An application instantiated on a computing device of a professional receives transmitted information on an incoming call from a client and displays same, including an identifier of the client by which the professional can place a return call thereto. Upon the professional selecting the identifier of the client, the application presents a number of options for an identifier of the professional to be provided with the return call, receives a selection of one of the options, places the return call from the professional to the client, and in doing so provides the selected identifier of the professional. The provided identifier of the professional represents a favored location at which the professional or an associate may be reached. The client may ascertain the provided identifier from the return call and employ same to place a future call toward the professional or the associate.

In many business- or professional-related situations or the like, an age-old and recurring problem is effectuating contact between a professional or the like and a client or the like calling or otherwise attempting to contact the professional. Perhaps ideally, the client would place a telephone call or the like to the professional, the professional would answer the placed telephone call instantaneously if not within a matter of moments, the desired contact would thus be established, and the caller and professional could communicate regarding some matter of interest. Notably, however, most professionals are not always available to answer all calls instantaneously or even momentarily. For example, the professional simply may not want to answer calls, such as for example if on a vacation or at a family event, among other things, or the professional may be otherwise occupied by professional matters.
With regard to the latter case in particular, it may be that a doctor may be occupied by a medical matter and unavailable, or a lawyer may be in a legal conference from which she or he is not to be disturbed. Likewise, a funeral director may be attending to a first client while a second client is calling. In such a particular situation as well as others, it should be noted that not only is the funeral director otherwise occupied by the first client, but the nature of the funeral business is such that it would be considered to be particularly insensitive if not rude to answer the call from the second client while still attending to the first client.
Generally, it is to be recognized that a professional or the like may not always be immediately available to answer a call or other message from a client (hereinafter, 'call'), be it to a landline telephone line, a mobile telephone line, a pager, a mobile or immobile messaging/texting device, an application instantiated on any such device, or to such other communications device or applications thereon which may be available. As should be appreciated, such a situation can exist even when the client is calling regarding an urgent matter, such as a life-threatening matter or a matter that otherwise should be given immediate attention. Accordingly, it is known that such a professional may employ a business organization that provides answering services or the like (hereinafter, 'an answering service') to answer calls from clients when the professional is not immediately available.
As should be understood, a call to the professional is forwarded therefrom to the answering service by appropriate means when the professional is not available to answer such call or the like, and the answering service may perform a range of answering duties on behalf of the professional. For example, upon answering the call on behalf of the professional, the answering service may let the caller know when the professional is scheduled to be available, or may collect information so that the professional can return the call at an opportune time. Likewise, the answering service may perform an assessment regarding the nature of the call and based thereon may perform a range of actions. Thus, the answering service may determine that a relatively more serious matter requires more immediate action from the professional, in which case the answering service may attempt to contact the professional as soon as possible by appropriate means. Correspondingly, the answering service may determine that a relatively less serious matter requires less immediate action from the professional, in which case the answering service may only create a message for the professional to be collected thereby at a later time.
Answering services are known, as are answering services specializing in particular fields. For example, an answering service may be operated specifically for funeral professionals and based thereon may develop particular procedures tailored to the needs of such funeral professionals, as is shown by the subject matter set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,467,515, 8,498,399, and 8,548,149, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, among others. Of course, answering services may also be operated specifically for other types of professionals and others, including doctors, lawyers, engineers, real estate agents, and the like.
Typically, a professional engages an answering service to answer calls to the professional, or one or more businesses to which the professional is associated each engage the answering service to answer calls to the business, among other things. In any case, the answering service engages the services of one or more telephone and/or data service providers or the like to effectuate forwarding of telephone and/or non-telephone calls or the like from the professional or each business (hereinafter, 'professional entity') to the answering service, particularly in a manner deemed necessary and/or advisable by the professional entity. Such engaging and such forwarding services are generally known and need not be set forth herein in any detail other than that which is provided. Generally, the forwarding may occur on any appropriate basis, including the time of day, whether forwarding has been positively engaged or disengaged, whether the professional entity has selected a particular call for forwarding, whether a call has rung a predetermined number of times, whether a call has not been responded to within a set period, whether a phone or phone system or data system of the business is off, or the like.
Notably, an agent of the answering service may answer an incoming call from a caller on behalf of a called professional entity according to a predetermined procedure or 'script' that has been established for the called professional entity. As may be appreciated, the agent can be a human or an automated construct. Also, the script can be quite involved, and can tend to cover a wide range of subjects, scenarios, and needs, and therefore can be quite extensive. Importantly, with the use of such a script, the agent can collect information from the caller/incoming call according to the script and enter same into an appropriate database or the like for later retrieval and use, as is generally known.
At some point during or after the incoming call from the caller, the agent at the answering service attempts to contact the called professional entity to relay at least some portion of the substance of the incoming call thereto. If the called professional entity is an individual professional, contacting same typically would involve calling, messaging, texting, or otherwise relaying to the professional information relating to the incoming call. Thus, it may be that the agent at the answering service contacts the individual professional by way of a phone call to a land line or mobile telephone having a telephone number associated therewith, a text message to a mobile telephone having a telephone number associated therewith, a data message to a computer having an electronic mail address, user ID, Internet address, or other identifier associated therewith, a push message to an application running on such a mobile telephone, computer, or other computing device, or the like. Similarly, if the professional entity is a business, contacting same typically would involve contacting an individual professional associated with the business in a likewise manner, perhaps according to predetermined rules for the business setting forth whom to contact.
Once the answering service contacts a professional regarding an incoming call from a caller, the professional may decide to place a return call to the caller in response to the incoming call. Typically, although by no means necessarily, placing the return call may involve the professional ascertaining an identifier of the caller by which the caller may be reached during the course of the return call. For example, the identifier may be a telephone number, electronic mail address, texting address, Internet address, or other identifier associated with the caller, which the caller may have provided during the incoming call or which may have been automatically ascertained from the incoming call, or even both. At any rate, with the identifier of the caller ascertained, the professional employs same to carry out the return call, be it by way of a telephone, a texting device, an electronic mail device, an application running on a computing device, or the like, as may be appropriate.
Notably, in carrying out the return call, an identifier of the professional may likewise be ascertained by the caller, where similar to before the identifier of the professional may be a telephone number, electronic mail address, texting address, Internet address, or other identifier associated with the professional, which the caller may automatically ascertain from the return call. For example, if the return call is a telephone call and the caller employs a caller identification service, the identifier of the professional could be a telephone number of a telephone device employed by the professional, where such telephone number of the professional is automatically displayed to the caller and likely stored on a telephone device employed by the caller.
The professional likely is not especially concerned with hiding from the caller or otherwise obscuring the identifier of such professional, be it a telephone number or otherwise. In fact, the professional may wish to encourage providing the caller with an identifier of such professional so that the caller can later call the professional again, thereby promoting and/or otherwise encouraging a relationship therebetween, be it a business relationship or otherwise. That said, the professional may wish to have control over the identifier provided to the caller during the return call. For example, the professional may wish to ensure that the identifier provided to the caller represents a favored location at which the professional may be later called. Similarly, if the identifier which would be otherwise provided to the caller during the return call is a personal identifier that the professional wishes to keep private, the professional may wish to ensure that the identifier provided to the caller is a professional identifier that the professional employs publicly.
Likewise, it may be that the professional is an individual associated with a business, and that the business and/or the professional wishes to ensure that the identifier provided to the caller during the return call is a business identifier that the business encourages the use of for calls in general. Thus, the business can ensure with the provided business identifier that calls associated therewith are routed through the business so that the business can assert better control over the calls, and so that the business can appropriately further route the calls as need be, among other things. Accordingly, if the caller later calls for the professional by way of the business identifier, and if the professional is not available to the caller during such later call, the business may instead route such later call to another professional which can communicate with the caller and appropriately service the needs of the caller without delay, for example. Also, and as should be evident, by ensuring that later calls from the caller are routed directly to the business, the business is in general better aware of the needs of the caller and the relationship therewith, and thereby can better service such needs and such caller.
Accordingly, a need exists for a system and method for allowing a professional to control the identifier provided when returning a call or message or the like from an answering service. In particular, a need exists for such a system and method where, an application is provided to the professional that allows same to control the identifier. Further, a need exists for such a system and method where the application allows the professional to select from among a number of identifiers including one or more predetermined identifiers. Also, a need exists for allowing the return call to be routed by way of the answering service so that the answering service can provide additional services, such as recording the return call for purposes including business management review or the like, timing the return call, notifying a third party of the return call, or the like, among other things.

