A fluid ejecting apparatus includes a supporting member that supports a fluid ejection target medium; a fluid ejecting head that is provided opposite to the supporting member so as to eject fluid toward the supporting member; and a medium ejecting unit that ejects the medium in a first direction while holding the medium in such a manner that the medium is supported by the supporting member. The medium ejecting unit includes a driving roller that is provided at the supporting-member side and is in contact with the medium from the supporting-member side when the medium ejecting unit holds the medium, and a driven roller that is provided at the fluid-ejecting-head side and is in contact with the medium from the fluid-ejecting-head side when the medium ejecting unit holds the medium.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a fluid ejecting apparatus.
2. Related Art
An ink jet type recording apparatus is known as an example of a variety of fluid ejecting apparatuses that eject fluid onto a fluid ejection target medium. Some fluid-ejecting type recording apparatuses of the related art eject fluid as follows. A fluid-ejecting type recording apparatus is provided with a platen (supporting member) that supports a sheet of recording paper or the like (fluid ejection target medium) from thereunder, a fluid ejecting head that ejects fluid, and a pair of rollers that forms a nip therebetween. While transporting a sheet of recording paper by means of the pair of rollers, the fluid-ejecting type recording apparatus ejects fluid such as ink onto the sheet of recording paper that is supported on the platen from the fluid ejecting head.
In the operation of the related-art fluid-ejecting type recording apparatus, it could be difficult to make a fluid ejection target medium supported on the platen in a stable manner depending on the position of the fluid ejection target medium. For example, the fluid ejection target medium could be supported unstably on the platen with a part of the fluid ejection target medium being curved/curled toward the ejecting-head side. When the fluid ejection target medium is unstably supported, the distance from the surface of the fluid ejecting head to the surface of the fluid ejection target medium varies, which means that the ejection distance of the fluid also changes. Because of such a change in the ejection distance of the fluid, it is difficult to make ejected fluid such as ink drops land on desired positions on the surface of the fluid ejection target medium, which results in poor fluid-ejection recording performance.
In an effort to provide a solution to such a problem, a fluid-ejecting type recording apparatus that is provided with an urging member that urges a fluid ejection target medium has been proposed in the art. An example of such a configuration is described in JP-A-9-48161. In the proposed configuration, a fluid ejection target medium is transported at a certain angle with respect to the surface of a platen. Accordingly, the fluid ejection target medium is urged onto the surface of the platen. By this means, it is possible to prevent a paper-platen gap from being formed between the fluid ejection target medium and the platen and to support the fluid ejection target medium on the platen in a stable manner.
However, the configuration that includes the urging member explained above has the following disadvantage. Although it is possible to support a fluid ejection target medium on the platen where the urging member is provided and in the neighborhood thereof, it is difficult to support the fluid ejection target medium on the platen in a stable manner at a distant regional part thereof that is relatively remote from the urging member due to a decrease in the strength of an urging force thereat. These days, since the length of a fluid ejecting head when viewed in the direction of the transportation of a fluid ejection target medium is increasing, the length of the landing area of fluid when viewed in the direction of the transportation of the fluid ejection target medium is also increasing. For this reason, it is getting more and more difficult to make the entire surface of the fluid landing area of a fluid ejection target medium supported on the surface of a platen in a stable manner.


A hydrogen supply unit is configured to inject hydrogen gas having flowed in an inflow passage into an outflow passage by use of an injector to reduce the pressure of the hydrogen gas. The hydrogen supply unit includes a primary-side relief valve for releasing the hydrogen gas from inside to outside of the inflow passage when the internal pressure of the inflow passage rises to a first predetermined value, and a secondary-side relief valve for releasing the hydrogen gas from inside to outside of the outflow passage when the internal pressure of the outflow passage rises to a second predetermined value. The primary-side relief valve and the secondary-side relief valve are held between the inflow block and the outflow block.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel supply unit to be used for adjusting the flow rate and pressure of fuel gas which will be supplied from a fuel container to a supply destination.
Related Art
Heretofore there is known a fuel cell system disclosed for example in Patent Document 1 listed below. The fuel cell system disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes an inlet-side manifold to which the fuel gas will be supplied, injectors provided in the inlet-side manifold and used for controlling the flow rate and pressure of the fuel gas, and an outlet-side manifold provided on an injection side of the injectors. Further, a relief valve is provided in the outlet-side manifold.


An apparatus for generating and measuring bending vibration in a pipe buried underground or a pipe covered by insulating materials is disclosed. There is provided an apparatus for generating and measuring bending vibration in a non-ferromagnetic pipe without physical contact, comprising: a ferromagnetic strip adhered on a surface of the pipe; a coil wound around the surface of the pipe; two magnets for generating bias magnetic field, applied to the strip and parallel to the strip; a power source for supplying an electric current to the coil; and a measuring unit for measuring variation of voltage across the coil, the variation of the voltage being generated due to a strain according to inverse magnetostrictive effect, the strain being generated due to bending vibration, the bending vibration being generated due to deformation of the strip, the deformation being induced according to magnetostrictive effect as the power source supplies the electric current to the coil.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-destructive testing apparatus for a pipe. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for generating and measuring bending vibration in a non-ferromagnetic pipe without physical contact, which may generate and measure bending vibration in a pipe buried underground or a pipe covered by insulating materials.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pipes are frequently buried underground or covered by insulating materials, coating materials, etc. In the related art, it is possible to measure bending vibration and to perform safety inspection in the pipes only after the pipes are uncovered by digging the ground or by peeling the insulating materials, the coating materials, etc.
However, there is a drawback in the related art that it needs long time and great cost for both a test and recovery after the test. Thus, it requires development of an apparatus for detecting structural defects of pipes without digging the ground or peeling the insulating materials, the coating materials, etc.
Magnetostrictive effect, which is also called Joule effect, refers to a phenomenon that mechanical deformation occurs in a ferromagnetic material when the ferromagnetic material is placed in magnetic fields. A reciprocal phenomenon of the magnetostrictive effect (i.e. a phenomenon that changes in magnetic field in vicinity of materials occur when mechanical stress is applied to the materials) is designated as inverse magnetostrictive effect or Villari effect.
The magnetostrictive effect can be expressed as follows.
When ferromagnetic materials are placed in magnetic field H, induced magnetic flux density B inside the ferromagnetic materials is the sum of magnetic flux density in vacuum and magnetic flux density induced by magnetization of the ferromagnetic materials. Therefore, the magnetic flux density B inside the ferromagnetic materials can be expressed as equation 1.B=μ0H+μ0M=μ0H+μ0χmH=μ0(1+χm)H=μ0μrH=μH   [Equation 1]
where B denotes magnetic flux density, H denotes magnetic field intensity applied by an outside magnet or electromagnet, M denotes magnetization, χm denotes magnetic susceptibility, μ0 denotes permeability of free space, μr denotes relative permeability, and μ denotes permeability.
The Joule effect and Villari effect can be expressed as equations 2 and 3.
                    ɛ        =                              σ                          E              H                                +                                    q              *                                    H                                              [                  Equation                                                              2                ]            B=μσH+qσ  [Equation 3]
where ε denotes strain, σ denotes stress applied to the ferromagnetic material, EH denotes modulus of elasticity in a constant magnetic field and μσ denotes permeability when constant stress is applied.
The coefficients q* and q in equations 2 and 3 representing the Joule effect and Villari effect can be represented as equations 4 and 5,respectively.
                                                        q              *                        =                                          ⅆ                ɛ                                            ⅆ                H                                              )                σ                            [                  Equation                                                              4                ]                                                      q            =                                          ⅆ                B                                            ⅆ                σ                                              )                H                            [                  Equation                                                              5                ]
If an apparatus for generating and measuring bending vibration use magnetostrictive effect or inverse magnetostrictive effect mentioned above, the apparatus for generating and measuring bending vibration can measure deformation of testing member without any physical contacts with the testing member by applying magnetic field to the testing member and by measuring variation of the magnetic field according to the inverse magnetostrictive effect. Thus, the apparatus for generating and measuring bending vibration can be applied to various testing members inaccessible or difficult to access.

Apparatus for generating and measuring bending vibration in a non-ferromagnetic pipe without physical contact


A flow directing insert for a reactor chamber in a reactor may have a mainly square-shaped cross-section. The chamber has an inlet at one end of the chamber and an outlet at the other end of the chamber and at least one of the walls of the reactor chamber consists of a heat conductive material or of a membrane. The insert comprises a number of units arranged in rows, which units together with the walls of the chamber define a channel for a fluid. The channel extends from a first side of the chamber to a second side of the chamber and back again to the first side backwards and forwards a number of times. The units are arranged such that the fluid is forced to flow between the units in a serpentine path. A reactor comprises at least one reactor chamber containing a flow directing insert as described above.

