Compositions and methods for oil recovery using a surfactant-less alkaline-polymer system in hard water or hard brine is described in the instant invention. The formulation further includes a chelating agent, an alkaline agent (which can be the same as the chelating agent), and a co-solvent. The formulations as disclosed herein are capable of forming a surfactant in-situ resulting in Winsor Type III micro-emulsions of low interfacial tension.

Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with the recovery of oil from subterranean oil-bearing formations. The present invention relates to post-primary recovery of oil from subterranean oil-bearing formations and includes improved techniques for enhancing the oil displacement efficiency of a post-primary oil recovery process.
Generally, water flooding and surfactant flooding are processes well known in the art to recover the vast quantities of oil which remain in the formation after primary oil recovery operations and it has been common to use surfactants and surfactant systems for oil recovery. Surfactants contain a hydrophobic part and a hydrophilic part at opposite ends of a long molecule that tend to orient at an interface with its hydrophobic portion in the oil and its hydrophilic portion in the aqueous phase. For liberating oil from a petroleum reservoir, a surfactant must, in general, stay in the interface in order to lower the interfacial tension. It must be heavy enough that normal thermal perturbations do not displace it into one phase or the other and be able to reduce the interfacial tension between oil and aqueous reservoir fluid from around 30 dynes per centimeter to a few millidynes per centimeter or less. In addition the surfactant must be able to move into and out of the surface in an unhindered manner and not function as an emulsifier in the usual sense, producing, as it does, an unstable emulsion.
Alkaline-surfactant-polymer (ASP) flooding was developed to reduce the interfacial tension between oil and water to displace the discontinuous trapped oil remaining after the waterflood. Alkaline-surfactant-polymer flooding is described in commonly owned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/879,231, filed Sep. 10, 2010.
United States Patent Application No. 20080312108 (Berger and Berger, 2008) discloses compositions and process for recovering of oil from subterranean oil-bearing reservoirs consisting of green non-toxic biodegradable strong alkali metal salt of polymerized weak acids, one or more surfactants, an aqueous fluid, and optionally one or more mobility control agents and optionally one or more co-solvents. Such compositions are injected into the reservoir through one or more injection wells and assist in recovering trapped oil through one or more producing wells. The compositions and the process described in the invention offer the advantage of improved compatibility with unsoftened waters, surfactants, and various mobility control agents. The green non-toxic, biodegradable properties of the alkali makes it particularly suitable for environmentally sensitive applications such as offshore and inland lakes
U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,638 issued to Burdyn et al. (1977) teaches recovery of oil from subterranean oil reservoirs by water flooding employing an alkaline agent and a sulfonate surfactant. An aqueous initiation slug containing an alkaline agent selected from the group consisting of alkali metal and ammonium hydroxides is injected into the reservoir via a suitable injection system. Thereafter an aqueous surfactant slug is injected into the reservoir behind the initiation slug. The surfactant slug contains a sulfonate surfactant and an alkaline agent. Subsequent to injection of the surfactant slug, an aqueous flooding medium is injected in order to displace the oil within the reservoir to a production system from which it is recovered. A portion of the flooding medium may contain a thickening agent for mobility control purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,315 issued to Prukop and Chea (1990) discloses a method for increasing the recovery of oil in enhanced oil recovery operations employing anionic surfactant by blending a taurine with said anionic surfactant. The taurine may also increase the salt and divalent ion tolerance of the anionic surfactant.
Sulfonate surfactants have been the exclusive choice for high temperature application due to presumed instability of ether sulfate (ES) surfactants. As sulfonates in general are more expensive than sulfates, the costs were prohibitively high in some cases for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) to be even considered.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,543 issued to Wilson and Pao (1982) describes a process for the recovery of oil from subterranean oil reservoirs by waterflooding employing ether-linked sulfonate surfactants in which oxidative degradation of the surfactant is retarded through the establishment of an anaerobic condition in the surfactant solution or through the use of oxidation inhibitors. According to the '543 patent the anaerobic condition may be provided by mechanical means such as scrubbing the injected water with an inert gas in order to remove oxygen or by employing produced well water which is handled under a closed system to exclude oxygen. A preferred class of oxidation inhibitors is sterically hindered phenolic compounds which function as free radical chain inhibitors.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,160 issued to Farmer et al. (1976) describes a waterflood oil recovery process, in which a mixture of petroleum sulfonate and alkoxylated alcohol sulfate surfactants is injected into a reservoir to displace oil, which is improved by using a sulfate surfactant that contains at least one chain-branching substituent on a carbon atom alpha or beta to the sulfate group. In a reservoir that is relatively hot, the improved process provides good oil-displacement efficiency and polyvalent metal ion compatibility in addition to improved stability towards hydrolytic decomposition of the sulfate surfactant.
A large number of petroleum reservoirs have some hardness (divalent cations) in the water, and thus pose a great threat to the aqueous stability of the chemicals injected. Divalent cations precipitate with alkali, surfactant and polymer and result in plugging during injection. In addition, hardness has a dominant impact on phase behavior especially at low concentration of surfactant (Nelson, 1984) and this can cause high surfactant retention by ion exchange between the surfactant, brine, and clay (Hill, et al., 1977; Hirasaki, 1981). Therefore, extra measures are taken to test the compatibility of the injection chemicals with brine. One measure is softening of injection water, which is an expensive process that in some cases is not feasible.

Surfactant-less alkaline-polymer formulations for recovering reactive crude oil

Board of Regents, The University of Texas System


A rotary union including a housing, a piston, and a shaft is provided. The piston has a first fluid passage therethrough and is configured to slide axially between a first position and a second position. The shaft has a second fluid passage therethrough and is configured to rotate. A first port is arranged in the housing and is in fluid communication with a cavity formed between the housing and the piston. The first port is configured to deliver a pressurized fluid into the cavity to actuate the piston from the first position to the second position. A chamber is formed in the housing and surrounds an interface between the first and second fluid passages. A second port arranged in the housing is in fluid communication with the chamber. The second port is configured to apply a vacuum to the chamber to evacuate fluid leaked into the chamber from the interface.

Machine tool spindles such as those used in computer numerical control (CNC) machines, may require a method of transferring media to cool cutting or milling bits due to the high temperature that is created when metals or other materials are machined and extract chips during this process. Conventionally, cutting and milling bits are cooled with a coolant fluid that is provided by a rotary union. A rotary union may generally comprise a stationary portion and a rotating portion. The stationary portion and the rotating portion are joined by a union. The union may comprise one or more seals configured to allow rotation of the rotating portion relative to the stationary portion. The seals are also configured to allow the coolant fluid to pass therethrough for cooling of the tool spindle.

Rotary union utilizing vacuum extraction


What is disclosed is a a pressure limiting valve comprising a valve body, the axial movement of which is damped by means of a damping device. In accordance with the invention, the damping device includes a damping chamber formed on the return side, that is subjected to the system pressure acting on a pressure port.

Pressure limiting valves serve to limit a system pressure. They may have the form of directly controlled seat valves. Other designs are spool valves or disk valves. These, too, may fundamentally be vibrationally damped by the kind of damping presently applied, if they are controlled directly. Furthermore the piloted design is also possible. When a pre-set maximum pressure is exceeded, a connection from a pressure port to a return port is opened via the pressure limiting valve. In the most simple case the pressure limiting valves are controlled directly and thus have a simple construction and may be manufactured at low cost. Such directly controlled pressure limiting valves have high opening dynamics, so that pressure peaks in the system may be reduced very rapidly. It is one drawback of these pressure limiting valves, however, that they are very prone to vibration due to their opening dynamics in the event of pressure fluctuations. The valve bodies, which vibrate owing to hydraulic excitation, may result in a considerable acoustic load, and in unfavorable cases in the destruction of an associated valve seat or of the spring acting in the closing direction.
In order to attentuate these vibrations, pressure limiting valves are provided with damping means as described, e.g., in Bosch-Rexroth data sheet RC 25 402/08.97.
In this known solution, there is associated to the valve body on the pressure port side a damping piston which defines, jointly with a damping sleeve applied on the end side, a damping gap whereby a damping chamber is connected with a valve seat-side space. In the event of axial movements of the valve body, the volume of the damping chamber is modified so that pressure medium must flow out from it or into it. This pressure medium volume balance is impaired by the throttle effect in the damping gap, with kinetic energy of the valve body and of the damping piston being converted into heat, and the axial translation of the valve body thus being decelerated and damped.
It is a drawback in this known solution that the axial structural space of the pressure limiting valve is increased by the damping chamber connected on the pressure port side and having the damping piston arranged in it. Moreover a comparative technological complexity is necessary in the manufacture, for the pressure port has to be formed by oblique bores that are difficult to produce.
As an alternative solution it is also possible to provide not a pressure port-side damping device but a return-side damping device, wherein a damping chamber is filled with pressure medium and connected with the return port via the damping gap. In the event of axial translations of a damping piston that is connected with the valve body, pressure medium is displaced via the damping gap from the damping chamber or into the latter, so that the axial movements of the valve body are damped.
It is a drawback in this return-side low-pressure damping that 100% filling of the damping chamber with pressure medium must always be ensured. This filling may only be carried out with comparative complexity during installation of the valve. If air bubbles remain in the damping chamber, they deactivate this damping. Owing to the connection with the return port, an entry of air through the damping gap can not be excluded. This risk is particularly high if the return line is capable of being emptied entirely, or if air dissolved in the pressure medium bubbles out in the transition from high pressure to low pressure.