System and method for controlling identifier provided when returning call / message


A dental furnace having closed or closeable firing chamber (12), which is surrounded by thermal insulation (20) and which comprises at least one inlet terminal (22) and at least one outlet terminal (24). Via said two terminals, a gas, especially air, may be passed through the firing chamber (12) and/or may be discharged from the firing chamber (12), wherein a vacuum source (44) is provided, which is in direct or indirect communication with the outlet terminal (24) and via which the outlet terminal (24) may be set under vacuum pressure. At the outlet terminal (24), an especially T-shaped or Y-shaped connector (26) is attached. The connector (26) comprises two entrance ports (32, 24) and an exit (40), wherein the exit (40) is in communication with the vacuum source (44) and a first entrance port is in communication with the firing chamber (12), and especially is flange-mounted at the outlet terminal (24) thereof, and a second entrance port (34) is in communication with ambient air.

Dental furnaces, wherein the firing chamber may be placed under vacuum via a vacuum source, are known.
One example is the dental furnace known from DE 1 160 777 A1. With this solution, the firing chamber is allowed to be placed under vacuum, but simultaneously, a lifting device is allowed to be operated by the same vacuum pump.
Consequently, such solutions have been further pursued, such as, for example in DE 102 08 801 C1.
To meet the different requirements in view of vacuum pressure control, it has already been suggested to work with controllable vacuum pressure pumps. However, they are comparably expensive, and also operate with a complex controller, for example by using a PID-control.

Dental furnace as well as method for operating a dental furnace


An inrush current prevention circuit for a DC-DC converter is provided and in preferred aspects comprises a switching element that transforms an input voltage by being switched on and off and outputs the transformed voltage. A filter filtrates the outputted voltage, transformed via the switching element, and outputs the filtrated voltage as an output voltage. A reference voltage generator generates a reference voltage. An error amplifier compares the reference voltage and output voltage and outputs an error signal. A Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal generator generates a PWM signal to switch on and off the switching element according to the error signal. An on-off circuit either transmits or isolates the PWM signal to the switching element. An Electronic Control Unit (ECU) controls the on-off circuit. Preferred systems of the invention can prevent an inrush current immediately following power input or during reactivation of the DC-DC converter.

Generally, a nonisolated switching DC-DC converter is powered from a voltage source connected to an input terminal and maintains output voltages to be constant regardless of loading conditions. The nonisolated switching DC-DC converter can be classified into a voltage boosting (step-up) or voltage step-down type according to the polarity and size of the output voltage in relation to the input voltage.
The conventional DC-DC converter using one voltage source typically applies a smooth start function in which its Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) switching duty gradually varies during the initial operation, thereby avoiding the generation of an inrush current.
However, there is a drawback in DC-DC converters using two voltage sources for the input and output thereof in that when a stop mode is converted into a drive mode or during power input (i.e., the switching operation is not instantaneously executed due to duty ratios determined according to the battery voltage during reactivation), the two voltages are shorted to each other, causing an indefinite current flow and damage to elements.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement of any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art that is already known to a person skilled in the art.

Inrush current prevention circuit for DC-DC converter


A meter hub safety isolation service entrance disconnect switch includes an enclosure configured to mount outside a building and protect contents of the enclosure from ingress of solid foreign objects or the ingress of rain, sleet, or snow and that will be undamaged by the external formation of ice on the enclosure. The enclosure has a dead front cover and removable outside cover in which the outside cover is marked to inform a first responder that the enclosure contains a disconnect switch. The disconnect switch is operable upon removal of the outside cover while the dead front cover remains in place and includes a multi-pole switch having poles sufficient to convey power, neutral and ground as may be required by an electrical power source for a load center serving the premises, the switch opening poles for power and neutral upon actuation, while maintaining the ground of the premises wiring.

Residential and commercial buildings have wires connected to a utility grid, and the point of connection is usually called a service entrance. A meter at the service entrance measures the consumption of electricity at the building for billing purposes. In addition to electricity for the electrical grid, it is common for buildings to have back-up generators or other alternate power sources, and those are typically connected at the service entrance.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) requires a first responder service entrance disconnect to be placed on the exterior of the building, which has caused the need for a safe means to remove current from the premises wiring during emergencies such as fire. United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Article 1910 sub-part S and article 1926 sub part K states that an employer is responsible and held accountable for removing all known hazards from the work place of their workers before work begins. Accordingly there is a need for a switch that enables the removal of electrical sources that can cause cardiac arrest from electrical shock to firefighters or other first responders extinguishing the fire.
In addition, back-feeding of current from an alternate power source (such as a generator used at the premises when the utility grid source has failed, photovoltaic arrays, wind turbines and batteries) endangers line repair persons attempting repair to power lines. There is also a need to reduce these dangers to line repair personnel.

Meter hub safety isolation service entrance disconnect switch


A magnetic field measuring device having a first semiconductor body having a surface formed in a first x-y plane, the first semiconductor body having on the surface two magnetic field sensors which are spaced apart and arranged along a first connecting line, and wherein the magnetic field sensors respectively measure a z-component of a magnetic field, and the x-direction and the y-direction and the z-direction are each formed orthogonally to each other. A first magnet is provided with a planar main extension surface formed in a second x-y plane and with a symmetry surface formed in an x-z plane, wherein the direction of magnetization extends substantially or exactly parallel to the main extension surface and substantially or exactly parallel to the plane of symmetry. The first semiconductor body and the first magnet are rigidly fixed to each other.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a magnetic field measuring device.
Description of the Background Art
From EP 2 607 857 A2, which corresponds to US 2013/0154618, which is incorporated herein by reference, an arrangement of a Hall sensor and a magnet is described, wherein by approximation of a ferromagnetic plate, a Hall voltage is generated in the Hall sensor.
Further, from EP 0 916 074 B1 (which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 6,288,533), EP 1 182 461 A2 (which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 6,545,462), WO 2009/005237 A2, EP 2 584 304 A1 (which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 8,878,524, which is incorporated herein by reference), DE 199 46 935 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 6,917,193 B1 and WO 2012/168635 A1, different approaches of designing a magnetic field measuring device known.


A pager-enhanced keyboard connected to a subscriber's computer has a pager portion and a keyboard portion. An enhanced server connected to the Internet and adapted to collect e-mail and attachments for clients is also adapted to match incoming e-mail with a subscriber list, and to dial up a paging service and cause a page to sent to the pager portion of the keyboard at the subscriber's computer. Upon receipt of a pager message the subscriber's computer as a result of the message received initiates action ranging from lighting and blinking an LED at the keyboard to directing the computer to download and process e-mail messages and attachments, and to send downloaded information by facsimile and/or e-mail attachment to another location.

