A differential apparatus for a part-time four-wheel drive vehicle is provided. The differential apparatus includes an outer differential casing, an inner differential casing, a clutch member adjacent to the inner differential casing, a pair of dog clutches, a differential gear system arranged in the inner differential casing and an actuator body for actuating the clutch member. One of the dog clutches is connected with the inner differential casing, while the other of the dog clutches is formed on the clutch member. When the vehicle is traveling under two-wheel drive, the inner differential casing and the differential gear system are raced, while the outer differential casing and the clutch member do not race. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the racing loss of these members and the noise caused by the racing loss.

The present invention relates to a differential apparatus to which driving force is to be cut off in a part-time four(4)-wheel drive car when in two(2)-wheel drive. More particularly, the invention relates to a differential apparatus having a mechanism for reducing frictional loss of the apparatus when not driven.
In prior art part-time four-wheel drive cars of this kind, a differential apparatus such as shown in FIG. 1 is used. Such an apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication (kokai) No. 63-193929.
In FIG. 1, assembled so as to rotate in a first casing 401 relatively is a second casing 403 in which a pinion shaft 405, a pinion gear 407 and left and right side gears 409, 411 etc. are arranged. A sleeve 413 is arranged so as to slip on the outer periphery of the first casing 401. With the slipping movement of the sleeve 413, both casings 401, 403 can be either operatively associated with, or separated from, each other.
When it is desired to switch from four-wheel drive into two-wheel drive, due to a driver's manipulation of a controller in a vehicle cabin, the sleeve 413 is shifted to the left side of FIG. 1 by a switching unit 417 provided on a differential carrier 415. Consequently, the association between the first casing 401 and the second casing 403 is released, so that the casings can rotate relatively to each other.
In this way, while the second casing 403, the pinion shaft 405, the pinion gear 407 and the left and right side gears 409, 411 etc. race independent of tire rotation due to the vehicle's traveling, the surrounding first casing 401 and a ring gear 419 etc. do not race since the power transmission is cut off by switching of a transfer unit. Thus, racing loss and occurrence of noise can be reduced.
In the above-mentioned differential apparatus, however, since the switching unit 417 for switching between 4-wheel/2-wheel driving operation is disposed outside the differential carrier 415, it has been unavoidable that the differential carrier 415 is subjected to detailed remodeling to install a mechanism for sliding the sleeve 413 in the carrier 415.
Furthermore, the known art has to ensure a space allowing the axial sliding of the sleeve 413 in the first casing 401. For this reason, the first casing 401 is apt to have a one-sided weight imbalance and deviated configuration. Thus, an ill balanced configuration is caused in the differential apparatus.

Differential apparatus for reducing friction and noise


A printing system including a printer for storing a setup program for installing a printer driver and an information processing apparatus, wherein the information processing apparatus starts up the setup program acquired from the printer, when the printer driver is installed, identifies an attribute of an OS running on the information processing apparatus, creates a port having a port name according to a predetermined format according to the identified attribute of the OS, and installs the printer driver.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique used in a printing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, printers are widely used in, for example, offices of companies and the printing can be performed by everybody with ease. To perform printing with a printer from a personal computer (PC), the PC requires installation of a printer driver for controlling the printer and generating print data. Generally, the printer driver is prepared for each operating system (OS) of the PC or each printer for printing and is provided by the storage medium such as a compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM) and a floppy disk (FD) packed with the printer. An administrator generally acquires the latest printer driver by downloading it from a web page of a manufacturer of the printer via a public network.
The acquired printer driver and setting information to be used in the installation of the printer driver are located in the storage device shared on the network, and the locations of the printer driver and the setting information are announced to the public users to allow them to use the printer. The public user installs the printer driver into the PC according to the information acquired from the location based on the announcement.
Conventionally, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-092158 discusses such a technique as a method for installing the printer driver that an administrator creates setting information to be used by the installer as a definition file, and the definition file and the installer are called from a common execution file.
In the method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-092158, the user can generate an execution file including freely set logical printer name and port name as the setting information to be used in the installation of the printer driver. When the user executes the execution file, if the logical printer designated by the setting information exists in the PC, the existing logical printer is overwritten with the setting information. In other words, if the port name designated in the setting information differs from the existing port name, a port is created with a newly designated port name. The port is set so as to be used in transmitting print data and, if the printer driver installed in the PC is outdated, the printer driver is updated.
In the method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-092158, even if the user desires to update only the printer driver, the port is also newly created for the reason that the updated printer driver is released from the printer vendor. More specifically, such an issue may occur that a port name different from the existing port name is designated to a connection port of the logical printer. Accordingly, every time the printer driver is updated, an old port that is no longer used in the system may be left in the printer.
There is a method for causing the user to designate only an internet protocol (IP) address of the printer without allowing the user to designate an arbitrary port name. A format of the port name is formed into a stereotype format and the same IP address is associated with the same port name, so that a plurality of ports is not created with respect to the same IP address. For example, it is provided that, when "220.127.116.11" is designated as the IP address of the printer for executing printing, the port name is set to "IP—22.214.171.124". If the port having a port name of "IP—126.96.36.199" already exists, the existing port is used without creating a new port.
In a standard transmission control protocol (TCP)/IP port included as standard equipment in the OS, a different port name is automatically created according to the version of the OS. For example, when the "184.108.40.206" is designated as the IP address of the device for executing the printing, in the OS of a certain version (i.e., a first OS), if the port is created with the standard TCP/IP port of the OS, the port name becomes the "IP—18.104.22.168". On the other hand, in a case of the other OS having the other version (i.e., a second OS), if the port is created in a manner similar to the above, the port name becomes "188.8.131.52" by default.
A case where the port having the port name of "IP—22.214.171.124" is already created on the second OS is considered here. At this time, if the format of the port name is formed into the stereotype format, if the IP address of "18.104.22.168" is designated, the port having the port name of "184.108.40.206" comes to be newly created. More specifically, two ports including a port that is no longer used are created with respect to the IP address as the same printing destination.

Printing system, information processing apparatus, and method to be used therein


An array substrate for an LCD includes a substrate, a gate line, a data line, a gate electrode extending from the gate line formed on the substrate, a gate insulating layer covering the gate electrode and the substrate, a semiconductor layer formed over the gate insulating layer, a source electrode formed on the semiconductor layer extending from the data line, a drain electrode formed on the semiconductor layer facing the source electrode, a passivation layer covering the substrate including a resultant structure obtained after the source electrode and the drain electrode are formed, and a pixel electrode contacting the drain electrode through a contact hole passing through the passivation layer, wherein a portion of the gate insulating layer in a region where the gate electrode is formed is thinner than a portion of the gate insulating layer in a region where the gate line and the data line intersect with each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an array substrate for a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a method for fabricating the same, and more particularly, to an array substrate for an LCD with an improved gate insulating layer.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD) is a display apparatus that displays an image through specific configurations and operations. In particular, a liquid material that has dielectric anisotropy is placed between a color filter substrate, which is a transparent insulating substrate typically placed at the top, and an array substrate, which is a transparent insulating substrate typically placed at the bottom. An electric field is generated in the liquid material between the two substrates, and the intensity of the electric field is adjusted so as to change the molecular arrangements of the liquid material. Through the change in the molecular arrangement, the amount of light transmitted to the color filter substrate is adjusted to display a desired image. A thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD) that uses a thin film transistor (TFT) as a switching device is one of the typically used LCD.
FIG. 1 is a simplified cross-sectional view illustrating a typical array substrate for an LCD. The array substrate comprises a gate line GL0 and a data line DL0, which define a pixel region by being arranged in the horizontal and vertical directions to intersect with each other. In each pixel region, there is a TFT, which comprises a gate electrode 11, a gate insulating layer 12, a semiconductor layer 13, a source electrode 14, a drain electrode 15, and ohmic contact layers 16_1 and 16_2. The gate insulating layer 12 is formed over the gate electrode 11. The semiconductor layer 13 is formed of undoped amorphous silicon. The source electrode 14 and the drain electrode 15 are disposed apart on opposing sides of the semiconductor layer 13. The ohmic contact layers 16_1 and 16_2 are formed respectively at the interfaces between the source electrode 14 and the semiconductor layer 13 and between the drain electrode 15 and the semiconductor layer 13. A passivation layer 17 is formed over the TFT, and a contact hole 18_1 exposing the drain electrode 15 is formed in the passivation layer 17. A pixel electrode 18 is connected to the drain electrode 15 through the contact hole 18_1 and is formed of a transparent conductive material, such as indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium zinc oxide (IZO).
An overlap capacitor Cov is formed in a region where the gate line GL0 and the data line DL0 intersect with each other. A gate capacitor Cgate is formed between the semiconductor layer 13 and the gate electrode 11. A storage capacitor Cst is formed between a storage electrode 19 and either the drain electrode 15 or the pixel electrode 18 partially overlapped therewith.
In current semiconductor technologies, the function of the gate insulating layer 12 is simplified to insulate metal lines, e.g., the gate line GL0. The gate insulating layer 12 is formed of an organic insulating material such as silicon nitride (SiNx) or silicon oxide (SiOx) instead of an inorganic insulating material. Particularly, using an organic insulating material having low permittivity as the gate insulating layer 12 is one of various attempts to obtain process compatibility.
However, an improvement over current semiconductor technologies utilize the gate insulating layer 12 of the TFT for the LCD as the gate capacitor Cgate for switching and the storage capacitor Cst for storing data signals in addition to the overlap capacitor Cov, which determines inter-layer insulating characteristics of the typical metal lines. More specifically, depending on the position, the gate insulating layer 12 needs to be configured differentially to have low capacitance for use as the overlap capacitor Cov and high capacitance for use as the gate capacitor Cgate or the storage capacitor Cst. Thus, having a uniform permittivity, i.e. a low permittivity, is not sufficient for the purpose of creating different configurations.
The TFT illustrated in FIG. 1 has a gate insulating layer 12 that has the same thickness throughout the entire region. Thus, it may be difficult to obtain different capacitance levels. Furthermore, because gate signals and data signals transmitted through the metal lines, e.g., the gate line GL0 and the data line DL0, may be overlapped with each other, there may be a risk that the gate signals and the data signals get mixed up.
For instance, if the distance between the electrodes is widened to lower the capacitance of the overlap capacitor Cov, a distance between the electrodes of the gate capacitor Cgate or the storage capacitor Cst is also widened. The widened distance between the electrodes generally causes the capacitance to decrease. In such a case, critical dimensions (CD) of a circuit, i.e., the areas of the electrodes, need to be enlarged to maintain the capacitance of the gate capacitor Cgate or the storage capacitor Cst. However, the enlarged CDs may negatively affect an opening ratio. On the other hand, when the distance between the electrodes is narrowed to increase the capacitance of the gate capacitor Cgate or the storage capacitor Cst, the CDs of the gate line GL0 and the data line DL0 need to be narrowed. However, this approach may lead to a short circuit in the gate line GL0 or the data line DL0 or may cause flickering images.