Conventional reactors for carrying through different kinds of chemical reactions in a batch-wise manner have usually been in the shape of a vessel of a suitable dimension into which the reactants are poured and allowed to react during a predetermined reaction time. The vessel is usually provided with mixing means. If it is necessary to heat or cool the reactants the vessel may have been provided with a heating or cooling mantle or heating or cooling coils, which are immersed in the reactants. The heat transfer characteristics of such an arrangement is poor as well as the mixing.
Another type of reactor making it possible to carry through reactions continuously consists of tube reactors comprising tubes of suitable length, through which the reactants are made to flow. Such an arrangement gives possibility to control the holding time especially at turbulent conditions. If the reactants should be heated or cooled, the tube may be surrounded by a shell, through which heating or cooling medium is forced to flow.
Recently, plate reactors often called micro-reactors for carrying through catalytic reactions have been presented to the market. These micro reactors are often used in connection with fuel cells. Such a micro-reactor is described for example in EP 1 091 800, which shows a compact, catalytic reactor built up of piled textured plates forming reaction spaces and heat-bearing spaces. The texture may be in the form of channels aiming at a good distribution of the reaction liquid.
This type of reactors may also be used on a larger scale.
Flow directing inserts are known in many connections in order to divide a flow and to ensure that the flow direction is constantly changed. These inserts consist of different kinds of packing material, which is available in different materials and configurations. WO 01/94006 describes an example of a tube reactor of this kind with reaction tubes with modular packing that create turbulence in order to promote fluid flow through the packing material.

Flow directing insert for a reactor chamber and a reactor


A small and thin buzzer which can be mounted on a printed circuit board. A buzzer assembly and a lead connecting chamber are provided in a buzzer case. One end of each of the terminals for external connection is extended to the inside of the lead connecting chamber and the exciting coil terminals of the buzzer assembly are connected to the terminals for external connection within the buzzer case. A lead groove for leading the exciting coil terminals therethrough are provided on the inner surface of the buzzer case. Thus, the connection between the exciting coil terminals and the terminals for external connection is facilitated and a resonance space for the buzzer assembly is secured.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin buzzer and, more particularly, to the improvement in a small and thin buzzer which is directly mounted on a printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various electronic parts are standardized as chip parts in order to enable automatic assembly. A thin buzzer which is directly mounted on a printed circuit board so as to be used as a call buzzer for a pocket receiver such as a pager has also been developed as a buzzer which can be mounted on a printed circuit board by applying a cream solder or the like to the buzzer in the same way as in mounting such chip parts.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 2-34900 (Japanese Patent Application No. Sho 63-185061) discloses an example of such a buzzer equipped with terminals for mounting the buzzer on a printed circuit board. These terminals provided on the base of the buzzer enable the buzzer to be automatically mounted on a printed circuit board.
Such a buzzer can be mounted on the desired printed circuit board on a series of automatic assembly lines in the same way as other electronic chip parts, and the application range for a buzzer is greatly enlarged.
A conventional buzzer, however, cannot be made thin and since the thickness of the buzzer is larger than the other electronic chip parts, the size of an apparatus incorporating such a printed circuit board cannot be made small. Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Sho 63-33197 discloses a small-sized and light-weight buzzer which is used for a wireless receiver. In this conventional apparatus, however, the structure for connecting the terminals for external connection and the exciting coil terminals is apt to increase the thickness of the buzzer, so that it is impossible to produce a thin buzzer which fits the demands.
To state this more specifically, in the conventional treatment of exciting coil terminals, the coil terminals guided through an opening portion are soldered to the terminals for external connection and the opening portion is thereafter sealed by a sealing adhesive. In this case, the solder or the sealing adhesive sometimes protrudes out of the buzzer case depending upon the unevenness of the amount of solder or sealing adhesive. As a result, in mounting the buzzer on the circuit board, the buzzer as a whole protrudes from the circuit board so that positioning of the buzzer on the circuit board by a mounting machine is made difficult.
As conventional general buzzers, for example, those having the structures shown in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Nos. Sho 54-178522, Sho 57-105700 and Sho 57-153398 are known. In this conventional buzzers, the exciting coil terminals are treated in the buzzer assembly. Since the terminals for external connection are close to the coil terminals, the workability is very bad when treating the coil terminals. Furthermore, since these buzzers have a general buzzer structure, they cannot be mounted on a printed circuit board unlike a buzzer in accordance with the present invention.


A method according to one embodiment may include controlling, by an integrated circuit, a first plurality of switches to generate a first output signal having a first amplitude and a second amplitude and a second plurality of switches to generate a second output signal having a third amplitude and the second amplitude. The method according to this embodiment may also include balancing, by the integrated circuit, the number of switch transitions of said first and second plurality of switches when said first and second output signals go from said first and third amplitudes to said second amplitude, respectively. Of course, many alternatives, variations, and modifications are possible without departing from this embodiment.

In one conventional data storage arrangement, a computer node includes a host bus adapter (HBA). The HBA communicates with a data storage system via one or more communication links using a communication protocol associated with the data storage system. The HBA may transmit a serial stream of data to one or more target devices, and the amplitude of the serial data stream may be selected by the communications protocol. In the conventional system, a large number of switches are employed to produce the serial data stream, and the data stream can go from a data transmission state to an idle state. Also, a number of switches must switch states to transition between the data transmission state and the idle state. One convention system employs inverters to invert the switches when transitioning between the data transmission state and the idle state, however, this may result in an unbalance in switch states, which may operate to introduce noise in the serial data stream. The conventional system is incapable of balancing switch transitions, and thus the conventional system is incapable of reducing noise in the serial data stream associated with unbalanced switch transitions without introducing complex noise-reduction circuitry.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended that the claimed subject matter be viewed broadly, and be defined only as set forth in the accompanying claims.

Integrated circuit capable of balancing switch transitions


A medical stand may include a first link, a second link parallel to the first link, a third link connected between one end of the first link and one end of the second link, a fourth link parallel to the third link and connected between the other end of the first link and the other end of the second link, a mounting arm extending from the other end of the first link, a variable balancing arm connected to at least one of the second link or the third link, a counterweight provided at a distal end of the variable balancing arm, a detector detecting a displacement of at least one of the first link, the second link, the third link, or the fourth link, and a controller generating the control signal to adjust the center-of-gravity position of the variable balancing arm in accordance with the displacement detected by the detector.

A medical stand is a device that helps a user easily move a medical device such as a surgical microscope or a surgical drill to a desired location with relatively little force. Such a medical stand is useful for surgery, which requires high precision and takes a long time, such as otologic surgery (or ear surgery) or the like. A typical medical stand includes a base as a reference point, a medical device mounted on one side of the base, and a counterbalancing part mounted on a side opposite to the one side of the base where the medical device is mounted. The counterbalancing part comprises a counterweight having a predetermined weight or a counter-spring having a predetermined elastic modulus depending on the weight of the medical device mounted on the base.
When the medical stand is used for surgery, the weight of the medical device mounted on one side of the base of the medical stand may be changed during surgery. In this case, the entire weight balance of the medical stand may collapse because the weight of the counterweight of the counterbalancing part mounted on the other side of the base of the medical stand is fixed. In this case, it may be difficult to perform precise surgery using the medical device. Furthermore, in order to restore the collapsed weight balance, there is a need for the user to replace the counterweight or the counter-spring in accordance with the change in the weight of the medical device.

INDUSTRY-UNIVERSITY COOPERATION FOUNDATION HANYANG UNIVERSITY ERICA CAMPUS


A method for creating a summary of an audiovisual presentation initiates with segmenting a frame of the audiovisual presentation. Then, a slide region of the segmented frame is identified. Next, a histogram representing lines in the slide region is generated. Next, moving regions associated with successive frames from the histogram are suppressed. A computer readable medium, a system for providing a real time summarization of a meeting and an integrated circuit are also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to information processing and more particularly to a method and apparatus for summarizing and indexing the contents of an audiovisual presentation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Formal presentations serve an important and popular means of communication. In academia and industry, the capture of such presentations for subsequent online viewing has become routine for applications such as distance-learning and technical training. Recording the seminars and placing the content online provides users the benefits of anywhere, anytime, and anyone viewing due to the ubiquitous nature of the Internet. Additionally, seminars having multiple presentations running concomitantly, force an individual to make a choice to attend one of the multiple presentations, when the individual may desire to attend more than one of the concomitant presentations.
Previous work on automatic video summarization may be characterized to fall into one of three broad areas: segmentation, analysis, and presentation. Segmentation involves the partitioning of a frame of video. For the domain of audio-visual presentations, segmentation requires consideration of changing lighting conditions, speaker movements, and camera pan/zooms. One of the shortcomings of the available techniques that segment audio-visual presentations is the inability to effectively handle the changing lighting conditions, speaker movements, and camera pan/zooms. Furthermore, there are no available techniques that are capable of indexing the audio visual content once the content is segmented, nor are there any techniques for summarizing the content for easy retrieval by a user. The problems become more acute when a user is accessing the video data through a handheld device with limited computational resources.
As a result, there is a need to solve the problems of the prior art to enable automatic indexing and an effective scheme for summarizing the content of an audiovisual presentation that enables a user to efficiently locate desired information.

Method and apparatus for summarizing and indexing the contents of an audio-visual presentation


A file with a card-receiving recess is disclosed. The file comprises a first panel comprising a first layer and a backing layer, that contains an opening extending from the first layer to the backing layer, and a second panel hingedly associated with the first panel. The backing layer is configured to support a displayed sheet element in a position such that it is visible through the opening of the first layer, and the displayed sheet element is at least partially received within the thickness of the first surface and the backing layer. The backing layer contains an adhesive disposed thereon within the opening for securing the displayed sheet element to the backing.

