methods which employ iris recognition. More particularly the disclosure relates to systems and methods for acquiring iris data for iris recognition.
Iris recognition systems have been in use for some time. The acquisition of images suitable for iris recognition is inherently a challenging problem. The performance of recognition algorithms depends on the quality, i.e., sharpness and contrast, of the image of the iris of the subject who is to be identified. This is due to many reasons. As an example, the iris itself is relatively small (approximately 1 cm in diameter) and it is often required to observe it from a great distance in order to avoid constraining the position of the subject or when the subject is walking or riding. This results in a small field of view and also a small depth of field. As a second example, it is generally difficult for the adult or child subject to stay absolutely still. As a third example, the subject may blink involuntarily or drop or swivel their head momentarily to check on the whereabouts of luggage.
In biometric identification applications, due to unconstrained motion of cooperative or non-compliant subject, it has been very difficult to acquire iris images with sufficient quality for recognition and identification processing. For example, iris acquisition systems typically check whether the quality of an acquired image exceeds a threshold. Many methods of assessing quality have been developed, such as those based on a measurement of focus such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,753,919. The problem with this approach is that if the acquired image quality does not exceed the threshold, then the data is not acquired, despite the fact that there may never be another opportunity to acquire data from that subject again. More specifically, in the case of unconstrained users or non-cooperative subjects, it may be impossible to have the subject position themselves or wait until the acquired image data exceeds the quality threshold. For example, the subject may be distracted with their head turning in various directions, or they may be in the process of performing another task, such as boarding a bus, so that the opportunity to acquire data from them has already come and gone. More specifically, prior iris data acquisition systems have typically been designed to explicitly avoid capturing lower quality data with an emphasis on waiting or constraining the user such that only highest quality data is acquired. We have determined that even a lower quality iris image (blurred, for example) can still contain substantial evidence for matching, albeit not with the precision of a high quality iris image. However, we still wish to acquire high quality data when it is possible to do so. In another example of prior systems, for example those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,583, autofocus routines are used to attempt to obtain high quality iris images. However, autofocus routines cause lag times and inaccuracy, resulting in poor quality or even non-existent imaging. Other systems, such as the ones disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,753,919 by Daugman, use sensors to assist a subject in aligning and focusing a handheld video camera.
Most if not all automatic focus systems work by acquiring an image of the scene, processing the image to recover a measure of focus, using that measure of focus to move a lens-focus actuator, and then repeating the steps of image acquisition, processing and actuation many times until it is determined in the processing step that focus has been reached. In most iris recognition systems autofocus never is able to catch up with the actual position of the subject unless the subject is relatively stationary, due to the unusually low depth of field in iris recognition, as well as the requirement that the focus has to be on the iris (as opposed to the nose for example).
Because of the time delays involved in acquiring an image, processing the image, and mechanical actuation, it is impossible for auto-focus algorithms to respond instantaneously. Moreover, as the depth of field reduces, as is typically the case in iris recognition, where the object is small and is typically observed at high magnification, it becomes more difficult for auto-focus algorithms to be successful because any error in the auto-focus position is much more apparent in the imagery since the depth of field is small.
It is much more difficult for auto-focus to acquire in-focus imagery of a subject who is moving even slightly (fractions of an inch).
In the case of a person moving even slightly because there is a finite control loop time for standard auto-focus to actuate, it can be shown that if a component of the person's motion is high frequency and above the control loop response time, then the auto-focus will never be able to converge and acquire an in-focus image of the person. The auto-focus will be continually "hunting" for a focused image and will always lag the motion of the subject. The result is that the subject has to be rock solid and still when standard auto-focus is used, and this was the state of the art in iris recognition before the present invention.
Prior attempts to solve these autofocus problems use the same closed loop approach but assume a subject is moving in a straight line and then use the image measurements to try and predict where the person will be in the next frame. This approach is not very robust and also fails for random movement that subjects often have. Other auto-focus systems use different ways of computing focus measures in the scene in one or more regions to compute the most accurate focus score. When a subject is moving with frequencies that are beyond the control loop of an auto-focus algorithm auto-focus algorithms are unable to catch up to the person's motion and acquire a good image of the person.
Martin, et al., US Pat. Pub. 2008/0075335, disclose a biometric image selection method which reduces the rate of non-exploitable images which are supplied to an analysis and identification processing module using sharpness and contrast criteria. In some embodiments Martin et al. locate a pattern in each image of a sequence of images, estimate the speed of displacement of the pattern between two successive images in the sequence, and select images for which the estimated speed of displacement of the pattern is lower than a speed threshold. Martin et al. disclosed embodiments wherein two selection modules are provided, the first being a quick selection module and the second being a pupil tracking module, rejecting an image if it is below a contrast or sharpness threshold. The selection module in some embodiments selects images having the highest sharpness and/or contrast out of the images stored. Martin et al do not disclose a system or method for acquiring the series of images, nor do they disclose storing only images having higher quality than previously stored images and removing the lesser quality image from memory storage.

System and method for iris data acquisition for biometric identification


The present invention relates to a method for access control of a multimedia system to a secure operating system and a mobile terminal for implementing the method. The method includes the steps of: initiating an application access request for selecting a trusted application from a client application of a multimedia system to a secure operating system; making a decision as to whether the client application is a malicious application, and if not, proceeding to a next step, if yes, returning Selection Failure to the client application and performing an interrupt handling; sending the application access request from the multimedia system to the secure system; and acquiring, at the secure operating system, the trusted application based on the application access request and returning the trusted application to the multimedia system. The malicious accesses initiated by a malicious application to a trusted application in a securing operating system can be prevented without switching between systems, and the problem that a trusted application cannot be accessed due to malicious access can be avoided.

With the increasingly extensive development of applications of computers and networks and the increasingly enrichment of categories of traffic in different fields, apparatus for security information interactions, i.e., information interactions that have higher requirements on security, e.g., a transaction processing procedure in the financial field, particularly apparatus for secure information interactions based on mobile terminals, become increasingly important.
In traditional technical solutions, for improving the security of an apparatus for information interaction, the concept of trusted execution environment (TEE) has been proposed. Owing to the emergence of TEE, more and more external secure carriers would be under control of TEE due to security considerations, managing these external secure carriers by TEE, thus greatly improving securities of these external secure carriers, ensuring that an external secure carrier used by a user is the correct external secure carrier, and the operation of the user with the external secure carrier will not be tempered by other malicious third parties.
TEE is a secure operating system that is co-located with a multimedia operating system (in the following description of the specification, an Android system is taken as an example) on a smart terminal, various trusted applications run thereon may provide various reliable secure services for Android applications. As for how a TEE trusted application may control access to its secure services, that is, a TEE trusted application may allow which Android applications to access its secure services, one of currently employed technical approaches is one access mechanism based on username/password, that is, when each of Android applications selects a specific TEE trusted application, a username and password is appended therewith at the same time, and TEE forwards, based on a trusted application identification, the select command to the selected trusted application, which then makes a decision on the username and password, and if it is decided to be valid, Success is returned to TEE, which then generates a valid credential, by which, subsequent Android applications may access secure services of the trusted applications; if it is decided to be invalid, Failure is returned to TEE, which will not generate a credential and will return to the Android application a notification that the trusted application selection fails.
However, the approach has had following disadvantages that:
When an Android application uses the mechanism to make malicious access to TEE trusted applications continuously, since it is required that TEE decides whether each selection is valid or not, this will cause a terminal to switch to TEE continuously to run, thus resulting in continuous switching of the terminal between Android and TEE, which easily leads to a jitter phenomenon of the system, resulting in slower response of an Android system. Meanwhile, when continuous and malicious selections and accesses are initiated to TEE applications, a TEE trusted application is easily caused to be in a state where decisions on user access rights are made at all times, and thereby normal access requests from legal applications cannot be responded.