Array substrate for liquid crystal display and method for fabricating the same having particular gate insulating layer


A graphics display controller providing enhanced read/write efficiency for interfacing with a RAM-integrated graphics display device. According to the invention, a graphics display controller is disclosed for interfacing between a host and a graphics display device having an associated memory is provided that includes an embedded memory, a format converter, and a data storage memory. The embedded memory is adapted for storing frames of video data received from a host. The format converter is adapted to convert the video data in at least one of two ways: (1) from the data format of the host to the data format of the display device and (2) from the data format of the display device to the data format of the host. The data storage memory has a memory size that is smaller than the embedded memory, and defines a data path that bypasses the embedded memory but connects to the format converter.

In a graphics display device, such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panel, video data for display as well as instructions for displaying the data are provided by a host. In principle, any host can interface directly with a display device provided that the host's read/write operations conform to the protocol specified for the display device. However, it is often desirable to provide an application specific graphics display controller as a separate chip, such as an LCD controller, between the host and the display device to provide specialized functions. For example, a display controller chip might be used to automate the transfer of images from a camera to graphics display device, or to allow a host having a parallel bus to interface with a graphics display device having a serial interface and vice versa.
A specific example of such a display controller chip is found in a cellular telephone. The telephone includes a microprocessor functioning as a host CPU, and typically includes one or more RAM ("Random Access Memory")-integrated LCD panels which, for purposes herein, may be considered elements of a single graphics display device. The term "RAM-integrated" refers to the incorporation in the graphics display device of a display or frame buffer.
The display controller chip includes input and output interfaces and a format converter for offloading from the host the task of converting the video data into the format required by the graphics display device, for example, by translating the data from one color space to another. In telephone and other systems used for data communications, such display controllers are used for both wireless and wired communications.
The host generally provides video data and commands to the graphics display device, e.g., to enable selected panels and to specify display parameters such as image size and color resolution. The host may also read data from the display device. For example, the host may read status bits in the display device, or the host may read images from the display device.
Where a display controller is provided, the host communicates with the display device through the controller rather than directly with the display device. Accordingly, the display controller is provided with an embedded memory for reading video data from the host and for writing video data to the display device.
More particularly, there are two known means for writing video data from the host to the RAM-integrated graphics display device through the display controller. First, the host may transmit a full image frame of pixels in a sequential stream to the display controller. The display controller stores the frame in the embedded memory, and formats the data using the format converter. A disadvantage of this method is that a complete frame of data must be transferred in order to change any portion of the display.
Alternatively, the host may write control data to respective command and parameter registers in the display controller. The display controller transfers the data directly to the graphics display device without storing it in the embedded memory or converting its format. However, the host may be required to format the display data prior to transmission, thus losing the benefit of the format converter provided by the display controller.
Recently, the capability to read data from the RAM-integrated graphics display device has been provided by the graphics display controller. The host writes to a register bit in the display controller to trigger a read cycle in the graphics display device. Data from the graphics display device is placed into registers in the controller, in the native format of the graphics display device. However, the host may be required to re-format the data to interpret the data, because the format converter is typically adapted to format data transmitted to the display device and is not bidirectional.
Graphics display controllers typically provide for a fully powered on mode of operation, and an essentially fully powered off or "pass-through" mode where the controller simply passes through data and commands received from the host to the graphics display device. In the fully powered off mode, the host must format the video data. In the pass-through mode, the controller's embedded memory along with its related controlling logic are powered up even when using a writing or reading methodology that does not make use of it. Accordingly, there is a need for a graphics display controller providing enhanced read/write efficiency for interfacing with a RAM-integrated graphics display device.

Graphics display controller providing enhanced read/write efficiency for interfacing with a RAM-integrated graphics display device


A device for separating office paper and computer printout from cardboard waste material is provided. The device has two decks, each of which has multiple driving and separating disc rotors. Non-cardboard paper can fall between the disc rotors as the paper flows through the machine. A single counter-rotational disc rotor is provided which inverts cardboard and empties boxes. The drive for each deck of the device is independent and variable speed, allowing for quick reconfiguration between input streams.

As environmental concerns have increased over the last thirty years, the need to reprocess paper products received by waste handling companies has intensified. In order to improve efficiency in recycling activities, companies have found it necessary to divide the paper received into several different homogeneous groups. In particular, the separation of cardboard from office paper and computer printout waste is very valuable.
Early efforts at achieving this separation used manual systems. These systems employed slow moving conveyors of five to six feet in width for moving waste through a work area. Workers positioned along a conveyor could then manually remove cardboard and place it in a separate container. These types of systems have many drawbacks. First, the systems are extremely slow, constrained by the limitation of human labor that can be concentrated around the line. Second, the quality of separation depends upon the diligence of the human labor employed. As with many repetitious jobs, some degree of "missed" cardboard results. Third, the size of the line system is quite large, requiring a very wide belt and a full work area around it. Finally, the system was not easily reconfigurable to handle higher or lower throughput demands.
The mechanization of the manual system addressed some of these drawbacks. Current machines have included a configuration of a series of rotors. These rotors move the waste stream along. As the stream moves, paper products fall through the rotors, separating the paper from the cardboard. With these machines, the reliance element on human labor has been reduced. This reduction has vastly increased the speed of the system and decreased the dedicated work space required. However, machines have also increased some of the problems of the manual system. Particularly, current machines are typically not as reliable in their separation as manual labor. In current machines, the low quality of separation continues to require manual monitoring of the output for missed cardboard or paper. Beyond raw separation problems, current rotor based machines have also been ineffective in separating paper which rests on top of a piece of cardboard. For example, a sheet of cardboard may pass over the rotors of the separating machine with a large stack of accordion-style computer paper sitting on the cardboard. The entire stack, perhaps thousands of sheets, rides on the cardboard to the end of the disc rotors to be dumped on the cardboard discharge pile. A similar problem exists with cardboard boxes having paper inside the boxes. Although paper is intended to drop through the separating disc rotors, in this case, the box, with all the paper inside, is carried to the cardboard discharge pile. Additionally, prior art separator machines are typically configured for a specific type of operation and cannot be easily adapted to changes in the mix of paper and cardboard in the input stream. Finally, prior art rotor machines have been subject to mechanical failure due to binding of paper from the input stream around either the rotors or the rotor bearings. A means is needed to remove paper from the top of cardboard sheets and to remove paper from the interior of cardboard boxes.