It is known to provide file folders for adhesively attaching business cards. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,953 discloses a file folder business card organizer wherein the business card is attached to the tab portion of a file folder by means of an adhesive. Alternatively, the business card can be attached to the folder by inserting the corners of the business card into diagonal slits located diagonally opposite each other.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,928 discloses an index card for use in conjunction with a rotary card file or the like, which includes a means for displaying a business card through the use of slots, flaps or adhesives to secure the business card to the index card. U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,901 discloses a file-index card system for retaining and displaying business cards, which includes a frame in which multiple file cards in the form of planar sheets are held. Each file card has an area of adhesive covering a portion thereof, with a protective peel-off covering placed over the area of adhesive.
There is a need for a simple, inexpensive folder which can display a card with an improved presentation.


A decorative Christmas tree device is provided including a base. A post is coupled to the base and extended upwardly therefrom. At least one light is mounted to the post and base for illuminating upon the receipt of power. Further included is monofilament line for encompassing the post, base, and light. As such, the illumination of the light permeates through the line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lighted trees and more particularly pertains to a new illuminating holiday tree for uniquely illuminating a decorated holiday tree.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of lighted trees is known in the prior art. More specifically, lighted trees heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art lighted trees include U. S. Pat. No. 4,130,678; U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,893; U.S. Pat. Des. No. 360,380; U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,218; U.S. Pat. Des. No. 325,887; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,536.
In these respects, the illuminating holiday tree according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of uniquely illuminating a decorated holiday tree.


A package includes a sensor die with a micro component, such as a MEMS device, coupled to an integrated circuit which may include, for example, CMOS circuitry, and one or more electrically conductive bond pads near the periphery of the sensor die. A semiconductor cap structure is attached to the sensor die. The front side of the cap structure is attached to the sensor die by a seal ring to hermetically encapsulate an area of the sensor die where the micro component is located. The bond pads on the sensor die are located outside the area encapsulated by the seal ring. Electrical leads, which extend along outer side edges of the semiconductor cap structure from its front side to its back side, are coupled to the micro component via the bond pads.

Proper packaging of micro components is important to ensure the integrity of the signals to and from the micro components and often determines the overall cost and size of the assembly.
For example, MEMS devices, such as accelerometers and other inertial sensors, have found applications in various consumer products including laptop computers, cell phones and handheld computers. In some applications, the MEMS device is fabricated on the same die as the signal process circuitry. For example, BiCMOS circuit fabrication processes may be integrated with a surface micromachined MEMS process. Integrating the micro component with the circuitry can facilitate signal amplification and signal processing.
The overall process of manufacturing a package that encapsulates such an integrated MEMS device may include the following steps: (i) fabrication of an integrated MEMS device; (ii) a wafer capping process for the MEMS device; and (iii) assembly of the capped MEMS device in the package. One advantage of capping the MEMS device prior to assembly is that it can reduce the complexity of the subsequent dicing operation. Another advantage is that the cap can protect the MEMS device when the die is attached, for example, to a lead frame. A schematic cross-section of a package for a capped sensor die that includes a MEMS device is illustrated in FIG. 1 and is described in further detail in Felton et al., "Chip Scale Packaging of a MEMS Accelerometer," 2004 Electronic Components and Technology Conference, IEEE, pp. 869-873 (2004).
An important factor for handheld consumer products such as those mentioned above is the size and weight of the package. Although the techniques described in the foregoing article apparently result in a relatively small package, they require the use of wire bonding for the electrical connections between the lead frame and the die for the MEMS device. The overall footprint of the package, including the electrical connections to the lead frame, is larger than the footprint of the sensor die. For some applications, it may be desirable to have a smaller footprint.

Method of fabrication for chip scale package for a micro component


A radio frequency coagulation instrument has two concentric tubular feedls (15, 16) with coagulation electrodes (13, 14) at their end. The tubular feedlines (15, 16) are simultaneously used to supply the radio frequency current to the coagulation electrode (13, 14) and for the supply and removal of a flushing liquid. Moreover, the passage (19) formed within the tubular feedline (16) which serves for the removal of flushing liquid, and which is expediently connected to a vacuum source, can be used independently of the supply of flushing liquid to suck away not only flushing liquid but also, or alternatively, blood, body fluids, secretions and pieces of body tissue.

The invention relates to a medical radio high frequency coagulation instrument. More specifically, the invention relates to a medical radio frequency coagulation instrument with a preferably circular cylindrical instrument shaft which has, at the proximal end, two electrically conductive coagulation ring electrodes which are arranged inside one another and preferably concentric to one another and to the shaft axis. Electrically conductive mutually insulated tubular feedlines extend rearwardly from the electrically conductive coagulation ring electrodes, are preferably formed in one piece therewith, and also, are preferably arranged concentric to one another and to the shaft axis, with the distal end of the tubular feedlines being connected to a connection piece for the supply of the required radio frequency current.
In a known electro-surgical treatment instrument of this kind (DE-OS 41 22 219) the two coagulation electrodes cooperate with a cutting electrode arranged concentrically to them. The coagulation electrodes are placed in use onto the tissue or vessel to be coagulated, whereupon the radio frequency coagulation current is switched on by means of a control device for a period until the desired coagulation has been carried out through the current flow between the two coagulation electrodes.

Medical high frequency coagulation instrument

Delma elektro- und medizinische Apparatebau Gesellschaft mbH


A lighting system includes a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI) master controller, a lighting driver, and a signal converter. The DALI master controller is connected to a management server. The lighting driver operates a lighting device including a light emitting diode (LED). The signal converter is connected to the DALI master controller by a DALI bus operating according to a DALI communication protocol, and is communicatively connected to the lighting driver via a wireless communication connection operating according to a wireless communication protocol. The signal converter inter-converts a signal transmitted and received from the DALI master controller according to the DALI communication protocol and a signal transmitted to and received from the lighting driver according to the wireless communication protocol so as to enable communication between the lighting driver and the DALI master controller.

The present disclosure relates to a lighting system and a signal converting device therefor.
Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are commonly used as light sources due to various advantages such as low power consumption, high luminance, and the like. In particular, recently, light emitting devices have been employed as backlights in lighting devices and large liquid crystal displays (LCDs). In many cases, light emitting devices are provided in the form of a package so as to be easily installed in various devices such as lighting fixtures, devices, or the like. As LEDs are being increasingly used for illumination purposes, a lighting system using a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI) protocol has been proposed as a way to collectively controlling a plurality of lighting devices.

Lighting system and signal converting device therefor

Samsung-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do


A method for correcting a packet of an Internet control message protocol (ICMP), during routing of a packet between a private and a public network having been processed by an application level gateway, includes reading a packet of an ICMP including a “need to fragment” message and the value of a maximum transmission unit defining the maximum size of data packets handled in a communication protocol used by a routing, calculating a value of a processing size by comparing a size of a packet not processed by the integrator of the application level gateway and a size of the same packet processed by the integrator, modifying the packet of an ICMP by overwriting the value of the maximum transmission unit with an actual maximum packet size value which depends on the value of the processing size, sending, to a transmitter having sent the non-processed packet, the packet of an ICMP.