A fuel line protective cover is disclosed. The fuel line protective cover includes a first leg configured to be mounted to a top surface of an engine and configured to extend the length of an engine. The fuel line protective cover further includes at least one second leg configured to be mounted to a side surface of an engine. The first leg and the at least one second leg cooperate to at least partially enclose a high pressure fuel system.

High pressure fuel systems supplying fuel to an internal combustion engine are becoming more common and are used to help meet stringent exhaust emission requirements. The high pressure fuel system typically includes a fuel pumping arrangement, a common manifold that extends from the pumping arrangement across the top or side of the engine, and individual fuel lines that extend from the manifold to individual fuel injectors. These systems, although successful in their intended purpose, are subject to damage. Impact damages sustained during manufacturing, operation, or servicing can cause fuel lines to weaken and potentially rupture. If ruptured, fuel lines can spray pressurized fuel onto the engine, onto the turbocharger, and into the environment. Pressurized fuel on a hot engine can pose a particularly dangerous risk of fire.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US2007/0012501 A1 ('501 publication) to Frank et al. published on Jan. 18, 2007 discloses a protective device for fluid lines which are laid in the engine compartment of vehicles and situated in the crash-induced displacement region of the engine. More specifically, the '501 publication discloses a protective cap which covers a corner region of the engine facing the passenger compartment. The protective cap is fitted onto the engine and is supported in a three-dimensional manner with formations which cover protrusions and projections of the engine such as, for example, cylinder head ribbings. The protective cap includes a roof surface which connects to a longitudinal limb and a transverse limb, and overlaps the corner region of the cylinder head cover. The protective cap further includes a fastening arm which is screw fastened with respect to the longitudinal side wall of the engine.
Although prior devices provide an improved mechanism to protect fuel lines from damage, the present disclosure may provide increased safety and additional user benefits.


The present solution relates to a method in a user equipment (310) for setting up an activation time of a cell change of the user equipment (310) from a serving cell (305) to a target cell (308) in a wireless communications network (300). The user equipment (310) receives (501) a timing offset from a network controller (315), calculates (502) a cell change activation time based on the timing offset and transmits (503) the calculated activation time to the network controller (315). Then, the user equipment (310) receives (504) an approval of the cell change from the network controller (315) and moves (505) from the serving cell (306) to the target cell (308) at the activation time if the approval has been received.

A Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) or third generation (3G) network can be separated into a number of major components, namely one or more core networks which are responsible for setting up and controlling user sessions, and a UMTS radio access network (UTRAN) which controls access to the air interface. The interface between UTRAN and user equipment (UE) is provided by nodes that may be referred to as "Node B" (analogous to base stations in 2G/GSM networks) or base stations. NodeBs are responsible for transmitting and receiving data over the air interface and are controlled by radio network controllers. User and control data are routed between a base station and a core network via the base station and the radio network controllers. The interface between a base station and a radio network controller is referred to as the lub interface. The interface between two radio network controllers in the same network is referred to as the lur interface. A lu interface carries user traffic (such as voice or data) as well as control information, and is mainly needed for soft handovers. Soft handover refers to a feature used by the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standards, where a user equipment, such as a cell phone, is simultaneously connected to two or more cells (or cell sectors) during a call. On the uplink (user equipment-to-cell-site), all the cell site sectors that are actively supporting a call in soft handover send the bit stream that they receive back to the radio network controller, along with information about the quality of the received bits. The radio network controller examines the quality of all these bit streams and dynamically chooses the bit stream with the highest quality. Again, if the signal degrades rapidly, the chance is still good that a strong signal will be available at one of the other cell sectors that are supporting the call in soft handover.
In UTRAN, the high-speed downlink shared channel (HS-DSCH) does not use soft handover as dedicated channels do. Instead, a procedure called HS-DSCH serving cell change (HSCC) is utilized to make a hard handover. Soft handover is still used for the uplink, and an active set is managed in the same way as for non-high speed user equipment. The active set comprises a list of all active cells the user equipment is connected to in uplink soft handover. The user equipment continuously measures a common pilot channel (CPICH) and comprises a hysteresis to be fulfilled during a certain time (time to trigger). The update procedure for the list of active set of cells is schematically illustrated in FIG. 1. The active set update procedure is triggered by measurement report 1a, 1b or 1c, 101 informing the network controller, e.g. a serving radio network controller SRNC, that new cells have fulfilled the criterions to be added (measurement report 1a), deleted (measurement report 1b) or replaced (measurement report 1c) in the active set. The measurement report 1a, 1b, 1c is sent from the user equipment to a network controller, e.g. a serving radio network controller SRNC. A serving radio network controller is a type of radio network controller serving a particular user equipment and manages the connections towards that user equipment. When in HS-DSCH operation, the downlink is not in soft handover. Instead, one of the cells (typically the strongest) in the active set is marked as current HS-DSCH serving cell. The network controller then performs a radio link addition 102, and sets up the required radio links by sending and receiving setup request and response 103, 104 to/from the base station. The network controller transmits an active set update message 105 to the user equipment. When the user equipment has received the active set update from the network controller, it prepares 106 a processing, i.e. it reads the message and applies the new configuration, e.g. adds or deletes a radio link. The user equipment sends an active set update complete message 107 to the network controller confirming that the active set update was complete. The duration of an active set update procedure may, as an example, be calculated as follows:Tasu=Ttrig1a+2*TUu+2*Tlub                 where                    Ttrig1a=Time to trigger measurement report 1a=320 ms            TUu=Uu (Radio Interface) delay=100 ms            Tlub=lub (Radio Network Controller−NodeB Interface) delay=10 ms            Tasu=Time for active set update
The signalling sequence for a (regular) HSCC procedure for hard handover is schematically shown in a combined flow and signalling diagram in FIG. 2. The user equipment performs a handover evaluation 200 to determine whether a handover shall be performed. This is triggered by a neighbour cell, target cell, being stronger than of the current cell, serving cell. A measurement report 1d is sent 201 from the user equipment to the network controller, e.g. the serving radio network controller (SRNC), indicating that another cell in the list of active set of cells has become the strongest one. As an example, the measurement report 1d is triggered to be sent from the user equipment when the measured common pilot channel level (CPICH) of the target cell is stronger than the serving cell by a certain hysteresis for a given time, governed by a parameter Ttrig1d (time to trigger measurement report 1d).
When not considering possible processing delays in the network controller and the user equipment, i.e. in simulation, the delay of the cell change procedure, Tcc, used may, as an example, be calculated as follows:Tcc=Ttrig1d+TUu+2*Tlub+TActivationTime                 where                    Tcc=Delay of cell change procedure            Ttrig1d=time to trigger measurement report 1d             TUu=Uu (Radio Interface) delay=100 ms            Tlub=lub (Radio Network Controller−NodeB Interface) delay=10 ms            TActivationTime=Activation time
When the network controller receives the measurement report 1d indicating the existence of this stronger cell, the network can take the decision to change the serving cell, i.e. it takes a handover decision 202. When a cell change is triggered, the network controller configures the source and target base stations (shown as only one base station in FIG. 2) with the new configuration, and the network controller also configures the lub transport bearer. The network controller sends a radio link reconfiguration prepare message 203 to the base stations, and receives in return a radio link reconfiguration ready message 204 when the reconfiguration is ready. When both base stations (serving and target) have acknowledged the configuration, the network controller calculates the activation time 205 for the new configuration in case the switch to the new configuration is a synchronized procedure, meaning that the user equipment and the network controller shall move to the new configuration at the same time. The calculated activation time is relative to a connection frame number (CFN). An offset is needed to cover for the time it takes to transmit the reconfiguration commit messages 206 to both the user equipment and the base stations. The network controller sends a physical channel reconfiguration message 207 to the user equipment. The user equipment prepares a processing 208, i.e. it reads the message from the network controller and executes the handover 209, i.e. applies the new configuration, e.g. adds or deletes a radio link for the handover. When the handover is complete, the user equipment may send a physical channel reconfiguration complete message 210 to the network controller.
There is however a problem for user equipments travelling at very high speed, since the link quality of the serving cell, i.e. source cell, may degrade before the cell change procedure to the target cell is completed. If this happens before the network controller is able to successfully transmit the physical channel reconfiguration message 207, the network controller will no longer be able to reach the user equipment and the call will be dropped.
Enhancements to the HS-DSCH serving cell change procedure are consequently required regarding radio protocol procedures and structures, lub/lur protocols and user equipment, base station and radio resource management (RRM) performance requirements.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Activation time for target based high speed serving cell change