Paper and cardboard separator with inverting rotor


A voice conferencing system assigns voice conferences across multiple media processors. The voice conferencing system may thereby allow voice conferences to proceed, even when any single media processor in the conferencing system does not have the resources needed to handle the voice conference. The voice conferencing system may enhance communication capabilities, without significantly increasing cost or equipment requirements.

Effective communication is critical for successful business. The desire to enhance communication, in conjunction with incredible advances in processing technology, have lead to new and effective communication systems for businesses. For example, traditional data-only networks have now merged with traditional voice-only networks to form sophisticated hybrid Internet Protocol (IP) Telephone systems. The cost and performance benefits associated with IP Telephone systems has lead to their successful implementation in hundreds of companies.
One popular service now offered over IP Telephony systems is the voice conference. In a voice conference, multiple participants engage in discussions through the support of the IP Telephone backbone. The participants may be located virtually anywhere, with the backbone seamlessly connecting the participants as if they were in the same conference room.
In the past, the IP Telephony system assigned a single media processor to each voice conference. The assigned media processor handled the entire data flow generated by all participants in the voice conference. However, because the media processor had limited computational capabilities and memory resources, the media processor could only process a limited number of voice channels. Thus, additional individuals simply could not participate in a voice conference when the media processor channel limits had been reached.
Depending on the resources available to the media processor, and the number of conference participants, a single media processor sometimes handled multiple independent, relatively small voice conferences. For example, a single media processor might divide its total voice channel processing capability between three small, but independent, voice conferences. However, such configurations led to yet another difficulty, namely resource fragmentation.
Whenever a media processor hosted one or more voice conferences, each voice conference consumed a certain number of voice channel resources. As a result, a request for a new voice conference with more participants than available voice channel resources had to be refused. For example, a media processor supporting 20 voice channels, currently hosting a marketing voice conference with 10 channels and a design voice conference with 5 channels, could not support a sales voice conference requiring 6 or more channels. The remaining 5 voice channels were fragmented away from the original 20 voice channels, and were effectively an unavailable resource for the media processor.
In order to expand capacity, multiple media processors were sometimes provided, with each media processor again handling the entirety of one or more voice conferences. However, even when multiple media processors were present, the IP Telephony system assigned voice conferences to the media processors in the same way. Consequently, rather than generating resource fragmentation on a single media processor, the IP Telephone system generated resource fragmentation on multiple media processors.


A cotton or foam swab (or other applicator) is individually wrapped in a sterilized plastic-lined aluminum foil package having a tear-open tab or strip, and the swab has a tip portion which is saturated with a combination of an anti-aging cream and an eye/face make-up remover.

In the prior art, various creams, gels and other cosmetics (and cosmetic removers) have been packaged in jars, tubes and other containers; and the user is required to open the container, dip a cotton swab, tissue or other applicator (or perhaps even one's finger) into the container to absorb some of the cosmetic, and then apply that cosmetic to the eyes or other facial areas.
For example, one jar may contain an eye or face make-up remover, while another (completely separate) jar may contain an anti-aging cream.
Typically, only a portion of the cosmetics (or cosmetic removers) is used over a given period of time, and the user eventually discards the jars containing the remainder of the cosmetics (or cosmetic removers).
Besides, it is not convenient to carry several jars in one's purse or while traveling; and even in the home, it is not at all unlikely that the same make-up remover (for example) will be found in the bedroom and in the bathroom.
There is also the problem of a possible infection. Bacteria will grow in the jar, especially when the jar is left open and its contents exposed during application of the cosmetic; and the infection may be spread from one user to another. Moreover, and because of the bacteria, in the removal of eye shadow and eyelash make-up, the eyes may become reddened and cause tears to flow. In other instances, a skin rash may develop, or else an existing acne condition may become aggravated.
Cotton swabs, of course, have been known for many years for medical, personal hygiene and cosmetic purposes. A well-known brand is Q-TIPS.RTM. cotton swabs manufactured and sold by Cheseborough Ponds USA Company. These cotton swabs consist of a somewhat flexible stem having a cotton (or foam) ball or tip at each end of the stem, and a quantity of such swabs is packaged in a container, such as a box provided with a lid at one end thereof.
It will be appreciated, of course, that once the box has been opened and an individual cotton swab removed, that the sterility of the cotton swabs remaining in the box has become compromised.
The prior art has also disclosed medicated applicators on cotton swabs. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,652,108 issued to Forbis in 1927, the end or ends of the stem are dipped into a liquid antiseptic solution during the manufacturing process; and then the stem which is still moist is pressed into a mass of porous materials with a twisting motion, thereby producing a cotton swab provided with an antiseptic.
From this early disclosure, it is seen that medicated cotton swabs are at least seventy years old.
On the other hand, and from an entirely different technological perspective, surgical scalpel blades have long been individually packaged in an aluminum foil; the ends of the foil package are suitably crimped, and the package with the blade is then radiation sterilized. However, despite this recognized technology, albeit for an entirely different product line, no one (prior to the present invention) has ever combined these existing technologies for a synergistic result.
Indeed, the prior art, is exemplified by the U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,204 issued to Korteweg in 1990 resorted to a plastic sleeve. This plastic sleeve had a relatively small-diameter cylindrical handle portion closely housing the stem in the swab, and this plastic sleeve further had a relatively large-diameter receptacle portion surrounding the tip on the end of the stem.
Nor is an anti-aging cream combined directly with an eye/face make-up remover and made readily and conveniently available in a sterile individually-wrapped swab or other applicator.


The preferred embodiments described herein include a method and system for billing for the use of a service control point (“SCP”). In one presently preferred embodiment, an SCP receives a query from a service switching point (“SSP”) and accesses data in a database in response to the query. The accessed data is associated with a data owner. The SCP tracks that the SSP sent the query and that the data owner's data was accessed in response to the query. After a plurality of queries have been received and tracked, the SCP creates a billing record and sends it to a billing center. Using the billing record, the billing center can charge the SSP for the use of the SCP. These preferred embodiments provide an efficient way for charging for the usage of an SCP, especially when the SSP querying the SCP is owned by a different telecommunications company.

Many telecommunication systems comprise three basic components: a signal switching point ("SSP"), a service control point ("SCP"), and a signal transfer point ("STP"), which facilitates communication between the SSP and the SCP. In operation, in response to a detected trigger (e.g., no answer, busy, etc.), the SSP sends a query message to the SCP, and the SCP consults its database and returns a response to the SSP. FIG. 6 is an example of such a telecommunication system 5. As shown in FIG. 6, the system 5 comprises a first Regional Bell Operating Company ("RBOC") 10 and a second RBOC 20. Each RBOC 10, 20 comprises an STP 12, 22 and an SSP 14, 24. The first RBOC 10 also comprises an SCP 16.
To illustrate the operation of this system 5, consider the situation in which a calling party associated with SSP 14 calls a called party associated with SSP 24. In this example, the called party subscribes to a Caller ID service. When SSP 24 receives the call from the calling party, it sends a query to the SCP 16 to determine the name of the calling party. When the SCP 16 receives the query, it consults its database to determine the name associated with the calling party's number and returns the name to SSP 24 for display to the called party.
The collection and maintenance of data in an SCP can be costly, and conventional systems do not provide an adequate mechanism for billing for the use of the SCP. In the example above, the called party pays the second RBOC 20 a subscription fee for the Caller ID service. However, the system does not provide a mechanism for adequately charging SSP 24 for the use of the SCP 16.
There is, therefore, a need for an improved method and system for service control point billing.

Method and system for service control point billing


A method, an electronic device and computer readable medium for dialogue breakdown detection are provided. The method includes obtaining a verbal input from an audio sensor. The method also includes generating a reply to the verbal input. The method additionally includes identifying a local context from the verbal input and a global context from the verbal input, additional verbal inputs previously received by the audio sensor, and previous replies generated in response to the additional verbal inputs. The method further includes identifying a dialogue breakdown in response to determining that the reply does not correspond to the local context and the global context. In addition, the method includes generating sound corresponding to the reply through a speaker when the dialogue breakdown is not identified.

Methods for interacting with and controlling computing devices are continually improving in order to create more natural user interfaces. Many such methods for interacting with and controlling computing devices generally require users to utilize an accessory, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a touch pad, or a touchscreen, where a user physically interacts with the accessory to control the computing device. Some electronic devices employ natural language processing that enable users to interact with computing devices via a natural language input. For example, natural language input can include a voice enabled user interface where a user can interact with the computing device by speaking. The electronic device is able to perform the request of the user as well as provide a verbal response to the user in the form of a follow up question or a comment.
Dialogue breakdown involves the generation of an incorrect response by the electronic devices. An electronic device that can detect and correct for a dialoged breakdown between itself and a user plays an increasingly important role in consumer satisfaction with respect to artificial intelligent (AI) based system.