The ALG application level gateway protocol is a technique used in computer networks to make it possible to enhance the security of a firewall or NAT between a local network and a public network. The application level gateway ALG protocol integrator is a software component that manages protocols of specific applications such as SIP and FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Hereafter, reference will be made indifferently to "application level gateway integrator" or to "application level gateway protocol" to designate this software component. The application level gateway ALG protocol thus acts as intermediary between a public network (Internet) and a private network in a gateway which may comprise application protocols. For example, the application level gateway ALG protocol rewrites the protocol level SIP to enable translation between a private network LAN and a public network WAN. The ALG appears as the termination point before the routing of the gateway, that is to say the output of the gateway. The ALG controls the authorisation or the denial of traffic to an application of the server. It does this by intercepting and analysing a specified traffic, to enable the traffic to pass through the gateway.
When a packet is sent from an internal network to an external network, the application level gateway ALG protocol can convert information, addresses, in a network level of the packet. This can lead to problems due to the fact that the size of the packet may exceed a maximum transmission size of a host, for example a router, between a transmitter and the receiver.
It is known in the case of size of a packet exceeding a maximum transmission size MTU of a host, for example a router, to use an Internet control message protocol ICMP which is an error message, for example when a service or a host is inaccessible, sent to the transmitter. The router uses the Internet control message ICMP to transfer a packet of an Internet control message protocol ICMP to the transmitter comprising information on the maximum transmission size MTU of the host in this case of the router. A DF (Don't Fragment) flag of the outgoing packet makes it possible to discover the maximum transmission size MTU of a given path (also called "MTU discovery"). Along the path taken by such a packet, if one of the hosts or routers passed through has an MTU smaller than the size of the transmitted packet, the latter will be rejected and a packet of an Internet control message protocol ICMP, containing a MTU size of the host that generates it, will be sent in order to inform the source.
An example of this type of message is represented for example in FIG. 6 which is a copy of a part of a computer screen, in which may be read:                type 3/code 4, "Fragmentation Needed"
The value of the MTU is in a field of the packet of an Internet control message protocol ICMP: "maximum transmission size MTU of next hop": 1492 in this example.
Notably, normal MTU values for different types of network are known:                on Ethernet:                    MTU=1500 octets by default.            MTU=1500 to 9000 octets with Jumbo frame.                        on PPPoE: MTU=1492 octets.        on ADSL or ATM25: MTU=1468 octets.        on ADSL in Wi-Fi: MTU=1468 octets.
Thus, the transmitter can send a packet, for example of 1491 octets size and, if there is no error message, it can deduce therefrom that it can send at least packets of 1491 octets.
If the transmitter receives a packet of an Internet control message protocol ICMP with the information to fragment and comprising the information of a maximum transmission size MTU of a value of 1468 octets, the transmitter can either fragment to reach a size less than or equal to 1468 octets, or reduce its message to reach 1468 octets, notably when the packet cannot be fragmented.
For example, in the VoIP (Voice on IP) telephone context, a transmitter can send in the private network a packet marked "don't fragment" DF comprising in the application level 7 a SIP packet which is a SIP protocol. The SIP packet is a signaling protocol with information enabling the initialisation of multimedia sessions and may be modified by the application level gateway ALG protocol.
Indeed, during processing of the SIP packet by the application level gateway ALG protocol, the header of the SIP packet may be modified, for example an IP address or a port may be modified, information may be added to the applicative level of the SIP packet. This modification may lead to a modification of the size of the IP packet sent as described previously.
When a packet exceeds the maximum transmission size MTU of a packet being able to be transmitted in one go (without fragmentation), a routing sends back to the transmitter a packet of an Internet control message protocol ICMP comprising the "Fragmentation Needed" information as well as the maximum transmission unit MTU value.
In the case where the maximum transmission size MTU value is smaller than the size of the IP packet transmitted by the transmitter, the transmitter can either send back a packet of smaller size or can accept the fragmentation of the packet by sending back the same packet but without the DF flag.
However, due to the fact that the application level gateway ALG protocol has modified the packet, it is possible in certain cases that the maximum transmission size MTU value is greater than the size of the packet sent by the transmitter and obviously smaller than the size of the same packet processed by the application level gateway ALG protocol. The transmitter does not understand the error mentioned in the packet of an Internet control message protocol ICMP given that the size of the packet sent by the transmitter was less than the maximum transmission value.
The transmitter not understanding, the call process stops and thus fails.
An example will now be described to illustrate this problem better:
The transmitter sends a packet of 1490 octets size comprising an IP packet marked DF (don't fragment). The application level gateway ALG protocol modifies the SIP packet notably by modifying the IP LAN addresses by the IP WAN address of the gateway and can modify the port. These modifications lead to, in this example, an increase of 7 octets of the size of the packet.
The size of the packet processed by the application level gateway ALG protocol is thus 1490 octets+7 octets i.e. 1497 octets. The routing of the gateway after the application level gateway ALG protocol to pass from the private network LAN to the public network WAN may for example accept the size of 1497 octets, but one of the routings for example, in the public network, only accepts 1492 octets, that is to say that the maximum transmission size MTU value is 1492.
This routing, on account of the SIP packet marked DF, is going to send back to the transmitter of this packet a packet of an Internet control message protocol ICMP marked "fragmentation needed" with a maximum transmission size MTU value of 1492. This is going to pass the gateway of the public network to the private network then the transmitter is going to receive this packet of an Internet control message protocol ICMP containing the maximum transmission size MTU value of 1492 whereas the transmitter has sent a packet of a size of 1490 octets.
There is thus a failure of the call. This is particularly dangerous in the case of an emergency call.
There is thus a need to remedy these problems.

Correction of an ICMP packet linked to an IP packet having been processed by an ALG


Automated tightener for a wet mateable connection assembly includes a first and a second watertight case, the automated tightener bearing a fixing assembly and including a first and a second sliding portion arranged in a parallel lay, connected together by a push/pull actuator substantially orthogonal thereto, each sliding portion being provided with operable engagers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automated tightener for a wet mateable connection assembly for electrical and/or optical cables.
In particular the present invention especially refers to an automated tightener for a wet mateable connection assembly for undersea application.
In particular, the present invention refers to a wet mateable connection assembly for medium and high voltage electrical cables. Typically, by medium voltage cables we mean cables suitable for more than 1 kV and up to about 30 KV, and for high voltage cables we mean cables suitable for operating above about 30 kV.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of oceanic/undersea energy generation the technologies used to generate energy are dominantly "wind mills", but wave, tidal and photovoltaic generators are also important.
The wind mills are generally arranged in arrays and built with bottom structures fixed on the seabed; inter array underwater cables are used to go from one wind mill to the next in the array.
In order to connect the wind mills or similar apparatus to an electric network, cables may be used, wherein the cable connections are "dry mate", i.e. the ends of the cables coming from the wind mills and of the cables of the electric network or of intermediate stations are connected together (i.e. are mated, or unmated, by means of appropriate connectors) in a dry environment, to avoid the presence of water at the connector interface, which may produce partial discharges and the consequent cable faults in the presence of electrical field.
Cable hubs and/or cable substations can be used for connecting two or more underwater cables of an electric network. In these cases, and especially in places where water depth exceeds 40 m, the dry mating is more cumbersome because it implies retrieving from underwater, for example to a ship, a sunken hub or substation having a significant weight.
The dry mating is often unpractical and generally economically disadvantageous.
In offshore windmills and other submarine applications, wet mateable connection assemblies are used.
A wet mateable connection assembly is configured to allow the cable connection directly undersea; it typically comprises a first and a second case mateable to each other in a watertight manner along a longitudinal connecting axis.
Once the alignment and coupling between cases has been obtained, the cases should be fixed one another to realize a watertight connection. A fixing system comprising, for example, bolts or clamps is provided and tightened.
The step of tightening the fixing system cannot be always performed manually. For instance, it is not possible for an operator to work for the due time below a certain sea depth or in certain environmental conditions.


Systems and methods for facilitating the dispensing of insurance and of an insurance company selling insurance policies are provided, which may be network or Internet based, and may be managed through a general agent. Policy information from insurance companies may be received or stored. Data may be received from customers and insurance rates or quotes provided, which may be from competing companies. An instruction to purchase and payment may be received and proof of coverage, such as printing a document, may be facilitated. Data may be input directly by a customer or by an agent on behalf of the customer. The policy information, customer data, and premiums may be provided to the insurance companies. Insurance agents may advertise, and may refer customers from their own websites in exchange for commissions. The insurance offered for sale may be, automobile or specialty insurance, and may provide coverage in another country.

In service-oriented industries such as the insurance industry, offices traditionally were staffed with sales personnel working on a one-to-one basis with walk-in or phone-in customers. Often personnel time would be inefficient since advice and quotations given do not result in a sale. The potential customer might have been under sales pressure, and had to visit or call various companies in order to obtain competing coverages and prices. Thus, time and energy would be wasted for both the industry and the customer, increasing the cost of receiving such services and thereby reducing their demand.
Some individual insurance companies have more recently had sites on the Internet where they provide information or quotes regarding their products. Such websites may be advertised in various ways, including through registering with popular search engines. However, it may be necessary for a potential customer to go to the websites of several insurance companies in order to get competing quotes, typically spending considerable time inputting the same data at each website.
A need exists for potential purchasers of insurance to be able to go to one location or website, input information, and receive quotes for insurance from a plurality of competing insurance companies. In addition, a need exists for insurance companies offering competitive products to be able to advertise and communicate more efficiently and effectively with customers looking for their products and services. Further, a need exists for insurance brokers or agents to be able to more efficiently sell a variety of insurance products from a plurality of insurance companies.