At the time of the present invention the publicly accessible wide-area network well-known as the Internet, World Wide Web (WWW), or more simply the Web has demonstrated great success, and continues to grow at a rapid rate. Individuals, businesses, public and private agencies and the like are depending on the Web for quick access to information and for rapid transfers of large amounts of data of all sorts. According to experts and analysts phenomenal growth and development of new Web products is virtually certain to continue.
As is well-known in the art the Web operates as a world-wide network of computers (servers) connected typically over telephone systems, although various other means of connection from individual Web-capable computerized systems may be used, such as ISDN connection, TX Cable links, satellite links and the like.
Web access is provided typically by companies termed Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who take subscriptions from subscribers, which may be individuals, businesses, government agencies and the like. The ISPs provide Web servers with dial-up service to connect the subscribers to the Internet, and the subscribers pay a (usually) monthly fee for the service.
For purposes of illustration of the art and of the present invention an individual subscriber will be assumed to be connected to the Web via an individual PC and a telephone link, although, as indicated above, other connectivity is often used. The subscriber/client is provided on sign-up by an ISP with software to facilitate connection to the Web. The software is, of course, executable on the subscriber's local PC, and upon activation provides dial-up service through a modem and telephone link to the ISPs server.
Typically upon dial up the subscriber is asked to provide identity and a password, allowing the ISP to limit access through their server to those persons or organizations who are paying subscribers. Once the identification is made, connection to the Internet is provided through the ISP's server. After connection the subscriber may continue to use the ISP's systems to link to other Web sites, or may alternatively locally call up other applications to access other sites on the Internet. Other sites include servers belonging to companies who provide cross-referencing a search facilities for Internet sites, which may be individual servers or what are known as Web pages that may exist many to a single server.
A service made available by virtually all ISPs is electronic mail, known popularly as e-mail. With e-mail each subscriber has one or more email addresses which identify post-office locations on a server.
E-mail was originally a means of sending usually relatively short messages to other Internet users. However, with development of ever higher-speed modems, providing faster and faster transfer or ever larger blocks of data, it has become practical to transfer electronic documents of many sorts with e-mail messages. In a typical system electronic documents, typically identified as computer files, are added as attachments to e-mail messages. Such documents may be word-processor files, high resolution images, such as replicas of color photographs, digitally represented voice files and the like. There is no limit to document size. This sort of communication is arguably now the greatest mover of information in existence, and growing rapidly.
Because of the nature of Internet connection, such as through phone links, which are times charged to users, and also because connect time is charged to subscribers by ISPs, full time or even long term connection to the Internet is most often not an option. Such connection would just be prohibitively expensive for most organizations and individuals. Accordingly, e-mail messages and attachments are stored on the ISPs server, and a subscriber accesses the server periodically by dial up to check his/her mailbox for new mail. Typically the ISP software or a locally-based application, such as Microsoft Exchange.TM., handles communication with the ISP server, and facilitates listing of new mail, composing and sending of messages, addition of attachments, and the like.
Provision is always made for a subscriber to manually request access to his/her ISP and to mail service, and many computer applications that make use of the Internet may now be configured to trigger dial up as needed when the application is running. Such application-triggered dial-up typically provides for approval by the subscriber, but may in some cases remember the user ID and password, and provide the connection seamlessly and transparently.
The large amounts of information now being handled over the Internet together with intermittent access as described herein leads to difficulties. One difficulty is that some information is time sensitive, losing value rapidly if not updated and acted upon. An example of such information is changes in stock and commodity prices. Another difficulty is that server capacity, while enormous, is not unlimited, and storage capacity is costly. Because information directed to subscribers is not quickly downloaded, storage capacity has to be commensurately large.
One possible solution to the problem known to the inventor is a system that pages a subscriber when new mail is logged into the subscriber's ISP mailbox. If the subscriber is near his/her computer or computerized equipment, this is an advantage. If not, the service is of little use.
What the present inventor sees as a clear and present need is a system and method that uses paging technology to notify a subscriber's computer, and optionally the subscriber as well, of new mail to be accessed and processed, and further capability for the subscriber's computer to dial up the ISP server upon notification and download the new mail and any attachments. Such a system could optionally be programmed to further process such newly-arrived mail. It is to these and other related objects that embodiments of the present invention are directed.


Plasmid-lipid particles which are useful for transfection of cells in vitro or in vivo are described. The particles can be formed using either detergent dialysis methods or methods which utilize organic solvents. The particles are typically 65-85 nm, fully encapsulate the plasmid and are serum-stable.

Gene therapy is an area of current interest which involves the introduction of genetic material into a cell to facilitate expression of a deficient protein. There are currently five major methods by which this is accomplished, namely: (i) calcium phosphate precipitation, (ii) DEAE-dextran complexes, (iii) electroporation, (iv) cationic lipid complexes and (v) reconstituted viruses or virosomes (see Chang, et al., Focus 10:88 (1988)). Cationic lipid complexes are presently the most effective generally used means of effecting transfection.
A number of different formulations incorporating cationic lipids are commercially available, namely (i) LIPOFECT.RTM. (which uses 1,2-dioleyloxy-3-(N,N,N-trimethylamino)propane chloride, or DOTMA, see Eppstein, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,355); LIPOFECTAMINE.RTM. (which uses DOSPA, see Hawley-Nelson, et al., Focus 15(3):73 (1993)); and LIPOFECTACE.RTM. (which uses N,N-distearyl-N,N-dimethyl-ammonium bromide, or DDAB, see Rose, U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,833). Others have reported alternative cationic lipids that work in essentially the same manner but with different efficiencies, for example 1,2-dioleoyloxy-3-(N,N,N-trimethylamino)propane chloride, or DOTAP, see Stomatatos, et al., Biochemistry 27:3917-3925 (1988)); glycerol based lipids (see Leventis, et al., Biochem. Biophys. Acta 1023:124 (1990); lipopolyamines (see, Behr, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,678) and cholesterol based lipids (see Epand, et al., WO 93/105162, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,185).
Others have noted that DOTMA and related compounds are significantly more active in transfection assays than their saturated analogues (see, Felgner, et al., W091/16024). However, both DOTMA and DOSPA based formulations, despite being the most efficient of the cationic lipids in effecting transfection, are prohibitively expensive. DDAB on the other hand is inexpensive and readily available from chemical suppliers but is less effective than DOTMA in most cell lines. Another disadvantage of the current lipid systems is that they are not appropriate for intravenous injection.
An examination of the relationship between the chemical structure of the carrier vehicle and its efficiency of transfection has indicated that the characteristics which provide for effective transfection would make a carrier unstable in circulation (see, Ballas, et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta 939:8-18 (1988)). Additionally, degradation either outside or inside the target cell remains a problem (see, Duzghines, Subcellular Biochemistry 11:195-286 (1985)). Others who have attempted to encapsulate DNA (Szoka et al., Ann. Rev. Biophys. Bioeng. 9:467 (1980); and Deamer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,736) made no efforts to ensure a safe, injectable formulation, or arrived at inefficient loading (Legendre, Pharm. Res. 9:1235-1242 (1992)).
Ideally, a delivery vehicle for a nucleic acid or plasmid will have the following characteristics: a) small enough and long lived enough to distribute from local injection sites when given intravenously, b) capable of carrying a large amount of DNA per particle to enable transfection of all sizes of genes and reduce the volume of injection, c) homogenous, d) reproducible, e) protective of DNA from extracellular degradation and f) capable of transfecting target cells in such a way that the DNA is not digested intracellularly.
The present invention provides such compositions and methods for their preparation and use.

Methods for encapsulating plasmids in lipid bilayers


A revolving speed detecting device for use with a rolling contact bearing having a rotary ring and a fixed ring. It has a magnetic ring provided on the peripheral surface thereof with a plurality of teeth at equal pitches and mounted on the rotary bearing ring. A sensor made of soft ferrite or by laminating a plurality of silicon steel plates is mounted on the fixed bearing ring opposite to the teeth of the magnetic ring. A coil is wound around the sensor. A high-frequency voltage generator is connected to the coil. A detecting device for detecting the output voltage of the coil is also connected to the coil.

An automobile equipped with an anti-skid brake system is provided with means for detecting the wheel speed through the rotation of a bearing supporting each vehicle wheel.
One of such revolving speed detecting devices is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application 3-247766 filed by the present applicant.
This device comprises, as shown in FIGS. 5A and FIG. 5B, a pulser ring 33 and a detector ring 34 having, respectively, a plurality of teeth 35 and 36 and mounted on the respective peripheral surfaces of a rotatable bearing ring 31 and a fixed bearing ring 32. Around the detector ring 34 is wound a coil L connected to a high-frequency voltage application means 37. In this arrangement, by exciting the coil L with a high-frequency voltage having a frequency fo, a magnetic circuit is formed between the pulser ring 33 and the detector ring 34. When the pulser ring 33 begins to rotate in this state, the magnetic reluctance will vary, which will in turn vary the inductance of the coil. The output voltage of the coil is applied to a rectifying/smoothing circuit 38 to remove carrier components of fo. The signal thus obtained is compared with a set value m in a comparison circuit 39 to obtain a pulse signal corresponding to the revolving speed of the bearing.
Because of its complicated structure, the detector ring 34 has to be made by forming soft iron. But, since such a metal has a high conductivity, an eddy current will be produced if such a ring is placed in an alternating magnetic field. If an eddy current is produced in the detector ring 34, its sensitivity to the inductance of the coil will drop, thus making it difficult to detect the rotation with a high degree of accuracy.
Further, the above device uses a fixed value m as the set value to be compared with the smoothed signal in the comparison circuit 39. Actually, however, the output voltage of the coil L may change due to dimensional variations when assembling the circuits or fluctuations in temperature while in use and as a result, the amplitude or the average of the smoothened voltage signal may fluctuate markedly.
In such a case, no pulse signal indicative of the revolving speed is obtainable unless the fixed set value m is within the range of fluctuation of the smoothed signal.