The present invention provides a lens driving device which can limit rotations caused by torque generated when a lens is inserted or disassembled. The state that the lens driving device is damaged can be distinguished, and the finished product rate and reliability of a camera assembly are improved more easily. The lens driving device includes a lens support, a coil disposed on the lens support, a fixing assembly and springs for supporting the lens support to move along the optical axis, and a magnet yoke. Extruding clamping parts closer to the upper side than a mounting surface for the springs to mount are arranged on the lens support, the magnet yoke is provided with bending parts extending from the edge part of the opening part downwardly, and the bending parts of the magnet yoke are located closer to the upper side than the mounting surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lens driving device of a mobile phone or a tablet terminal loaded with a camera, in particular to a lens driving device for elastically supporting a lens support for retaining a lens (exactly, a lens assembly integrated more than one lens).
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, a camera unit loaded in a mobile phone or a tablet terminal is high in pixelate, and is also nearly loaded with an automatic focusing function. As a driving manner of a lens system loaded with the automatic focusing function, the lens driving device using a voice coil motor with simple structure is widely adopted.
The lens driving device using the voice coil motor is provided with the lens support for retaining the lens in the central part. The lens driving device is of the following structure, namely an internal thread part for being screwed with an external thread (generally a right thread) on the side of the lens is formed on the inner circumference side of the lens support, and an initial setting focusing position can be simply adjusted by adjusting the lens to the preset focusing positions.
Referring to FIG. 12 to FIG. 18 appropriately, an existing lens driving device is described.
As shown in FIG. 16, as an ordinary automatic focusing camera unit assembled with the lens driving device 10 using the voice coil motor, after an image sensor unit 30 having electronic devices (not shown) such as a driving IC (Integrated Circuit) or optical components such as an IR (Infrared Radiation) filter 32 is mounted on the lower side of the lens driving device 10, the lens 20 are screwed and inserted from the upper side of the lens driving device 10 in the lens support 3 and is adjusted to the preset focusing position (an infinitely great position or more press-in position than an infinitely great position), and the lens 20 are temporarily fixed with the lens support 3.
Then, focusing actions are carried out actually, if no abnormal problems appear on the pictures presenting views in the far-distance side (upper side direction in the figure), the lens 20 are sufficiently fixed on the lens support 3 by using an adhesive.
As shown in FIG. 12 to FIG. 14, in the ordinary lens driving device 10, in order to control the damage caused when the lens 20 are screwed to the minimum limit, the contour part 7d and contour part 2d of an upper spring 7 and a lower spring 2 and arm parts 7f, 2f which are used for connecting an inner contour part 7e with an inner contour part 2e and take the springs to play functions are disposed in an extending direction when rotating along the clockwise direction. Because under the condition of being opposite to the extending direction, the direction becomes a buckling direction when the lens 20 are screwed, and the lens are easily damaged.
A plurality of bending parts 9a are arranged on the magnet yoke 9 so as to be taken as clamping mechanisms for limiting the amounts of movement in the vertical direction. The bending parts 9a are disposed between the outer wall 3e of the thread part 3c of the lens support 3 and the inner circumference surface of the coil 4 so as to play a role of a reverse magnet yoke in improving the magnetic circuit efficiency. The clamping parts 9c of the bending parts 9a and the clamping parts 3f arranged at the mounting positions on the lower side of the coil 4, namely on the inner side of the coil 4, are oppositely arranged so as to limit the maximum amount of movement of the lens 20.
The clamping parts 9c of the magnet yoke 9 and the clamping parts 3f of the lens support 3 are spaced at intervals C when the lens support 3 does not move, the clamping parts 9c of the magnet yoke 9 abut against the clamping parts 3f of the lens support 3 during driving, and thus the state that the interval C is zero is formed, so as to prevent the lens to be moved beyond the limit, and make sure the adjustment of the focusing position is carried out in the range of the interval C.
Moreover, the lens driving device 10 using the voice coil motor is such configured that the lens 20 goes up and down by means of the arms 7f of the upper spring 7 and the lower spring 2 when the lens 20 are driven, the lens 20 are not in contact with other components, and thus the magnetic retardation can be controlled in the minimum extent.
The structure has already been disclosed by Patent Document 1: JP 2012-88434 and Patent Document 2: JP 4966750.
As mentioned above, a plurality of movable components move up and down only by means of the arms 7f of the upper spring 7 and the lower spring 2 but are not in contact with each other, and thus under the condition that the lens 20 are screwed in the thread part 3c of the lens support 3 of the lens driving device 10, the upper spring 7 and the lower spring 2 generate stress in the extending direction when being subjected to a torque effect. Therefore, when the lens 20 are screwed in the thread part 3c, force below 60 gfcm (gram-force centimeter) (about 0.6 cNm) without damaging the upper spring 7 and the lower spring 2 is needed for twisting.
Moreover, recently, relative to a lens driving device 10, the combined application of various lens 20 with different heights or pixel counts taken as a camera assembly is being developed. However, in the range that the upper spring 7 and the lower spring 2 are not damaged and under the low torque (generally about 20-60 gfcm) without loosening during assembling, all combinations of the various lens 20 which are used for forming the external threads and are called mold number of lens barrel parts and used for forming the mold number of the lens support 3 of the internal thread are difficult to specify. Therefore, the clamping mechanism in the rotating direction is used so as to limit the amount of movement of the lens in the rotating direction, so that the upper spring 7 and the lower spring 2 are unlikely to be damaged under the effect of the torque (generally about 100-150 gfcm) that the thread is not damaged.
For example, as shown in FIG. 14, for the purpose that the amount of components is not added and the amount of movement of the lens in the rotating direction (clamping mechanism in the rotating direction) can be limited, the existing side face part 9b for limiting the bending part 9a on the inner side of the magnet yoke 9 in the vertical direction and the positioning guiding part 3b of the coil 4 of the lens support 3 extend towards the side (face) of the bending part 9a respectively, so that the rotating clamping parts 3d are spaced at intervals F on the side faces and on the two sides along the clockwise direction or counterclockwise direction. The side face parts 9b of the bending part 9a on the inner side of the magnet yoke 9 abut against the rotating clamping parts 3d of the lens support 3, and thus the distance between the side face parts 9b of the bending part 9a on the inner side of the magnet yoke 9 and the rotating clamping parts 3d of the lens support 3 is limited to be the interval F, so that the upper spring 7 and the lower spring 2 are not deformed slightly even if stretching or buckling under the effect of the rotation torque generated when the lens 20 are adjusted to be screwed at the focusing positions.
However, in the lens 20 of a generally used mold product, the lens are manufactured by halving the thread part as a half (at 180-degree intervals) structurally, sometimes the thread position divided in a shaping state is slightly offset, or the center shafts are offset, or the torque during assembling exceeds the specification (called as abnormal torques as follows). As shown in FIG. 13, the bending part 9a of the magnet yoke 9 as the clamping mechanism in the rotating direction is located closer to the lower side than the mounting surface 3h of the inner contour part 7a of the upper spring 7, and enters in the middle of the upper-and-lower position of the coil 4. Therefore, under the condition that the rotating clamping parts 3d or side face parts 9b are damaged by sinking or cutting under the effect of abnormal torque, the problem is unlikely to be observed on the opening side (inserting direction of the lens 20 in the figure, namely the direction of the side of the object to be shot).
That is to say, when the rotating clamping parts 3d are damaged by sinking, the condition that the interval F is exceeded appears. Under this condition, the upper spring 7 and the lower spring 2 are also damaged to cause the problem that the characteristics of the lens 20 are worsened or cause the problem that the reliability is reduced after the lens is in the market.
Therefore, in order to prevent the abnormal torque from causing that the characteristic is reduced or the reliability is reduced on the basis that the existing structure is not changed, high-priced upper spring 7 and lower spring 2 with higher twisting force and high allowable stress need to be used in order to improve the rigidity of the upper spring 7 and the lower spring 2.
Moreover, under the condition of image failure caused by initial failure of an optical system inside the lens 20, the image sensor units 30 having the driving IC are partially expensive, and thus partial failures of the image sensor units 30 cannot be processed, only a damaged lens 20 is removed from the lens support 3 of the lens driving device 10 generally, and then another lens for replacing is assembled again.
Particularly when the lens 20 is removed, for the purpose that the lens 20 is rotated in the lifting (floating in the side of the object to be shot) direction (counterclockwise direction) during being disassembled, the center shaft of the external thread part of the lens 20 and the center shaft of the internal thread part of the lens support 3 are offset, and the lens support 3 is tilt, so that the connected upper spring 7 and lower spring 2 are easily damaged under the effect of force subjected in the buckling direction.