System and method of dispensing insurance through a computer network


A method and apparatus for managing one or more logical relationships between a plurality of devices in a storage area network (SAN). The method includes receiving a first identifier associated with a first SAN device, determining the logical relationships associated with the first SAN device, receiving a second identifier associated with a second SAN device, and associating the second identifier to the logical relationships associated with the first SAN device.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to storage management, and more particularly, to software used in storage management.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, large organizations relied heavily on parallel Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) technology to provide the performance required for their enterprise data storage needs. More recently, organizations are recognizing that the restrictions imposed by SCSI architecture are too costly for SCSI to continue as a viable enterprise storage solution. Such restrictions include the following:                SCSI disk arrays must be located no more than 25 meters from the host server;        The parallel SCSI bus is susceptible to data errors resulting from slight timing discrepancies or improper port termination; and        SCSI array servicing frequently requires downtime for every disk in the array.
One solution has been to create technology that enables storage arrays to reside directly in the network, where disk accesses may be made directly rather than through the server's SCSI connection. This network-attached storage (NAS) model eliminates SCSI's restrictive cable distance, signal timing, and termination requirements. However, this model adds a significant load to the network, which frequently is already starved for bandwidth. Gigabit Ethernet technology only alleviates this bottleneck for the short term, and thus, a more elegant solution is desirable.
The storage area network (SAN) model places storage on its own dedicated network, removing data storage from both the server-to-disk SCSI bus and the main user network. This dedicated network most commonly uses Fiber Channel technology, a versatile, high-speed transport. The SAN includes one or more hosts that provide a point of interface with local area network (LAN) users, as well as (in the case of large SANs) one or more fabric switches, SAN hubs and other devices to accommodate a large number of storage devices. The hardware (e.g. fabric switches, hubs, bridges, routers, cables, etc.) that connects workstations and servers to storage devices in a SAN is referred to as a "fabric." The connectivity between a host and a storage device is typically defined as a route. The SAN fabric may enable server-to-storage device connectivity through Fiber Channel switching technology to a wide range of servers and storage devices. The versatility of the SAN model enables organizations to perform tasks that were previously difficult to implement, such as LAN-free and server-free tape backup, storage leasing, and full-motion video services.
Each SAN device, such as a host bus adapter, is generally tagged with a unique identifier, such as a world wide name (WWN), which is a 64-bit identifier. The identifier is generally burned on the device during manufacture. The identifier is generally used to assist with SAN management, including compartmentalization, authorization and securitization. The identifier is also used to associate the device with various logical relationships, such as zones and logical unit number (LUN) masks.
When a device fails and is replaced with a new device, the logical relationships associated with the failed device is modified or reconfigured with an identifier associated with the new device. This can be an arduous task for the user or system administrator, considering that the new identifier may have to be entered manually one digit at a time, each logical relationship may be with a different entity/device, each entity/device may be from a different vendor, and each vendor may require its own proprietary configuration tool or may require access through a proprietary application programming interface (API). For example, a host bus adapter (HBA) that is zoned with a BROCADE® switch may only be configured using BROCADE's proprietary switch configuration tool or a tool based on Brocade's proprietary API's. Likewise, an HBA that is LUN masked with an EMC® array may only be configured using EMC's proprietary array configuration tool or a tool based on EMC's proprietary API's. In this manner, the user is required to use a number of different configuration tools to reconfigure the logical relationships with the new device identifier. As a result, modifying or reconfiguring logical relationships of the failed device with the new device identifier may become a tedious and error-prone task.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus to automatically modify the logical relationships of the failed device with the new device identifier.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Storage area network (SAN) device logical relationships manager


Antenna assemblies, which may be used in meter reading systems, are provided. One example of antenna assembly includes a first antenna vertically configured to be mounted on a top surface of a vehicle and a second antenna vertically configured to be mounted on the top surface of the vehicle. The antenna assembly also includes a receiver configured to communicate with a plurality of wireless utility meters via the first and second antennas. The first and second antennas are aligned with a direction of travel of the vehicle.

Public utilities, such as water, power, and gas, are provided to the properties of a number of customers. Utility meters at the customers' properties are used for measuring the usage of these utilities. Additionally, the utility meters may provide data related to pressure, temperature, quality, leaks, bursts and tampering, among other data. In recent years, some utility meters have been equipped with wireless transmission capabilities for transmitting the utility usage data to a meter reader (e.g., a device for reading or recording meter data). The transmission of data allows the meter reader to read utility meters at a distance, without many of the difficulties that are associated with visually reading meters at a residence or business. For instance, the practice of reading utility meters remotely eliminates the need to access the utility meters, which may be inside buildings, hidden behind shrubbery or fences, etc. Also, with wireless transmitting meters, a utility employee does not need to snoop around the sides of houses or encounter potentially hostile pets or wildlife.
With the transmission of utility data, utility companies can use compatible wireless receivers that can be handled by meter reading employees. These employees can carry the receivers within radio range of the customers' meters to obtain the utility data. Often, utility employees can walk or drive down streets, side streets, alleys, etc., to obtain the utility data. Some systems allow the meter reader to remain inside the vehicle without having to experience the problems associated with the typical visual reading methods. In some cases, the wireless receiving equipment may be directly mounted on the vehicle, so that the employee is required to simply drive down the streets where the customers are located.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are side and top views of a meter reading system 10 according to conventional systems. The meter reading system 10 includes a vehicle 12 and an antenna 14 mounted on top of the vehicle 12. The antenna 14 receives wirelessly transmitted signals from the utility meters as the vehicle 12 is driven along the roads where utility customers are located.
FIG. 2 is a bird's eye view of the conventional meter reading system 10 shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. In this figure, an approximate communication range 16 of the antenna 14 is shown. In this case, the communication range 16 is omnidirectional and substantially forms a circle having a radius "r". Therefore, in conventional systems, the antenna 14 is able to obtain transmitted utility data from utility meters 18 (e.g., water meters, gas meters, electricity meters) of multiple customers inside the area "a", which is defined by the range 16 of the antenna 14 and associated equipment. Of course, as the vehicle 12 is driven along the street 20, the radius "r" may stay substantially the same, but the area "a" will change according to the moveable location of the antenna 14. Conventional meter reading systems typically have a communication range 16 of up to about 500 feet.

Directive array for drive-by meter reading


A method and system for calibrating a scintillation camera includes steps of constructing a pair of generic linearity coefficient (LC) matrices from a representative detector based on measurement of non-linearity; and transforming the pair of generic LC matrices according to measured pinhole locations from a lead mask to generate detector specific LC matrices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to nuclear medical imaging devices and more particularly relates to calibration of scintillation cameras to enable correction of acquired image data for unavoidable distortions caused by the inherent physical characteristics of the detector and mask the scintillation camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
In various environments, such as in medical environments, imaging devices can include detectors that detect electromagnetic radiation emitted from radioactive isotopes or the like within a patient. The detectors typically include a sheet of scintillation crystal material that interacts with radiation, e.g., gamma rays emitted by the isotope to produce photons in the visible light spectrum known as light "events." The scintillation camera includes one or more photodetectors such as an array of photomultiplier tubes, which detect the intensity and location of the events and accumulate this data to acquire clinically significant images that are rendered on a computer display for analysis.
Existing scintillation cameras experience spatial distortion that requires linearity correction (LC). The spatial distortion arises from the fact that the spatial coordinates of light events occurring either at the edges of or between adjacent photomultiplier tubes in a photodetector array will be computed differently than the coordinates of events occurring directly over the center of a photomultiplier tube, due to the physical limitations of the photomultiplier tube. A significant amount of effort has been made to developing correction schemes for spatial or linearity distortion (along with, e.g., the companion energy and flood corrections).
In a Gamma camera, linearity and uniformity are two product specifications that measure image quality. It is desirous to achieve specifications exceeding the National Electrical Manufactures Association (NEMA) standards and better than prior art systems and methods.
A significant effort has been allocated to correction of spatial or linearity distortion using pinhole masks. For example, see copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/165,786 entitled "Peak Detection Calibration For Gamma Camera Using Non-Uniform Pinhole Aperture Grid Mask," filed Jun. 24, 2005, assigned to the same assignee herein, the-entire contents of which are incorporated by reference; copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/951,324 entitled "Imaging Devices and Methods Employing Masks with a Non-Uniform Grid of Pinhole Apertures," filed Sep. 27, 2004, assigned to the same assignee herein, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference; U.S. Pat. No. 6,559,450, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference; U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,120, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference; U.S. Patent No. 4,808,826, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,316,257, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference.
Existing methods for the linearity correction are lengthy and generally consist of two steps: 1) Linearity Correction (LC) coefficient generation using images acquired with lead masks, and 2) LC coefficient modification using another flood by a gradient correction process to further improve the uniformity.
There are at least two problems associated with the approach. First, the gradient process improves the uniformity at the expense of the linearity. Often the better uniformity it achieves, the worse the linearity becomes. Second, the two-step process is the most time consuming procedure in the camera calibration process. Further, prior calibration methods were designed for the masks with well-separated data points along a rectangular grid and are not suitable for a new mask that has much denser population of pinhole aperture with non-uniform grid.
Therefore, there is a need for new and improved systems and methods for the correction of spatial or linearity distortion in scintillation camera.

