A device and a method are provided for establishing a monochromatic background light source in an electronic device with a field sequential liquid crystal display. The device and method provide for the continuous illumination of one or more of a plurality of color backlights of a field sequential liquid crystal display to provide a monochromatic source of light behind the liquid crystal layer of the display. The intensities of the one or more of the plurality of color backlights may be selected to achieve a user selected color, or the intensities may be chosen to reduce power consumption. The monochromatic mode may be selected while in another mode of operation.

Several types of color displays are known for use in mobile devices. These known devices have limitations however, including high power consumption requirements and limited color saturation capabilities. Limited color saturation refers to situations in which the display cannot distinctly display subtle color changes. An example of such a known display is an Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) display. A single pixel 10 of an OLED is shown in FIG. 1. Each pixel of an OLED has a set of three color emitters 12: red 12a, green 12b, and blue 12c. Colors other than red, blue and green are generated by illuminating more than one emitter at different intensities. OLED is an emissive display technology, so no backlight is required, but when the OLED is turned off the display is no longer readable. OLED displays generally demonstrate good color saturation, but they consume significant power.
Another type of known color display is a field sequential liquid crystal display (FS LCD). An illustration of an FS LCD 20 is shown in FIG. 2. FS LCD technology does not utilize OLED type color emitters or other known types of filters. An FS LCD panel utilizes a tri-color backlight 22, typically with red 24, green 26, and blue 28 colors and a light guide 30. Behind the light guide 30 is a reflector 32 and in front of the light guide 30 is a liquid crystal layer 34 between top 36 and rear 38 pieces of glass. Liquid crystal layer 34 can be, for example, a monochrome thin film transistor (TFT) display. As illustrated in FIG. 3, in an FS LCD, the tri-color backlight 22 turns on and off individual colors one by one at a rate higher than the human eye can differentiate so that the viewer perceives a composite color made of the individual colors lit during a cycle. As shown in FIG. 3, different fields of the liquid crystal layer 34 can be set to pass light as the individual backlights are illuminated. FIG. 3 shows red 40, blue 42, and green 44 fields being sequentially formed as the respective backlight is illuminated to form a composite image 46. A wide array of colors can be created with this technique.
The rate of the sequence and the time that each backlight is illuminated is a function of, and limited by, the response time of the liquid crystal layer 34. A sixty (60) Hertz frame rate is achieved in the example shown in FIG. 3 by tripling the frame rate of the liquid crystal to 180 Hertz and displaying each color for one-third of the time or 60 or 180 cycles in a second. By this method the human eye perceives a composite image 46 as shown in the center of FIG. 3. If the response time of a liquid crystal is slowed, then eventually the user will be able to see the sequence of the backlight colors. When the rate is slow enough for the user to perceive the sequence of backlights, the user will have difficulty perceiving composite colors and will most likely see fragments of color. Color fragmentation also occurs or becomes more severe when the user either moves with respect to the display or experiences certain vibrations, such as on a bumpy car or train ride. Any degree of color fragmentation makes it difficult for the user to perceive the data being displayed, as individual images or characters may appear blurred. An ideal liquid crystal layer 34 for an FS LCD 100 would have a response time fast enough that users would not see the individual sequencing of the primary colors.
When color fragmentation becomes a problem for the user, one solution is to turn off the multi-color backlight 22, and use the FS LCD 20 as a black on "white" display. The "white" background in this mode is created by ambient light being reflected off the reflector 32 located at the back of the display. In this mode of operation, however, the black characters created by the liquid crystal have shadows caused by reflections of the characters off the reflector 32. Due to shadows and the passive nature of reflected ambient light this mode also has a low contrast ratio.

Monochromatic field sequential liquid crystal display


A spectrum analyzer corrects for internal frequency errors in a reference oscillator using a timing control signal. The reference oscillator provides a reference signal at a reference frequency. An error detection circuit determines an error in the reference frequency using the timing control signal and produces an error correction signal for use by a frequency conversion device in adjusting an output frequency thereof to compensate for the frequency error in the reference frequency.