Tee access control method and mobile terminal implementing same


A numerically controlled lathe capable of machining a workpiece by numerically controlling a machining table provided with a machining tool. In order to prevent a local uneven abrasion of parts, which make a sliding contact, due to a mass production of workpieces having a simple form or a machining in a non-circular shape, there are provided a main carriage and a sub carriage. A machining tool is positioned on the sub carriage, and the sub carriage traverses on the main carriage along an axis which the main carriage and the sub carriage have in common. When a circular machining is carried out, the main carriage and the sub carriage respectively traverse by an equal amount in directions opposite to each other, and the cutting tool is constantly maintained at a position designated by an instruction. At the time of a non-circular machining, the main carriage and the sub carriage respectively traverse in directions opposite to each other; moreover, the sub carriage rapidly traverses in response to an instruction designating a location of the tool. Thus parts which make a sliding contact are evenly worn out by shifting the relative positions of both the main and sub carriages.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a numerically controlled lathe, and more particularly to a method for operating such lathe.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a numerically controlled lathe, a machining table upon which a machining tool is disposed is also numerically controlled, and a structure of such existing machining table is shown in FIG. 4.
Although not illustrated in detail in FIG. 4, a bed 10 of the lathe is equipped with a known main spindle, and this spindle rotates a workpiece with the workpiece held. In FIG. 4, the center axis of the main spindle is designated by a reference symbol O.
Furthermore, a slide table 11 is placed on the bed 10 in such a manner that the slide table can traverse in a direction parallel to the spindle or normal to this page.
On the slide table 11 is positioned a ball screw 14 rotatively supported by brackets 12, 13. This ball screw is rotated by a servo motor 16 fixed to the slide table 11 with a bracket 15, whereby it is possible to move a tool, described in later, to an arbitrary position with respect to the main spindle.
An axis of the servo motor 16 is connected with the ball screw 14 by means of a coupling 17.
A ball nut 18 is provided so as to establish an engagement with the ball screw 14, and is disposed on the carriage 20 by means of a bracket 19. On the carriage 20 is supported a capstan rest 22 rotatively and is placed in position by means of a support 21 interposed between the carriage and the capstan rest. A given tool 24 is placed on the capstan rest by a bite holder 23, and the tool 24 such as a bite, etc., is ordinarily positioned in such a manner that a cutting surface of the tool 24 is aligned with the plane of the center of the main spindle.
Accordingly, when any given instruction for tool position is issued to the motor 16, it becomes possible to travel the tool 24 to a desired position in connection with the center 0 of the main spindle.
However, in accordance with the above-described conventional numerical controlled lathe, when a mass production is carried out for workpieces having a simple shape or a non-circular machining is performed, there has been drawbacks in that parts of the machining table which make a sliding contact are locally worn out because the carriage 20 repeatedly makes a reciprocating motion within a limited short range. Particularly, it has been a problem in that a part of the ball screw 14 is unevenly worn out, though the rest of the part maintains a sufficient accuracy. With this result, in view of the overall structure of the lathe, the mechanical life of the machining table is extraordinarily shorten by the aforementioned local abrasion of the parts.
Another drawback, in accordance with the existing numerically controlled lathe, lies in that since all of the elemental parts from the carriage 20 to the tool 24 make a high speed reciprocating motion, and since the inertia of the parts becomes large, there is a limitation for increasing the traverse speed of the parts.


A draw spring linkage includes a hollow rod formed with a shoulder structure at the first end of the rod and with a slot that extends longitudinally of the rod and is located between the shoulder structure and the second end of the hollow rod. A tongue member includes an attachment portion and a stem that projects from the attachment portion. The stem fits slidingly in the interior space of the hollow rod and is formed with a slot that is aligned with the slot in the hollow rod. A key extends through the slot in the tongue member and the slot in the hollow rod and projects laterally from the hollow rod. A hollow cylindrical spring is threaded by the hollow rod. The first end of the spring engages the shoulder structure, the second end of the spring engages the key, and the spring is held under compression between the shoulder structure and the key.

This invention relates to a draw spring linkage, particularly a tail wheel draw spring linkage for a light aircraft.
A conventional light aircraft has a vertical stabilizer and a rudder that is attached to the vertical stabilizer and is pivotable relative to the vertical stabilizer about an approximately vertical axis. Rudder control cables are connected to a rudder control horn (a generally horizontal bar that is attached to the rudder at its lower end and extends to each side of the rudder) to allow the pilot to adjust the angular position of the rudder in flight.
Light aircraft with conventional landing gear are commonly equipped with spring-loaded tail wheel steering linkages that connect the rudder control horn to the tail wheel for positive steering control while on the ground. Typically, the tail wheel is mounted for pivotal movement about an axis that is approximately parallel to the pivotal axis of the rudder and is coupled to a tail wheel horn (a generally horizontal bar that is attached to the tail wheel and extends to each side of the tail wheel). The traditional tail wheel steering linkages comprise draw springs that are connected between the control horns of the rudder and the tail wheel. The draw springs provide shock absorption to protect the rudder control system in the event that the wheel strikes an irregularity during taxiing, take-off or landing. The draw spring linkage is constructed so that the two ends of the linkage remain connected even if the spring fails. The draw spring that is used in the traditional tail wheel steering linkage has some disadvantages, including the fact that it is bulky and not aerodynamic, it is prone to corrosion, and the clips that attach the linkage to the tail wheel control horn may open up and detach in use unless they are wired closed.

Draw spring linkage, particularly for light aircraft


One embodiment allocates and uses exclusive and overlapping transmission units in a network. One embodiment includes sending information, from a first network node in a network, during an exclusive transmission unit, wherein the exclusive transmission unit includes one or more wireless time slot-frequency pairings assigned to the first network node to send info nation without another assigned network transmission unit providing overlapping time slot-frequency interference from another network node communicating in the network. One embodiment includes sending information, from the first network node, during an overlapping transmission unit, wherein the overlapping transmission unit includes one or more wireless time slot-frequency pairings assigned to the first network node to send information, with the overlapping transmission unit overlapping in time slot-frequency with one or more other assigned network transmission units that will cause interference if simultaneously used.

The communications industry is rapidly changing to adjust to emerging technologies and ever increasing customer demand. This customer demand for new applications and increased performance of existing applications is driving communications network and system providers to employ networks and systems having greater speed and capacity (e.g., greater bandwidth). In trying to achieve these goals, a common approach taken by many communications providers is to use packet switching technology. Deterministic networks rely on a set of predetermined time slots, which define at least a time (and possibly frequency to use especially in a wireless deterministic network), when each specific node can communicate a packet to a second specific node in the deterministic network.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Exclusive and overlapping transmission unit allocation and use in a network


An electronic musical instrument has an electronic sound source of a physical model simulating the sound mechanism of an acoustic mechanical instrument, in particular, a stringed instrument of the bowing type. The electronic sound source is controlled according to tone pitch information and tone information determining a characteristic of a musical tone to be generated. A keyboard is provided as a data input device by which tone pitch is designated and on which a performance manner is expressed via initial touch and after touch. A memory stores two sets of performance information, each set containing bowing force and bowing velocity information. An interpolating unit operates to access the memory for carrying out interpolation between the two sets of performance information according to the performance manner, and produces respective interpolated performance information regarding bowing force and bowing velocity information effective to control the artificial sound source. The electronic sound source is also controlled by the interpolated performance information.

The present invention relates to an electronic musical instrument utilizing an artificial or electronic sound source of a physical model simulating the sound mechanism of an acoustic musical instrument.
There has been known conventional electronic musical instruments of the keyboard type provided with a plurality of keys. In such electronic keyboard instruments, the player depresses keys to input performance information such as key code, initial touch and after touch. The electronic musical instrument has therein an electronic sound source directly receiving the performance information so as to form musical tones to be sounded as well a to effect modulation thereof.
On the other hand, there has been known an electronic sound source of a physical model which is composed of an electronic circuitry constructed to physically simulate the mechanical vibration system of an acoustic stringed instrument in order to generate continuous musical sounds analogous to, for example, violin performance. Such physical model sound source is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,276. In such a system, the instrument receives tone pitch information and performance information associated with bowing force and bowing velocity which represent bow manipulation in playing of an acoustic stringed instrument such as violin. The system operates according to the inputted information to generate musical sounds. The performance information of the physical model is manually inputted by the player to vary parameters or so called physical image such as bowing force and bowing velocity so as to sophisticatedly and naturally control musical tone volume and color in an analogous manner of the acoustic instrument according to the input performance even after initiation of the continuous sound generation.
As described, the physical model sound source synthesizes musical tones to simulate a sound generation mechanism of the acoustic musical instrument, hence the sound source must receive the physical model performance information which accurately represents the manner of manual playing. However, the typical performance tool or implement such as a keyboard can only input specified performance information pertinent to key operation. Since the keyboard is originally used as a operation implement for striking type of the stringed instrument, the keyboard mechanism is inconvenient in use as an input implement for sustained sound generation type or bowing type of the stringed instrument.
Generally, the keyboard is not suitable functionally for controlling a sustained music tone. In spite of such drawbacks or inconvenience, since the keyboard is usually installed in various types of the electronic musical instruments, the keyboard is necessarily used even for performing musics composed of sustained tones.