Revolving speed detecting device with reduced eddy current loss


Methods for obtaining paclitaxel from plants containing paclitaxel are disclosed. Plant material is first obtained from plants containing paclitaxel. Paclitaxel is then extracted from the plant material. Subsequently, paclitaxel is separated from the paclitaxel extract using a series of column chromatography separation steps to obtain at least one fraction containing paclitaxel. The paclitaxel in a fraction that is obtained from the final chromatography step is crystallized. Using these methods, high purity paclitaxel may be efficiently obtained from plants containing paclitaxel.

Paclitaxel is an anticancer compound primarily derived from the bark of the Taxus brevifolia (Pacific yew) tree. In the 1960's, the National Cancer Institute began a study of plant extracts exhibiting anti-cancer or anti-neoplastic activities. The crude extract of bark from the Taxus brevifolia was found to inhibit a variety of tumors. In 1971, paclitaxel was isolated and described by M. C. Wani et al. (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 93, 2325, (1971)), who defined the structure of paclitaxel using chemical methods and X-ray crystallographic analysis. In 1979, Schiff and coworkers demonstrated paclitaxel's novel mechanism of action. This mechanism includes binding to microtubules and preventing their depolymerization under conditions where depolymerization would normally occur. Paclitaxel is currently used in the treatment of ovarian, breast and non-small cell lung cancers.
Although Paclitaxel is a natural product primarily extracted from the bark of the Pacific yew (T. brevifolia), it is also found in other members of the Taxaceae family including T. canadensis and T. yunnanensis. Paclitaxel is also present in the epigeal parts and roots of other yew species, including the European yew (T. baccata), whose needles contain paclitaxel and analogs, Asian yews (T. wallichiana and T. chinensis), and yew trees cultivated for ornamental purposes. The following varieties of Taxus cultivars have also been found to contain paclitaxel: T.x media "Henryi," T.x media "Runyan," T. cuspidata, T.x media "Halloran," T.x media "Hatfield," T.x media "Hicksii," T.x media "Tauntonii," T.x media "Dark Green Spreader," T.x media "Wardii," T.x media "Brownii," T.x media "Densiformis," T.x media "Nigra," T.x cuspidata "Brevifolia," and T. cuspidata "Spreader."
All of these species contain paclitaxel in very limited amounts. For example, the bark of T. brevifolia and T. yunnanensis trees contains about 0.02% paclitaxel and the needles and roots of T. media Hicksii shrubs contain between about 0.005% to about 0.1% paclitaxel.
Therefore, it is of great interest to develop efficient methods of extracting high purity paclitaxel from plant material. The present invention provides methods for extracting high purity paclitaxel from plant material using chromatography followed by crystallization of the paclitaxel.

Methods for obtaining paclitaxel from taxus plants


A torque converter for an automatic transmission includes a turbine having the vanes thereof retained by tabs which fit into fluid-tight recesses formed in the housing of the turbine.

This invention relates generally to torque converters for automatic transmissions. More specifically, the invention relates to a turbine for a torque converter, in which the vanes thereof are retained by particularly configured, fluid-tight recesses.
Automatic transmissions operate to shift gears in a motor vehicle, without assistance from the driver. The development of the automatic transmission has simplified driving and made it accessible to a large portion of the population. The torque converter is an essential part of an automatic transmission. It is a fluid coupling which operates to transmit engine power to the transmission's gear system, and in some instances, to increase torque at low vehicle speeds.
A torque converter basically comprises a pump portion and a turbine portion disposed in fluid communication. A series of vanes associated with the pump propel a working fluid when the pump is rotated. The fluid strikes a set of vanes on the turbine and causes the turbine to rotate. In this manner, the engine and driving gears are mechanically coupled through a body of fluid by the joint action of the turbine and pump. Further structures such as a split-ring fluid guide and a vaned stator increase the efficiency of the unit and provide for torque multiplication.
Clearly, any improvement which can increase the reliability, fuel economy or performance of an automatic transmission will be of significant value. Additionally, any process which simplifies the manufacture of transmission components will also be of importance. The present invention, as will be explained in greater detail hereinbelow, provides an improved torque converter which is more efficient in delivering engine power to the drive train of a vehicle. Additionally, the torque converter is highly reliable and easy to manufacture. These and other advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the drawings, discussion and description which follow.


Disclosed herein are a display device and a method of driving the same, more particular, the present invention provides a display device comprising display media each of which has a dispersion medium and a large number of electrophoretic particles dispersed in the dispersion medium, the electrophoretic particles being driven by applying an electric field to each of the display media, to thereby perform a desired display operation; wherein the electrophoretic particles comprise small-sized two-color ball electrophoretic particles each of which is composed of a pair of hemispherical portions different from each other in terms of color or reflectance and charging characteristic; and the dispersion medium comprises a colorless/transparent dispersion medium. With this configuration, it is possible to realize the display of clear white and true black, enhance the contrast ratio, realize high speed display switching, and perform multi-color display.