Spectrum analyzers commonly contain a master or reference oscillator that generates a precise oscillation frequency to control the timing and measurement frequency of the analyzer. As such, the performance of spectrum analyzers may be significantly degraded by frequency errors in the reference oscillator. Typically, the reference oscillator is a crystal oscillator that provides a relatively stable oscillation frequency. However, crystal oscillators often exhibit thermal variation in the oscillation frequency. As a result, the oscillation frequency of a crystal oscillator may vary with ambient temperature. The amount of thermal instability is typically measured in parts per million and is used to specify the frequency precision of the crystal oscillator. From the frequency precision, the frequency error expected from the crystal oscillator can be determined.
As an example, a crystal oscillator with a nominal operating frequency of 10 MHz with a frequency precision of 1 part per million (ppm) has an expected frequency error of ±1 kHz. Although this frequency error is small in comparison to the nominal operating frequency, the error may be unacceptable in frequency sensitive applications. For example, when measuring narrowband signals using local oscillators whose frequencies are derived from the reference oscillator, a 1 kHz frequency error in the reference oscillator can significantly reduce the measurement accuracy of the spectrum analyzer.
There are a number of techniques currently available to correct frequency errors in the reference oscillator. One common technique is to lock the reference oscillator to a more accurate signal at the desired operating frequency (e.g., an externally-generated 10 MHz reference clock signal) to correct for any variations in the oscillation frequency. For example, the reference oscillator can be "locked" to the external signal by comparing the frequency of the reference oscillator to the frequency of the external signal to determine a frequency error or offset which is used to correct the reference oscillator frequency.
However, such automatic frequency correction (AFC) techniques require the reference oscillator to be adjustable (e.g., a voltage controlled oscillator), which increases the cost of the reference oscillator. Thus, in spectrum analyzers with inexpensive, fixed-frequency reference oscillators, frequency correction using available AFC techniques is not possible. In addition, spectrum analyzers may not have access to an external signal, and therefore, may not be able to correct the oscillation frequency of the reference oscillator. As a result, there is a need for a spectrum analyzer capable of correcting frequency errors in the reference oscillator without requiring the reference oscillator to lock to an accurate signal.

Spectrum analyzer and method for correcting frequency errors


A printer slip table which employs a laser scan module in combination with a printer to expedite checkout and return of merchandise articles. The scan module may be employed to scan bar code labels on slips attached to the articles, coupons, and previous receipts for return articles. The printer may be a single printer or a plurality of specialized printers. The printer prints receipts, voids coupons by printing seller information thereon, and prints journals. The printer may additionally print buyer information on coupons and return information on receipts, slips, and journals. Return information, such as purchase date and location, may be encoded as a bar code label to be scanned upon return.

The present invention relates to optical scanners and printers and more specifically to a printer slip table with integral scanner.
Many retail products are identified by the same type and size of tags. These tags contain bar code labels which are read by an optical scanner for inventory control or checkout.
Commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,410, entitled, "Scanning and Collection System for a Compact Laser", issued Nov. 20, 1990, to Wike, Jr. et al. discloses an optical scanner which employs a laser diode for producing a scanning beam, an optical transceiver for directing the beam against a plurality of stationary mirrors and collecting the beam after it is reflected by a bar code label, a motor for rotating the optical transceiver, and a detector for generating a signal from the returning beam. This patent is hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S Pat. No. 4,859,839 entitled "Point-of-Sale Terminal for Laundry or Dry Cleaning Establishments", issued Aug. 22, 1989, to Tetelman et al. discloses a terminal for use in laundry and dry cleaning facilities which includes a keyboard, a printer for printing a ticket, and a stationary bar code reader positioned to read a ticket being moved by a ticket transport mechanism of the printer. This patent is hereby incorporated by reference.
Retail stores are without a quick and convenient way to validate purchases or coupons. The date and location of a purchase are difficult to trace. Coupon information is entered by hand after prices have been scanned.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a printer with a built-in scanner to give a seller better control over returns and refunds and to allow a seller to quickly validate coupons to quicken the checkout process. It would also be desirable to provide a scanner-printer combination which translates purchase information into a bar code label which can be printed on a receipt and scanned later if returned.