Electronic musical instrument having artificial string sound source with bowing effect


Method for improving global positioning performance of a first road vehicle (10), the method comprising, by means of a data server (3, 4, 4″): acquiring data from onboard sensors (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f, 2g) arranged on the first road vehicle (10) and on at least two neighbouring road vehicles (10′, 10″, 10′″), the data comprising data on relative positions and data on heading angle and velocity of the road vehicles (10, 10′, 10″, 10′″), and acquiring global positioning data of at least two of the road vehicles (10, 10′, 10″, 10′″), processing (102) data comprising the global positioning data, the data, with corresponding timestamp, acquired from the onboard sensors (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f, 2g), and a motion model for each of the first road vehicle (10) and the at least two neighbouring road vehicles (10′, 10″, 10′″) using a data fusion algorithm, calculating adjusted global positioning data for the first road vehicle (10) and communicating (104) the adjusted global positioning data to a positioning system (6) of the first road vehicle (10).

Global positioning of an autonomous driving (AD) road vehicle is mainly based on positioning data such as Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates. Such positioning data may not be very accurate and may differ from the actual global position of the road vehicle at a certain time. For many vehicles, and especially for AD vehicles, a more precise global positioning of the vehicle is critical and there is a need to develop approaches to address problems with inadequate global positioning accuracy.
One approach is given by CN104502936, which discloses a positioning and navigation system comprising a combined positioning unit, an intelligent ranging unit, a cloud communication unit and a vehicle-mounted display unit. The combined positioning unit is used for realizing real-time positioning of the vehicle; the intelligent ranging unit is used for realizing calculation on the distance between the vehicle and a surrounding target; and the cloud communication unit is used for receiving data generated by the combined positioning unit and the intelligent ranging unit and for uploading the data to a cloud service centre. The cloud service centre carries out map labelling on navigation positioning data, and the labelling information is issued to the vehicle-mounted display unit.
DE102012224110 discloses a method and system for determining positioning data of an object on a road. An environmental sensor system, e.g. camera, radar sensor, can be used to determine relative distances between an object whose absolute geographical position is known and an object to be located. The determined relative distances can serve as a filter basis, on the basis of which the positioning data of the object to be located can either be completely predetermined or, for example, specified in terms of tolerance. By the method an object can determine its absolute geographical position using the absolute geographical position of the other object and the relative distances. An object may also determine the position of another other object if its own absolute geographical position but not the corresponding absolute geographical position of the other object is available.
In U.S. Pat. No. 9,933,268 is disclosed a digital map enhancement system for improving accuracy of pre-stored digital map data of a digital map to be utilized by a vehicle. The system determines a current position of the vehicle, and identifies, in the pre-stored digital map data, a mapped digital landmark representing a stationary landmark predicted to be in the vicinity of the current position of the vehicle, which mapped digital landmark includes a pre-stored position of the stationary landmark. The system detects the stationary landmark by one or more sensor devices on-board the vehicle, which are adapted for observing the surroundings of the vehicle, and determines a detected position of the stationary landmark based on the current position of the vehicle and the detection of the stationary landmark. The system updates the pre-stored position of the mapped digital landmark with the detected position of the stationary landmark.

Method and arrangement for improving global positioning performance of a road vehicle