The present invention relates to a display device and a method of driving the display device, and particularly to a display device including small-sized two-color ball type electrophoretic particles each of which is composed of hemispherical portions different in color from each other for performing various kinds of display by making use of the electrophoretic particles, and a method of driving the display device.
In recent years, CRTs and liquid crystal displays have been mainly used as display devices. However, light emission type displays such as CRTs are not suitable for reading of documents, etc., because they cause fatigue of eyes of a viewer. Meanwhile, as for liquid crystal displays, a type adopting a backlight tends to cause fatigue of eyes like CRTs, and a type not adopting a backlight is disadvantageous in that the contrast is poor, which also tends to cause strong fatigue to eyes of a viewer if the viewer has a look at the screen for a long period of time. Also, these displays generally have no memory capabilities, to give rise to a disadvantage that an image disappears when a power supply is cut off.
In view of the foregoing, displays used for portable information equipment expected to be widespread for the future, for example, PDAs, note type personal computers and electronic book players, are required to be reduced in power consumption and to have a memory capability of images.
As the display capable of satisfying the above-described requirements to some extent, there have been known an electrophoretic display device and a two-color ball display device.
The electrophoretic display device is configured to make use of a principle in which electrophoretic particles composed of charged fine particles migrate toward an electrode having a polarity reversed to that of electric charges of the electrophoretic particles due to the effect of an electric field.
The electrophoretic display device has a configuration, for example, shown in FIG. 18, in which a transparent substrate 102 provided with transparent electrodes 101 made from ITO or the like is opposed to a substrate 104 provided with electrodes 103 not requiring transparency with a specific gap kept therebetween, and the gap formed between the transparent substrate 102 and the substrate 104 is filled with an electrophoretic particles 105 composed of, for example, white charged particles, and a dispersion medium 106 in which the electrophoretic particles 105 are dispersed. The electrophoretic particles 105 are made from, for example, a white pigment, and the dispersion medium 106 is colored into, for example, black.
In the above electrophoretic display device, as shown by a portion A in FIG. 18, if the electrophoretic particles 105 are negatively charged, when a plus voltage is applied to the transparent electrode 101 and a minus voltage is applied to the other electrode 103, the electrophoretic particles 105 migrate to the plus side electrode, that is, to the transparent electrode 101 by coulomb forces and adhere on the transparent electrode 101. When a viewer turns his eyes upon the portion A of electrophoretic display device from an eye position E shown in FIG. 18, he perceives through the transparent electrode 101 and the transparent substrate 102 that the portion, on which the white charged particles (electrophoretic particles 105) adhere, of the transparent electrode 101 is white-colored.
When the polarity of the applied voltage is reversed, as shown by a portion B in FIG. 18, the white charged particles (electrophoretic particles 105) migrate to the back side electrode, that is, to the electrode 103 and adhere thereon, and accordingly, they are hidden by the black dispersion medium 106. When a viewer turns his eyes upon the portion B from the eye position E in FIG. 18, he perceives that the portion B is black-colored. In addition, according to this electrophoretic display device, if the white charged particles (electrophoretic particles 105) adhere on the electrode 101 (or 103), they stand still for a short while after cutoff of the applied voltage.
In the above-described electrophoretic display device, either the color of the electrophoretic particles 105 or the color of the dispersion medium 106 is displayed. If the color of the electrophoretic particles 105 is white and the color of the dispersion medium 106 is black as described above, since the black dispersion medium 106 remains in gaps among the white particles 105 collected by migration, the display of clear white cannot be realized. If the color of the electrophoretic particles 105 is black and the color of the dispersion medium 106 is white, it is possible to realize the display of clear white by increasing the density of the white color of the dispersion medium 106;, however, in this case, upon black display, a dense white dispersion medium 106 remains in gaps among the black particles 105, so that the display of true black cannot be realized. As a result, it is difficult to obtain a high contrast ratio.
The two-color ball display device includes a plurality of two-color balls each typically having a white hemispherical portion and a colored half, for example blackened hemispherical portion, which are different from each other in terms of zeta-potential. Such a display device is operated on the basis of a principle in which a large number of the above two-color balls are rotated by the effect of an electric field.
The two-color display device has a configuration, for example, shown in FIG. 19 in which a transparent substrate 111 provided with transparent electrodes 110 made from ITO or the like is opposed to a substrate 113 provided with electrodes 112 not requiring transparency with a specific gap kept therebetween, and the above gap is filled with a large number of two-color balls 114 and a liquid 115 rotatably surrounding the two-color balls 114. In the example show n in FIG. 19, white hemispherical portions 114a of the two-color balls 114 are positively charged, and colored, for example, blackened hemispherical portions 114b thereof are negatively charged.
In this two-color ball display device , when a voltage (electric field) is applied between the electrodes 110 and 112 provided on the inner surfaces of the substrates 111 and 113 holding the two-color balls 114 as display media and the liquid 115 therebetween, each two-color ball 114 rotates on the basis of a relationship between the polarity thereof and correspons to the polarity of the voltage applied to the transparent electrode 110 or electrode 112 in such a manner that the colored hemispherical portion 114b is directed to the transparent substrate 111 side as shown by a portion A in FIG. 19 or directed to the substrate 113 side as shown by a portion B in FIG. 19. Accordingly, the white or black display can be realized by adjusting the rotation of the two-color balls 114. In the two-color ball display device, even if the supply of the voltage is cut off, the display state remains for a short while.
Even in the two-color ball display device shown in FIG. 19, however, it is difficult to obtain a high contrast ratio. This is because, the contrast between the colors of the two hemispherical portions of the two-color ball is high;, however, since a gap required for the liquid to enter between the two-color balls must be provided for rotating the two-color balls, the two-color balls cannot be closely packed.
To solve the above disadvantage, there has been proposed a display device shown in FIG. 20 in which two-color balls are arranged in multiple levels (multiple layers) for covering gaps among the two-color balls in the first layer with the two-color balls in the second layer. In such a display device, however, the white color in the second layer, which is affected by the black color in the first layer, becomes darker than the white layer in the first layer. As a result, according to this display device, it fails to obtain a sufficient effect to realize the display of clear white. Further, in this display device, since a distance between electrodes 110 and 112 becomes longer, there occurs a problem that a high voltage is required to be applied for driving the two-color balls.
In each of the two-color ball display devices shown in FIG. 19 and 20, since the display switching is performed by allowing the two-color balls to rotate and migrate, there occurs an inconvenience that it takes a time to perform the display switching.
Further, in the above electrophoretic display device and the two-color ball display device, only two colors can be displayed. To realize multi-color display of the electrophoretic display device, there may be considered a method in which cells filled with colored dispersion media of different colors, for example, the three primary colors of red, blue and green or cyan, magenta and yellow are regularly arranged, and white electrophoretic particles are dispersed in each of the colored dispersion media of the cells, wherein the white electrophoretic particles are allowed to migrate for each cell.
In this method, however, since the cells filled with the colored dispersion media of three colors are regularly arranged and must be driven through electrodes attached to respective cells, there occurs a problem that the production works become very complicated. Also, in this method, since the black display is realized by making visible the dispersion media of the three primary colors of red, blue and green or cyan, magenta and yellow, it is impossible to realize the display of dark black.
If the electrophoretic particles is colored into black for obtaining the true black display and each dispersion medium is colored into red, blue, or the like, the black display can be obtained when the electrophoretic particles are located on the transparent electrode side, however, when the particles migrate to the opposed electrode side, since light having passed through the colored dispersion medium is absorbed by the black electrophoretic particles, the visible color through the dispersion medium becomes darker than the actual color of the dispersion medium. Accordingly, the multi-color electrophoretic display device using the black electrophoretic particles can realize only the black display.
In the case of using a black dispersion medium and electrophoretic particles of the three primary colors of red, blue and green or cyan, magenta and yellow, the display of white, black, and other colors can be obtained;, however, even in this case, since the white display is realized by making visible the colors of the colored dispersion media of the three primary colors of red, blue and green or cyan, magenta and yellow, it is impossible to realize the display of clear white.
Similarly, to realize the multi-color display of the two-color ball display device, there may be considered a method in which balls of three kinds of different color, for example, a ball having white and magenta hemispherical portions, a ball having white and cyan hemispherical portions, and a ball having white and yellow hemispherical portions, are regularly arranged, and these balls are individually driven. Even in this method, however, since the different two-color balls must be regularly arranged and must be driven by electrodes attached to respective balls, there occurs a problem that the production works become very complicated. Further, even in this method, it is impossible to realize the display of true black and clear white.
By using two-color balls each being composed of a white hemispherical portion and a colored hemispherical portion colored into each of the three primary colors of red, blue and green or cyan, magenta and yellow, it is possible to realize the display of clear white;, however, since the black display is obtained by making visible the hemispherical portions of the three primary colors of red, blue and green or cyan, magenta and yellow, it is impossible to realize the display of true black. On the other hand, by using two-color balls each being composed of a black hemispherical portion and a colored hemispherical portion colored into each of the above three primary colors, it is possible to realize the display of true black, however, since the white display is obtained by making visible the hemispherical portions of the three primary colors, it is impossible to realize the display of clear white.
An object of the present invention is to provide a display device capable of realizing the display of clear white and true black, enhancing the contrast ratio, realizing high speed display switching, and performing multi-color display, and a method of driving the display device.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display device including: display media each of which has a dispersion medium and a large number of electrophoretic particles dispersed in the dispersion medium, the electrophoretic particles being driven by applying an electric field to each of the display media, to thereby perform a desired display operation; wherein the electrophoretic particles comprise small-sized two-color ball type electrophoretic particles (hereinafter, referred to as xe2x80x9ctwo-color ball type particlesxe2x80x9d) each of which is composed of a pair of hemispherical portions different from each other in terms of color or reflectance and charging characteristic; and the dispersion medium comprises a colorless/transparent dispersion medium.
With this configuration, since the electrophoretic particles dispersed in the dispersion medium is composed of the small-sized two-color ball type particles each of which is composed of a pair of hemispherical portions different from each other in terms of color or reflectance and charging characteristic, when the two-color ball type particles migrate to the display screen side by applying an electric field to the display medium, they are closely collected on the display screen side in such a manner that the hemispherical portions thereof on the display screen side are viewed to be closely packed, showing the color of only one side of the hemispherical portion. Also, since the dispersion medium is colorless and transparent, even if being present in gaps among the two-color ball type particles, it does not exert adverse effect on the display color. As a result, the color of the hemispherical portions on the display screen side are displayed without effect of the dispersion medium, and accordingly, if one of the pair of hemispherical portions of each two-color ball type particle is colored into white and the other is colored into black, it is possible to realize the display of clear white and true black.
The display device according to the first aspect of the present invention may include a control means for controlling a time required for applying an electric field to each of the display media in such a manner that the electric field is applied to the display medium for only a time required for the two-color ball type electrophoretic particles present on the display screen side of the display medium or the side opposed to the display screen side of the display medium to be reversed, but to migrate before reaching to the opposed side or to the display screen side. With this configuration, since the display of the color of one of the pair of hemispherical portions of each two-color ball type particle can be switched to the color of the other by applying an electric field only for a time required for the two-color ball type particle to be reversed, it is possible to shorten the display switching time.