Printer slip table with integral scanner


A printing apparatus includes a position detection unit which includes an optical element, a light source and a light receiving element, radiates light from the light source toward the printing surface, causes diffused reflection light of reflection light which is reflected by the printing surface to be incident to the light receiving element through the optical element and outputs positional information relating to a position of the printing surface at which the light from the light source reflects, from the light receiving element, and a controller which causes movement of the carriage to stop when lifting up of the printing medium is detected on a basis of the positional information output from the light receiving element, in which a virtual plane which contains the optical element and the light receiving element is in a state of being inclined in relation to a normal line of the printing surface.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus which forms an image on a printing surface of a printing medium which is transported in the sub-scanning direction by causing a carriage with a printing unit mounted thereon to move in the main scanning direction.
2. Related Art
An ink jet printing apparatus is a well-known representative example of such a printing apparatus. In the printing apparatus, a printing unit such as a print head discharges ink droplets toward a printing medium surface while moving in a transport direction of the printing medium, that is, the main scanning direction which orthogonally intersects the so-called sub-scanning direction, in a position of being distanced upward from the printing medium surface (the printing surface), and the printing medium is sequentially transported in the sub-scanning direction. In this manner, images, characters and the like are printed onto the printing medium.
In the printing apparatus, there is a case in which wrinkling occurs in the printing medium due to transport shifting during the transporting of the printing medium. In addition, there is a case in which so-called cockling occurs in which the printing medium forms waves due to stretching or the like caused by ink absorption of the printing medium or heating of the printing medium. When these phenomena occur, there is a case in which the printing medium lifts up partially and the print head rubs against or collides with the printing medium surface during a printing operation.
Therefore, in order to suppress such problems, an apparatus disclosed in JP-A-5-262019 (paragraph [0035]) is proposed, for example. The apparatus is provided with a sensor which detects a gap (an interval) between a printing medium and a print head, and when a detection result according to the sensor deviates from a stipulated amount, it is determined that lifting up of the printing medium has occurred and the movement of the carriage is stopped. Accordingly, in the apparatus, rubbing and collision of the print head in relation to the printing medium surface is suppressed.
Incidentally, in order to suppress the rubbing and the collision of the print head, it is important to detect the lifting up of the printing medium. Therefore, in the related art, in order to detect the gap between the printing medium and the print head, the technology disclosed in JP-A-2006-168138 (FIG. 12) is proposed, for example. The apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2006-168138 (FIG. 12) irradiates the printing medium with light, receives the regular reflection light from the printing medium surface using a line sensor, and calculates the distance from the print head to the printing medium, that is, the so-called printing medium distance, on the basis of the output from the line sensor.
However, since the printing medium distance is obtained using regular reflection light, there is a case in which the printing medium is inclined according to the surface state of the printing surface, in particular, whether or not the lifting up occurs in the printing medium, the angle of the regular reflection changes, and it is difficult to accurately calculate the printing medium distance. Therefore, when the invention disclosed in JP-A-2006-168138 (FIG. 12) is applied to the apparatus disclosed in JP-A-5-262019 (paragraph [0035]) as the unit which detects the lifting up of the printing medium, there is a possibility that the rubbing and the collision of the print head in relation to the printing medium surface (the printing surface) may not be avoided, or that even when the rubbing and the collision do not occur, the movement of the carriage will be stopped. Accordingly, there is a concern that the effect of suppression of the rubbing or the like is not sufficiently exhibited.


A slip-preventing device of a tire has a plurality of arm frames each of which is contacted with an inner sidewall, a tread and an outer sidewall of the tire. The arm frame has a link unit at a side of the outer sidewall of the tire. The arm frames are linked with each other by the link units.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a slip-preventing device for a tire that is attached to the tire of an automobile or the like so as to prevent the tires from slippage on a snow-covered road or a frozen road in winter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a variety of tire chains are supplied to improve a slip preventing or traction effects of normal tires. Generally, it is very laborious and takes much time to fit the conventional tire chains on the tires. Such work is very complicated and troublesome for users who handle the tire chains once or twice a year. Attaching the tire chains needs much time for such users. Particularly, the fitting work becomes more difficult under bad condition such as the work on a snow-covered road. Moreover, the attaching work is very hard for users who are weak such as women or the like.