Provided is a novel method and system for harmonic detection spectroscopy. The method comprises providing a cell having a sample region which is circumscribed by at least one wall. The cell has at least one light entry/exit port, with each entry/exit port containing a light transmissive window having a surface facing the sample region and disposed so as to seal the cell in the circumferential direction. A sample gas flows through the sample region in a direction parallel to a cell central axis, and the cell operates at less than atmospheric pressure. A frequency and/or amplitude modulated light source is provided for directing a light beam through one of the at least one light transmissive windows into the cell. The light source modulation amplitude is set to a value which approximately maximizes the value of a harmonic signal at the center of the absorption feature due to the detected gas phase molecular species inside the sample region, and the center frequency of the light source is adjusted so that it is either locked to the center of the absorption feature or repetitively scanned over the frequency range which includes the feature. A spectra is then generated which may be recorded individually or averaged. A detector is provided for measuring the light beam exiting the cell through one of the at least one light transmissive windows. The light source and detector are contained within a chamber which is external to the cell and isolated from the sample region, the chamber and the sample region being placed in optical communication with each other through at least one of the at least one light transmissive windows. The pressure inside the chamber is controlled to a value which is positive relative to atmospheric pressure. The method can be used to detect gas phase molecular species in a sample. Particular applicability is found in semiconductor processing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for detecting gas phase molecular species in a sample by harmonic detection absorption spectroscopy, and to a method for detecting the same in a semiconductor processing apparatus. The present invention also relates to a system for detecting gas phase molecular species in a sample by harmonic detection absorption spectroscopy, and to a semiconductor processing apparatus comprising the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs) are manufactured by a series of processes, many of which involve the use of gaseous materials. Included among such processes are etching, diffusion, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), ion implantation, sputtering and rapid thermal processing. In these processes, contact is made between a semiconductor substrate and molecular species in the gas phase. As a result of the extremely fine features of the IC devices, parts per billion (ppb) and lower levels of impurities in the gases contacting the semiconductor substrates are usually considered necessary in order to minimize yield loss. Among the molecular impurities, moisture is extremely difficult to eliminate, and it adversely affects many semiconductor manufacturing processes.
A known method for detecting molecular species is infrared absorption spectroscopy. This method is based on the measurement of infrared light absorption which occurs at specific frequencies characteristic of a given molecule. However, when this method is used to measure trace quantities of molecular species inside a vacuum chamber, the measurement precision is often limited by light absorption due to the presence of the same species outside the chamber, where the light source and detector are disposed.
Three methods for mitigating the above described problem have been proposed. The first involves making the light path outside the vacuum chamber as short as possible relative to the path inside, the second is purging the light path outside the vacuum chamber with a pure gas and the third is to place this light path under vacuum. As used herein, the term "pure gas" refers to a gas with a moisture content of essentially zero. The second and third procedures can also be combined by evacuating prior to measurement.
However, these procedures are of limited effectiveness. For example, if the partial pressure of the molecular species of interest inside the vacuum chamber is very low, significant interference can still occur despite these precautions. In particular, when the molecular species of interest is water, components outside of the vacuum chamber often outgas water at a level sufficient to interfere with the measurement. In addition to outgassing, leaks and poorly purged volumes imposed by the geometry of the path outside the chamber can also contribute to the interference. These undesired sources of molecular species are extremely difficult or impossible to completely eliminate, thereby preventing accurate measurements from being made.
In infrared absorption spectroscopy, the absorption of light occurs with a spread about the center absorption frequency which increases linearly with pressure. Therefore, the width of the light absorption due to the molecules in the higher pressure region outside of the vacuum chamber is greater than the width due to the molecules in the lower pressure region inside the vacuum chamber. Additionally, the maximum light absorption at the center frequency is directly proportional to the partial pressure of the species of interest and inversely proportional to the width of the transition. Consequently, as the total pressure of the gas outside the vacuum chamber is increased, the width of the transition also increases.
When a simple infrared absorption measurement is used, no advantage is obtained by increasing the pressure outside of the vacuum chamber, even though the width of the signal due to molecules in that region is increased, because the partial pressure of the species of interest increases proportionately (assuming the concentration of the species remains constant), the signal due to the molecules outside the vacuum chamber is not suppressed because of the cancellation of the two effects. In fact, there would be a slight enhancement the size of which is dependent upon the Doppler linewidth. As a result, the molecular species in the light path outside of the vacuum chamber cannot be negated. Therefore infrared absorption spectroscopy is not suitable for precisely measuring trace quantities of the molecular species inside the vacuum chamber.
According to another known spectroscopic method, harmonic detection spectroscopy, the greater width of the transition due to molecules outside the vacuum chamber can be advantageously used. A more general discussion of the following may be found in C. R. Webster et al. Infrared Laser Absorption: Theory and Applications in Laser Remote Chemical Analysis, Wiley, N.Y. (1988).
In the case where the water vapor is in an air or nitrogen matrix at a pressure of 1 atmosphere or higher, the shape of the absorption feature is described by the well-known Lorentz profile as follows: ##EQU1## where I.sub.0 (v) is the incident light intensity at frequency v, I(v) is the transmitted light intensity at v, P is the pressure, c is the volume concentration of water vapor, l is the length of the light path through the sample, S is the linestrength characteristic of the given absorption feature, .gamma. is the half-width of the absorption feature and v.sub.0 is its center frequency. This expression gives a maximum light absorption: ##EQU2## when the frequency of the incident light is v.sub.0.
In the case of infrared light absorption by water vapor under vacuum conditions, i.e., at a very low partial pressure (e.g., less than about 0.1 torr, with a total gas pressure in the chamber of no more than about 0.5 torr), absorption features are much narrower. Absorption feature width is determined primarily by the Doppler effect, and results from the random motion of molecules with respect to the incident light, and is described by the following expression (Gaussian lineshape): ##EQU3## In the above equation, .gamma..sub.ED .sqroot.ln(2) is the half-width of the absorption feature under the above conditions, and depends on the center frequency of the absorption frequency, the molecular mass and the temperature. The line-center signal is given by the formula: ##EQU4##
For water vapor under vacuum conditions and at room temperature i.e., about 25.degree. C., .gamma..sub.ED is approximately equal to 0.01 cm.sup.-1 for absorption of infrared light at frequencies near 7100 cm.sup.-1 (where relatively strong absorption features accessible by convenient near-infrared diode laser sources are located). For water vapor in a matrix of air or nitrogen at one atmosphere pressure, a typical value of .gamma. is 0.1 cm.sup.-1. The value of .gamma. depends on the pressure and temperature of the gaseous sample and the center frequency of the absorption feature. For a given absorption feature at constant temperature, .gamma. is approximately described by the following formula: EQU .gamma.=.gamma..sub.ED +Pb
where b is a constant. A more accurate equation has been provided by Olivero and Longbotham, but the above is sufficient for purposes of this discussion.
In order to carry out harmonic detection, the frequency of the incident light source is modulated, with a sinusoidal modulation of amplitude a and frequency .omega. so that the frequency of light at time t is given by the expression: EQU v.sub.mod (t)=v+acos .omega.t
For first harmonic detection, that component of the signal at the detector which has a frequency .omega. and the same phase as the laser modulation is selected. This can be achieved, for example, by using a lock-in amplifier or by using a mixer to combine the detector output with a sinusoidal signal of frequency .omega., whose phase is suitably adjusted using a phase shifter, and passing the mixer output through a suitable low-pass filter. A detailed description may be found in The Art of Electronics by Horowitz and Hill. This technique is well-known and is used to remove noise components with a frequency of less than .omega. from the signal.
In second harmonic detection, the component of the signal with frequency 2.omega. is selected, in third harmonic detection, the component of the signal with frequency 3.omega. is selected, and so forth.
For the case of water vapor in nitrogen or air at one atmosphere pressure, the second harmonic signal at v.sub.0 (line center) is given by the formula: ##EQU5## Similarly, for the case of water vapor under vacuum conditions, ##EQU6## These expressions were derived by G. V. H. Wilson, J. Appl. Phys. Vol. 34 No. 11 p. 3276 (1963), who also showed that the maximum value of Signal (v.sub.0) is obtained when a/.gamma. (or a/.gamma..sub.ED)=2.2 for both cases.
Second harmonic spectroscopy may be implemented either by setting the frequency of light v emitted by the light source equal to the center frequency of the absorption feature v.sub.0 or by repetitively scanning the frequency over a region which includes v.sub.0. The former method usually requires active feedback control of the light source if it is a laser diode. In the latter case, scans over the entire absorption feature of interest are obtained. In either case, it is most advantageous if the signal at v.sub.0 is primarily due to absorption by water molecules in the sample region of interest.
FIG. 1 is a plot of Signal.sub.j, which is obtained from Signal(v.sub.0) by setting .gamma.=0.1, Pl S=1 (for ease of calculation, as only relative values are of interest), c=10.sup.-6 and a=mod.sub.j, where mod.sub.j varies between 0 and 1. It can be seen from FIG. 1 that Signal.sub.j is a maximum when mod.sub.j =0.22 (i.e. 2.2.multidot.0.1), and that the signal becomes lower for smaller values of the modulation amplitude. It follows then, that for a sample under vacuum wherein the ambient outside the vacuum chamber is at atmospheric pressure, if the modulation amplitude is set to 2.2 times the width of the absorption due to the molecular species of interest inside the vacuum chamber, this modulation amplitude will necessarily be much less than the optimum value for the same molecular species outside the chamber.
However, in practice, when it is desired to detect a small partial pressure of a molecular species such as water in a vacuum chamber, and this species is present in the light path outside the chamber, a modulation amplitude which is less than the optimum value for detection of molecules inside the chamber has been used. Sub-optimum modulation amplitudes are purposely chosen as they further suppress the signal due to the higher pressure molecules outside the vacuum chamber.
The above advantages of harmonic spectroscopy for suppressing signals due to molecules at atmospheric pressure in the light path outside the chamber has been recognized by Mucha, ISA Transactions, Vol.25, No.3, p.25 (1986). Mucha further notes the existence of an optimum modulation amplitude which balances suppression of the atmospheric pressure signals with optimization of the signals due to molecules inside the vacuum chamber. In this regard, in previous work of the presently named inventors, Inman et al, Application of Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy to Trace Moisture Measurements in Gases, Anal. Chem., Vol.66, No.15, pp.2471-2479 (1994), the Mucha technique was implemented by applying modulation amplitudes from 1.3 to 1.8 times the linewidth due to species inside the chamber.
However, as a result of the use of sub-optimum modulation amplitudes, this technique suffers the disadvantage of a considerable signal loss by up to a factor of four when compared with the signal theoretically obtainable, resulting in a lack of sensitivity and ability to measure trace quantities of molecular species inside a vacuum chamber.
To meet the requirements of the semiconductor processing industry and to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method for detecting gas phase molecular species in a sample by harmonic detection spectroscopy which will allow for accurate in situ determination of gas phase molecular species in a sample at a level at least as low as in the ppb range.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for detecting gas phase molecular species in a semiconductor processing apparatus by harmonic detection spectroscopy, using the inventive method.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system for detecting gas phase molecular species in a sample by harmonic detection spectroscopy, for practicing the inventive method.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor processing apparatus which includes the inventive system for detecting gas phase molecular species in a sample by harmonic detection spectroscopy.
Other objects and aspects of the present invention will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art on a review of the specification, drawings and claims appended hereto.

Method and system for sensitive detection of molecular species in a vacuum by harmonic detection spectroscopy