Each of the media may be formed by filling a micro-capsule with the dispersion medium and the two-color ball type electrophoretic particles. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent localization of the two-color ball type particles and to simplify the production of the display device.
To achieve the above object, according to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display device including: display media each of which has a dispersion medium and a large number of electrophoretic particles dispersed in the dispersion medium, the electrophoretic particles being driven by applying an electric field to each of the display media, to thereby perform a desired display operation; wherein the electrophoretic particles comprise small-sized two-color ball type electrophoretic particles each of which is composed of a pair of hemispherical portions different from each other in terms of color or reflectance and charging characteristic; and the dispersion medium comprises a colored dispersion medium.
With this configuration, since the electrophoretic particles are composed of the small-sized two-color ball type particles each of which is composed of a pair of hemispherical portions different from each other in terms of color or reflectance and charging characteristic, when each two-color ball type particle migrates to the display screen side, the color of one of the pair of the hemispherical portions of the two-color ball type particle is displayed. Accordingly, if one of the pair of hemispherical portions of the two-color ball type particle is colored into white and the other is colored into black, it is possible to realize the display of clear white and true black. Further, since the dispersion medium is composed of the colored dispersion medium, if one of the pair of hemispherical portions of each two-color ball type particle is colored into white which reflects light, when the two-color ball type particle migrates to the side opposed to the display screen side in such a manner that the white hemispherical portion of the two-color ball type particle is directed to the display screen side, the color of the colored dispersion medium can be displayed. Accordingly, it is possible to realize the display of a plurality of different colors.
The display device according to the second aspect of the present invention may include a control means for controlling a time required for applying an electric field to each of the display media in such a manner that the electric field is applied to the display medium only for a time required for the two-color ball type electrophoretic particles present on the display screen side of the display medium or the side opposed to the display screen side of the display medium to be reversed, but to migrate before reaching to the opposed side or to the display screen side. With this configuration, like the display device according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to shorten the display switching time.
In this display device, preferably, the colored dispersion medium comprises each of colored dispersion media having a plurality of different colors; the display media are classified into groups each having a large number of the two-color ball type electrophoretic particles and the colored dispersion medium having each of the plurality of different colors; and the one group of the display media forms one pixel. With this configuration, it is possible to realize the display of the colors of the pair of hemispherical portions of each two-color ball type particle and the colors of the plurality of colored dispersion media, and hence to realize the multi-color display.
The two-color ball type electrophoretic particles contained in each of the group of the display media forming the pixel may have an electrophoretic mobility and a rotational threshold voltage which vary from each of the display media. With this configuration, even if a plurality of the display media are driven by applying the same electric field thereto, the action of the two-color ball type particles differs for each of the display media, so that it is possible to realize the display of the color which differs depending on a drive voltage (drive potential) or drive time. For example, by applying an electric field allowing two-color ball type particles having a high drive voltage required for electrophoresis and rotation to sufficiently rotate and migrate, and then applying a reverse electric field allowing only two-color ball type particles having a low drive voltage required for electrophoresis and rotation to rotate and migrate, a state in which only the two-color ball type particles having the high drive voltage required for electrophoresis and rotation have rotated and migrated can be obtained.
The two-color ball type electrophoretic particles contained in each of the group of the display media forming the pixel may have an electrophoretic mobility and a rotational threshold voltage each of which has a distribution in each of the display media. With this configuration, since the visible area of the colored dispersion medium is changed depending on the high or low relationship of the drive voltage or the strong or weak relationship of the electric field required for electrophoresis and rotation, it is possible to realize the display of the color with a different density, that is, color gradation.
Each of the media may be formed by filling a micro-capsule with the dispersion medium and a large number of the two-color ball type electrophoretic particles. With this configuration, like the display device according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent localization of the two-color ball type particles and to simplify the production of the display device.
To achieve the above object, according to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display device including: display media each of which has a dispersion medium and a large number of electrophoretic particles dispersed in the dispersion medium, the electrophoretic particles being driven by applying an electric field to each of the display media, to thereby perform a desired display operation; wherein the electrophoretic particles comprise small-sized two-color ball type electrophoretic particles each of which is composed of a pair of hemispherical portions different from each other in terms of color or reflectance and charging characteristic; the dispersion medium comprises a colored dispersion medium; and one of the pair of hemispherical portions of each of the two-color ball type electrophoretic particles is colored into white and the other is colored into a color having a complementary relationship with a color of the colored dispersion medium.
With this configuration, since the electrophoretic particles are composed of the small-sized dichronic ball type particles each of which is composed of a pair of hemispherical portions different from each other in terms of color or reflectance and charging characteristic, like the first aspect of the present invention, when each two-color ball type particle migrates to the display screen side, the color of one of the pair of hemispherical portions, that is, the color of white or the color having a complementary relationship with the color of the colored dispersion medium is displayed. Accordingly, it is possible to realize the display of clear white. Also, when each of the two-color ball type particle migrates to the opposed side to the display screen side in such a manner that the white hemispherical portion is directed to the opposed side to the display screen side, since light having passed through the colored dispersion medium is absorbed by the hemispherical portion whose color has the complementary relationship with the color of the colored dispersion medium, the portion is appeared black-colored from the display screen side. Accordingly, it is possible to realize the display of true black when viewed from the display screen side as compared with the related art black display which is obtained by making visible mixture of red, green and blue. Further, since the dispersion medium is composed of the colored dispersion medium, when the two-color ball type particle migrates to the opposed side to the display screen side in such a manner that the white-colored hemispherical portion thereof is directed to the display screen side, the color of the colored dispersion medium is displayed. As a result, it is possible to realize the display of a plurality of different colors.
The display device according to the third aspect of the present invention may include a control means for controlling a time required for applying an electric field to each of the display media in such a manner that the electric field is applied to the display medium only for a time required for the two-color ball type electrophoretic particles present on the display screen side of the display medium or the side opposed to the display screen side of the display medium to be reversed, but to migrate before reaching to the opposed side or to the display screen side. With this configuration, like the display device according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to shorten the display switching time.
Further, when an electric field is applied by the above control means in a state in which the two-color ball type particle is present on the display screen side in such a manner that the white hemispherical portion is directed to the display screen side, the two-color ball type particle is reversed in a state being substantially kept at the present position, so that the color having the complementary relationship with the color of the colored dispersion medium is displayed. On the other hand, when an electric field is applied by the above control means in a state in which the two-color ball type particle is present on the opposed side to the display screen in such a manner that the black hemispherical portion is directed to the display screen side, the two-color ball type particle is reversed in a state being substantially kept at the present position, so that the white hemispherical portion is directed to the display screen side, and thereby the color of the colored dispersion medium is displayed. As a result, it is possible to realize the display of four colors by one display medium.
In this display device, preferably, the colored dispersion medium comprises each of colored dispersion media having a plurality of different colors; the display media are classified into groups by color each having a large number of the two-color ball type electrophoretic particles and the colored dispersion medium having each of the plurality of different colors; and the one group of the display media forms one pixel. With this configuration, it is possible to realize the display of the colors of the pair of hemispherical portions of each two-color ball type particle and the colors of the plurality of colored dispersion media, and hence to realize the multi-color display.
The two-color ball type electrophoretic particles contained in each of the group of the display media forming the pixel may have an electrophoretic mobility and a rotational threshold voltage which vary from each of the display media. With this configuration, even if a plurality of the display media are driven by applying the same electric field thereto, the action of the two-color ball type particles differs for each of the display media, so that it is possible to realize the display of the color which differs depending on a drive voltage (drive potential) or drive time. For example, by applying an electric field allowing two-color ball type particles having a high drive voltage required for electrophoresis and rotation to sufficiently rotate and migrate, and then applying a reverse electric field allowing two-color ball type particles having a low drive voltage required for electrophoresis and rotation to rotate and migrate, a state in which only the two-color ball type particles having the high drive voltage required for electrophoresis and rotation have rotated and migrated can be obtained.
The two-color ball type electrophoretic particles contained in each of the group of the display media forming the pixel may have an electrophoretic mobility and a rotational threshold voltage each of which has a distribution in each of the display media. With this configuration, like the display device according to second aspect of the present invention, since the visible area of the dispersion medium is changed depending on the high or low relationship of the drive voltage or the strong or weak relationship of the electric field required for electrophoresis and rotation, it is possible to realize the display of the color with a different density, that is, color gradation.
Each of the media may be formed by filling a micro-capsule with the dispersion medium and the two-color ball type electrophoretic particles. With this configuration, like the display device according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent localization of the two-color ball type particles and to simplify the production of the display device.
To achieve the above object, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of driving a display device including the steps of: preparing a display device including pixels each of which has a plurality of display media, each of the display media being formed by dispersing a large number of small-sized two-color ball type electrophoretic particles, each being composed of a pair of hemispherical portions different from each other in terms of color or reflectance and charging characteristic, in each of colored dispersion media having a plurality of colors, wherein a drive voltage of the two-color ball type particles differs for each of the display media; and applying an electric field to each of the display media, to drive the two-color ball type electrophoretic particles, thereby performing a desired display operation; wherein the two-color ball type electrophoretic particles in each of the plurality of display media are classified into a first group having a high drive voltage and a second group having a low drive voltage; an electric field allowing the first group having a high drive voltage to sufficiently rotate and migrate is applied and then a reverse electric field allowing only the second group having a low drive voltage to rotate and migrate is applied, to form a state in which only the first group having a high drive voltage has rotated and migrated.
With this configuration, since an electric field allowing the first group having a high drive voltage to sufficiently rotate and migrate is applied and then a reverse electric field allowing only the second group having a low drive voltage to rotate and migrate is applied, to form a state in which only the two-color ball type particles of the first group having a high drive voltage has rotated and migrated, the visible area of the colored dispersion medium is changed depending on the high or low relationship of the drive voltage or the strong or weak relationship of the electric field. As a result, it is possible to realize the display of different colors and the display of the color with a different density (gradation display).