A patient transfer system is provided for quick, easy and comfortable movement of a patient between horizontal and vertical positions and between lateral locations for medical procedures. The system includes a gurney with a patient positioning board pivotally mounted thereon for movement between horizontal and upright positions. The board is adapted to receive a patient mold. A footrest is provided at the lower end of the board such that a patient can step onto the footrest when the board is in the upright position and lean against the board. The board is then lowered to a horizontal position on the gurney. The gurney can be wheeled into position adjacent a treatment table in a treatment room, such as for radiation therapy, and docked to the table. Laterally extending guide rails on the gurney and on the treatment table are aligned such that the board can be laterally moved from the gurney guide rails to the table guide rails, thereby quickly and easily transferring the patient from the gurney to the treatment table in an indexed known position, which can be duplicated in future treatment procedures.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a patient transfer system and in particular to a patient transfer system wherein an assembly allows for the comfortable transitioning of a patient from a vertical to a horizontal position and wherein a transfer board allows for the transferring of a patient laterally to move to and from a treatment table for a medical procedure.
2. Problems in the Art
Currently, patient transfer systems, such as gurneys, require the patient to transition themselves from a vertical standing position to a horizontal position on the gurney. Such movement may be difficult for elderly, disabled or injured patients.
Many current treatments, such as pelvic area treatments in radiation oncology and certain imaging procedures, require the patient to be placed into a custom mold or vacuum cushion system for accurate repositioning. Many such cushion systems and molds are custom designed for the individual patient. Damage to such molds and cushion systems can and does easily result from the patient""s transitioning from the vertical stand-up position to a horizontal position within the mold located on top of the transfer system. It is therefore desirable to have a patient transfer system in which the patient may easily enter the mold so as not to damage the mold. It is further desirable to have a patient transfer system in which the patient is kept as comfortable as possible. There is therefore a need for a patient transfer system in which the patient may enter the mold or cushion system from the vertical position.
Further, transfer of patients from one treatment area to another is often a burdensome, time consuming, and patient discomforting process. Currently, a patient is typically transferred from one area""s table to another table using boards which must be slipped under and removed from the a patient prior to treatment. The board and patient are manually moved by two or more people. Such additional movement of the patient adds to the patient""s discomfort. Further, the necessity of transferring a patient from a board to the treatment table typically requires numerous care providers, all of whom must give up time which could be spent treating other patients. There is therefore a need to provide a system capable of quickly and easily transferring a patient from a gurney or table to another table for a medical procedure or treatment.
Many current treatments require a patient to be immobilized during treatment. Patients must be in a known or fixed location relative to the treatment table in order to accurately and repeatedly carry out the treatment. Often this requires the patient to be fitted with various positioning devices which can hold a patient still during treatment and/or act as a reference for the care provider to use during treatment. Many such devices are customized for the treatment and for the patient. There is therefore a need for a patient transfer system which is capable of keeping a patient immobile or in a fixed, known position relative to the treatment table. This patient transfer system must accommodate any customized immobilization device on a per patient basis.
Further, current systems use various points throughout the treatment room for reference or indexing during treatment. Many treatment and imaging devices are located at a fixed position relative to the room coordinates and therefore require the patient to be placed in a specific spot within the room. Therefore there is a need for a patient transfer device that places the patient repeatedly in the exact position on the patient support assembly and that incorporates any markers or localizing accessory to easily position the patient relative to the room coordinates. Further, current imaging, surgical and therapy procedures all take place in dedicated areas within the hospital that are costly to maintain. There is therefore a need for a patient transfer system that allows the care provider to fully prepare the patient in another area within the facility and when the therapy, imaging or surgical area is available, transfer the patient on to the specific patient support assembly.
There is therefore a need for a patient transfer system which avoids these and other problems.
A general feature of the present invention is the provision of patient transfer system which overcomes the problems found in the prior art.
A further feature of the present invention is the provision of a patient transfer system which can quickly and easily transfer any patient from the vertical to the horizontal position.
A further feature of the present invention is the provision of a patient transfer system which allows a patient to enter a mold or cushion system from the vertical position, without damaging the mold or cushion.
Another feature of the present invention is the provision of a patient transfer system which allows for the quick and easy transfer of a patient to and from a medical treatment table or procedure area.
A further feature is the provision of a patient transfer system which allows staging of multiple patients so as to increase throughput for medical procedures.
A still further feature of the present invention is the provision of a patient transfer system which provides for attachment of patient based reference markers and localizers for positioning the patient relative to the room coordinates.
Another feature of the present invention is the provision of a patient transfer system which is easily movable.
These, as well as other features and advantages of the present invention, will become apparent from the following specification and claims.
The present invention generally comprises a patient treatment system in which there is a pivotal patient positioning board mounted on a gurney for rotation between vertical and horizontal positions. The board can also be laterally moved from the gurney to a treatment table or imaging table to quickly and easily move the patient to and from the table for performing the medical procedure. The board slides, rolls or otherwise moves from the gurney to the treatment table.
The table normally includes a mold and indexing means to allow accurate repeatable positioning of the patient for medical procedures, such as imagining, simulation, radiation therapy and/or surgery. The transfer board will accommodate the attachment of localizer frames, markers, patient monitoring devices, mechanical interstitial devices, ultrasound devices and immobilization devices. The invention also is provided to accommodate different height patients.

System for vertical to horizontal movement and lateral movement of a patient


Sine pulse actuation, and associated systems and methods are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method for actuating an actuator includes: supplying a first input to the actuator, where the first input corresponds to a rising edge of a first sine function; supplying a second input to the actuator, where the second input corresponds to a generally constant amplitude plateau; and supplying a third input to the actuator, where the third input corresponds to a falling edge of a second sine function. The first, second and third inputs are control inputs or actuation inputs.