The portions at the circumferential edges of a flow channel formation plate in which the corner portions of a dummy flow channel portion are formed are weaker than other portions, and thus when thermal stress has occurred due to temperature changes when the constituent elements of a flow channel unit are affixed to each other, cracks can be induced preferentially in the weak portion, rather than the other portions, starting from the ends of the corner portions. In particular, although similar corner portions are formed in a common liquid chamber, the intersection angle of the corner portions in the dummy flow channel portion is smaller than the intersection angle of the corner portions in the common liquid chamber, and thus it is easier for stress to concentrate in the corner portions of the dummy flow channel portion.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting head having serial liquid flow channels that span from a common liquid chamber formed in a flow channel formation plate to nozzle openings through pressure chambers, and to a liquid ejecting apparatus that includes such a liquid ejecting head.
2. Related Art
An ink jet recording head (called simply a "recording head" hereinafter) used in an image recording apparatus (liquid ejecting apparatus) such as a printer, a coloring material ejecting head used in the manufacture of color filters for liquid-crystal displays and the like, an electrode material ejecting head used to form electrodes for organic EL (electroluminescence) displays, FEDs (field emission displays) and the like, a bioorganic matter ejecting head used in the manufacture of biochips (biochemical devices), and so on can be given as examples of liquid ejecting heads that eject liquid droplets from nozzle openings by causing pressure fluctuations in a liquid within pressure chambers.
In the examples mentioned above, the recording head is configured so as to include a flow channel unit that has: a nozzle plate in which a plurality of nozzle openings are provided; a flow channel formation plate in which channel portions formed of spaces, grooves, and so on are provided so as to define serial ink flow channels that span from a common ink chamber to the nozzle openings through pressure chambers; and an elastic plate (also called a sealing plate, which seals the open surface of the flow channel formation plate) in which regions corresponding to the pressure chambers elastically deform based on operations of pressure generation elements (for example, see JP-A-2000-177119, and FIG. 4, FIG. 10, and so on in that document). Of the constituent elements of the flow channel unit, a high processing finesse and processing accuracy are required for the flow channel formation plate in order to handle increased resolutions in recorded images, increased speeds in recording operations, and so on. Accordingly, a silicon single-crystal substrate (a silicon wafer), in which fine shapes can be formed at a high degree of dimensional precision through anisotropic etching or the like, is favorable for use as the material of the flow channel formation plate. However, a plate member made of a metal such as stainless steel is used as the material of the nozzle plate and the elastic plate, due to the ease of processing such a material.
As described above, flow channel portions such as a through-hole (called simply a "reservoir" hereinafter) that serves as the common ink chamber are provided in the flow channel formation plate through anisotropic etching or the like; according to the recording head disclosed in JP-A-2000-177119, and FIG. 4, FIG. 10, and so on in that document, the end regions in the reservoir are formed in a tapered shape that narrows gradually as the reservoir approaches those ends. Doing so makes it possible to ensure a smooth ink flow at the end regions of the reservoir, and makes it possible to prevent bubbles from accumulating in these regions.
With the constituent elements of the flow channel unit that is configured of the stated nozzle plate, flow channel formation plate, and elastic plate, an adhesive is interposed between those constituent elements, and the constituent elements are affixed to each other by heating and curing the adhesive. However, in the case where the flow channel formation plate is configured of silicon and the nozzle plate is configured of a plate member made of a metal such as stainless steel, there are differences in the coefficients of linear expansion between those constituent elements; thus changes in temperature caused by heating and cooling during the affixing can cause the constituent elements to extend and contract relative to each other, resulting in the constituent elements deforming. At that time, because the edges of the flow channel formation plate are more rigid than the center in which the flow channel portions are provided, stress is concentrated at the border area between the high-rigidity regions and the low-rigidity regions; this can cause cracks to appear in the flow channel formation plate. In particular, in the case where the end regions of the reservoir have a tapered shape as in the example disclosed in JP-A-2000-177119, and FIG. 4, FIG. 10, and so on in that document, due to the taper, stress is concentrated in the tapered portions; as a result, it is easy for cracks to appear from the tapered ends.
If cracks appear in the flow channel portions such as the reservoir in such a manner, ink may leak to the exterior of the recording head through the cracks, or ink that has leaked through a crack may enter into the flow channel portion corresponding to another color of ink and intermix with that ink.

Liquid ejecting head and liquid ejecting apparatus


A messaging control system and method are provided. The method includes detecting incoming messages to a mobile device and outgoing messages from the mobile device. One or more processors determine a number of and a time proximity of the incoming messages or the outgoing messages, and message transmission or message receipt by the mobile device is limited based at least on the number of and time proximity of the incoming messages or the outgoing messages.

"Text-bombing" is a colloquial term for the transmission of a large number of electronic messages such as Short Message Service ("SMS") protocol messages to a particular target communication device, for example a mobile phone, for the purpose of harassment, bullying, degrading service, denying service, or subjecting a telecommunications carrier account holder to fees associated with message receipt. Transmission of such messages may originate from one device or a plurality of devices. Applications are available for the purpose of automating the transmission of messages, for example executable on the Android operating system on a mobile communication device.

Device messaging attack detection and control system and method


A fill-level measuring device for measuring a fill level of a fill substance in a container, which, following a single commissioning, can be used in a plurality of applications. The fill-level measuring device includes: A measuring unit, which serves to produce a measurement signal dependent on the fill-level; a memory, in which parameter sets for different applications are stored; and an evaluating unit, which serves for selecting a parameter set, for deriving, on the basis of this parameter set, the fill level from the measurement signal, and for making such fill level available for further processing, evaluation and/or display.

Fill level measuring devices are used in a multitude of branches of industry, e.g. in the processing industry, in the chemicals industry and in the foods industry.
A frequently selected type of fill-level measurement is based on the travel-time principle. In such case, e.g. periodically short send-signals, e.g. microwaves or ultrasonic waves, are transmitted to the upper surface of a fill substance, and the echo-signals reflected from the upper surface received back, following a distance-dependent travel time, or time-of-flight. An echo function representing echo amplitude as a function of travel time is formed. Each value of this echo function corresponds to the amplitude of an echo reflected at a certain distance from the antenna.
From the echo function, a wanted echo is determined, which probably corresponds to the reflection of a signal sent to the upper surface of the fill substance. In such case, it is, as a rule, assumed that the wanted echo has a greater amplitude than the remaining echoes. From the travel time of the wanted echo one directly obtains, for a fixed propagation velocity of the transmitted pulse, the distance between the fill substance upper surface and the antenna.
Usually, it is not the received, raw signal which is evaluated, but, instead, its so-called envelope, or hull, curve. The envelope curve is produced by rectifying and filtering the raw signal. For accurate determination of a travel time of the wanted echo, first a maximum of the envelope curve is found.
In order that the wanted echo can be recognized and the associated fill level can be derived therefrom, the fill-level measuring device needs certain information. In determining the fill level, e.g. an installation height of the fill-level measuring device in the container must be considered. If not only the separation between fill-level measuring device and fill substance is to be determined, but, also, a figure for the amount of fill substance present in the container, then the fill-level measuring device must also have access to information concerning the shape of the container.
Besides this information, also data concerning material properties of the fill substance can be important. For example, in the case of fill-level measurement by means of microwaves, such a material property is a dielectric constant of the fill substance. How well the fill substance reflects microwaves, i.e. what fraction of the microwaves is reflected, depends on the dielectric constant of the fill substance. Correspondingly, an estimate of the amplitude to be expected for the wanted echo can be made on the basis of the dielectric constant, a procedure which eases the finding of the correct, wanted echo.
Consequently, in the case of conventional fill-level measuring devices, following installation of the fill-level measuring device, a commissioning is done, in which, among other things, all parameters relevant for the particular application are made available to the fill-level measuring device. The parameters are stored as a parameter set and are ready for use, following the commissioning.
After commissioning, the fill-level measuring device then works independently on the basis of the parameter set.
However, it is not that simple to change the application. Each change that affects a parameter of the parameter set requires a newed commissioning. This can involve considerable time and money.

Filling level sensor and method for measuring filling level


A star-shaped stent and replacement valve or replacement graft for use in repairing a damaged cardiac valve includes two to eight star-shaped members interconnected into a "chain". Once this "chain" has been created through interconnection of the star-shaped members, a central opening through all of the interconnected star-shaped members receives a replacement aortic valve tri-cuspid made of any suitable flexible and bio-compatible material. A catheter delivery system is used to deliver the stent with the aortic valve tri-cuspid to the desired site. The star-shaped stents are made by using a laser to cut out a plurality of flat star-shaped members with a plurality of outwardly and inwardly directed points. The outwardly directed points are bent so that they face away from a plane defined by the inwardly directed points and then a series of such stents are fastened together in a chain.

The present invention relates to a star-shaped stent and replacement valve and replacement graft for use in repairing a damaged cardiac valve. In the prior art, stents are known and are employed, usually, to maintain a blood vessel or other body passageway open and free from obstruction.
Applicant is aware of the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,671,979 to Moulopoulos PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,854 to Boretos et al. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,749 to Davis et al. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,402 to Teitelbaum.
These patents relate to repairs to and replacements for cardiac valves. However, none of these references teaches the features and aspects of the present invention.

Stent valve and stent graft for percutaneous surgery


The subject disclosure is directed to an articulated medical device having a sensor for detecting outside movements applied upon the medical device while in a subject or patient, wherein the device is capable of maneuvering within the subject or patient while taking the outsides movements into consideration.