Display device and method of driving the same


An irrigation sprinkler of the type having an inlet control valve is provided with a removable valve seat formed integrally with an inlet filter screen. The valve seat is positioned to engage a valve head to normally prevent water inflow to a sprinkler case, whereas the filter screen prevents entry of small rocks and other particulate debris into the sprinkler case when the inlet control valve is open. The valve seat is removable from the top of the sprinkler case, without requiring disconnection of the case from a water supply line, to permit flushing of collected debris or to permit replacement of a damaged valve seat.

This invention relates generally to irrigation sprinklers, and more particularly to an improved irrigation sprinkler of the type having an inlet control valve for controlling connection of the sprinkler to a water supply line. The improved sprinkler of the present invention includes a removable valve seat for the inlet control valve, wherein the valve seat is combined with an inlet filter screen and is adapted for quick and easy removal from the top of a sprinkler case or housing.
Irrigation sprinklers are well known in the art for use in supplying irrigating water over a circular or part-circular ground area around the sprinkler. Typically, such sprinklers employ single or multiple outlet spray nozzles through which the water is ejected upwardly and radially outwardly from the sprinkler case, and include rotary drive means for rotating the spray nozzle, such as an impact drive arm assembly which interrupts the stream from the nozzle, or a water operated drive motor such as a ball drive, gear drive or turbine drive apparatus mounted within the sprinkler case. In many sprinklers, the sprinkler also includes a pop-up mechanism wherein the spray nozzle is attached to the upper end of a tubular riser mounted within the sprinkler case for pressure responsive movement between an elevated position above the sprinkler case during normal operation and a retracted position disposed substantially within the case when the sprinkler is not in operation. In a common installation, the sprinkler case has a lower end thereof connected to an underground water supply line, with the sprinkler case partially buried to position the upper end thereof substantially at ground level.
In many irrigation sprinklers of the type described above, an inlet control valve is provided at the lower end of the sprinkler case to control water inflow from the water supply line. In one typical form, as shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,259, the inlet control valve comprises a pressure responsive valve assembly designed to prevent water inflow to the sprinkler case unless and until the water pressure rises to a predetermined minimum threshold pressure level. As a result, when the water supply is initially turned on, the inlet control valve prevents water flow to the sprinkler until the water pressure rises sufficiently to provide proper sprinkler pop-up and rotary drive operation. Similarly, when the water supply is turned off, the inlet control valve prevents water inflow to the sprinkler case when the line pressure falls below the minimum threshold level for proper sprinkler operation. Accordingly, undesirable flow of water through the sprinkler at low pressure and resultant puddling in the vicinity of the sprinkler is avoided. This problem can be significant in a system of sprinklers connected to a common supply line, wherein residual water remaining within the supply line would otherwise drain to and through sprinklers located at relatively low elevational positions.
A filter screen is normally mounted at the upstream side of the inlet control valve to trap and retain small rocks and other particulate debris and thereby prevent entry thereof into the sprinkler case. Such particulate matter, if allowed to flow into the sprinkler case, could interfere with proper sprinkler operation by jamming or damaging mechanical components of the sprinkler. However debris collected by the filter screen tends to accumulate over a period of time, and ultimately may accumulate to a point where the collected debris represents a sufficient pressure drop obstruction to prevent proper sprinkler operation. When this occurs, the filter screen must be accessed in order to clean and flush the collected debris therefrom. In the past, significant labor and time has been required to excavate and disassemble the sprinkler case from the buried water supply line to permit access to the filter screen at the lower end of the sprinkler case, followed by re-assembly of the sprinkler to the underground supply line.
Another problem encountered with irrigation sprinklers involves pitting and wear of the valve seat included as part of the inlet control valve, resulting in undesired low pressure water leakage through the sprinkler case when the inlet control valve is closed. In this regard, the valve seat for the inlet control valve normally comprises a plastic surface formed or otherwise mounted on the plastic molded sprinkler case. Over time, small pebbles and grit such as rust particles and the like of a sufficiently small size to pass through the filter screen can impact and damage the valve seat. Attempts to prevent such damage by using a smaller mesh filter screen unfortunately result in a more frequent clogging of the filter screen. When valve seat damage occurs, it has been necessary to excavate and disassemble the sprinkler case from the buried water supply line for appropriate replacement, typically by installation of a new sprinkler case. Once again, such remedial action is a time consuming and labor intensive process.
There exists, therefore, a need for an improved mounting arrangement for a valve seat of a sprinkler inlet control valve, and for an inlet filter screen associated therewith, to provide improved and facilitated access to the valve seat and filter screen in the event that service or replacement is required, without requiring the sprinkler case to be disassembled from the associated water supply line or otherwise removed from the ground. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.


A photo-electric pulse measuring probe includes a pair of supporting members which have a light emitting element and a light receiving element adjacent first end portions thereof, respectively, in such a manner that the light emitting element and the light receiving elements are confronted with each other, and which are swingably coupled to each other at the other end portions thereof. The light emitting element and the light receiving element are covered with elastic members, respectively, and wavy surfaces are formed in the mating surfaces of the elastic members, respectively, so that a user's finger is supported by a number of points during measurement.