Therefore, in the assembling process of the camera assembly, when the lens 20 is inserted, or under the condition that the lens 20 is removed when the lens 20 is repaired, the help of the clamping mechanism in the rotating direction arranged in the lens driving device 10 is needed; moreover, for the purpose that the upper spring 7 and the lower spring 2 or internal components are not damaged, the rotating clamping parts 3d are arranged on the lens support 3 generally, and the lens 20 is retained by utilizing a fixed clamp embedded with the rotating clamping part 3d.
For example, as shown in FIG. 15, groove-shaped clamping parts 3r are arranged at the rotating clamping parts 11c of a rotation limiting clamp 11 for fixing of the existing lens support 3 between the upper part of the thread part 3c of the lens support 3 and the lower side of the mounting surface 3h of the inner contour part 7e of the spring 7. The rotation limiting clamp 11 includes an opening part 11a inserted with the lens 20, a guiding part 11b for guiding the shape of the lens driving device 10, namely the shape of the magnet yoke 9, and rotating clamping parts 11c embedded with the clamping parts 3r of the lens support 3.
The widths of the rotating clamping parts 11c are formed to be equal to or slightly smaller than the widths of the clamping parts 3r of the lens support 3, the amount of the rotatable movement is far smaller than the interval F of the clamping mechanism in the rotating direction, and the embedding is carried out in the state that the lens is hardly loosened.
Under the condition that the lens 20 is assembled, the guiding part 11b of the rotation limiting clamp 11 is aligned to the shape of the magnet yoke 9, the rotation limiting clamp 11 is mounted on the upper surface of the magnet yoke 9, the clamping parts 3r of the lens support 3 are embedded with the rotating clamping parts 11c, and the state that the lens support 3 is approximately fixed relative to the magnet yoke 9 (lens driving device 10) is formed. The lens 20 is inserted from the opening part 11a of the rotation limiting clamp 11 and screwed for adjusting through the above state, so that the rotating clamping parts 11c of the rotation limiting clamp 11 or the upper spring 7 and the lower spring 2 cannot be damaged under the effect of the abnormal torque, and the lens 20 can be disassembled safely when the lens is screwed for adjusting or the damaged lens 20. Generally, two to four pairs of clamping parts 11c of the rotation limiting clamp 11 and two to four pairs of clamping pars of the lens support 3 are arranged. Moreover, in order to prevent the shaft from being offset when the lens 20 are inserted, preferably more than three pairs of lens are arranged.
However, the rotation limiting clamp 11 is usually made of metals (such as aluminum and the like) with durability, the clamping parts 3r of the lens support 3 made of resin and the rotating clamping parts 11c are not in contact with each other and are difficult to embed when the lens driving device 10 is mounted. Therefore, under the condition that the clamping parts 3r and the rotating clamping parts 11c are worn, the surfaces of the clamping parts 3r may fall down sometimes to generate micro garbage (about 20 microns).
Under the condition of determining the micro garbage generated by the clamping parts 3r partially before leaving the factory, in order to prevent the reliability from being reduced, the micro garbage can be removed, or the adhesive for fixing is used for being fixed with the lens 20 together so as to prevent the garbage from entering the inside or being attached onto other components. However, under the condition that the damaged lens 20 is discovered through image inspection, the lens 20 needs to be replaced, and the lens 20 is removed from the lens driving device 10. When the lens 20 is removed from the lens driving device 10, the micro garbage may come to the side of the thread part 3c, the removed lens 20 is pulled to fall down inside the device and fall on the IR filter 32 or the image sensor 31, or when the replaced new lens 20 is inserted, the micro garbage falls in the device and remains on the IR filter 32 or the image sensor 31, and the condition of defective pixels appears.
Particularly, in recent years, narrow pixel interval of the image sensor 31 is caused by high pixelate, and the micro garbage is also easily attached onto the IR filter 32 or the image to cause defective or abnormal pixels.
The micro garbage attached onto the upper surface of the IR filter 32 or the image sensor 31 may move along with cleaning before leaving the factory sometimes, but the sensor unit 30 is assembled on the lower side of the lens driving device 10 without a gap, and the micro garbage usually remains inside the device. Therefore, after the product is in the market for popularization, the micro garbage may possibly be attached to a light path to cause defective pixels.
Under the condition that the micro garbage is generated, adhesive property needs to be utilized for removing the garbage for additional work, if the micro garbage falls to be closer to the lower side than the thread part 3c due to operation error, or under the condition that the micro garbage enters the inside of the image sensor unit 30, the garbage cannot be removed, and the expensive camera assembly is taken as an inferior-quality product for treatment, so that the rate of finished products is reduced.
Moreover, recently, in order to pursue high pixel and high image quality further, the boundary dimension of the lens driving device 10 needs to be unchanged, and the lens with maximum diameters (called as large-diameter lens) can also be loaded. For example, under the condition that the shape of the lens driving device 10 using the voice coil motor is 8.5*8.5, the thicknesses of the components as forming elements or the gaps among the components setting to be required minimum limit are taken into consideration, the lens 20 in M6.5 dimensions are also restricted.
As shown in section view of FIG. 17 or FIG. 18, under the condition that a circular coil 4 is used in the lens of M6.5, the bending parts 9a must enter the middle of the mounting surface 3h of the lens support 3 of the inner contour part 7a of the upper spring 7 and the arm part 7f of the upper spring 7. Therefore, under the width Wy of the existing bending part 9a, the gap between the coil 4 or the upper spring 7 and the lower spring 2 and each component needs to be reduced, so that interference among the components is easily caused, and the size of the magnet 6 or the gap between the components needs to be reduced. For the purpose that the lens 20 is converted into M6.5 from M6, the lens 20 must be reduced by 0.25 mm along the radial direction.
In order to prevent from generating interference among the components, the thickness Dc of the circular coil 4 in the radial needs to become into two layers from four layers, and thus the winding number is reduced, or the thickness Dy of the magnet yoke 9 is reduced, or the width Wy of the bending part is reduced. However, if the winding number is reduced, the total current passing through the flux is reduced, the pushing force is reduced, and thus similar characteristics do not exist, or if the thickness Dy of the magnet yoke 9 is reduced, the following failures may appear, namely the strength of the bending part 9a of the magnet yoke 9 is reduced, and the bending part 9a cannot serve as the clamping mechanism in the rotating direction to take effect.
Therefore, as shown in Patent Document 1, as a method in other rotating directions which is restricted by using the large-diameter lens (clamping mechanism in the rotating direction), the coil 4 formed in an octagonal shape is used. Or, if as shown in Patent Document 2, the magnet yoke 9 adopts an unbending structure.
The thickness of the clamping mechanism in the rotating direction of each component as shown in each patent document needs to be thinned and restricted to be minimum limit permitted by the large-diameter lens, under the condition that abnormal torque is applied to the rotating clamping part 3d or the rotating clamping part 11c, some rotating clamping parts 3d on the resin part side may be cracked, worn or deformed to cause damage or micro garbage. If the damage or micro garbage is generated, the durability of the rotating clamping parts 3d can be reduced, some problems may appear after the product is in the market, namely, the rotating clamping parts 3d can also be damaged even if under the conditions more relaxed than ordinary conditions, or the load exceeding allowable stress is applied to the upper spring 7 and the lower spring 2 to cause that the characteristics of the lens driving device 10 are worsened, or the damaged micro garbage is scattered everywhere to cause failure influence on the hysteresis characteristic during moving.
In the structure as shown in Patent Document 1, the bending part 9a of the magnet yoke 9 serves as a back yoke, and thus the bending part 9a enters the position near the middle of the coil 4, and whether the lens is damaged or not is unlikely to be discovered from the opening side of the lens 20. In the structure as shown in Patent Document 2, the rotating clamping part 3d is positioned on the lower side of the coil 4, and thus whether the lens is damaged or not is unlikely to be discovered from the opening part 11b of the lens 20 outside.
Therefore, in the existing rotation limiting method as shown in mentioned above, under the condition that the lens 20 is removed as the lens 20 is damaged or the abnormal rotating torque is applied due to impact, the clamping mechanism in the rotating direction is located near the middle (inner side) of the coil 4 or closer to the lower side than the coil 4, and thus each part is damaged by restricted rotation cannot be definitely confirmed from the opening part 11a. Moreover, under the condition that micro damage is caused, the parts cannot be confirmed to leave the factory directly, and it is predicted that troubles may appear after the parts are delivered to the destination (mobile terminal assembling destination) or the market.
Therefore, in the existing lens driving device 10, the upper spring 7 and the lower spring 2 may be deformed when being subjected to the torque (in the range of about 200-300 gfcm) greater than the existing torque, or the rotating clamping parts 3d, 11c serving as the clamping mechanisms in the rotating direction may be damaged. When the lens 20 is mounted or removed, in case of the condition that the rotating clamping parts 3d, 11c as the clamping mechanisms in the rotating direction are worn, shrunken or damaged or cause micro garbage, the damage or fragments can not be confirmed easily, and inferior-quality products can not be assigned reliably.