Articulated medical devices generally include one or more channels that extend along the inside of the device to allow access to end effectors (the actual working part of a surgical instrument or tool) located at a distal end of the medical device. Control mechanisms located at a proximal end of the medical device are configured to enable remote manipulation of the end effectors via the one or more channels. Accordingly, the mechanical structure of the medical device plays a key role in ensuring flexible access to end effectors, while protecting delicate organs and tissues of a patient.
In order to facilitate articulation of these medical devices, continuum robots are used in clinical cases, especially to articulate around/through organs with tortuous structures, such as the airway of the lung and blood vessel. Clinical studies have shown that robotic bronchoscope can reach higher generation of the airway of the lung than a conventional manual bronchoscope. In addition, a navigation bronchoscopy system which combines electromagnetic navigation system with respiratory gating technology. This system displays the shape of the airway based on respiratory motion.
In order to control a continuum robot with multiple articulating sections, follow-the-leader ("FTL") motion is widely used. In FTL, an operator only controls the leading section of the continuum robot, allowing and the rest of articulating sections to automatically follow the path of the leading section.
By way of example United Stated Patent Application no. 2012/0059248 to Holsing et al. details a pathway process wherein the respiratory signal is used to gate localization data of the instrument to determine on airway models and correlate the instrument position to the image data to provide a registration of the patient airway models during a respiratory cycle of the patient.
However, the existing art fails to address a relevant and challenging element of the continuum robot process, namely, the extraction of the robot in a live, moving patient. More specifically, as breathing motion, or other voluntary and involuntary motions of a patient, alter the shape of airway between insertion and extraction of the continuum robot, the extraction route may be significantly varied from the insertion route.
Furthermore, breathing motion decreases the advantage of FTL, in that FTL assumes that the shape of surroundings remains constant. However, when following section(s) follow the tip section of the medical device, breathing motion changes the shape of the airway. As such, the following section may make contact with the differing shape of the anatomy.
Accordingly, extraction may cause abrasion or trauma to the airway, or other inner elements of the patient, if the shape of airway is altered.

Medical continuum robot extraction and methods thereof


The present invention relates to a novel method for obtaining (2S,3aS,6aS)-1-[(S)-2-[[(S)-1-(ethoxycarbonyl)-3-phenylpropyl]-amino]propanoyl]octahydro cyclopenta[b]pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid, viz. Ramipril(I) in high optical purity, free of other stereoisomers, and in high bulk density. The present invention also relates to a novel hydrated form of Ramipril(I) and a process for preparation thereof.

Ramipril(I), (2S,3aS,6aS)-1-[(S)-2-[[(S)-1-(ethoxycarbonyl)-3-phenylpropyl]-amino]propanoyl]octahydrocyclopenta[b]pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid, represented by the formula (I) is a valuable angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, a family of drugs used to treat high blood pressure and some types of heart failure.

Ramipril(I) is marketed under the brandname ALTACE®. It has five chiral centers which leads to 32 optical isomers, of which the isomer with all S-configuration exhibits highest ACE inhibiting activity. The other optical isomers are comparatively less active or are completely inactive, hence undesirable.
Ramipril(I) of formula (I) is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,722 (assigned to Hoechst AG) which describes a process for the preparation of Ramipril(I) comprising condensation of benzyl cis,endo-2-azabicyclo-[3.3.0]-octane-3-S-carboxylate hydrochloride of formula (II) with N-(1-S-carbethoxy-3-phenyl-propyl)-S-alanine of formula (III) in presence of a coupling agent such as dicyclohexylcarbodiimide in an organic solvent such as dimethylformamide. The diastereomeric mixture of (S,S,S,S,S) and (R,R,R,S,S) isomers of Ramipril(I) benzyl ester thus obtained is separated at this stage by silica gel chromatography using ethyl acetate/petroleum ether as the eluting solvent. The optically pure (S,S,S,S,S) benzyl ester is deprotected by hydrogenolysis or treatment with an acid or base to give Ramipril(I) of formula (I) which is on further recrystallised from ether, gives a product which has a melting point of 110-112° C.

Chromatographic separation of diastereomers is, however, a process of academic interest only and cannot be practiced advantageously on an industrial scale.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,407,262 (assigned to Brantford Chemicals Inc.) discloses a process for separating diastereomeric mixtures of (2S,3aS,6aS)-1-[(S)-2-[[(S)-1-(ethoxycarbonyl)-3-phenylpropyl]amino]propanoyl]octahydro-cyclopenta[b]pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid or its derivative and (2R,3aR,6aR)-1-[(S)-2-[[(S)-1-(ethoxycarbonyl)-3-phenylpropyl]amino]propanoyl]octahydro cyclopenta[b]pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid or its derivative by treating the diastereomeric mixture with a solvent or a mixture of solvents. The solvent or a mixture of solvents employed is selected from a group consisting of C2-C4 nitrile, C1-C6 alcohol, C6-C8 aromatic hydrocarbon, C3-C10 ether, C3-C6 ketone, C2-C7 ester, C1 to C3 chlorinated compounds, and C5-C10 hydrocarbon solvents.
Although, the abovementioned method claims to give Ramipril(I) of more than 99% purity, suffers from the disadvantages of utilizing the solvents which are not recommended by Regulatory and Environmental bodies, since these solvents belong to the list of Class II solvents as categorized by International Conference on Harmonization (ICH). Moreover, many of these solvents have very low flash points which render their use, on commercial scale, hazardous.
There exists a need therefore, for a method for obtaining Ramipril(I) of high optical purity which overcomes the shortcomings associated with the prior art methods.
An object of the present invention is to provide the process of preparation of optically pure Ramipril(I) having optical purity of at least 99.9% by crystallisation of optically impure Ramipril consisting of a mixture of undesired diastereomers up to 20%, from a solvent or a mixture of solvents selected from a group consisting of methyl formate, nitroalkanes, acetals and ethers.
It is another object of the present invention is to provide a novel hydrated form of Ramipril(I) which has, a distinct X-ray (powder) diffraction pattern, a distinct DSC thermogram, a distinct thermogravimetric curve and a distinct IR spectrum, which is different from the reported form of Ramipril(I).
A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel monohydrate form of Ramipril(I) having bulk density in the range of 0.2 to 0.24 g/ml.
A further object of the present invention is to provide anhydrous form of Ramipril(I) comprising of drying Ramipril monohydrate obtained above at a temperature of about 40° C. under reduce pressure of 2 to 5 mm Hg, it gives anhydrous Ramipril(I) of high bulk density (0.3-0.35 g/ml).
A further object of the invention is to provide a process for the preparation of monohydrate of Ramipril(I) comprising of crystallizing optically pure Ramipril(I) from water.
A further object of the present invention is to provide anhydrous form of Ramipril(I) comprising of drying Ramipril monohydrate obtained above at a temperature of about 40° C. under reduce pressure of 2 to 5 mm Hg, it gives anhydrous Ramipril(I) of high bulk density (0.3-0.35 g/ml).
A further object of the invention is to provide a process for the preparation of monohydrate of Ramipril(I) comprising of crystallizing optically pure Ramipril(I) from water.

Process for crystallization of Ramipril and preparation of a hydrated form thereof


A technique for a reconditioning equalizer filter using convolution is described. The input to a transmitter chain is modified by a reconditioning equalizer filter using convolution prior to being applied to the transmitter. The reconditioning equalizer filter modifies and smoothen the amplitude of the main baseband signal. The modified and smoothen main baseband signal has its peaks reduced which results to lower Crest Factor. The input to the reconditioning equalizer filter using convolution could be a baseband, an intermediate frequency (IF) or radio frequency (RF) signal. When the signal is an IF or RF signal it needs to be down converted to baseband before applied to reconditioning equalizer filter using convolution.

The present invention relates to a reconditioning equalizer filter using convolution to boost the performance of any communication transmitter with non-constant envelope signal. The reconditioning equalizer filter input could be baseband, intermediate frequency (IF), or RF signal, and its output is the peak reduced and smoothen baseband signal that can be up converted to IF or RF. In any wireless communication system one of the critical sub-systems is the transmitter. This sub-system has a major contribution in cost, power consumption, and size of the system. The main reason is the requirement of communication transmitter sub-system for linear components. The higher the linearity, the higher the power consumption, cost and size. In order to minimize the cost, size and power consumption there is a need for techniques that overcome this problem. This invention conquers these challenges by using a simple and accurate reconditioning equalizer filter using convolution module used at the input to this sub-system.