System and method for context-enriched attentive memory network with global and local encoding for dialogue breakdown detection


The number of directional antennas and associated radios needed to ensure a nomadic wireless mesh network (NWMN) remains operational in the event of node or link failures, while minimizing delay and other unwanted effects, may be determined using novel methods and devices. Such a determination may reduce the number of antennas and radios a service or network provider normally uses, thus reducing its costs.

Wireless mesh networks have been widely recognized as an emerging technology for low-cost, fast deployment communication networks. Nowadays, they are used in numerous applications, such as wireless backhaul, public safety, and public Internet access. In these applications some wireless routers, referred to as nodes, are statically (i.e., fixed) deployed at different locations. Each node is typically equipped with multiple mesh radios to form a connected mesh. Besides the mesh radios, each node may also have other wireless interfaces that are used to form wireless local area networks (WLANs) for client access. Some of the wireless routers, termed gateways, are connected to the Internet through additional network interfaces. Thus, wireless mesh networks can be used for both local communication and Internet access.
To improve network performance, several equipment vendors connect mesh radios to directional antennas, referred to as directional mesh radios. Directional antennas have a number of technical advantages over conventional omni-directional antennas, including extended transmission range, low interference, low transmission power, and so on, which make them very attractive for static and quasi-static (i.e., limited movement) environments. To simplify network deployment, some vendors utilize a point-to-point paradigm. In particular, each directional mesh radio is paired with another directional mesh radio installed on another node within reach (i.e., neighbors are paired) to form a point-to-point connection between them. To form the connection the two directional mesh radios must be properly oriented toward each other and assigned to the same wireless channel. Directional mesh radios on different links are assigned to orthogonal channels to avoid interference.
Recently, wireless mesh technologies have been used for fast deployment of disaster recovery networks and for military applications. In these applications, wireless mesh routers are mounted on top of moving vehicles or ships. Nodes within such networks/applications are required to identify their neighbors and establish point-to-point connections with some of them to form a robust, connected network regardless of the location of the node(s). We refer to these networks as nomadic wireless mesh networks (NWMN). Unlike ad-hoc networks that provide limited communication capabilities between dynamically moving nodes, NWMNs are required to provide broadband and reliable communications using wireless mesh routers with quasi-static mobility patterns, i.e., a node may change its location but it tends to stay in the same place for a long duration. For such applications, directional mesh radios can be efficiently utilized to establish high capacity point-to-point connections, without suffering from the typical problems of dynamic directional antenna-based environments, such as deafness and hidden nodes.
In some environments/applications (e.g., military) it is important that NWMNs be able to withstand the failure of a link or node. Said another way, it is desirable to provide for dynamic, fault resilient wireless mesh networks. More specifically, it is desirable to provide a robust wireless backbone made up of nodes consisting of wireless mesh routers that (i.e., referred to as "two-edge-connected or two-node-connected" by those skilled in the art) are connected using point-to-point connections between adjacent routers/nodes. In such a resilient network, even if a link or node becomes temporarily unavailable the entire network must remain connected.
Providing robust and resilient NWMNs has its own set of challenges, including determining the types of topologies (e.g., number of nodes, number of directional antennas per node) that assure an NWMN remains operational after suffering a node or link failure.
As is known in the art, determining the topology of a network is a very complex problem. More specifically, such problems are characterized as being "NP-hard" meaning their solutions cannot be found within a reasonable amount of time (i.e., it may take an infinite amount of time to solve them). To determine those topologies of a multi-node wireless mesh network that will remain operational even after a link or node failure, we may turn to mathematics for some guidance. In mathematical terms, a similar problem to the one we face is finding minimum degree spanning subgraphs, i.e. trees or two-connected subgraphs, which is known to be NP-hard for general graphs. Though some have found solutions to this NP-hard problem, none of the solutions can be satisfactorily used to construct robust and resilient NWMNs.
Most researchers that have come before the present inventors have solved so-called "minimum degree spanning subgraph problems" which seek to minimize the degree of a given graph. In contrast, in order to satisfactorily apply the results from a mathematical analysis to our goal of providing robust and resilient NWMNs, solutions to so-called "two-connected subgraphs with bounded node degree problems" must be found. In providing solutions to these problems, the topology of a full graph is not the focus as it is in the minimum degree type problems.
Because a node in a NWMN may only establish point-to-point connections with nodes in its transmission range, a topology model may be modeled by using a so-called "unit disk graph" (UDG).
In brief, a UDG has the following attributes and characteristics. Assuming the use of identical mesh nodes with the same transmission range in all directions, a candidate link exists between two nodes in a full graph if and only if they are within a given distance R from each other. This is a commonly used model for wireless networks and, especially, it is a reasonable model for naval applications, which is one of the applications of NWMNs. In these cases, there are no obstacles between nodes. Two nodes can communicate if their distance does not exceed their transmission range R. In the inventions described below, only high capacity point-to-point connections are used. Thus, we assume that R is selected accordingly.
In terms of UDG graphs, it is highly desirable to provide techniques for calculating bounded degree subgraphs that can, thereafter, be used to construct robust and resilient NWMNs. Said another way, currently, the number of directional antennas and associated mesh radios (collectively referred to as "antenna" or "antennas" because there is usually a one-to-one correspondence between radios and antennas, i.e., one antenna per radio) installed on each node in an NWMN is chosen in a somewhat arbitrary manner. Therefore, it is highly desirable to provide for methods that enable network operators and the like to more definitively determine the number of antennas needed per node.

Methods and devices for providing robust nomadic wireless mesh networks using directional antennas


The devices and methods described herein relate to improved structures for removing obstructions from body lumens. Such devices have applicability in through-out the body, including clearing of blockages within the vasculature, by recanalizing or removing the obstruction within the body lumen.

Many medical device applications require advancement of device in a reduced profile to a remote site within the body, where on reaching a target site the device assumes or is deployed into a relatively larger profile. Applications in the cerebral vasculature are one such example of medical procedures where a catheter advances from a remote part of the body (typically a leg) through the vasculature and into the cerebral region of the vasculature to deploy a device. Accordingly, the deployed devices must be capable of achieving a larger profile while being able to fit within a small catheter or microcatheter. In addition, the degree to which a physician is limited in accessing remote regions of the cerebral vasculature is directly related to the limited ability of the device to constrain into a reduced profile for delivery.
Treatment of ischemic stroke is one such area where a need remains to deliver a device in a reduced profile and deploy the device to ultimately remove a blockage in an artery leading to the brain. Left untreated, the blockage causes a lack of supply of oxygen and nutrients to the brain tissue. The brain relies on its arteries to supply oxygenated blood from the heart and lungs. The blood returning from the brain carries carbon dioxide and cellular waste. Blockages that interfere with this supply eventually cause the brain tissue to stop functioning. If the disruption in supply occurs for a sufficient amount of time, the continued lack of nutrients and oxygen causes irreversible cell death (infarction). Accordingly, immediate medical treatment of an ischemic stroke is critical for the recovery of a patient.
Naturally, areas outside of ischemic stroke applications can also benefit from improved devices. Such improved devices can assume a profile for ultimate delivery to remote regions of the body and can remove obstructions. There also remains a need for devices and systems that can safely remove the obstruction from the body once they are secured within the device at the target site. Furthermore, there remains a need for such devices that are able to safely removed once deployed distally to the obstructions in the even that the obstructions is unable to be retrieved.
Furthermore, the techniques for treating strokes described herein can be combined with stenting as well as the delivery of clot dissolving substances.
The use of stents to treat ischemic stroke is becoming more common. Typically, a physician places an unexpanded stent across a clot and then expands the stent to compress the clot and partially open the vessel. Once the vessel is at least partially open, clot dissolving fluids, such as t-PA or urokinase, can be deployed through a microcatheter to further dissolve the clot. However, these fluids generally take a long time to dissolve clot (sometimes up to several hours). Thus, the use of these fluids has not been terribly effective at dissolving clot in vessels where a complete blockage occurs. The use of a stent allows immediate flow to the vessel, the fluid can then be administered over several hours to dissolve the clot. Once the clot dissolves, the stem can either be left in place (i.e., a permanent stent), or removed (i.e., a temporary stent).
However, once blood flow is restored, a portion of the clot dissolving substance is dispersed downstream of the clot via blood flow. This minimizes the contact time and amount between the fluid and the clot thereby decreasing the efficiency of the stent and fluid treatment.
The methods, devices and systems, address the problems described above.