Most conventional actuators are powered with an on-off switch. For example, an electrical solenoid may be powered on by switching the electrical switch to the on position, and powered off by switching the electrical switch back to the off position. As another example, a piston of a hydraulic cylinder may be set to one position by supplying a high pressure to the cylinder, followed by retracting the piston by setting the pressure back to a lower, initial pressure.
In many instances, actuators are integrated into larger systems. For example, a spray paint system may be driven by a source of pressurized air. When the pressurized air is supplied to the system, the system generates a jet of spray paint, and when the pressurized air is turned off, the jet of spray paint is also turned off.
FIG. 1 is a graph of actuation inputs 10 and 20 in accordance with conventional technology. With many conventional actuators, the action of the actuator generally corresponds to a square wave actuation input 10. The actuation input (e.g., pressurizing of a pneumatic cylinder) starts at time t1. The actuation amplitude is rapidly brought to A1, and is maintained at A1 for a length of time. At time t2, the actuation amplitude is rapidly reduced to its initial state of zero. However, the relatively rapid rise and fall of the actuation input may also lead to undesirable effects. For example, the actuation amplitude typically cannot immediately stabilize after rapidly rising from zero (or from some other value smaller than A1) to A1. Instead, the actuation amplitude A1 undergoes amplitude ringing or amplitude settling 13 before stabilizing at A1. Analogously, rapidly reducing the actuation amplitude from A1 to zero at time t2 also causes amplitude ringing 13. Amplitude ringing is generally undesirable, because the ringing is a symptom of the noise and reduced efficiency of the system.
With some conventional actuators, the actuation and de-actuation may be less rapid. For example, with a trapezoidal actuation input 20, the actuation (e.g., energizing of an electrical solenoid) starts at time t3 and reaches actuation amplitude A2 at time t4. The actuator maintains the amplitude A2 through time t5, and then the actuation amplitude is reduced to zero or close to zero by time t6. With the trapezoidal actuation, amplitude ringing 23 may be reduced in comparison to the amplitude ringing 13, but generally the ringing is not eliminated. Additionally, the trapezoidal actuation requires longer time to reach the target amplitude A2.
Accordingly, there remains a need for the actuation systems and methods that reduce noise and energy losses of the actuators.


A modular electrical service riser includes an elongated conduit that is extended into a raised operating position and retracted into a transport position. The elongated conduit is substantially linear so as to avoid bending the cables in the conduit. The riser includes a novel meter fitting/disconnect that allows the riser to be used with overhead or underground utility company power lines or an overhead or underground customer subfeed. When the riser is used with a utility company power line, the meter is used. When the riser is used with a customer subfeed, the meter is bypassed. The riser can be moved from site to site without incurring extensive hardware and labor costs at each site because it can be used with four different types of power sources.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a modular electrical service riser meter center and disconnect, and more particularly, to a modular electrical service riser that includes an elongated conduit that may be extended and retracted and is substantially linear when the conduit is extended into its raised operating position.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrical service often needs to be provided on a temporary basis for, e.g., trailers used as temporary classrooms or used in the construction industry. Traditionally, initiation of temporary electrical service for such trailers required the services of a local electrical contractor at the individual site to install a meter fitting and a disconnect along with a service riser, for connection to an overhead power line or subfeed, or an entrance for connection to an underground power line or subfeed. When the trailer was moved to a new location, the hardware that was used in providing the temporary electrical service was discarded and new hardware installed at the new trailer location. This required a new electrical contractor to once again install a meter fitting and a disconnect and a service riser or entrance. Thus, each new location of the trailer required a duplication of the subcontracting, material and labor costs. These costs could be several thousand dollars at each trailer location.
One attempt to provide a system to solve these problems is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,158,679 to Ware. Ware discloses a tower attached to a portable trailer. When the trailer reaches the location at which electrical service is desired, the tower is raised up and a connection made to an overhead power line. When the trailer is to be moved to a new location, the tower is folded down on top of the trailer. As shown in FIG. 4 of Ware, when folded down, Ware's tower sits on top of, and extends beyond the end of, the trailer. This can lead to problems in transport, especially when the trailer is as big as the road will allow.
The tower that houses the cables of Ware's system includes two bends that each change the direction of the cables by 90.degree.. These sharp bends place significant stress on the cables and can damage the cables. In addition, such bends violate current standard bending radius rules requirements for service cables. Furthermore, Ware's system only envisions connection to an overhead power line and provides no means for connection to an overhead subfeed or to an underground power line or subfeed. As such, Ware's system cannot be used for many applications.
In addition, existing meters and disconnects are designed for use with either utility company power lines or a customer's subfeed, but not both. Therefore, the same equipment may not be able to be used when a trailer is moved from one location to another.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a modular electrical service riser that can be transported from one location to another and reused, without requiring the duplication of the subcontracting, material and labor costs. The system should allow for connection to either an overhead or underground power line or subfeed. The system should not require sharp bending of the cables within the conduit that houses the cables.