HUIZHOU DAYAWAN EVER BRIGHT ELECTRONIC INDUSTRY CO

HUIZHOU DAYA BAY JSS OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY.CO., LTD.


A sigma-delta modulator includes a first integrator receiving a difference between an input signal being weighted by a first coefficient, and a first reference signal being weighted by a second coefficient. A second integrator receives a difference between the output signal of the first integrator being weighted by a third coefficient, and the first reference signal being weighted by a fourth coefficient. A first quantizer receives the output signal of the second integrator being weighted by a fifth coefficient. A first digital/analog converter converts the output signal of the first quantizer into the first reference signal. A third integrator receives a difference between the output signal of the second integrator being weighted by a sixth coefficient, and a second reference signal being weighted by a seventh coefficient. A second quantizer receive the output signal of the third integrator being weighted by an eighth coefficient. A logic circuit adds together the output signals of the first and second quantizers. A second digital/analog converter converts the output signal of the logic circuit into the second reference signal. A first digital filter is connected downstream of the first quantizer, a second digital filter is connected downstream of the second quantizer, and the digital filters supply output signals being added together.

The invention relates to a sigma-delta modulator.
As compared with other types of converters, analog/digital converters with sigma-delta modulators are distinguished by the lower cost of analog circuitry. In the simplest case, namely for a first-order sigma-delta modulator, only one integrator with a differential input, one comparator for single-bit quantization and a reference voltage source for digital/analog conversion are required. High oversampling is then used instead of high resolution, and in a subsequent digital or in other words non-critical noise filter, a low-frequency, high-resolution signal is recovered from the high-frequency, low-resolution signal. The advantage then is that the attainable resolution is determined by the oversampling factor and the noise filtering, while conversely component tolerances do not substantially affect the resolution.
If the modulator order is increased, the resolution rises by 6 dB each time the oversampling factor is doubled. A first-order modulator has a resolution of approximately 9 dB per doubling of the oversampling factor. Therefore that value is approximately 15 dB for a second-order modulator and approximately 21 dB for a third-order modulator.
Second-order sigma-delta modulators are widely used, particularly in the audio field. In the case of a speech band with a bandwidth of 8 kHz and a sampling frequency of 1024 kHz, a resolution of approximately 80 dB or 13 bits is thus attained. By comparison, with a third-order sigma-delta modulator the same resolution is already attained at half the sampling frequency. Since the power consumption varies in proportion with the sampling frequency, power can be saved with a third-order modulator, despite the presence of a further integrator. That is particularly significant for battery-operated equipment.
Third-order sigma-delta modulators with a single feedback loop have stability problems, which is why cascading lower-order stable modulators are currently being done instead. Cascading first-order sigma-delta modulators has the advantage of not requiring scaling to avoid voltage magnification at the integrator outputs. In that kind of cascading, the quantization error of the first first-order sigma-delta modulator is digitally converted by the next sigma-delta modulator and then subtracted from the digital signal of the first sigma-delta modulator by a logical network. The output signal of the thus-formed third order sigma-delta modulator includes a noise component that originates in the first first-order sigma-delta modulator and cannot be fully compensated for.
In that respect, cascading of a second-order sigma-delta modulator and of a following first-order sigma-delta modulator is more favorable. However, the disadvantage of that circuit is that the noise is increased further because of the necessary scaling of the analog part, since the scaling must be rescinded again after the digital part after the quantization.
An article entitled "Third-Order Cascaded Sigma-Delta Modulators", by L. A. Williams and B. A. Wooley, in IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems, Vol. 38, No. 5, May 1991, discloses a third-order cascaded sigma-delta modulator circuit, including a second-order modulator and a following first-order modulator. Due to suitable scaling, that circuit does not have the disadvantage mentioned above. The known circuit includes a known integrator to which the difference, weighted with a first coefficient, between an input signal and a first reference signal is applied, and a second integrator to which the difference, weighted by a second coefficient, between the output signal of the first integrator and the first reference signal is applied. A first quantizer, to which the output signal of the second integrator is delivered, and a first digital/analog converter, which converts the output signal of the first quantizer into the first reference signal, are also provided. Moreover, the output signal of the second integrator, weighted by a third coefficient, is subtracted from the first reference signal, weighted by a fourth coefficient, and the resultant difference is then multiplied by a fifth coefficient. A second reference signal is subtracted from that product. The resultant difference is weighted by a sixth coefficient and delivered to a third integrator. The output of the third integrator is applied to a second quantizer, which in turn is followed by a second digital/analog converter for generating the second reference signal. Finally, each of the two quantizers are followed by respective digital filters, having output signals which are subtracted from one another and produce the output signal of the third-order sigma-delta modulator.
However, a disadvantage of such a sigma-delta modulator is that in constructing it with circuitry for coupling the second-order modulator to the first-order modulator, either one additional analog subtractor or an analog subtractor with three inputs is needed.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a cascaded sigma-delta modulator with a higher-order modulator and a following first-order modulator, which overcomes the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices of this general type.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a sigma-delta modulator, comprising a first integrator receiving a difference between an input signal being weighted by a first coefficient, and a first reference signal being weighted by a second coefficient, the first integrator supplying an output signal; a second integrator receiving a difference between the output signal of the first integrator being weighted by a third coefficient, and the first reference signal being weighted by a fourth coefficient, the second integrator supplying an output signal; a first quantizer receiving the output signal of the second integrator being weighted by a fifth coefficient, the first quantizer supplying an output signal; a first digital/analog converter receiving and converting the output signal of the first quantizer into the first reference signal; a third integrator receiving a difference between the output signal of the second integrator being weighted by a sixth coefficient, and a second reference signal being weighted by a seventh coefficient, the third integrator supplying an output signal; a second quantizer receiving the output signal of the third integrator being weighted by an eighth coefficient, the second quantizer supplying an output signal; a logic circuit receiving and adding together the output signals of the first and second quantizers and supplying an output signal; a second digital/analog converter receiving and converting the output signal of the logic circuit into the second reference signal; and a first digital filter connected downstream of the first quantizer, and a second digital filter connected downstream of the second quantizer, the digital filters supplying output signals being added together.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the first digital filter forms a sum of the triply delayed output signal of the first quantizer being weighted by a ninth coefficient, the doubly delayed output signal of the first quantizer being weighted by the doubled, negative, ninth coefficient, and the singly delayed output signal of the first quantizer being weighted by the ninth coefficient+1; and the second digital filter forms a sum of the doubly delayed output signal of the second quantizer being weighted by a tenth coefficient, the doubled, negative, singly delayed output signal of the second quantizer, and the undelayed output signal of the second quantizer.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the first coefficient is equal to a reciprocal of a first constant being multiplied by a ratio of maximum quantity values of the input signal to the first reference signal; the second coefficient is equal to the reciprocal of the first constant; the third coefficient is equal to a ratio of the first constant to a second constant; the fourth coefficient is equal to twice a reciprocal of the second constant; the sixth coefficient is equal to a product of the second constant, a reciprocal of a third constant, and a fourth constant; the seventh coefficient is equal to twice the reciprocal of the third constant; the ninth coefficient is equal to twice a reciprocal of the fourth constant, minus 1; the tenth coefficient is equal to the reciprocal of the fourth constant; and the maximum quantity values of the two reference signals are of equal size.
In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention, there is provided at least one further integrator connected upstream of the first integrator, the at least one further integrator receiving a difference between a respective input signal being weighted with further coefficients, and the first reference signal.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a sigma-delta modulator, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.


Provided is a fuel injection control device capable of improving detection accuracy of a singular point with respect to a characteristic of the fuel injection valve to be equal to or higher than an original time resolution of the A/D conversion, and capable of accurately detecting the singular point. A variable control part 24 variably controls a conversion timing of the A/D conversion part 221 such that the conversion timing of A/D conversion for physical quantity data related to driving of the fuel injection valve 10 is relatively changed, the A/D conversion part 221 acquires a plurality of time series data by performing A/D conversion on the physical quantity data at a conversion timing before change and at a conversion timing after change by the variable control part 24, and a detection part 223 detects a singular point with respect to the characteristic of the fuel injection valve 10 based on the plurality of time series data.

Conventionally, as a fuel injection technology of an internal combustion engine, a technology of directly injecting (supplying) fuel into a cylinder has been practically used.
Additionally, in recent years, from the requirement for further cleaning of exhaust gas and improvement of fuel consumption and output or the like, a fuel injection quantity per cycle has been reduced by splitting the fuel required for one combustion stroke into a plurality of times to inject (multi-stage injection), and downsizing has been promoted by combining an internal combustion engine with a supercharger to reduce a displacement. Therefore, in order to cope with a minimum output to a maximum output of the internal combustion engine, there is a demand for further expansion of a dynamic range from a minimum injection amount (minimum flow rate) to a maximum injection amount (maximum flow rate) of a flow characteristic of the fuel injection valve.
In order to expand the dynamic range of the flow characteristic of such a fuel injection valve, for example, it is necessary to increase the maximum injection amount by such as enlarging a hole diameter of the fuel injection valve, or to open a valve element of the fuel injection valve only for a very short time in a region of the minimum injection amount, causing necessity of using a so-called intermediate lift state in which the valve element is closed before being fully opened.
It is known that, when fuel is injected from a plurality of fuel injection valves provided in an internal combustion engine into a cylinder of the internal combustion engine, even if each fuel injection valve is driven by a same injection pulse (driving pulse for controlling opening and closing of the fuel injection valve), movement of a valve element of each fuel injection valve changes based on a spring characteristic, a solenoid characteristic, or the like of each fuel injection valve, and a valve opening start timing and a valve closing completion timing of each fuel injection valve, a time width from a start of valve opening to a completion of valve closing, or the like vary, this causes the fuel injection quantity of each fuel injection valve to vary for each individual. Further, a variation amount of the fuel injection quantity does not change so much even if the fuel injection quantity of each fuel injection valve changes. Therefore, when the fuel injection quantity per cycle is reduced by multi-stage injection as described above, for example, a ratio of the variation amount to the fuel injection quantity per one cycle becomes relatively large, the fuel injection quantity injected on one combustion stroke greatly deviates from the target fuel injection quantity, and the variation amount of the fuel injection quantity of each fuel injection valve tends to be further increased.
For this reason, a technology for detecting the injection characteristic of each fuel injection valve has been conventionally adopted to an internal combustion engine in which a plurality of fuel injection valves are disposed, as described in PTL 1, for example, in order to control the fuel injection quantity of each fuel injection valve by changing the injection pulse of each fuel injection valve according to the injection characteristic of each fuel injection valve.
The related art disclosed in PTL 1 is a technology for causing an A/D converter to perform A/D conversion on a fuel pressure signal at every fixed time that is very short such as tracing a waveform, and reading each A/D conversion value to detect an injection characteristic of an injector (fuel injection valve) in consideration of an operation state received from an engine ECU, based on time series of the A/D conversion value (i.e., a detected value of the fuel pressure).