Retrieval systems and methods for use thereof


Methods of completing a hydrocarbon well. The methods include establishing a first fluid seal with an isolation device, forming a first perforation with a perforation device, and fracturing a first zone of a subsurface region with a pressurizing fluid stream. The methods also include moving the isolation device and the perforation device in an uphole direction within a tubular conduit of a downhole tubular that extends within a wellbore of the hydrocarbon well. Subsequent to the moving, the methods further include repeating the establishing to establish a second fluid seal, repeating the forming to form a second perforation with the perforation device, and repeating the fracturing to fracture a second zone of the subsurface region.

Conventional completion operations for hydrocarbon wells utilize a plurality of conventional plugs to fluidly isolate a plurality of spaced-apart stimulation zones from one another during the stimulation process. More specifically, the conventional completion operations generally utilize a first conventional plug, which is positioned within a tubular conduit of a downhole tubular of the hydrocarbon well, to form a first fluid seal within the tubular conduit. The conventional completion operations then perforate and pressurize an uphole region of the downhole tubular, thereby producing fractures within the subterranean formation. A second conventional plug, which is positioned uphole from a first perforated region of the downhole tubular, then is utilized to form a second fluid seal within the tubular conduit. The perforate-pressurize-seal process is repeated a plurality of times to stimulate the plurality of spaced-apart stimulation zones; and, subsequent to the conventional completion operations, the tubular conduit includes a plurality of spaced-apart conventional plugs that must be removed to permit production from the hydrocarbon well.
Some conventional completion operations may utilize soluble conventional plugs that are designed to dissolve after a period of time in contact with wellbore fluids. Some conventional completion operations may utilize a milling device to mill the conventional plugs from the tubular conduit. While effective under certain circumstances, these mechanisms for removal of conventional plugs may be costly and/or unreliable. Thus, there exists a need for improved methods of completing a hydrocarbon well.


A conveying apparatus which synchronously conveys a conveyed object includes a first conveyance roller disposed at a downstream side of a conveyance path for conveyance of the conveyed object and a second conveyance roller disposed at an upstream side of the conveyance path, a first driving unit and a second driving unit for independently driving the first conveyance roller and the second conveyance roller, respectively, and a control unit for performing feedback control of the first driving unit and the second driving unit on the basis of amounts of rotation of the first conveyance roller and the second conveyance roller, respectively. The control unit defines a setting of driving control for the second conveyance roller different from driving of the first conveyance roller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a conveying apparatus for conveying a conveyed object, and more particularly to control of conveyance of a recording medium in a recording apparatus for recording on the recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an inkjet recording apparatus has made a remarkable progress, and high image quality printing, high speed printing, and printing with lower operation noise have rapidly progressed. In addition, there has been notable growth in a number of users, and accordingly, the inkjet recording apparatus has been used in various ways. Conventionally, in order to achieve high image quality printing, it is preferable that a sheet is fed from an upper cassette, in which the bending of printing paper is reduced to a minimum. On the other hand, in order to stack a large amount of sheets of ordinary paper for printing, it is preferable that the sheet is fed from a U-turn cassette. With regard to feeding from the upper cassette, efforts have been made so that both high-quality paper and ordinary paper can be used, however, with regard to feeding from the U-turn cassette feeding, enough attempt has not been made in order to use the high-quality paper.
Especially, with regard to the feeding from the U-turn cassette, a conveyance resistance (conveyance load) increases due to an effect of stiffness of the printing paper, because the paper is reversed between feeding and printing. In this situation, in order to carry out printing conveyance of the high-quality paper, it is necessary to reduce the conveyance resistance by expanding the size of a conveyance path in which the sheet is U-turned, or otherwise, it is recommendable to use a high-quality paper of weak stiffness. In addition, there are some cases in which degradation of image quality is permitted to some extent.
A conventional U-turn conveyance mechanism includes a conveyance roller (hereinafter referred to as an LF conveyance roller), which is positioned upstream of a recording head in the vicinity thereof, and a U-turn conveyance roller for conveying a recording paper through a U-turn shaped conveyance path. In the conventional U-turn conveyance mechanism, each of the rollers is gear-coupled by a common conveyance motor to mechanically carry out a synchronized conveyance.
As for a driving motor, a DC motor is often used, in order to simultaneously achieve both silent and high speed printing. A rotation amount of the LF conveyance roller and the U-turn conveyance roller is detected by one encoder sensor, and one driving motor, which is a DC motor, is feedback-controlled on the basis of an output signal outputted by the encoder sensor.
Besides, a recording apparatus in which one conveying medium is conveyed by using a plurality of motors and rollers is adopted by a page printer. In such an apparatus, the plurality of rollers are continuously fed while the conveyance medium is being conveyed. Besides, a tension value of the conveying medium detected by a unit for detecting a tension, which is arranged between the rollers, is controlled to be constant.
In an apparatus as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,712, in order to carry out a recording operation with a high speed in a serial printer, in a case where the DC motor driving a carriage and a DC motor driving a conveyance section are driven in parallel for a prescribed period of time, a drive startup timing of the DC motor driving the carriage is controlled in accordance with the operation of the conveyance section. In addition, because different sources of driving are employed for a feeding operation, and a printing and conveying operation, the recording paper is synchronously fed to the position at which printing starts, by simultaneously operating a feeding roller, and a printing and conveying roller. This is because action of delivering the sheet from the feeding roller to the printing and conveying roller is necessary. However, in the printing and conveying operation, in which good accuracy is most demanded among operations of the inkjet recording apparatus, no attempt has been made to implement a synchronous feeding by feedback control driving using a plurality of DC motors in the printing and conveying in the relatively long conveyance path, such as U-turn conveyance and the like.
However, in a conventional U-turn conveyance and printing, an effect of the conveyance resistance generated when a sheet of strong stiffness is conveyed in the U-turn path cannot be overcome. As a result, degradation of image quality occurs because a desired amount of sheet cannot be conveyed by the LF conveyance roller. In addition, in a case where the U-turn conveyance path having a large diameter is employed, the size of the apparatus body becomes large, and accordingly, a manufacturing cost is increased. Besides, the apparatus of a large size itself cannot be accepted by its user.
Further, the conveyance resistance (conveyance load) generated due to stiffness of the paper sheet varies much depending on the position in the conveyance path at which the trailing edge of the printing sheet exists. Thus, in a constitution in which one driving motor simultaneously drives both the LF conveyance roller and the U-turn conveyance roller, if the conveyance resistance in the U-turn conveyance path is high, the sheet conveyance amount at the U-turn conveyance roller decreases. Thus, the conveyance resistance applied to the LF conveyance roller increases and results in decrease in the conveyance amount at the LF conveyance roller. In addition, both the U-turn conveyance roller and the LF conveyance roller pull the paper sheet between them. On the contrary, if the conveyance resistance in the U-turn conveyance path is low, the sheet conveyance amount at the U-turn conveyance roller increases. Thus, the conveyance resistance applied to the LF conveyance roller decreases and results in increase in the conveyance amount at the LF conveyance roller. In addition, both the U-turn conveyance roller and the LF conveyance roller push the paper sheet between them. Further, there is much difference in the conveyance resistance between when both the U-turn conveyance roller and the LF conveyance roller convey the paper sheet and when only the LF conveyance roller conveys the paper sheet after the trailing edge of the sheet passes the nip of the U-turn conveyance roller. That is, the conveyance resistance changes significantly at the boundary of the regions. Therefore, the conveyance amount by the LF conveyance roller varies correspondingly, which causes remarkable image unevenness.
Further, because the same form of conveyance is employed for both the paper sheet of strong stiffness and the paper sheet of weak stiffness, it is difficult to use both types of paper sheet in a manner suitable to both types.
In addition, in a conveyance form which includes a constant feed control having the tension detection section, an apparatus such as the serial printer performs an intermittent feeding in which stop and startup is repeated. However, in the intermittent feeding, a good and sufficient control cannot be achieved because the cost of the tension detection section is increased, and additionally the period of variance of the tension is short, and its variance is abrupt.
In addition, as a method for synchronously operating a plurality of driving sources which can easily be thought of, there is a method in which a synchronization control of the plurality of motors is carried out by feed-forward control of a pulse motor. In this case, in conveying one sheet of recording paper with two motors, external disturbance is applied to the sheet because each of the motors performs driving regardless of the state of the other motor. Thus, it becomes difficult to obtain an appropriate conveyance accuracy.
Further, in a case of simultaneously operating the DC motors, operation errors are relatively permitted even when there occurs difference in the operation of the motors.
The above problems have been getting more difficult to overcome under the situation in which printing on a thick high-quality printing paper with strong stiffness is demanded while high image quality printing has been recently developed, because of the effect of external force due to bending stiffness and the friction resistance of the printing paper.