This invention relates to a photo-electric pulse wave measuring probe which clamps a part of a living body, such as a fingertip to measure blood components such as a concentration of oxygen in blood.
A pulse oximeter for measuring a density of oxygen in blood has a probe, as its detecting end, which clamps a finger tip to optically measure a pulse wave. The probe is designed as follows: The probe comprises a pair of supporting members which are swingably coupled to each other at their first ends. The supporting members support a light emitting element, namely, an LED (light emitting diode) and a light receiving element, namely, a PD (photo-diode), respectively, at their second ends in such a manner that the LED and the PD are confronted with each other. A fingertip is inserted between the LED and the PD, and is elastically held therebetween. The output light of the LED is applied to the PD through the blood flowing in vessels in the finger, so that blood components are measured from the output of the PD.
In the above-described conventional pulse oximeter, the fingertip holding surfaces of the pair of supporting members which are confronted with each other are flat. Hence, in the examination of a person who is unsatisfactory in the flow of blood in the peripheral circulatory system, the flow of blood may be obstructed because the fingertip is strongly compressed by the supporting members urged elastically as described above. As a result, it may be impossible to measure blood components accurately and stably.

Photo-electric pulse wave measuring probe


A vacuum hole array including a dense array of vacuum holes and a sparse array of vacuum holes.

Media supports can be provided with vacuum holes to hold the media in position against the support. Large format media supports are arranged to support large format media. Large format media supports are provided with relatively large surface areas. Consequently the media support is provided with a high number of vacuum holes. Relatively heavy duty pumps are connected to the holes to provide for a sufficient vacuum force for all these holes, so as to be able to hold large format media in place.


A layer of conformationally adaptive organic molecules are used in epitaxially layered structures to accommodate lattice mismatch between layers at least one of which is of a nonorganic crystalline material. Such a layer on a substrate layer may constitute the epitaxially layered structure or the conformationally adaptive organic molecule layer may be used to accommodate a lattice mismatch between two other layers or the substrate and another layer.

The preparation of thin epitaxial films on various substrates is an extremely important field in modern materials science and technology. Such films are applied for example in protective coatings, thin film devices, semiconducting devices, laser diodes, sensors, for data storage devices, and for mounting organic, including biological layers onto suitable substrates. The term "epitaxial" means the ordered growth of a material on the surface of a substrate or another layer, such that the crystalline properties and orientation of the deposited material reflects the orientation and crystalline structure of the substrate. Thus epitaxial deposition processes provide means to form thin specifically oriented crystalline layers.
A much addressed problem in epitaxial deposition is the one of lattice mismatch or misfit. Lattice mismatch occurs when the top and the bottom layer have different lattice constants. Deviations of less than 1 percent readily result in structural defects, including various types of dislocation, and the built-up strain in the deposited layer. These defects often affect the electronic properties of the grown layer in an often undesired manner. Accordingly, a number of solutions to this problem have been proposed in the art, including methods such as surface modification of the substrate by doping, ion implanting, or chemical reaction, deposition at elevated temperatures or of intermediate or buffer layers.
In the European Patent application EP-A-0 232 082, the substrate (Si) oriented in {100} direction is slightly tilted in the ffl001" direction to accommodate the lattice mismatch with GaAs. In addition to the tilting of the substrate, a buffer layer is provided to further reduce the misfit.
Another prior art approach utilizes the pseudomorphic growth of non-lattice-matched materials. In a system where there is sufficient attraction between the epilayer and the substrate and mismatch is low enough, initial epitaxial growth of a lattice mismatched material occurs two-dimensionally, with the epilayer conforming to the in-plane lattice structure of the substrate and with the mismatch accommodated by elastic strain. This growth is termed "commensurate" because it is growing with the lattice constant of the substrate, rather than with the unstrained bulk lattice constant of the epitaxial layer material. The commensurate growth is pseudomorphic as long as the layer thickness is below a critical thickness (which for a mismatch of 1-5% is about 1-100 nm) which defines the strain energy for which the introduction of dislocations becomes energetically favored.
The use of an intermediate layer is also disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,367. Here the growth of the intermediate layer is interrupted before the strain due to lattice mismatch is fully relieved by dislocations. The next layer is then grown in an unstrained and defect free condition where its lattice constant is about the same as the partially relieved lattice constant of the intermediate layer.
In yet another prior art approach, the desired lattice constant is obtained by growing several layers above their critical thickness, limiting however the change in lattice constant at each interface to about 1%. The grading from the lattice constant of the substrate material to the lattice constant of the final layer is in steps that are small enough to allow reliable two-dimensional growth throughout the growth process, This concept is for example pursued in U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,831, where a buffer layer is epitaxially grown on a ceramic substrate. The buffer layer has an elastically transitional lattice constant, matching at its lower surface the lattice constant of the ceramic substrate within a first given range, and matching at its upper surface the lattice constant of a following layer within a second given range. The buffer layer is provided by progressively growing a series of buffer layers of increasing lattice constant, each layer trapping its mismatch dislocations at its interface to the previous one, leaving its upper surface free of defects.
An effect known as "dislocation gettering" is applied in U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,808: If a heteroepitaxial layer is grown onto a sufficiently thin substrate, this effect causes any dislocations between the two layers to propagate into the substrate leaving the heteroepitaxial layer defect free.
To achieve an epitaxial growth of layers on a arbitrary, i.e. amorphous substrate, EP-A-0 352 931 teaches the use of a "seed" layer to be deposited onto the substrate before the deposition of a second (organic) crystalline layer.
However elaborated the above described solutions may be, in the art still the need is felt for an epitaxial structure accomodating a broad range of lattice constants and applicable to a variety of different materials.

International Business Machines Corporation


Apparatus and a method for investigating dynamic rheological properties of a viscoelastic medium involves oscillating at least one shear wave generation surface in a container containing the viscoelastic medium such that shear waves generated thereby impinge on two spaced shear wave receiving surfaces, the receiving surfaces being spaced by different distances from the source of shear waves impinging thereon. Transducers are provided for the shear wave receiving surfaces capable of generating output signals dependent on the variations in physical parameters of heating the wave receiving surfaces induced by the oscillating shear wave generation surfaces.

The present invention relates to a device for investigating the properties of a viscoelastic medium, and more particularly, to a rheometer for measuring the dynamic rheological properties of gels, melts, polymer solutions, and other highly viscous media.
Conventional dynamic rheological techniques involve the forced generation of shear waves of varying magnitude in the medium under investigation and the recording of displacements of a wave-receiving and reflecting surface using a suitable transducing device. Phase and magnitude relationships between corresponding force and displacement waveforms are then analysed to determine the rheological properties of the medium. The major disadvantage of such techniques lies in the fact that accurate determination of the dynamic stresses and strains at measuring geometry boundaries is required to produce meaningful results. Such accurate determination is difficult to achieve at high frequencies.


A computer system includes a memory subsystem to store both a full operating system and a mini operating system. The mini operating system boots much more quickly than the full operating system, and may be a subset of the full operating system. A mechanical switch is provided to the user to select, at power-on, which of the two operating systems the user desires to be booted.

Computer systems, from small handheld electronic devices to medium-sized mobile and desktop systems to large servers and workstations, are becoming increasingly pervasive in our society. Computer systems typically include one or more processors. A processor manipulates and controls the flow of data in a computer by executing instructions. To provide more powerful computer systems for consumers, processor designers strive to continually increase the operating speed of the processor. Unfortunately, as processor speed increases, the power consumed by the processor tends to increase as well. Historically, the power consumed by the processor, and hence its speed, has been limited by two factors. First, as power consumption increases, the processor tends to run hotter, leading to thermal dissipation problems. Second, the power consumed by a processor may tax the limits of the power supply used to keep the processor operational, reducing battery life in mobile systems and diminishing reliability while increasing cost in larger systems.
Many computer system users use their computer systems as a personal information managers (PIMs), storing calendar and personal contact information to help organize their schedules. To access this information, the user typically must power-on and boot up their computer system using their sole, large operating system, then launch the appropriate calendar and contact application programs. Unfortunately, operating the computer system in this manner to access simple PIM information can be wasteful in terms of time spent waiting for the computer system to boot up and power spent supporting unused features of the operating system and unused peripheral devices.
The present invention addresses this and other problems associated with the prior art.

Method and apparatus for booting a user-selectable operating system