Reconditioning equalizer filter using convolution


A curable organopolysiloxane composition containing dynamic covalent organopolysiloxanes which yields, upon cure, a silicone rubber having adaptive elastomeric and viscous characteristics is claimed. The silicone may be an elastomer or foam. A method of making the silicone rubber and a shaped article made of the cured adaptive viscoelastic silicone rubber composition are also claimed.

Dynamic covalent polymers, which are constructed by dynamic covalent bonds, have attracted much attention due to their unique chemical, physical and mechanical properties. See Accounts of Chemical Research 2017, 50, 376-386. Different from classic covalent bonds which are static and irreversible, dynamic covalent bonds are reversible and responsive, therefore rendering the dynamic covalent polymers with adaptive properties such as self-healing, stimuli-responsiveness, shape memory, and tunable mechanical and viscoelastic character. See Macromolecules 2015, 48, 2098-2106. Typical dynamic covalent bonds, such as imines, acyl hydrazones, boronate ester and alkoxy amines, are reported and utilized to construct different types of dynamic covalent polymers. See Journal of Polymer Science, Part A: Polymer Chemistry 2016, 54, 3551-3557.
Silicone rubber compositions have massive applications in industry, especially in the areas of healthcare, medical implants, electronics, aerospace and defense due to their merits such as biocompatibility, thermal and chemical stability, flame retardancy, and low temperature flexibility. These merits make silicone rubber distinctive from carbon-based rubbers, and are mainly derived from the chemical structure of the organopolysiloxane backbone and the crosslinking network built thereof in silicone rubbers. Similarly, compared to dynamic covalent polymers with carbon-based backbones, dynamic covalent polymers with an organopolysiloxane backbone have both the above-mentioned adaptive properties as well as excellent chemical and physical properties.
Incorporating dynamic covalent organopolysiloxanes into silicone rubber compositions provides new compositions with unique advantages. First, they are still all-silicone-based compositions which maintain the merits of silicone rubbers. Second, the new composition has two primary components. One is the silicone rubber component which provides basic physical properties such as elasticity, hardness, and tensility; the other is the dynamic covalent siloxane polymers which offer adaptive properties such as self-healing, stimuli-responsiveness, and tunable viscous character. Unique properties such as adaptive viscoelasticity, which means they can relax at tunable time periods to eliminate imposed stress and impacts, can be achieved by tuning the molecular structures and ratios of silicone rubber component and dynamic covalent organopolysiloxanes, resulting in the composition being a good candidate as an energy absorbing and impact resistance material, especially when used in healthcare and medical implant applications. Some commercially available versions of similar materials are hydrocarbon-based products which lack biocompatibility and flame retardant properties. These products are not suitable to be used as medical devices or implants where biocompatibility is required, or in high heat conditions where fire resistance and the ability to limit the spread of smoke and fire are required.
Accordingly, there is a need for new silicone rubbers incorporating dynamic covalent organopolysiloxanes, that can be easily processed and are adjustable, biocompatible, flame retardant, and possess adaptive viscoelasticity.

Curable organopolysiloxane composition containing dynamic covalent polysiloxane


A spark plug includes a sparking electrode with a firing tip, and a ground electrode having an elongated member extending outwardly from the sleeve. The elongated member has an inner surface defining a generally circular hole. The inner surface forms a circle disposed generally in a plane transverse to and having a radial center coinciding with the central axis of the insulator body, whereby each differential segment of the inner surface radially thereabout is generally equidistant to the firing tip. The inner surface is a closest portion of the ground electrode relative to the firing tip. At least a portion of the inner surface of the elongated member opposing the firing tip has a radius of curvature of about that of the firing tip for providing a spark along a path of least resistance from the firing tip to a point on the opposing inner surface of the elongated member.

Prior spark plugs typically provide gap electrodes that are flat and parallel or round and symmetrical (i.e., circular convex to circular concave). One such spark plug provides one or more prongs disposed over the tip of a center or sparking electrode. Such spark plugs generate a spark at the outermost tip of the center electrode which results in the gradual build-up of carbon on the tips of the central electrode and the prongs. The carbon build-up leads to a reduced capacity or failure in generating a spark for igniting the fuel/air mixture in an internal combustion engine. Further, the prongs tend to need re-gapping because of electrical use wear and any unwanted bending of the prongs which can occur during periodic cleaning of the spark plug electrodes.
In order to lengthen operational life, another type of spark plug has a disk-like terminal head concentrically located in spaced relation within a cylindrical ground electrode to provide an annular sparking gap between the ground electrode and the entire circumference of the disk-like terminal head of the sparking electrode. Thus, in this type of spark plug, firing may occur across the annular sparking gap anywhere along its circumferential length and therefore less fouling will occur as compared with spark plugs having a single point-to-point contact between a central electrode and a ground electrode prong. A drawback with spark plugs with annular sparking gaps, however, is that the center electrode and insulator are typically not exposed to enough of the fuel/air mixture to prevent fouling and are susceptible to damage resulting from, for example, accidental dropping of the spark plug. Further, the insulator member of such spark plugs typically does not have enough exposure to the fuel/air mixture for allowing sufficient cooling to prevent an associated insulator heat build-up which can in turn lead to cracking or insulator resistance breakdown.
In view of the foregoing, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a spark plug which overcomes the above-mentioned drawbacks associated with the use and operational life of prior art spark plugs.