Modular electrical service riser with retractable conduit


Disclosed is an apparatus including a handle capable of manipulation by a human hand, and one or more head portions to mate to various types of treatment attachments, which may be moved over an area of skin and/or body part by a motion generator moving the head portions, and/or by a user manipulating the handle. Various suitable attachments include applicator attachments having abrasive surfaces, oxygenating attachments having pores through which oxygen may travel, brush attachments for cleaning and polishing, thermal attachments for heating and cooling, and light radiating attachments. The motion generator may move the attachments by vibrating, spinning, oscillating, or propagating sonic waves through the head portions. Thus, attachments may be attached and removed from the head portions to treating skin and/or body parts by abrasion, cleaning, polishing, lighting, or oxygenation. Moreover, during treatment abrasive composition, cleaning solution, and/or polishing solution may be applied to the skin and/or body part.

1. Field
The embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to skin and body treatment.
2. Background
Facial skin rejuvenation has been accomplished by chemical treatment referred to as "chemical peels" or laser treatment referred to as "laser surgery" and exfoliation by machine driven methods, such as with emery paper. Such methods generally require medical supervision and involve some risk of deleterious side effects as well as pain and discomfort during treatment. These methods all require long recovery time between treatments.
Microdermabrasion (e.g., microexfoliation, particle skin resurfacing) is a technique in skin care in which a controlled exfoliation of the skin is performed to improve and remove skin abnormalities. A typical spa microdermabrasion machine consists of a vacuum pump compressor that draws crystals of corundum (aluminum oxide or alumina) from a container through an output tube into a hand piece. When the hand piece is applied to skin it creates a path wherein crystals are drawn across the skin into a suction tube that leads to a disposal container for the used crystals and abraded skin (e.g., abraded skin such as to exfoliate skin). A filter in the suction tube protects moving parts of the vacuum pump. A technician manipulates the hand piece over the skin of the subject to induce exfoliation.
In addition to the noted facial skin rejuvenation, many individuals seek various treatments to rejuvenate or recondition or otherwise modify their skin and body, including their face, limbs, torso, hands, feet, scalp, hair, nails, cuticles, and other parts of the human body. Representative treatments include moisturizing treatments, hair removal and callus reduction or conditioning (e.g., softening), particularly on hands and feet.

Oxygenating cosmetic instrument having various numbers of heads


A slitting tool for a circular saw machine has a tool carrier with a first and second tool flanges arranged coaxially and axially displaceable relative to one another. A slitting saw blade has first and second blade halves. Fasteners are provided for fastening the first blade half in a detachable manner to the first tool flange and for fastening the second blade half in a detachable manner to the second tool flange. The fasteners are distributed circumferentially about the tool carrier. An adjusting device is arranged within the tool carrier and connects the two tool flanges to one another. At least one fastener is arranged in a displaced position relative to other fasteners for balancing the slitting tool, wherein the displaced position is determined according to balancing criteria.