A rotary driving member at the tip end portion is rotated by a motor through a linear transmission member, and the rotation of this rotary driving member is converted into a straight-line motion to thereby enable a movable lens for making the observation distance variable to move within a predetermined range. A motor shaft and the linear transmission member are connected to each other by the shaft connecting member, whereby the linear transmission member is constructed so as to be able to move in an axial direction, and on the outer peripheral portion of the shaft connecting member, a rotating member having a protruded portion is mounted, and the rotation stopper mechanism is constituted by the rotating member and a locking pin portion. Thereby, any kink of the linear transmission member is eliminated to improve the response of driving control, and loads given to the tip end portion driving member and the linear transmission member are reduced.

This application claims the priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-232811 filed on Aug. 1, 2000 which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a linear transmission member driving unit for an endoscope, and more particularly to a structure of a driving unit for rotating, by a motor, a linear transmission member for changing an observation distance (including changing depth of field).
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIGS. 4 and 5 show a structure (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-111806) of an endoscope, to which a mechanism for making an observation distance (or depth of field) variable is applied, and first with reference to FIG. 5, the description will be made of the endoscope as a whole. The endoscope is constituted by an operating unit 1A, an insertion portion 1B having flexibility and a tip end portion 1C, and the operating unit 1A is provided with a air-supply/water-supply operating button 2A, a suction operating button 2B, a freeze switch 3, an observation distance variable switch 4 and the like. This observation distance variable switch 4 is capable of changing a focal length to a far direction or a near direction.
In this operating unit 1A, a motor 7 is mounted on a chassis 6 by means of a holding member 8, and to this motor 7, a linear transmission member 10 consisting of a multiple coiled spring is mounted through a shaft connector 11. This linear transmission member 10 is inserted in a protective tube 12 for preventing any interference with other members, and this protective tube 12 is attached to the chassis 6 by means of the holding member 13. These linear transmission member 10 and protective tube 12 are arranged from the operating unit 1A to the tip end portion IC through the insertion portion 1B.
At this tip end portion 1C, there are provided an objective optical system 14 and a CCD 15, which is a solid state imaging device, and a movable lens installed in this objective optical system 14 for making the observation distance variable is driven by the linear transmission member 10. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, at the tip end portion 1C, there are arranged a front-side lens 17, a movable lens 18, and a prism 19, and below the prism 19, a CCD 20 is optically connected. The holding member 22 of the movable lens 18 has a female threaded portion in its top portion, and there is arranged a rotary driving member 23, whose male threaded portion threadedly engages this female threaded portion, and to this rotary driving member 23, the linear transmission member 10 is coupled.
Further, the rotary driving member 23 is provided with a first stopper 25A having a male threaded portion at its end and a second stopper 25B in such a manner that the inside of a wall portion, in which the inside diameter at a rear end of the holding member 22 becomes smaller, abuts on the first stopper 25A, and the outside abuts on the second stopper 25B.
According to such structure, rotation of the motor 7 is transmitted to the rotary driving member 23 at the tip end portion 1C through the linear transmission member 10, and the rotational motion of this rotary driving member 23 is converted into a straight-line motion by means of a combination of threaded engagement with the holding member 22. Thereby, the movable lens 18 moves back and forth within a range D1 (FIG. 4) to be set by the first stopper 25A and the second stopper 25B, and it becomes possible to change the observation distance to be set by the objective optical system.
In the above-described linear transmission member driving unit, however, the linear transmission member 10 consists of a multiple coiled spring, by means of which the operating unit 1A and the tip end portion 1C are coupled over a comparatively long distance therebetween, and therefore, driving control is not linearly performed, but particularly the response at the driving end (terminal end) is not satisfactory. More specifically, in the driving control of the motor 7, the holding member 22 of the movable lens 18 abuts on the first stopper 25A or the second stopper 25B to reach the driving end, and when a load to be given to the rotating shaft of the motor 7 through the linear transmission member 10 exceeds a predetermined value, the motor 7 is controlled to be stopped.
However, since the rotary driving force to be transmitted from the motor 7 is absorbed by the kink of the linear transmission member 10, no stop control is performed in the control circuit before a fixed amount of load is applied to the motor 7 since the movable lens 18 stops at the driving end. Also, even when the direction of rotation is reversed at the driving end, since the movable lens 18 starts to move after the kink of the linear transmission member 10 is completely returned, a time lag occurs between when the observation distance variable switch 4 is operated, and when actually driven, and as a result, the operability is worsened.
Also, in order to move the movable lens 18, a force to be given to the tip end portion driving member is increased by the kink of the linear transmission member 10, and since a miniaturized driving member is used for the tip end portion of the endoscope which has particularly a fine diameter, the durability of the tip end portion driving member is deteriorated. Similarly, there was a problem that the durability of the linear transmission member 10 itself is also deteriorated due to the kink.
As means for avoiding such a problem, it can be conceived to reinforce the linear transmission member 10, and to increase its diameter so as not to cause any kink phenomenon even for the maximum driving force for improving the transmission ability. Even in this case, however, it is possible to reduce the time lag between during operating and during driving to some extent, but sufficient response cannot be obtained. And yet, this observation distance variable operation is structured so as to be able to change the operating speed stepwise, and since the linear transmission member 10 becomes heavier by increasing the diameter, it becomes difficult to execute high-speed operation.
Also, when the diameter of the linear transmission member 10 is increased, the hardness also becomes higher, and therefore, the transmission characteristic of the linear transmission member 10 is deteriorated because of a change in posture of the insertion portion 1B which can be freely bent, and there is also an inconvenience that there occurs a difference in time required for the observation distance variable operation.
The present invention has been achieved in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a linear transmission member driving unit for an endoscope capable of obtaining high operability in the function for making the observation distance variable and the like by improving the response of driving control, and improving durability of the tip end portion driving member and the linear transmission member.
In order to achieve the object, according to the present invention, there is provided a linear transmission member driving unit comprising: a linear transmission member which rotates to drive an object; a motor, to which this linear transmission member is shaft-connected; a guide member for regulating a range of movement of the object driven by the linear transmission member; and a rotation stopper mechanism arranged between the linear transmission member and the motor, for stopping the rotation of the linear transmission member correspondingly to a range of movement of the object regulated by the guide member.
The another invention is characterized in that it is arranged such that rotation of the linear transmission member is transmitted to a lens driving unit, to make a movable lens for performing a predetermined function move back and forth within a predetermined range, and a range of rotation of the linear transmission member set by the rotation stopper mechanism is set to be equal to or more than a range of rotation of linear transmission member required for the lens driving unit to accomplish a predetermined function.
According to the above-described structure, the rotation stopper mechanism is arranged in the vicinity of the motor shaft, and by means of this stopper mechanism, there is secured a little larger range than the range of movement of the movable lens which accomplishes (ensures), for example, the observation distance variable function (scaling function) to stop the rotation of the linear transmission member. As a result, the kink of the linear transmission member is suppressed to a minimum, and the response of the movable lens can be enhanced under the rapid stop control of the motor.
The another invention is characterized in that there is provided a movable shaft coupling mechanism for coupling an end portion of the linear transmission member to a shaft of the motor, and enabling the linear transmission member to move in a motor rotating shaft direction.
According to the above-described structure, since the end portion of the linear transmission member is coupled to the motor shaft by means of the movable shaft coupling mechanism, even if the linear transmission member expands or contracts because of a bending operation or the like of the endoscope insertion portion, that amount corresponding to the expansion and contraction can be absorbed within the coupling mechanism, the load to be applied to the motor rotating shaft can be made substantially constant, and a scaling operation or the like can be performed by a stable rotary driving force.
The another invention is characterized in that the rotation stopper mechanism is constructed of: a rotating member integrally provided on the outer periphery of the shaft connecting member of the movable shaft coupling mechanism and having a protruded portion; and a locking portion for locking a protruded portion of this rotating member, and that the rotating member is arranged in an outer peripheral position of the motor shaft by providing the motor shaft with a notch portion, through which a screw for mounting the shaft connecting member is inserted.
According to the above-described structure, the shaft connecting member is mounted to the motor shaft while a screw is being inserted through the notch portion provided in the rotating member of the rotation stopper mechanism, whereby the stopper mechanism can be arranged at an outer peripheral position of the motor shaft, and a stable stop operation can be obtained. Also, the rotating member can be easily mounted.
The another invention is characterized in that in the rotating member of the rotation stopper mechanism, its protruded portion is formed with a tapped hole, and the rotating member concerned is screwed and fixed to the shaft connecting member through this tapped hole on the protruded portion.
According to the above-described structure, since screwing and fixing are performed through a tapped hole formed in the protruded portion of the rotating member, sufficient strength can be secured for the tightening and fixing, and the range of rotation can be set large through the use of all the portions other than the protruded portion.