A design support method for support design of a conveying path by simulating a behavior of a sheet-like flexible medium to be conveyed along a conveying path, includes: a conveying condition setting step of setting drive conditions of conveying rollers for conveying the flexible medium; a rotation direction display step of displaying rotation directions of the conveying rollers set with the drive conditions by the conveying condition setting step; a peripheral speed display step of displaying peripheral speeds of the conveying rollers set with the drive conditions by the conveying condition setting step; and a motion calculation step of acquiring time sequentially the behavior of the flexible medium in accordance with the drive conditions of the conveying rollers set by the conveying condition setting step.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a design support method and a design support program suitable for optimum design of a conveying path of an apparatus such as a copying machine, in which the behavior of a sheet member such as a sheet during conveying is analyzed by simulation.
2. Description of the Related Art
For design of a conveying path, it is preferable that the function of each designed component is studied under various conditions before it is actually manufactured, because the number of processes required for manufacturing and testing prototypes can be reduced and the development period and cost can be reduced. As techniques of making a computer simulate the behavior of a sheet on a conveying path in order to achieve the above-described objective, design support systems have been proposed as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. H11-195052 and No. H11-116133. In the design support system, a flexible medium is expressed by finite elements by a finite element method, contacts of the flexible medium with guides and rollers along a conveying path are judged, and a motion equation is numerically solved to evaluate a conveying resistance and a contact angle of the flexible medium relative to guides and the like.
For example, a document by Kazushi YOSHIDA "The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME) international Journal, 96-1530, C(1997), pp. 230-236" discloses an approach to improving a calculation speed by expressing a flexible medium simply by masses and springs.
A motion of a flexible medium is calculated through numerical time integral. Namely, a motion equation of a flexible medium expressed discretely by finite elements or a mass-spring system is established, an analysis time is divided into time steps having a finite width, and unknown values such as an acceleration, a speed and a displacement are sequentially calculated at each time step starting from time 0. Widely known as approaches to calculating these values are a Newmark-β method, a Wilson-θ method, an Euler method, a Kutta-merson method and the like.
The time taken to solve a motion equation of a flexible medium through numerical time integral may be several hours depending upon a simulation model scale and analysis conditions. It is therefore necessary to confirm whether there is any input error of a simulation model before the calculation of numerical integral starts.
A simulation model has information input in a conveying path definition step and a conveying condition setting step. The input content of the conveying path definition step is mainly position information. A straight line guide is expressed by the coordinate values of a start point and an end point, an arc guide is expressed by the coordinate values of a center, a radius, a start point angle and an end point angle, and a conveying roller is expressed by the coordinate values of a center and a radius.
As the input content of the conveying condition setting step, a conveying guide is expressed by a friction coefficient of a flexible medium, a conveying roller is expressed by a friction coefficient of a flexible medium and time sequential roller drive conditions for conveying the flexible medium.
In confirming a simulation model, position information on a guide and a roller is drawn on a display as a line segment, an arc or a circle in accordance with input coordinate values. A user is not required to read input values and can perform a confirmation work visually easily. A friction coefficient of a flexible medium is input as numerical values in some cases. However, generally, as the material quality of an object of a model is designated, an attribute of each material quality preset in a database is automatically selected and input to a system. It is therefore unnecessary for a user to perform a confirmation work.
However, in confirming conveying roller drive conditions set for conveying a flexible medium (in the following, a paper sheet is used by way of example) along a conveying path under desired conveying conditions, the following steps are required to be executed, resulting in a problem that the confirmation work is complicated and hard to understand.
(Confirmation of Sheet Conveying Direction)
First, description will be made on a confirmation work method regarding a sheet conveying direction.
1. If a pair of rollers is modeled overriding a conveying path, one being defined as a driving roller and the other being defined as a driven roller, it is confirmed that the drive condition is set to which roller (confirmation of the driving roller).
2. If a sign added to a numerical value of a roller rotation speed input for the driving roller is defined that a positive sign indicates a counter-clockwise rotation and a negative sign indicates a clockwise rotation, it is confirmed that which of the positive and negative numerical values is input (confirmation of a rotation direction of the driving roller).
3. It is confirmed that a nip portion of the driving roller and driven roller, i.e., a sheet on the conveying path, is conveyed to which direction (confirmation of a conveying direction of a sheet by a conveying portion).
These works are required for the pair of rollers to confirm only the sheet conveying direction. These works are sequentially performed from a roller pair disposed at the upstream side of the conveying direction to a roller pair disposed at the downstream side. The sheet conveying direction of the whole model cannot be confirmed visually and intuitively.
(Confirmation of Sheet Conveying Speed)
Next, description will be made on a confirmation work method regarding a sheet conveying speed.
1. If a pair of rollers is modeled overriding a conveying path, one being defined as a driving roller and the other being defined as a driven roller, it is confirmed that the drive condition is set to which roller (confirmation of the driving roller).
2. It is confirmed what numerical value of a rotation speed is input to the driving roller.
3. It is confirmed what radius is set to the driving roller.
4. A roller peripheral speed is calculated (confirmation of a sheet conveying speed).
A rotation speed of the driving roller is generally expressed by a rotation number of a roller shaft per unit, time from the viewpoint of drive system design. Even if a linear speed of conveying a sheet with a nip portion of each roller pair is the same, an input rotation number is different if the roller radius of the driving roller of each roller pair is different. It is therefore difficult to judge a relative comparison between roller peripheral speeds of adjacent roller pairs on the upstream and downstream sides. There is a case wherein an error of input numerical values is found after analysis calculations by numerical time integral.
The confirmation works are further made complicated for a model having time sequentially different sheet conveying speeds and sheet conveying directions, such as a case wherein a sheet is conveyed at 200 mm/s to a certain time, the speed is increased to 400 mm/s from a certain time, and after conveying is stopped for a certain time period, the sheet conveying direction is reversed and then the sheet is conveyed at 600 mm/s.
As described above, it is difficult to grasp time sequentially, visually and intuitively the rotation directions and peripheral speeds of all rollers in a model with drive definitions.

Design support method and design support program


The present invention is an integrated catalytic reforming/hydrodealkylation process that maximizes benzene recovery by incorporating refrigeration and pressure swing adsorption separation units. In the refrigeration separation unit, liquid reformate is used as a sponge oil to recover benzene from a hydrodealkylation purge gas stream, which in the past has been vented. The pressure swing adsorption unit remove impurities from a hydrogen-rich gas stream prior to use in the hydrodealkylation unit.

Hydrocarbons classified as aromatics have enjoyed increasing demand in the marketplace due principally to their versatility as gasoline blending components. In addition, they can also be used as components in the production of various petrochemical compounds. This is particularly true in the case of benzene. Benzene represents the building block for the direct or indirect manufacture of well over 250 separate products or product classifications. Over the past few years, the annual benzene demand in the United States alone has ranged from 1.5 to 1.9 billion gallons. Worldwide, the annual consumption of benzene has ranged from 3.5 to 4.2 billion gallons. Historically, the major consumption of benzene has been in the production of ethylbenzene, cumene and cyclohexane. The principal use of ethylbenzene is to produce styrene by, for example, steam hydrogenation. Significant amounts of benzene are also consumed in the manufacture of aniline, detergent alkylate, and maleic anhydride.
At the present time, most of the total aromatics produced in the U.S. come from catalytic reforming of hydrocarbons. Typical reforming reactions include the dehydrogenation of naphthenes to produce aromatics, dehydrocyclization of paraffins directly to aromatics, the hydrocracking of long-chained paraffins into lower boiling, normally liquid material, and the isomerization of paraffins. In catalytic reforming of hydrocarbons, fresh liquid hydrocarbons boiling within the gasoline or naphtha boiling range are reacted with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst comprising a Group VIII noble metal on a porous carrier at conditions which promote the conversion of naphthenes and paraffins to aromatic hydrocarbons.
Catalytic reforming is primarily an endothermic process effected in a plurality of reaction zones having interstage heating therebetween. The operation is effected primarily in vapor phase at temperatures of up to 1200.degree. F. Other operating conditions include a pressure of about 20 to 1000 psig, a liquid hourly space velocity of about 0.2 to 10, and a hydrogen to hydrocarbon mole ratio of about 0.5:1 to 20:1.
The prior art is replete with catalytic reforming processes using a variety of schemes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,949 (issued to Petersen et al.) discloses a process for reforming a petroleum hydrocarbon feedstock that boils within the range of about 120.degree. to 500.degree. F. and is selected from a group consisting of virgin naphthas, cracked naphthas, catalytic gasolines, coker naphthas, and mixtures thereof. In this process, the above-described feedstock is contacted in a reactor system consisting of two reactors in the presence of hydrogen and under reforming conditions with a catalyst in each reactor comprising a Group VIII noble metal and a co-catalytic solid support comprising mordenite. Another example of a catalytic reforming process can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,241 (issued to Rausch). The Rausch patent discloses a process for catalytically reforming a gasoline fraction comprising contacting the fraction with a catalytic composite comprising a combination of a platinum group component, a tin component, and a halogen component.
Processes that seek to maximize the production of benzene take at least a portion of the catalytic reformate containing alkylaromatics and react it in a dealkylation zone in the presence of hydrogen at conditions selected to dealkylate alkyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons. Thus, toluene and mixed xylenes are dealkylated for maximum benzene production, or toluene is transalkylated to maximize production of both benzene and mixed xylenes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,197,523 is illustrative of a hydrodealkylation process. In this process, a feedstock comprising toluene, mixed xylenes, ethylbenzene, mixed diethylbenzenes, and various alkyl-substituted naphthalenes is reacted in the presence of a catalyst containing at least one oxide of tin, titanium, and zirconium combined with at least one oxide in chromium, molybdenum and tungsten at conditions including temperatures of about 1000.degree. to 1500.degree. F. and pressures of about 300 to 1000 psig.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,355 (issued to Addison) discloses an integrated catalytic reforming and hydrodealkylation process wherein a liquid phase of a catalytic reforming effluent is passed to a catalytic hydrodealkylation zone, the products of which are separated into a hydrogen-rich vapor phase and a liquid aromatic-containing phase. The hydrogen-rich vapor phase is then recycled to the catalytic reforming zone, and the aromatic-containing liquid phase is sent to a fractionator wherein a benzene-rich stream is recovered.
The prior art integrated processes have several disadvantages. First, in the prior art process, the hydrogen-rich gas contains some light hydrocarbons which are carried forward to the hydrodealkylation unit and which will crack to form methane in the hydrodealkylation unit, thereby increasing the overall hydrogen consumption. Second, in the prior art processes, a significant amount of benzene, hydrogen, and some methane can be lost through venting of purge gases in the hydrodealkylation unit. Third, the use of a catalytic hydrodealkylation unit has the disadvantage of process shutdowns required for catalyst replacement.
There is a need for an integrated catalytic reforming/hydrodealkylation process that maximizes the recovery of benzene and uses hydrogen more efficiently.

Integrated catalytic reforming and hydrodealkylation process for maximum recovery of benzene