The invention relates to a slitting tool for a circular saw machine, especially for a panel saw, as well as a slitting saw blade therefor.
Such a slitting tool is used especially when a material having a sensitive or brittle cover layer must be cut by a circular saw blade. When performing a cut, the saw teeth of the circular saw blade may exit from the workpiece cover layer at a relatively flat angle so that at the exit area of the saw blade chipping or tearing may occur at the cover layer.
In woodworking shops or finishing shops, a slitting tool is used first for cutting to size especially laminated material panels by panel saws. The slitting tool rotates counter to the direction of rotation of the saw blade. In a first step the slitting tool separates the chipping prone lower cover layer and generates a slitting groove of minimal depth in which the saw blade for separating the material will enter from above when performing the separating cut. In order to produce a straight and chip-free edge at the material panel at the exit side of the saw blade, the center axes of the two tools must be positioned on a single straight line and their cutting widths must be adjusted to one another.
Panel saws are also used for materials with edges that are chip-resisant. In these cases, the slitting tool is pivoted away and only the circular saw blade is used. Accordingly, the circular saw blade is subjected to greater wear and must be sharpened more frequently whereby the cutting width of the circular saw blade changes and the resulting measurement differences must be compensated by a cutting width adjustment of the slitting tool.
Known slitting tools used with panel saws are comprised of two blade halves and spacer rings positioned therebetween whereby the blade halves form the slitting saw blade and are clamped between two flanges on a drive shaft. The adaptation of the cutting width of the slitting tool to the actual cutting width of the circular saw blade is performed by removing or adding one or more spacer rings. In practice, the cutting width of the newly sharpened circular saw blade is first measured. Subsequently, the slitting tool is removed from the drive shaft, dismantled, and the required number of spacer rings are arranged. The blade halves of the slitting tool are then mounted so as to be rotationally and axially secured on the drive shaft. When in a subsequent tryout the width of the cut of the slitting tool does not yet match, the slitting tool must again be removed and disassembled in order to exchange the respective spacer rings to adjust for the deviation. The adaptation of the cutting width is thus time and labor intensive. Moreover, when a plurality of trial cuts are required for the adjustment, a considerable amount of waste material is produced.
From European patent application 0 273 200 a circular saw blade with adjustable cutting width is known in which the blade halves are secured on a respective tool flange. The tool flanges are embodied so as to be of radial symmetry and are adjustable with an exterior adjusting device axially relative to one another so that the cutting width of the circular saw blade can be changed. The entire arrangement, however, is very large especially because of the exterior adjusting device so that it can be used only with difficulty as a slitting tool because of the minimal space available at panel saws.
It is therefore an object of the invention to improve a slitting tool, and a slitting saw blade for such a slitting tool of the aforementioned kind such that for a minimal constructive size an adjusting device for a fast and simple adjustment of the cutting width with respect to a circular saw blade downstream thereof is possible with minimal labor expenditure.

Slitting tool for a circular saw machine and slitting saw blade therefor


A method and apparatus for dynamic home address assignment by a home agent in multiple network interworking. The invention provides a method and apparatus send a key authorization request from a mobile station to a network device, the request indicating that the mobile station wishes to use a foreign agent care-of address to continue to receive data. The network device assigns a temporary address to the mobile station and creates a security policy database for the mobile station. The mobile station receives agent advertisements from foreign agents that may be able to provide service. The mobile station registers with a foreign agent. The network device then modifies the security policy database to reflect the information of the foreign agent. The Home Agent then assigns a home address to the mobile station and the network device updates the security policy database to include only the mobile device's home address as a selector.

Wireless communication technologies have seen tremendous growth in the last few years. This growth has been fueled in part by the freedom of movement offered by wireless technologies and the greatly improved quality of voice and data communications over the wireless medium. Improved quality of voice services along with the addition of data services have had and will continue to have a significant effect on the communicating public. The additional services include accessing the Internet using a mobile device while roaming.
The ability to maintain a data session while moving is important to both users and system operators. As more users utilize mobile internet protocol operations a user may want to have simultaneous access to the same packet data interworking function using dual stack operation, which allows simultaneous use of two version of a mobile internet protocol. The packet data interworking function (PDIF) acts as a security gateway protecting the cellular network.
FIG. 1 shows an interworking architecture for a wireless local area network (WLAN). The network may be part of a wireless communication system operating on the 3GPP2 standard defined by the standard offered by a consortium named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" referred to herein as 3GPP2, The architecture, 100, includes a mobile station (MS), 102, connected to a WLAN system, 104. The WLAN system, 104 includes the Access Point (AP) 106, and Access Router (AR) 108. The WLAN system is connected to the 3G Home Network 110. The WLAN system connects to the 3G Home Network 110 via the Packet Data Interworking Function (PDIF) 122. The PDIF 114 is connected to the Home Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (H-AAA) device 112.
The MS establishes a secure IP tunnel with the PDIF, which acts as a security gateway in the 3G Home Network. The tunnel establishment is authenticated and authorized by the H-AAA 112. After the tunnel has been established, the MS may access services in the 3G Home Network 110. The dashed line in FIG. 1 indicates the path for Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting information and indicates information transfer between H-AAA 112 and PDIF 114. The solid lines show the bearer path for user data traffic and the pipeline indicates the secure tunnel protecting the user data traffic between the MS 102 and the PDIF 114.
The MS is pre-configured with the PDIF address information, either an IP address or a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN). If the MS is configured with the PDIF's FQDN, the MS will relay on the Domain Name System (DNS) to resolve the IP address associated with the FQDN. The MS uses Internet Key Exchange version 2 (IKEv2) to establish secure tunnels, known as IP-sec tunnels for data transfer, with the PIDF. Part of establishing a secure tunnel requires that the MS be authenticated and authorized by the H-AAA, 112 in FIG. 1. The MS may use a number of procedures for mutual authentication. The authentication information, including credentials and random challenges, are transported in Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) messages exchanged between the MS and H-AAA. The EAP messages are transported in the IKEv2 messages between the MS and the PDIF, and also in the RADIUS messages exchanged between the PDIF and H-AAA.
The MS may desire simultaneous access to the same PDIF using both IPv4 and IPv6. This dual stack operation poses authorization problems for the PDIF, namely, the PDIF needs to know whether a MS is authorized for IPv4 and/or IPv6. Additionally, the PDIF needs to indicate to the MS that the MS is not authorized for one of the IP versions, in the case of an MS requesting dual stack operation that is not authorized for both IPv4 and IPv6. There is a need for a method and apparatus to indicate IP authorization to a MS and also to indicate to a MS that the MS is not authorized for both IP versions.