Conveying apparatus and recording apparatus having the same


Compounds of formula (I): ##STR1## wherein: R.sup.1 is hydrogen or alkyl; R.sup.2 is alkylene; R.sup.3 is hydrogen, alkyl, alkoxy, alkylthio, halogen, nitro group, amino group, monoalkylamino, dialkylamino, aryl, or aralkyl; X is aryl, or aromatic heterocyclic; Y is oxygen, sulfur or a group of formula >N--R.sup.4, in which R.sup.4 is hydrogen, alkyl or acyl; and Z is a group of formula (Za), (Zb), (Zc) or (Zd): ##STR2## and salts thereof can be used to treat or prevent are included those arising from hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, obesity, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), insulin resistant non-IGT (NGT), non-diagnostic glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, diabetic complications, fatty liver, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM); in addition the compounds of the present invention have aldose reductase inhibitory activity.

The present invention relates to a series of new oxime derivatives which contain inter alia, a thiazolidinedione or oxazolidinedione group attached, via a methylene or methylidene group, to a benzene ring and which have a variety of therapeutic uses, and provides processes for preparing them as well as methods and compositions using them. Among the disorders which these compounds can be used to treat or prevent are included those arising from hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, obesity, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), insulin resistant non-IGT (NGT), non-diagnostic glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, diabetic complications, fatty liver, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM); in addition the compounds of the present invention have aldose reductase inhibitory activity.
It is known that compounds which, like those of the present invention, contain a thiazolidinedione or oxazolidinedione group attached, via a methylene or methylidene group, to a benzene ring have this type of activity. Compounds of this general type are disclosed, for example, in Chem. Pharm. Bull., 30, 3590 (1982), in European Patent Publications No. 008 203, 139 421, 177 353, 208 420, 306 228, 356 214, 441 605 and 528 734, in WO 92/07839, 91/07107, 92/02520 and 92/03425, and in U.S. Pat. No. 4 728 739. However, none of the prior art of which we are aware, including the above prior art, discloses compounds having an oxime (--C.dbd.N--O--) group in a side chain attached to the benzene ring, which is characteristic of the compounds of the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,739 discloses compounds in which an oxime group is present as a substituent on a cyclohexyl group, but the location of the oxime group and the remaining structure of the compound are substantially different from those of the compounds of the present invention. Surprisingly, the compounds of the present invention have a much improved activity and greatly reduced toxicity compared to these prior art compounds.

Oxime derivatives, their preparation and their therapeutic use


An oxygen sensor has a laminated body with a fluid sample inlet end and an electrical contact end, a fluid sample inlet, a substantially flat test chamber communicating with the fluid sample inlet where the test chamber is adapted to collect a fluid sample through the sample fluid inlet, a working electrode and a reference electrode within the test chamber, and a reagent matrix disposed on the working electrode where the reagent matrix contains an oxidase, a reduced form of a redox mediator and a peroxidase.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an electrochemical sensor used for the quantification of a specific component or analyte in a liquid sample. Particularly, the present invention relates to an electrochemical sensor for the detection of analytes present in biological fluids. More particularly, the present invention relates to a disposable electrochemical sensor for the in vitro detection of oxygen concentration.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Oxygen is an essential factor to aquatic life and human beings. The quantification of the content of oxygen in the blood is extremely important in clinical chemistry and other fields. Various optical methods have been investigated for the detection of dissolved oxygen concentration based on the dynamic quenching of fluorescent or phosphorescent materials. Electrochemical methods, however, are more attractive due to their high sensitivity, simplicity and inexpensive detection equipment. Thus, much attention and effort has been expended to developing electrochemical devices.
Biosensor history generally began in the early 1960s and the progenitor of the biosensor was an American scientist named L. C. Clark. Clark had studied the electrochemistry of oxygen reduction at platinum metal electrodes, pioneering the use of a platinum metal electrode as an oxygen sensor. In fact, platinum electrodes used to detect oxygen electrochemically are often referred to generically as "Clark electrodes."
U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,151 (1982, Hagihara) is one example of a well-known electrochemical oxygen sensor similar to the conventional Clark electrode. Hagihara discloses an oxygen measuring electrode assembly for transcutaneous measurement of the partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood. The assembly includes an anode, a cathode that has a thin ring surface or circularly-bounded field of dot-shaped surfaces and an insulating electrode holder, a disposable tubular member holder fixedly holding the periphery of an oxygen permeable hydrophobic electrode membrane, and a skin-heating part including a heat-conducting block that is thermally connected to a heater and a temperature detector. Oxygen permeates through a gas permeable hydrophobic membrane from the blood sample into an internal electrolyte solution where it is reduced at the cathode. The oxygen reduction current, measured amperometrically, is proportional to the dissolved oxygen concentration.
Further development work of the "Clark" type electrode by J. W. Severinghaus et al. led to the development of a practical electrochemical oxygen sensor for clinical use.
Recently, P. D'Orazio et al. (Clinical Chemistry 43, 1804-1805, 1997) reported a planar amperometric oxygen sensor. A polymeric perfluorinated ionomer available from Sigma-Aldrich under the trademark Nafion® can be used as an internal electrolyte and is spin-coated along with a custom-made, patented polymer.
Potentiometric oxygen gas sensors have also been devised. U.S. Pat. No. 6,663,756 (2003, Lee et al.) discloses a microchip-based oxygen gas sensor based on differential potentiometry. The working electrode is a cobalt-plated electrode, a buffered hydrogel, and an ion selective gas-permeable membrane. The reference electrode is a silver chloride electrode with the same ion selective gas-permeable membrane. By taking advantage of the corrosion potential, the microchip-based oxygen gas sensor measures the content of dissolved oxygen in a sample solution.
Chemical sensors for clinical blood analysis have been widely studied. The theory and practice as well as history of electrochemical sensors for clinical measurement of blood gases were well reviewed by C. E. W. Hahn (Analyst, 123, 57R-86R, 1998). Previously reported oxygen sensors, however, require a relatively large volume of blood.
To be usable as a clinical sensor, the sensors should give an easy, accurate analysis of a sample and be economical. Point-of-care and high sensitivity are also required for allowing health care personnel to perform analysis with a small volume of blood, which is especially important for infant patients.
Therefore, what is needed is an oxygen sensor that can be used to measure dissolved oxygen accurately and precisely with a minimum quantity of sample volume. What is also needed is an oxygen sensor that is disposable.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A distinctive method and apparatus for applying an elastic member onto a moving substrate along a selected curvilinear location includes a transporting mechanism for moving the substrate along a selected substrate path. A rotatable nip roll contacts the elastic member to place the elastic member onto the substrate along the curvilinear location. A guiding mechanism delivers the elastic member across a free-span distance directly onto the nip roll while selectively changing a lateral positioning of the elastic member relative to a cross direction of the invention. A conveying mechanism directs the elastic member along a selected elastic path into the guiding mechanism, and an elastic supplying mechanism provides the elastic member to the conveying mechanism. In one aspect of the invention, a bonding mechanism provides an adhesive in an arrangement which secures the elastic member to the substrate along the curvilinear location. The adhesive arrangement is configured to substantially avoid contact with the nip roll.

Limited use absorbent articles, such as disposable diapers, have incorporated elasticized gathers at the leg openings of the article. The leg openings are positioned at the lateral side margins of the article, and can be elasticized with a single elastic member or with multiple elastic members. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,462 issued Sep. 27, 1977, to Woon et al.
Various techniques have been developed for applying multiple elastic strands onto a substrate. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,542 issued May 19, 1987, to DeJonckheere; U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,305 issued Dec. 2, 1986, to Suzuki et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,229 issued Jun. 25, 1985, to Suzuki et al.
It has been desirable to employ curved elastic members which better follow the contours of the leg openings formed in the side margins of disposable absorbent garments. For example, techniques for applying an elastic member in a curved pattern, along the lengths of a substrate web have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,367 issued Oct. 6, 1981, to Klasek et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,676 issued Apr. 10, 1990, to Rajala et al.
Conventional techniques, such as those described above, have not provided an adequate system for efficiently placing an elastic member across a desired curvilinear location on the surface of a moving substrate. Typical conventional techniques have incorporated complicated web paths for the elastic members, and have exhibited excessive contact against adhesive coated surfaces of the elastic members. In addition, the conventional techniques have not adequately maintained desired separation spacings between individual elastic strands when the elastic member is composed of multiple strands of elastomeric material.