Linear transmission member driving unit for endoscope with rotation stopper mechanism


A feedback control system utilizing optimal signal acquisition for an auttic real-time sensing system. A sensor generates a continuous train of sensor output signals which are sampled. A histogram is determined from that sample and processed utilizing a digital transinformation technique. A feedback signal is achieved that is used to adjust a control signal of the sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention disclosed herein is directed to signal processing and more specifically to optimal signal acquisition and especially pertaining to automatic control of real-time sensing systems.
2. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED PRIOR ART
The prior art offers several definitions and methods of "optimal" signal acquisition and associated automatic sensor gain control. For analog signal reception or recording, the popularly accepted approach has been to roughly maximize the received signal power while avoiding saturation. This technique is typically performed either by a human operator or built-in AGC (automatic gain control) circuit defined below. In the case of digital signal acquisition (quantization) the conventional approach is known as "minimum mean-square-error" quantization first formally documented by Joel Max in his 1961 paper "Quantizing for Minimum Distortion". In this approach, a human operator or AGC circuit controls an analog signal level while a uniform n-bit level digitizer quantizes the signal into discrete samples.
There are significant problems with the prior art that preclude extraction of the optimal amount of information from a signal. Although a human operator is ultimately the best judge for optimal signal acquisition for himself, he is often not the best judge for another human observer or for a machine vision device. In addition, "man-in-the-loop" approaches prevent real-time optimization for signal acquisition. Although real time, typical AGC circuits simply adjust the gain to ensure a near-constant average signal intensity. The "minimum-mean square error" approach, limits quantization error effects, but for most signal distributions does not ensure the maximum signal information content. In fact, none of these aforementioned approaches in the prior art are optimal in the information-theoretic sense and none address the case where the signal is corrupted by noise.

Optimal signal acquisition technique and system

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


A vascular impedance measurement instrument includes a transducer to obtain a digitized arterial blood pressure waveform. The digitized data is used to determine cardiac output, and to subsequently obtain measurements of impedance parameters using the modified Windkessel model of the arterial system. The instrument is used as an aid in diagnosing, treating and monitoring patients with cardiovascular disease.

The modified Windkessel electrical analog model of the arterial system is gaining increasing attention from the medical community as a clinically useful tool for characterizing the human vasculature for the purpose of diagnosing, treating and monitoring cardiovascular disease. A number of studies of the cardiovascular system using the modified Windkessel model have been conducted, and correlations between the model parameters and normal and disease states have been identified. For instance, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/250,315, entitled "Method for Diagnosing Hypertension," discloses a method for utilizing the parameter C.sub.2 of the modified Windkessel model to diagnose, treat and monitor the vascular disease condition underlying hypertension.
The modified Windkessel model of the arterial system is shown in FIG. 1. In the model:
C.sub.1 =proximal arterial compliance (ml/mm Hg);
C.sub.2 =distal arterial compliance (ml/mm Hg);
L=inertence (mm Hg/ml/s.sup.2);
P.sub.1 =proximal arterial (aortic) pressure (mm Hg);
P.sub.2 =distal arterial (brachial) pressure (mm Hg); and
R=peripheral resistance (dynes sec cm.sup.-5).
While the usefulness of the Windkessel model parameters for the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of cardiovascular disease has become more apparent, they remain relatively difficult to use on a routine basis for two reasons. The first is the need to obtain a cardiac output measurement in order to determine the parameters. Conventional procedures for determining cardiac output, such as thermodilution and dye dilution, are surgically invasive, requiring catheterization of the patient. Physicians, in general, are reluctant to employ such procedures because of their cost, the discomfort and inconvenience to the patient, the risk of infection and other severe complications, and their relative level of complexity as compared to alternative noninvasive procedures. The second reason involves the difficulty with obtaining patient data for the modified Windkessel model from blood pressure waveforms, which also conventionally requires the insertion of an arterial catheter and the use of a transducer and other electronic equipment.
The present invention, as described hereinafter, provides an instrument which can noninvasively measure Windkessel parameters, or other impedance parameters which depend on cardiac output measurement, using a noninvasively obtained arterial blood pressure waveform of the patient. Accordingly, it is contemplated that the present invention will significantly facilitate widespread clinical use of the modified Windkessel model parameters, or other impedance model parameters, in the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of cardiovascular disease. In particular, the invention allows for a quick, easy-to-use and noninvasive determination of the modified Windkessel parameters so that these parameters can be ascertained and used during routine physical examinations, and patient screening, treatment and monitoring. Given that the only existing practical and quick screening device for determining the status of the cardiovascular state is a blood pressure cuff (i.e., a sphygmomanometer) measurement, it is contemplated that the invention could provide a substantial and new diagnostic capability for physicians to use on a routine basis.

Method for vascular impedance measurement


A disclosed film electrode includes an electrode base, and an active material layer formed on the electrode base, and a resin layer adhering to at least one of a peripheral portion of the active material layer and a surface of the active material layer in a direction extending along a plane of the electrode base.

Related-art electrodes for use in electric storage devices such as batteries, power generation devices such as fuel cells, photovoltaic power generation devices, or the like are formed by dispersing a powdery active substance or a catalyst composition in a liquid, applying the resulting liquid to an electrode base, and stabilizing and drying the resulting liquid on the electrode base. To apply such a liquid to the electrode base, printing is generally performed by a spray, a dispenser, a die coater, a pull-up coating, and an ink jet head. With respect to an increase in the production speed along with the market expansion, these electrodes have a trade-off relationship in the positional accuracy of a coated end and defect density; this may have led to defects in the market or to lower yields and productivity caused by manufacturing devices for excluding these defects.
Meanwhile, as the demand for higher output, higher capacity, and longer life of these devices is increasing, various problems due to quality of such electrodes are occurring. For example, when devices having defects in the electrode surface, the electrode end face, or the electrode interface that are left unfixed are shipped out to the market, a specific substance may be deposited on the defect site, short circuit may occur due to mechanical contact to the electrode interface, leakage or the like may occur according to aging or vibration; this may cause undesired ignition in the devices and reduction in useful life.
In order to manage the undesired results, it is desirable to feed back the coating amount and the cutting position of the electrode while tracing the position information of the electrode end to improve the accuracy of the coating width, which is known to result in a decrease in a margin of overlapped misalignment of the electrode or improvement of the cutting accuracy of the electrode, and the like.
Despite such management, there still remain unresolved difficulties, examples of which include an increase in variability due to an increase in production speed and in high density of batteries, lowering of the margin of overlapping, roughness of the cut surface, cracking of the active material, exposure of the surface of the electrode conductor due to exfoliating of the active material.
As a technique for partially coating the electrode with the resin, a method of forming an insulating layer made of an insulating resin film is known in the art in order to develop corrosion resistance and adhesiveness around the electrode tab constituting the lithium ion battery (e.g., Patent Document 1).
Further, as a technique for reducing a short circuit of the exposed portion of the electrode, the following short circuit preventing techniques are known in the art. For example, the techniques may include: a technique of forming a resin layer such as polyvinylidene fluoride (hereinafter simply referred to as "PVDF") on the electrode end on a protruded exposed portion of the positive electrode current collector (reference example of Patent Document 2), a technique of bonding an electrically powered material such as alumina with a binder resin to form an insulating film (Patent Document 3), and a technique of coating a resin film using a heat-resistant resin as a base, which is an insulating resin film (a film having a two-layer structure) containing a thermoplastic resin (Patent Document 4).
Further, a technique of covering the whole electrode surface with a layer made of organic fiber that functions to prevent defects on electrode end faces and electrode surfaces may be proposed in Patent Document 5, and the like.
The technique described in Patent Document 1 is a technique for forming an insulating layer at a specific portion around an electrode tab of a lithium ion battery, which is fundamentally different from the configuration of a film electrode according to the present invention. That is, the deposition of a specific substance on defects at electrode surfaces, electrode end faces or electrode interfaces caused by electrodes, and short-circuits, leaks, etc. due to mechanical contact of the interface may remain as fundamental problems.
In the technique described in Patent Document 2, it is difficult to control the film thickness in the coating only at the end of the electrode, and the resin is liable to peel off in the subsequent processes.
In the technique described in Patent Document 3, although the peeling resistance is improved, the powder is brittle due to its hardness and may fall off easily in the subsequent processes.
In the technique described in Patent Document 4, there may be difficulties from increasing the number of steps and in controlling the thickness at the end portion of the collecting electrode in the formation of the film having the two-layer structure. Likewise, in the technique described in Patent Document 5 in which the entire surface of the electrode is covered with a fibrous resin, it is difficult to control the uniformity of the thickness, adhesiveness with the electrode is poor, and physical damage of the film is likely to occur.