Systems and methods for camera calibration


Toner binder resins with low odor and excellent charging stability as toners, containing styrene-acrylic copolymers or mixtures thereof, wherein the total content of volatile components is no greater than about 1,500 ppm, the content of volatile components with benzene rings is no greater than about 1,400 ppm, and the content of volatile components with benzene rings and boiling point of below about 200xc2x0 C. is no greater than about 500 ppm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toner binder resin used for the development of electrostatic charge images or magnetic latent images in electrophotographic methods, electrostatic recording methods, and electrostatic printing methods, for example, and to a process for its production. The toner binder resin of the present invention has, in particular, a low odor and excellent charging stability.
2. Description of the Background
A typical image-forming process in electrophotographic methods and electrostatic printing methods entails: i) a photoconductive insulating layer is uniformly charged in a developing step, ii) the insulating layer is exposed to light, iii) the charge on the exposed sections is then dissipated to form an electrical latent image, iv) a charged fine powder toner is adhered to the latent image for visualization, v) the obtained visible image is transferred to a transfer material, such as transfer paper, and vi) heat or pressure is used for permanent fixing in a fixing step.
The toner and the toner binder resin used for the electrophotographic method or electrostatic printing method must exhibit various degrees of performance for each of these steps. For example, for adhesion of the toner to the electrical latent image in the developing step, the toner and the toner binder resin must hold a charge suitable for copy machines without being affected by the surrounding environment, including, for example, such as the temperature and humidity. Also, in the fixing step with a hot roller fixing system, it is essential to have a satisfactory non-offset property to avoid adhesion onto the hot roller and a satisfactory fixing property onto the paper. In addition, the toner must have blocking resistance to avoid blocking while being stored in the copy machine.
For copy machines, printers, or facsimiles, for example, used for electrophotographic methods, electrostatic recording methods and electrostatic printing methods, a hot roller is usually used, at a temperature of about 100-230xc2x0 C., for fixing the toner onto the paper. In this fixing step, multiple sheets are generally fixed one after another, and the toner accumulates on the hot roller in trace amounts that do not affect the non-offset property. The temperature of the hot roller increases because of continuous rotation or continuous sheet feeding, and heating of the toner accumulated on the hot roller causes volatilization of residual monomers and residual solvent present in the toner, thus producing an odor. In recent years, with the increased application of electrophotographic methods, the popularity of copy machines, printers and facsimiles has grown and their use in closed-in offices and homes has increased. Accordingly, there has been a demand for reduced odors during image formation and image fixing, as well as a strong demand for odor reduction even for toner production where the binder resin and other additives are kneaded with a kneader, or extruder, for example.
In the past, styrene-acrylic copolymers have been often used as toner binder resins and, because the problem of odor is caused by residual monomers and residual solvent in the toner binder resin, efforts have been made to reduce the residual monomer and residual solvent in the binder resin.
For reduction of the residual monomers and residual solvent in the binder resin, there have been proposed methods, such as one for achieving low odor by heating the polymerized resin to a temperature above its glass transition temperature and distilling off a prescribed amount of moisture to reduce the residual monomers, as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-70765, for example. In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-104514 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-41123 as well, there are proposed methods of suppressing odor by reducing the volatile components, such as residual monomers and residual solvent. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3- 101745 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3-101746 also propose methods designed to minimize odor by reducing the benzaldehyde contained in the toner binder resin.
However, although the method described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-70765 allows efficient reduction of the volatile components with a boiling point of under 150xc2x0 C., removal of the volatile components of higher boiling points is difficult, and, therefore, it has not been possible to achieve adequate odor reduction. In methods which distill off prescribed amounts of moisture, the processing stability sometimes undergoes extreme deterioration, and the content of resin particles with a particle size exceeding 1,000 xcexcm sometimes reaches about 5%, thus leading to the problem of a reduced charging property of the toner. The methods described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-70765, No. 7-104514 and No. 8-41123 merely reduce the monomers and solvents remaining in the resin after polymerization, and are not particularly concerned with the other volatile components that cause odors. Consequently, adequate odor reduction has yet to be achieved. Moreover, even the methods described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3-101745 and No. 3-101746, while achieving reduction in benzaldehyde, do not succeed in satisfactorily removing the other volatile components and have therefore not achieved adequate odor reduction.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a toner binder resin with low odor and excellent charging stability as a toner, as well as a process for its production.
It is, in particular, an object of the present invention to provide a toner binder resin, containing a styrene-acrylic copolymer or a mixture thereof, wherein the total content of volatile components is no greater than about 1,500 ppm, the content of volatile components with benzene rings is no greater than about 1,400 ppm, and the content of volatile components with benzene rings and a boiling point of below 200xc2x0 C. is no greater than about 500 ppm.

Toner binder resin and process for the production thereof


A device for performing electrochemical and/or optical measurements in fluids, includes a sensor part of substantially planar configuration carrying a plurality of sensors that are connected to conductive paths; a cover part, which includes a groove-shaped measuring channel through which the fluid will flow; and a sealing element positioned between the sensor part and the cover part for sealing the measuring channel. The cover part includes grooves which extend in parallel with the measuring channel and which define respective ridges between the grooves and the measuring channel, and the sealing element substantially includes guiding bodies which are retained in the grooves of the cover part and are provided with integrally molded narrow sealing lips protruding in the area of the ridge. The sensor part and the cover part are joined by a plurality of locking elements which are distributed along the measuring channel.

The invention relates to a device for performing electrochemical and/or optical measurements in fluids, including the following elements;
a sensor part of substantially planar configuration, which carries a plurality of sensors that are possibly connected to conductive paths; PA1 a cover part, in which a groove-shaped measuring channel is formed through which the fluid will flow; PA1 a sealing element positioned between the sensor part and the cover part for sealing the measuring channel, which is.
Electrochemical and optical measuring processes are generally implemented in measuring chambers which are furnished with electrodes and/or optodes. The present invention is primarily concerned with devices in which the measuring chamber is configured as a flow channel through which the sample medium, such as blood, is drawn. The flowing medium is brought into contact with different sensors and electrodes in order to enable the measuring process to be performed.

Device for performing measurements in fluids


A flexible substrate includes a base layer, a metallic layer, a solder mask layer and an identifying code, the metallic layer is disposed at a first surface of the base layer, the metallic layer comprises a plurality of traces and at least one bottom block used for defining marked position, wherein the traces and the at least one bottom block are covered with the solder mask layer, wherein above the perpendicular direction of the at least one bottom block of the metallic layer, a pre-marked area is defined on an exposing surface of the solder mask layer and by an outlined edge of the at least one bottom block, and the identifying code is formed within the pre-marked area of the solder mask layer.

With reference to FIG. 6, a conventional flexible substrate 10 includes a base layer 11 and a trace layer 12, wherein the base layer 11 comprises a first surface 11a and a second surface 11b, the trace layer 12 is disposed on the first surface 11a of the base layer 11, and an identifying code 13 is formed on the second surface 11b of the base layer 11 by means of printing for manual interpretation or photography interpretation. However, owing to the identifying code 13 formed on the second surface 11b of the base layer 11, when one is about to interpret the identifying code 13, the flexible substrate 10 has to be reversed and thereafter proceeds interpretation via the second surface 11b of the base layer 11. Therefore, the interpretation time has increased.
Besides, the position of the identifying code 13 formed on the second surface 11b of the base layer 11 for each manufacturer is different, and the handwriting of the identifying code 13 is tiny. For mentioned reasons, the identifying code 13 is difficult to be distinguished.


Example game systems and methods are described. In one implementation, a sensing device determines an identity of a game piece in a physical space and detects a movement action associated with the game piece. A computing device calculates a distance and direction associated with the movement action and determines a result of the movement action based on the distance, the direction, and the identity of the game piece.

Many physical games are played on a simulated battlefield or other simulated environment. These physical games are often played with physical game pieces that represent different creatures, people, weapons, vehicles, objects, and the like. The particular types of game pieces used in a specific game will vary based on the type of game. For example, a military battle game may include game pieces that represent soldiers, military weapons, military vehicles, and so forth.
In many situations, the game pieces have different attributes that represent characteristics of the game piece, such as fighting capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, and the like. When two or more game pieces engage one another (e.g., battle each other), the result of the engagement is based on multiple factors, such as the characteristics of each game piece, the locations of the game pieces with respect to each other, the current game situation, and so forth.
These types of physical games may be time-consuming due to the complex rules and detailed calculations necessary to determine the results of each engagement of two or more game pieces. In some situations, it is necessary to measure distances between game pieces, angles of attack between game pieces, obstacles and other intervening terrain, and other physical characteristics, then apply that information to the engagement rules and engagement algorithms that determine the results of each engagement. These measurements and calculations can take considerable time and slow the overall progress of the game.
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved approach for game play.


An easily portable, impervious to moisture, light-weight multi-purpose football timing device situated at the current line of scrimmage to (i) cradle or hold the football in an elevated position off the ground, (ii) mark the line of scrimmage, (iii) objectively notify both offensive and defensive players, by both audio and visual signals, that the delayed and adjustable time period had expired while at the same time (iv) keeping track of the current down and the (v) current score.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an athletic timing device to be used by football players in the game of flag and touch football. Such device incorporates a preset, delayed time for players to rush or cross the line of scrimmage after an audio and/or visual signal to the players, with such device to be placed at the line of scrimmage. Such device both holds and elevates the football and also keeps track of the current down (first, second, third or fourth) and current score of both teams.
2. Description of Prior Art
A delayed rush time is often employed in touch football and flag football games. Problems often arise in objectively signaling both offensive and defensive players of the elapsing of the rush time when the defensive players can cross the line of scrimmage and pursue the quarterback or offensive player holding the ball and, conversely, when the offensive player can advance the ball by means of running across the line of scrimmage. Prior to the elapsing of said rush time, the only means by which the offensive team could advance the ball was by passing to a receiver or player already across the line of scrimmage. Another common problem in these types of football games is marking the current line of scrimmage as well as keeping track of the current down and current score at the line of scrimmage.
Prior inventions appear to be limited to those that hold the football in a snap plate, attempting to keep the ball clean and dry (U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,399 by Thomas Cuprak--1974), a devise for automatically elevating the football throwing efficiency of a passer (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,315 by Michel- Julien- Marius- Auguste Bon-1975) and a devise for developing football passing proficiency (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,534,958 by W. W. Lipscomb-1970. The prior art or inventions, however, do not address any form of rush time or time delay audio and/or visual signals to the players as to when the line of scrimmage can be crossed nor do those devises incorporate keeping tract of the current score and down.
There are many advantages to this invention, the primary advantage being the objective notification to both the offensive and defensive players, by means of both audio and visual signals, of the expiration of the predetermined rush time (usually in seconds), with the other advantages to this invention being the cradling of the football in an elevated (above-ground) position while keeping track of the current down and score as well as the current line of scrimmage.