Method and apparatus for applying a curved elastic to a moving web


A semiconductor device is disclosed that improves heat dissipation by providing blind contact elements on a dielectric layer. Embodiments are disclosed which include a substrate having at least one electrode contact area accessible at a surface of the substrate and a surface adjacent the electrode contact area, a dielectric layer disposed above the surface; an intermediate oxide layer disposed above the dielectric layer, a current conducting metallization layer disposed above the intermediate oxide layer; and at least one contact element vertically extending from the dielectric layer through the intermediate oxide layer to the metallization layer above the surface adjacent the electrode contact area, the at least one contact element having a heat conductivity that is higher than that of the intermediate oxide layer.

In the field of semiconductor devices and power semiconductor devices, and IC (Integrated Circuit) devices such as BCD devices (BCD: Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS), IGBTs and the like, one or more metallization layers are used to conduct large currents (high power currents).
Because more and more heat is being generated in recently-developed power semiconductor devices, there is a need for improved heat dissipation via the side of the semiconductor substrate on which the circuit structure is formed.

Power semiconductor device with improved heat dissipation


The interior surface of a container, such as a bloodbag, is primed and subsequently coated with a time-releasable viricide against HIV absorbed in a hydrogel polymer. The viricides of this invention are derivatives of urea, and upon release into the blood, have no adverse effects on the red blood cell functions of the blood.

To date, the risk of infection by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) through transfusion of contaminated blood products has not been eliminated by serological screening of donors. Therefore, the need remains to minimize or eliminate the risk of infection with HIV of blood product recipients.
An object of this invention is to provide a product which eliminates the risk of HIV infection of blood product recipients.
Another object is to provide such a product which is reliable, economically efficient and simple to prepare.
A further object is to provide new viricides which do not impair the red blood cell functions of stored blood.
Other uses and advantages of this invention are described below.


Provided are techniques for providing context-based user assistance. A request from a user for user assistance content for a first configurable element is received. One or more rules are retrieved for the first configurable element, wherein at least one of the rules describes a second configurable element that is related to the first configurable element. The one or more rules are used to identify context-based user assistance content for configuring at least one of the first configurable element and the second configurable element. The user assistance content is provided to the user.

1. Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to context-based user assistance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Existing user assistance technologies are elementary in their delivery of user assistance. User Assistance (e.g., in the form of online help) is traditionally presented in a static format. For example, HyperText Markup Language (HTML) files are typically used to present user assistance content within web browsers or customized tools.
In addition, recent technologies, such as the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA), an XML-based technology, have been used to provide more structure and substance to delivery of user assistance content. However, there are limitations to these technologies due to the lack of information about the context in which the user assistance is provided.
For example, products that require a user to enter data into configurable elements (e.g., parameters) may provide basic information about required inputs to the configurable elements, but these products may not provide much guidance about how configurable elements interact. For example, if a user inquires about a specific configurable element in a system, the assistance may define the configurable element, how the configurable element is used, and give recommended values for the configurable element, without providing content on how that configurable element interacts with other configurable elements.
There are some existing user assistance technologies that provide some level of sophistication in their delivery of user assistance content. For example, the IBM eServer iSeries Information Center, available from International Business Machines Corporation, leads the user through a questionnaire and produces a custom checklist for the user. As another example, an offline configurator limits future configuration choices for the user based upon existing choices for compatibility. As an example, the IBM TotalStorage DS6000 Information Center and the IBM TotalStorage DS8000 Information Center, available from International Business Machines Corporation, have information on how to use offline configurators that may be accessed via the Information Centers.
Existing user assistance technologies, however, do not exhibit the kind of intelligence that provides guidance to the user regarding the context in which the configurable element is used, which would provide valuable information to the user regarding the operation or tuning of the system. Users are often required to use a trial-and-error approach to determine how overall product tuning and performance is impacted by configuration changes. Thus, there is a need for online help to provide users with more detailed information about the interaction of configurable elements before the changes are deployed in a live system.


An image forming apparatus including: an image forming portion for forming an image on a sheet; an image reading portion for reading an original, the image forming portion having a printed board having a projecting board surface projecting on an image reading portion side; a hinge portion having a pivot axis for pivotably supporting the image reading portion relative to the image forming portion; and a cable having a connector to be electrically connected with a connector receiving portion provided on the projecting board surface, wherein, within the image forming apparatus, the cable is folded back in a U-shape in a vicinity of the pivot axis from the image reading portion side to an image forming portion side, with the connector of the cable being connected to the connector receiving portion from a direction substantially perpendicular to the projecting board surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a scanner portion and a printer portion. More specifically, the present invention is applicable to a digital copying machine, a facsimile apparatus, a multifunctional printer (MFP) or the like which is divided into a scanner portion for reading an original and a printer portion for forming an image on a sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine, a facsimile apparatus, or a multifunctional printer (MFP) formed by combining such an apparatus with a printer, there has been known one which is divided into units including a printer portion and a scanner portion. To facilitate the operation of the scanner portion, the scanner portion is usually installed above the printer portion. The printer portion has an image forming portion for forming an image on a sheet material, and the scanner portion has an image reading portion for reading an image of an original.
In such an image forming apparatus, in order to facilitate operations such as maintenance, sheet jam clearance, and replacement of process cartridges, there is adopted a construction in which the scanner portion, which is on the upper side, is rotated so as to be opened and closed with respect to the printer portion, which is on the lower side.
On the backside of the apparatus, and between the printer portion and the scanner portion, there is provided a cable as a conductor line for transmission and reception of electric signals. One end portion of this cable is connected to a printed board inside the scanner portion, and the other end portion thereof is connected to a printed board inside the printer portion.
Also regarding a copying machine, there is known a construction in which a sheet-through type scanner portion that has an original pressure plate equipped with an automatic document feeder (ADF) for an original is opened and closed with respect to an image forming apparatus main body having a flat bed type scanner. In such a copying machine, electric wires connecting the scanner portion and the printer portion are connected together by a cable on the backside of the apparatus, with the cable being in an exposed state.
When the cable connecting the scanner portion and the printer portion is thus exposed to the exterior of the image forming apparatus, the outward appearance of the apparatus suffers. Further, there is the possibility of the user inadvertently pulling the cable to damage the same.
As a solution to the above-mentioned problems, there is known a construction disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-258025. As illustrated in FIG. 16, the image forming apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-258025 has a scanner portion 100 and a printer portion 102, with the scanner portion 100 being connected to the printer portion via a hinge portion 101 so as to allow opening and closing. Inside the printer portion 102, there is provided, as an image forming unit, a process cartridge 105 including a photosensitive drum 104. Image information read by the scanner portion 100 is written to the photosensitive drum 104 by a laser exposure device as an electrostatic latent image before being developed into a toner image by the process cartridge 105. This toner image is transferred to a sheet material P supplied from a sheet material accommodating cassette 106, and is fixed to the sheet material through pressurization and heating by a fixing device 107. At the time of maintenance, the apparatus is opened by rotating the scanner portion 100 around the hinge portion 101, and access to the interior of the printer portion 102 is allowed through opening portions of the scanner portion 100 and the printer portion 102, thus enabling various operations to be conducted. The scanner portion 100 and the printer portion 102 are electrically connected by a cable 103. The cable 103 is arranged inside a cylindrical member 110 provided in the vicinity of the hinge portion 101, and cables and the like are accommodated in the image forming apparatus.
However, the image forming apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-258025, in which the cable 103 is arranged inside the cylindrical member 110 in the vicinity of the hinge portion 101, involves the following problem.
Since the cable 103 is accommodated in the cylindrical member 110, which is integral with the casing, each time assembling or dismantling of the scanner portion 100 and the printer portion 102 is to be performed, it is necessary to detach the cable 103 from the cylindrical member 110. However, in the small space near the hinge portion 101, it is rather difficult to perform the operation of detaching the cable 103 from the cylindrical member 110. Further, it is necessary to perform the difficult operation of joining and removing components covering the cable 103, resulting in a rather poor workability. It should be noted, in particular, that the printer portion and the scanner portion of an image forming apparatus are formed by a very large number of components. Thus, from the viewpoint of assembly workability, there is a strong demand for a construction which allows connection via a cable of the printer portion and the scanner portion joined together after being respectively assembled as complete units.