Film electrode, resin layer forming ink, inorganic layer forming ink, and electrode printing apparatus


In an example, a method includes receiving a first data model of an object to be generated in additive manufacturing, at a processor. Using the processor, a second data model may be determined. Determining the second data model may include generating for each of plurality of contiguous, non-overlapping sub-volumes of a volume containing the object, a sub-volume octree characterising the sub-volume and having a root node. Determining the second data model may further include generating a volume octree characterising the volume containing the object, the volume octree characterising in its lowest nodes the root nodes of the sub-volume octrees.

Additive manufacturing techniques may generate a three-dimensional object on a layer-by-layer basis through the selective solidification of a build material. In examples of such techniques, build material is supplied in a layer-wise manner and a solidification method may include heating the layers of build material to cause melting in selected regions, for example in regions bearing a fusing agent. In other techniques, other solidification methods, such as chemical solidification methods or binding materials, may be used.
Data relating to a three-dimensional object to be generated may be provided to an additive manufacturing apparatus and used to generate the three-dimensional object.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A signal detection circuit has a first differential amplifier including a first input coupled for receiving a data signal, and a second input coupled for receiving a threshold signal. A current steering circuit is coupled to an output of the first differential amplifier to establish a threshold for the first differential amplifier. A latch has an input coupled to the output of the first differential amplifier for latching a signal detect. A second amplifier has an input coupled to the output of the first differential amplifier and an output coupled to the input of the latch. A third amplifier has an input coupled to the output of the first differential amplifier and an output providing the data signal. The current steering circuit can be disabled which removes the need for the third amplifier as the data signal path is through second amplifier.

A gigabit passive optical network (GPON) provides high speed data communications, over a fiber optical cable, between an internet service provider (ISP) and end user. A GPON uses point-to-multipoint architecture (1:32) or (1:64) with a fiber optic splitter to serve multiple end-points from a single optical source. For example, the GPON includes an optical line terminal (OLT) at the ISP central office or switching center and a plurality of optical network units (ONU) or optical network terminals (ONT) located near the end users. Each ONU serves an individual end user. A GPON reduces the amount of fiber and central office equipment as compared with other networks since unpowered fiber optic splitters are used to enable a single optical fiber to serve multiple end-points.
The GPON is a shared network, in that the OLT sends a stream of data packets as downstream traffic that is seen by all ONUs. The OLT transmitter and ONU receiver operate in continuous mode (CM). Each ONU reads the content of the data packets that correspond to the particular ONU address. Encryption prevents eavesdropping on downstream traffic. However, in the upstream channel, the ONU typically cannot transmit the optical data signal in CM, because there are more ONUs than OLTs and the receive timing of the optical data signal is variable. Instead, signals are combined using a multiple access protocol, such as time division multiple access (TDMA). Therefore, a given ONU transmits an optical packet in an assigned time slot using burst mode (BM) transmission. All ONUs use the same clock frequency as the OLT as they extract the frequency from the downstream channel by using a clock and data recovery (CDR) circuit.
Many ONUs are geographically dispersed and operate at least partially out-of-phase because of the distance and delay to the OLT. The optical signals from different ONUs also experience different attenuation. Accordingly, the OLT receives BM optical packages from different ONUs that are asynchronous, out-of-phase, and with different amplitudes. The OLT must identify the preamble of the burst mode transmission. The OLT can then compensate for signal degradation from the phase and amplitude variation of the optical signal.
To identify a valid preamble, a conventional amplitude detector uses two identical signal paths with a large gain-bandwidth product (GBWP). A threshold signal is routed through one signal path and a data signal needing amplitude detection goes through the other signal path. Each signal path requires a large gain due to attenuation (>28 dB) of potential signals (<5 mV) in the system. The output signals from the two signal paths are compared to confirm a valid preamble. The dual signal paths use more real estate on the semiconductor chip and require more power. The accuracy can be affected by small offsets between the two discrete signal paths.

Signal detection for GPON optical line terminal


A method of reducing the number of instructions in a computer program. A program definition instruction and a use instruction that operate on the same program variable are identified. If the use instruction may be moved ahead of one or more other instruction in the computer program to be adjacent the definition instruction, then the use instruction and the definition instruction are removed from the computer program.

Some modern compilers, most notably the Java compiler from Sun Microsystems, are designed to compile source code (e.g., Java programs) into sequences of instructions to be executed on a stack-based virtual machine. A key benefit of compiling source code for execution on a virtual machine is that the compiled code may be executed by any processor that can be programmed to implement the virtual machine, regardless of the processor's internal architecture.
One drawback to compiling code for execution on a virtual machine is that execution is usually much slower than if the program had been compiled into native instructions executable by the underlying processor. In a stack-based virtual machine like the Java virtual machine, the stack is usually maintained in system memory so that stack push and pop operations are relatively time consuming and contribute to the relatively slow execution rate of the virtual machine.
Another drawback to compiling code for execution on a virtual machine is that the compiled code tends to be easy to reverse compile into a version of the original source code. This is a serious concern for many software developers. After spending large amounts of time and money developing a software program, developers do not want to place the program in the public domain in a form that gives away the source code.

Method of reducing the number of instructions in a program code sequence


Hybrid dilated Benes photonic switching architectures employ an arrangement of two-by-one (2×1) photonic and two-by-two (2×2) photonic elements to enjoy improved cross-talk performance while maintaining moderate cell counts. A jumpsuit switch optical network node architecture comprising multiple stages may operate more efficiently than single stage switching fabrics, by enabling manipulation of connectivity in some stages to achieve load balancing over other stages. Specifically, a first stage of switching fabrics connected to input ports of the optical node may be manipulated to load balance incoming signals over a second stage of switching fabrics coupled to output ports of the optical node. Additionally, a third stage of switching fabrics connected to add ports of the optical node may be manipulated to load balance added optical signals over the second stage of switching fabrics.

Present day transparent optical nodes are primarily reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers (ROADMs) that consist of vast numbers of parallel mini-switches or wavelength selective switches (WSSs). Such designs may be incapable of satisfying the growing demands of network access providers, and therefore large scale optical nodes are needed to handle the massive traffic loading of next generation optical networks. For example, future optical network nodes may be required to switch in the neighborhood of four hundred incoming wavelengths over four hundred outgoing wavelengths (400×400) to satisfy the bandwidth, directional, and add/drop demands of tomorrows optical metro and long-haul networks.
It may be some time before photonic integrated circuits (PICs) technology are realistically capable of providing such a large capacity at a reasonable cost. Moreover, Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) may be unsuitable from a practical standpoint, due to their being bulky, inflexible, costly, and (at times) unreliable. Accordingly, in the near-term, next-generation optical network nodes will likely be manufactured using N×N photonic switching fabrics to interconnect inputs and outputs.

Scalable silicon photonic switching architectures for optical networks


A vaginal cleaning device is disclosed, which includes an axial support post having a head disposed at the front end and a circular disk around the rear end, a tubular applicator body disposed around the post between the head and the disk, an applicator extension and a handle. Further disclosed is a vaginal cleaning device which includes a hollow axial support post having a head disposed at the front end, a circular disk around the rear end, a plurality of apertures around the body of the hollow axial support post, a tubular applicator body disposed around the post between the head and the disk, a hollow applicator extension and a fluid supply means connected to the applicator extension. A fluid can be delivered through the hollow applicator extension and the hollow axial support post into the tubular applicator body for cleaning the vagina.

The vagina is a relatively long hollow, tube like structure that extends from the cervix at the outer end of the uterus down to the labia minora. The interior of the vagina is composed of a mucous membrane and an outer, smooth muscle closely attached to it. While glands are present in the vaginal lining itself, vaginal secretions can arise from the glands in the cervical canal of the uterus such as Bartholin's and Skene's glands. Normally such secretions are clean, but occasionally debris in the form of blood or deposition of seminal fluid can accumulate. Accordingly, it is desirable at times to be able to have a convenient disposable applicator to clean and refresh the vaginal canal to add to or treat the vaginal canal with medications, germicides, or deodorants.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,058 by Demetrakopoulos cleanses the vagina by providing an apparatus that delivers lather to the vaginal canal. Vaginal cleaning devices have been addressed in the prior art in terms of a swabbing applicator, as may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,463 to Vail. Also, other vaginal cleaning devices that have been addressed in the prior art include a syringe apparatus as may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,274 to Lukacs and U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,240 to Yang. However, these devices do not satisfactorily consider all issues of size, convenience, portability, simplicity of construction, and effectiveness that are addressed herein.