Multi-purpose football timing device ("Rush Ref")


Disclosed are nucleotide sequences encoding a novel polypeptide termed LSIRF. Also disclosed are methods of preparing the polypeptide and uses thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to novel polypeptides having DNA binding activity, and to nucleic acid molecules encoding the polypeptides. The polypeptides, previously referred to as "IRF-3" polypeptides, are now referred to as "LSIRF" polypeptides (lymphocyte specific interferon regulatory factor), and are new members of the class of polypeptides known as interferon regulatory factors.
2. Description of Related Art
Regulation of gene expression can occur at several different levels, but the activation of gene-specific transcription factors is considered the most fundamental to this process. One family of transcription factors, the interferon regulatory factors (IRFs), consists of four members: IRF-1, IRF-2, ISGF3.gamma., and ICSBP. All four IRFs are characterized by a strongly conserved, N-terminal DNA-binding domain containing a repeated tryptophan motif (Veals et al., (Mol. Cell. Biol., 12:3315-3324 1992!).
Interferon regulatory factors-1 (IRF-1) and -2 (IRF-2) were originally identified by studies of the transcriptional regulation of the human interferon-beta (IFN-.beta.) gene (Miyamoto et al., Cell, 54:903-913 1988!) and (Harada et al., Cell, 58:729-739 1989!). cDNA expression studies have demonstrated that IRF-1 functions as a transcriptional activator of IFN and IFN-inducible genes, whereas IRF-2 represses the effect of IRF-1 (Fujita et al., Nature, 337:270-272 1989!) and (Harada et al., Cell, 63:303-312 1990!). Recent analyses have shown that IRF-1 can also act as a tumor suppressor gene and IRF-2 as a possible oncogene (Harada et al, Science, 259:971-974 1993!). IRF-1 expression is induced by type-I (.alpha./.beta.) and type-II (.gamma.) IFNs (Miyamoto et al., Cell, 54:903-913 1988!; Kanno et al., Mol. Cell Biol., 13:3951-3963 1993!), whereas IRF-2 is both constitutively expressed and induced by type-I IFNs (Harada et al., Cell, 58:729-739 1989!).
Interferon-stimulated gene factor-3 gamma (ISGF3.gamma.) is an IFN-.gamma.-inducible protein which associates with ISGF3.alpha. subunits activated from a latent cytosolic form by type-I IFNs (Levy et al, EMBO J., 9:1105-1111 1990!; Levy et al., New Biologist, 2:383-392 1990!). Upon association, this complex has been shown to translocate to the nucleus and bind a specific DNA sequence found in the promoter region of IFN-inducible genes, known as the ISRE (IFN-stimulated response element; Veals et al., Mol. Cell. Biol., 12:3315-3324 1992!). Recently, ISGF3.alpha. subunits of 91/84 kDa and 113 kDa have been cloned (Schindler et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89:7836-7839 1992!; Fu et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89:7840-7843 1992!) and designated as signal transducer and activator of transcription-1 (Stat-1) and -2 (Stat-2), respectively, which are targets of JAK kinase phosphorylation following type-I IFN/IFN-receptor engagement (Shuai et al, Science, 261:1744-1746 1993!; Darnell et al, Science, 261:1415-1421 1994!).
Interferon consensus sequence binding protein (ICSBP) is also an IFN-.gamma.-inducible protein, originally isolated as a protein that recognizes the ISRE motif (also called ICS) of the promoter of murine MHC class I, H-2L.sup.D gene (Driggers et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 87:3743-3747 1990!). However, unlike IRF-1, IRF-2, and ISGF3.gamma., ICSBP exhibits a tissue-restricted pattern of expression, as it is induced exclusively in cells of macrophage and lymphoid lineages (Driggers et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 87:3743-3747 1990!). Recent studies have suggested that ICSBP has a similar role to IRF-2 in antagonizing the effect of IRF-1 on the induction of IFN and IFN-inducible genes (Weisz et al., J. Biol. Chem., 267:25589-25596 1992!; Nelson et al., Mol. Cell. Biol., 13:588-599 1993!). The ISREs of interferon-inducible genes overlap IRF-E, the DNA sequences recognized by IRF-1 and -2 (Tanaka et al., Mol Cell. Biol. 13:4531-4538 1993!). Very recently, ISGF3.gamma. was shown to bind the IRF-Es of the IFN-.beta. gene (Kawakami et al., FEBS Letters, 358:225-229 1995!).
In view of the importance of IRFs in regulating the expression of the interferon genes and other genes, there is a need in the art to identify other IRFs, especially tissue specific IRFs.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to identify novel members of the IRF gene family.
Other objects will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.


A card connector is disclosed having a base and a plurality of contacts. The plurality of contacts is positioned on the base. Each of the contacts has a contacting portion electrically contacting an electrical card when the electrical card inserted into the card connector. Each contact has an outer facing surface, and a supporting portion having two elastic arms extending from the base and intersecting at the contacting portion. Each of the elastic arms has a guide arm portion extending from the contacting portion at an angle of approximately 0 to 90 degrees with respect to a card insertion direction. Each guide arm portions has a smooth, ridge-shaped convex surface extending to the contacting portion and a smooth transitional surface with the outer facing surface of the contacting portion.

Conventionally, a card connector generally has a base and a plurality of cantilevered contacts fixed on the base. Each of the contacts has a contacting portion on a free end thereof.
The contacting portion contacts an electrical card inserted into the card connector to establish an electrical connection.
To prevent the contacts of the card connector from being damaged by the electrical card or a card tray during insertion of the electrical card, the electrical card is generally transversely inserted into the card connector, that is, the electrical card is inserted into the card connector in a direction angled to the contacts of the card connector. In this way, during inserting the electrical card, the electrical card or the card tray loaded with the electrical card firstly comes into contact with an outside guide of an elastic arm of the contact of the card connector. The electrical card or loaded tray then gradually presses the elastic arm downward, and moves the contacting portion of the contact under the guidance of the outside guide.
The conventional outside guide of the elastic arm of the contact has a sharp edge, and the sharp edge can scratch and even damage the electrical card.
Furthermore, the conventional outside guide of the elastic arm has the same width from the contacting portion to a fixed end of the elastic arm. The outside guide of the elastic arm protrudes toward a circuit board, on which the card connector is mounted. As a result, when the elastic arm is pressed downward, towards the circuit board, by the electrical card or the card tray during inserting the electrical card or the card tray, the outside guide can contact or the circuit board and can damage the circuit board or other electrical devices on the circuit board.


A safety plug for use in rock drilling operations. The safety plug includes a base part and one or more expander elements. The base part has a leading end and a trailing end and a generally cylindrical outer surface between the leading and trailing ends, on which one or more external spirals are formed. The external spirals are provided to engage the internal wall of a bore within which the safety plug is inserted to anchor the base part within the bore. The one or more expander elements have an inactive non-expanded condition and an active, laterally expanded condition. The safety plug is operable to absorb load applied to its leading end in two stages, whereby: in a first stage, load applied to the leading end of the one or more expander elements up to a predetermined load is transferred to the base part and the base part is operable to react the load by engagement of the spirals with the internal wall of the bore. In a second stage, load applied to the same leading end beyond the predetermined load causes the one or more expander elements to transition to the active condition in which the expander elements expand laterally to engage the internal wall of the bore to resist shifting movement of the safety plug within the bore in the direction of the applied load.