Image forming apparatus equipped having a hinge portion that connects an image forming portion and image reading portion


A fitting protecting apparatus of a developer cartridge includes a housing storing liquid developer. The housing has at least one connection fitting connected to an outside corresponding connection fitting. A cover part is movably disposed between a first position of sealing the connection fitting to prevent exposure and a second position of opening the connection fitting to provide access thereto. The cover part is disposed in the housing. An operation part moves the cover part between the first and second positions. When a developer cartridge is taken out of a main body of an image forming apparatus or while being stored, the connection fitting connected to the outside corresponding connection fitting is covered, thereby preventing developer exposure through the connection fitting, pollution of the connection fitting by alien substances, such as dust, and damage of the connection fitting by external collisions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an image forming apparatus, such as a wet-type electrophotographic printer, using liquid developer. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fitting protecting apparatus of a developer cartridge for protecting a connection fitting of a developer cartridge for storing and supplying liquid developer, and to an image forming apparatus having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus, such as a wet-type electrophotographic printer, typically includes a developer supply system for supplying liquid developer to a developing part. The developer supply system may be either a one-body type in which a developer cartridge is formed in one body with a developing part, and a separation type in which a developer cartridge is separated from a developing part through a connection with a connection tube.
In a separation type developer supply system, liquid developer is supplied from a developer cartridge to a developing part and is recollected from the developing part to the developer cartridge through a connection tube by using a developer supply pump and/or a developer re-collection pump. The developer cartridge is connected to the connection tube through a coupling part such as a fitting.
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a general wet-type electrophotographic printer 10 employing a separation type developer supply system.
Referring to FIG. 1, the wet-type electrophotographic printer 10 includes an image forming part 11 and a developer supply part 21.
The image forming part 11 includes a photoconductive body 1, such as an OPC drum (Organic Photoconductive Drum), a laser scanning part 33, a charge part 6, an antistatic part 7, a developing part 26 and a cleaning blade 8. These components mutually work and provide a desired image to the photoconductive body 1 through sequential image formation procedures such as charge, discharge, and exposure and developing procedures.
The developing part 26 includes a developing chamber 27 through which liquid developer 48 flows, a developing roller 2 disposed under the photoconductive body 1, a deposit roller 5 for applying electric force to the liquid developer 48 to form a charged developer layer around the developing roller 2, a metering roller 3 for limiting the charged developer layer formed around the developing roller 2 by the deposit roller to a predetermined toner volume or density (percent solid) and to supply the charged developer layer to a nip between the developing roller 2 and the photoconductive body 1, a cleaning roller 4 for cleaning the developing roller 2, and a recollection chamber 28 for recollecting liquid developer 48 overflowing from the developing chamber 27.
A developer supply part 21 is disposed to supply liquid developer 48 to a developing chamber 27 of the developing part 26.
The developer supply part 21 includes a developer cartridge 50 for storing liquid developer 48, first and second connection tubes 22 and 23 for connecting the developer cartridge 50 to a developing chamber 27 of a developing part 26, a developer supply pump 18 disposed between the first and second connection tubes 22 and 23, a developer recollection pump 19 disposed between third and fourth connection tubes 20 and 24, and a controller 29 for controlling motors of the developer supply pump 18 and the developer recollection pump 19.
With reference to FIG. 2, the developer cartridge 50 includes a housing 12 provided as a developer storage space for storing liquid developer 48, and a liquid developer agitator 35 for agitating the liquid developer 48 within the housing 12.
On an upper part of the housing 12, a first developer discharge part 17 and a first developer influx part 16 are installed. The first developer discharge part 17 is connected to a second developer influx part 13 of a developing chamber 27 of a developing part through first and second connection tubes 22 and 23, to supply liquid developer 48 of a housing 10 to the developing chamber 27. The first developer influx part 16 is connected to a second developer discharge part 14 of a recollection chamber 28 of the developing part 26 through third and fourth connection tubes 20 and 24, to recollect the liquid developer 48 from a recollection chamber 2.
The first developer discharge part 17 includes a first female fitting 17a, a developer suction tube 40, and a first male fitting 17b. The first female fitting 17a is disposed on the housing 12. The developer suction tube 40 is extended from the first female fitting 17a to the bottom of the housing 12. The first male fitting 17b is disposed at the end of the first connection tube to couple with the first female fitting 17a when the housing 12 is accommodated in a printer body (not shown).
The first developer influx part 16 includes a second female fitting 16a and a second male fitting 16b, as in the first developer discharge part 17. A configuration of the second female fitting 16a and the second male fitting 16b is the same as the construction of the first female fitting 17a and the first male fitting 17b, except that the suction tube 40 is not connected to the second female fitting 16a.
However, by a structural characteristic of such a conventional wet-type printer 10, when a developer cartridge 50 is separated from the printer body for maintenance or when the developer cartridge is not installed in the printer body, a first female fitting 17a of a first developer discharge part 17 and a second female fitting 16a of a first developer influx part 16 are exposed. Developer stains on portions of the exposed first and second female fittings 17a and 16a are exposed to a user, and portions of the exposed first and second female fittings 17a and 16a may become polluted by outside foreign substances, such as dust and the like, or portions of the first and second female fittings 17a and 16a exposed in handling the developer cartridge 50 may be damaged by falling or an external collision.
In situations where developer stains on portions of the exposed first and second female fittings 17a and 16a are exposed to a user, the user may be further transfer such developer and secondarily pollute or stain other components of the printer.
When portions of the exposed first and second female fittings 17a and 16a are polluted with foreign substances, it is inconvenient to remove the foreign substances adhering on the portions of the polluted first and second female fittings 17a and 16a before installing the developer cartridge 50 in the printer body. Furthermore, if the developer cartridge 50 is installed in the printer body in a state that the foreign substances are not completely removed, the foreign substances may flow in the liquid developer 48, thus polluting the liquid developer 48 and lowering the quality of the image formed by a developing part 26.
Also, if portions of the exposed first and second female fittings 17a and 16a are damaged by outside collision, a sealing state between a first female fitting 17a and a first male fitting 17b of a first developer discharge part 17 and between a second female fitting 16a and a second male fitting 16b of a first developer influx part 16 is not optimal, thus causing leakage of liquid developer 48 and polluting its periphery.
Thus, a need exists for a fitting protecting apparatus for a developer cartridge of an image forming apparatus that protects a connection fitting of the developer cartridge that stores and supplies liquid developer.

Fitting protecting apparatus of developer cartridge and image forming apparatus having the same


A self-cleansing portable urine collection device and method of collecting urine in a self-cleansing portable urine collection device is provided. The collection device includes a housing which houses a urine collection receptacle configured to collect urine from a user. A cleansing container which retains a cleansing solution is configured to supply the cleansing solution to the receptacle. The device further includes a reservoir coupled to the receptacle and configured to receive the urine and the cleansing solution collected by the receptacle. A pump coupled to the receptacle and the reservoir is configured to transport the urine and the cleansing solution from the receptacle to the reservoir.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a urine collection device. More particularly, the invention relates to a self-cleansing portable urine collection device.
2. Description of Related Art
Millions of people worldwide are afflicted with problems of urinary incontinence. The economic costs of this distressing condition are extremely high and the cost in terms of human suffering is incalculable. Urine collection devices have been extensively studied in conjunction with bedridden and incontinent individuals. Bedpans, diapers and catherization devices are generally utilized for those confined to beds for reasons of illness and disabilities. All of these practices have their drawbacks in view of suitable comfort and sanitary practices. Bedpan positioning is often difficult and urine collection is often not complete. Diapers are costly, time consuming to attach, and continued usage often leads to skin rashes, chaffing discomfort, and potential infections. Catherization devices are associated with a host of medical problems, particularly urinary tract infections and urethral erosions.
Another class of devices that has been developed more recently includes urine collection devices that employ urine liquid pumps to pump liquid from a collection receptacle to a collection reservoir. The pumps are effective in pumping liquids, but are incapable of providing the required airflows to completely purge urine from the surfaces of the collection receptacle, tubing, and pump internals of the collection device. Consequently, the incomplete removal of urine contributes to the probable buildup of precipitates resulting from the evaporation of urine residuals between device usages and thus creates system maintainability issues and undesirable odor and bacterial control concerns.
Typically, urine contains about 96 percent water and about 4 percent solids in solution. About half of the solids consist of urea ((NH2)2CO), while the remainder of the solids includes chloride, sodium, potassium, nitrogen, ketosteroids, phosphate, sulfur, ammonia, creatinine, and uric acid. Without some form of pretreatment, many of the constituents of urine will decompose at room temperature, resulting in the discharge of odiferous gases and providing conditions that contribute to the growth of bacteria. In particular, urea decomposes resulting in the formation of ammonia and carbon dioxide, and a significant amount of solids precipitate out of solution resulting in the fouling of urine collection equipment. It is unlikely that a periodic flushing of the collection device with a cleansing solution will be effective in the removal of these odiferous precipitate deposits once they are allowed to form.
Thus, there exists a need for a self-cleansing portable urine collection device that reduces urine odors, disinfects surfaces within the collection device, prevents bacterial growth within the collected urine, and thereby reduces system failures and maintenance expenses relating to these failures.

Self-cleansing portable urine collection device