A reference herein to a prior art is not to be taken as an admission that the prior art was known or was part of the common general knowledge as at the priority date of any of the claims.
Drill strings are used in the mining industry to drill long bores into rock strata for various reasons. One example of the use of drill strings is in underground mining and in particular, in what is known as "drill and blast" mining. In this type of mining, tunnels are created to access a body of ore, and the ore body is then blasted to dislodge the ore from the body. The drill and blast method involves drilling holes or bores into the body of ore and placing an explosive material within the bores and thereafter blasting that material. Once blasted, the ore material which has been dislodged by the explosive is retrieved and removed and once all of the ore has been removed, the process is repeated by drilling further bores and for further blasting.
The bores that are drilled are usually in the order of approximately 76 mm or 89 mm diameter. Some will extend vertically and others will extend at an angle. The bores can be of any length such as 20 m long. In order to drill the bores, drill string rods (drill rods) are progressively connected together as the depth of the bore increases. That is, a first drill rod drills the first section of the bore and once that drill rod has reached its maximum penetration into the rock strata, a second drill rod is connected to the first drill rod and the drilling continues. The drill rods can be in the order of 1.8 m long and so approximately 11 of those drill rods are required to drill a 20 m bore.
Once the bore is drilled, the drill rods are removed so that explosive can be packed into the bore. The drill rods are removed by progressively withdrawing them from the bore and disconnecting each drill rod as it exits the bore.
From time to time, drill rods can become bogged or stuck within a bore. This can occur either during drilling of the bore or during retrieval of the drill rods from the bore. While in some instances the drill rods can be dislodged from a bogged or stuck condition and can therefore be retrieved, in other instances, the drill rods become so bogged or stuck that their retrieval is not possible. In those circumstances, it is often the case that there are two or three rods left within a bore. Each of the rods can weigh between 21.5 kg for smaller 76 mm diameter rods up to 39 kg for larger 89 mm diameter rod tubes, so the average weight for a lost drill string could start at 95 kg. e/g. 1× drill bit, 1× guidance tube and 3 rods. The rods can be anywhere within the bore and often towards the upper end of the bore. This presents an obvious safety issue should the rods subsequently become loose or free within the bore allowing them to fall out of the bore. If one or more drill rods were to exit a bore in this manner, any personnel or equipment standing under the open end of the bore could be struck with potentially catastrophic results. As such, where one or more drill rods have become bogged or stuck within a bore, mine safety requirements dictate that action needs to be taken to ensure that those rods are prevented from unintentionally falling out of the bore.
One solution to the above problem is to close the open end of the bore so that the stuck drill rods are prevented from falling out of the bore. This can involve drilling further holes around the bore opening to insert rock bolts into the rock strata around the bore to support a rock plate to cover the opening of the bore. While this solution adequately solves the problem, the process nevertheless involves removing the bore drilling machinery from the tunnel in order to bring in alternative machinery for setting rock bolts and this can result in a major disruption to mining activity in terms of cost and time.
An alternative solution is to fill the bore with grout/cement to achieve the same result as the placement of a rock plate, in that the open end of the bore is shut. Again however, this requires removing the bore drilling machinery from the tunnel in order to bring in alternative grouting machinery and again this can have a significant disruption to the mining operation in terms of cost and time. In addition, both of these solutions have been proven to provide insufficient barriers to the escape of a drill rod, and are prone to operator error in terms of proper installation.
Accordingly, a simpler but equally safe solution to the problem of bogged or stuck drill rods would be desirable.


A plurality of gate driver boards are bonded to a first side of a TFT substrate, and a wiring board made of a flexible printed wiring board is bonded between the gate driver boards. Then, a wiring disposed on the wiring board provides connection between adjacent gate driver boards. In the same manner, a plurality of data driver boards are bonded to a second side of the TFT substrate, and a wiring board made of a flexible printed wiring board is bonded between the data driver boards. Then, a wiring disposed on the wiring board provides connection between adjacent data driver boards.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an active matrix liquid crystal display device and more particularly to a liquid crystal display device suitable for a larger screen.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Liquid crystal display devices have the advantages of being thin and lightweight and also allowing low-voltage drive and thus low power consumption. Thus, liquid crystal display devices are used in various types of electronic equipment, such as televisions, PCs (personal computers), PDAs (personal digital assistants), and mobile telephones. In particular, an active matrix liquid crystal display device, which includes a TFT (thin film transistor) which is provided for each picture element (or subpixel) so as to act as a switching element, has high driving capabilities and thus exhibits excellent display characteristics comparable to those of a CRT (cathode ray tube). Thus, active matrix liquid crystal display devices have come into wide use in the fields where CRTs have been heretofore used, such as desktop PCs and televisions.
Generally, a liquid crystal display device comprises two transparent substrates made of thin glass sheets, and liquid crystal sealed in between the substrates. One substrate includes a picture element electrode and a TFT, which are provided for each picture element. The other substrate includes a color filter to be faced with each picture element electrode, and a common electrode common to every picture element. Hereinafter, the substrate having the picture element electrodes and the TFTs will be called a "TFT substrate", and the substrate to be faced with the TFT substrate will be called an "opposite substrate". A structure formed of the TFT substrate, the opposite substrate, and liquid crystal sealed in between the substrates is herein referred to as a "liquid crystal panel".
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a TFT substrate of a conventional liquid crystal display device.
On a TFT substrate 1, there are disposed a plurality of gate bus lines 3 extending horizontally, and a plurality of data bus lines 5 extending vertically. The gate bus lines 3 and the data bus lines 5 partition the TFT substrate 1 into rectangular regions, which are picture element regions. In each picture element region, there are disposed a TFT 9 which acts as a switching element, and a picture element electrode 8. The gate, source, and drain of the TFT 9 are connected to the gate bus line 3, the data bus line 5, and the picture element electrode 8, respectively. In the case of a transmissive liquid crystal display device, the picture element electrode 8 is made of a transparent electrode such as ITO (Indium-Tin Oxide). In the case of a reflective liquid crystal display device, the picture element electrode 8 is made of any of Al (aluminum) alloys, or the like.
A plurality of gate driver boards 2b are bonded to a first side of the TFT substrate 1 (e.g., the left side thereof in FIG. 1) with ACFs (anisotropic conductive films). The gate driver boards 2b are each made of a flexible printed wiring board, which is formed of a resin film, such as polyimide, and copper foil bonded to the resin film. A gate driver 2a (i.e., a gate driving IC (integrated circuit)) is mounted on each gate driver board 2b. The gate driver 2a has a plurality of output terminals, each of which is electrically connected to the corresponding gate bus line 3.
In the same manner as described above, a plurality of data driver boards 4b, each of which is made of a flexible printed wiring board, are bonded to a second side of the TFT substrate 1 (e.g., the lower side thereof in FIG. 1) with ACFs. A data driver 4a (i.e., an IC for supplying display data) is mounted on each data driver board 4b. The data driver 4a has a plurality of output terminals, each of which is electrically connected to the corresponding data bus line 5.
An input part 10 to be connected to a control circuit board (not shown) is disposed on the TFT substrate 1. Laid on the TFT substrate 1 are wirings 6 which provide connections between the input part 10 and the gate driver boards 2b or between the adjacent gate driver boards 2b, and wirings 7 which provide connections between the input part 10 and the data driver boards 4b or between the adjacent data driver boards 4b. Typically, the wirings 6 and 7 on the TFT substrate 1 are formed simultaneously with the gate bus lines 3 or the data bus lines 5, and the wirings 6 and 7 are each made of, for example, a metal film having a three-layer Ti—Al—Ti structure in which titanium, aluminum, and titanium are stacked in sequence.
In the liquid crystal display device configured as mentioned above, the control circuit board supplies display data, a data clock signal, a gate clock signal, a timing signal, and a predetermined voltage (hereinafter referred to as a "power supply voltage") to the TFT substrate 1 via the input part 10. The display data, the data clock signal, the timing signal, and the power supply voltage are supplied to each data driver 4a via the wirings 7 disposed on the edge of the TFT substrate 1. The gate clock signal, the timing signal, and the power supply voltage are supplied to each gate driver 2a via the wirings 6 disposed on the edge of the TFT substrate 1.
The data driver 4a outputs the display data to the data bus lines 5 in accordance with the timing in synchronization with the data clock signal within a horizontal synchronization interval. On the other hand, the gate driver 2a outputs a scan signal to the gate bus lines 3 in sequence in accordance with the timing in synchronization with the gate clock signal within a vertical synchronization interval. When the gate bus line 3 receives the scan signal, the TFT 9 for a picture element connected to the gate bus line 3 is turned on, so that the display data supplied to the data bus line 5 is written on the picture element electrode 8. This causes a change in the orientation of liquid crystal molecules in the picture element, thus causing a change in light transmittance of the picture element. Thus, the display data is written on each picture element within a vertical synchronization interval, so that a desired image is displayed on the liquid crystal display device.
Another prior art is disclosed in patent literature 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 09-127540).
In the view of the inventors, the conventional liquid crystal display device, as mentioned above and shown in FIG. 1, has problems as given below. In recent years, there have been demands for larger-sized liquid crystal display devices. However, a larger-sized liquid crystal display device leads to longer wirings 6 and 7 on the substrate 1 and thus to higher wiring resistance. This may cause a relatively significant voltage drop in the wirings 6 and 7, thus causing, for example, variations in color or brightness between picture elements connected to the data bus lines 5 located near the input part 10 and picture elements connected to the data bus lines 5 located far from the input part 10, even though the same display data is supplied to the data bus lines 5. In extreme cases, such an increase in wiring resistance may also make it impossible to supply a predetermined voltage to the gate drivers 2a or the data drivers 4a, thus causing marked deterioration in image display quality.
Patent literature 1, the above publication No. Hei 09-127540, discloses a liquid crystal display device including a TFT substrate having driver ICs mounted thereon, wherein the driver ICs are connected through flexible printed wiring boards (FPC). However, the liquid crystal display device has a disadvantage as given below. Upsizing the liquid crystal display device leads to an increase in the size of the flexible printed wiring board, thus rendering it difficult for an OLB (outer lead bonding) apparatus to bond the flexible printed wiring board to the TFT substrate.