Method and apparatus for interworking authorization of dual stack operation


An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for dynamically controlling a recording head substrate bias voltage. The apparatus includes a midpoint module and a substrate module. The midpoint module calculates a midpoint voltage of a plurality of data read elements and servo read elements contained in the head. The substrate module calculates a substrate bias voltage. The apparatus, system, and method dynamically control the substrate bias voltage post-assembly, minimizing certain head degradations and extending the life of associated head readers.

1. Field of Art
This invention relates to controlling magnetic recording head substrate bias voltage and more particularly relates to calculating a midpoint voltage of a transducing element in the head and calculating a preferred substrate bias voltage.
2. Background Technology
Since the IBM 726 in 1952, the magnetic recording industry has continuously improved upon the performance and capacity of drives and media to accommodate the insatiable demand for larger and superior storage.
Tape drives and hard disk drives employ heads having write and read transducing elements to record and read data on their respective magnetic physical media, but in different ways. A tape drive head usually consists of multiple write and read transducers laid out perpendicular to the tape media to access multiple tracks at one time, whereas a hard disk drive typically employs heads having single read and write transducers per disk surface.
Very early on a single transducer was used for both writing and reading. These drives use heads having inductive transducers, which are essentially spiral coils wrapped between two layers of magnetic material. Writing to the physical media is achieved by applying an electrical current through the coil to produce a magnetic field, which forms a series of magnetic flux patterns on the surface of the physical media. The direction of the magnetic field depends on the direction of the applied current. Reading from the physical media involves the opposite principle: applying a magnetic field to the coil. In other words, gliding the head over the recorded magnetic flux pattern on the physical media causes an electrical current to flow in the coil. The electrical current corresponds to the orientation of the previously recorded magnetic field, where, in binary terms, a transition indicates a 1, and no transition implies a 0.
As recording technology advances, using a single coil for both writing and reading limits performance, since in many cases improving the inductive coil for reading adversely affects the writing performance, and vice-versa. Furthermore, in order to increase the track density, data is written to a wider data track and read from a narrower region of the written track, thereby minimizing misregistration between readers and written tracks. Separating the read-write transducer into separate read and write transducers allowed each to be optimized solely for their specific function.
In order to satisfy demand for increased areal density, modern drives switched from inductive read elements to magneto-resistive (MR) read elements and more recently to giant magneto-resistive (GMR) elements. Generally, "head" refers to the entire structure consisting of substrate, closure, transducers, etc. However, it is common practice also to refer to the MR sensors and write transducers as "heads," and this practice will be followed hereinafter. The correct technical name for first-generation MR heads is anisotropic magneto-resistive (AMR), but traditionally they have just been called "magneto-resistive" (MR). Unlike the induced currents of an inductive head, MR heads work via the MR effect, where MR material changes electrical resistance in the presence of a magnetic field and, thus, detects transitions in the magnetic field representative of recorded data. MR heads contain a sensing layer, or stripe, which includes the MR material. A bias current is applied to the stripe and changes in the voltage across the sensor are measured. The total DC voltage across the stripe is the product of the bias current times the stripe resistance. The stripe resistance varies with the stripe magnetization, which is a combination of internal magnetization and external magnetization. As is well known, the voltage drop across MR heads is typically in the range of several tenths of volt or higher. This dc voltage appears at the surface of the head whenever the bias is turned on.
For proper read back detection, the MR sensors require magnetically permeable shields. The shields are fabricated on both sides of the sensor stripe. The two shields form the magnetic sense gap. The spacing between the shields sets the frequency response of the head. The sensor is located approximately in the mid-plane between the shields. As is well known in the art, the shield spacing must be in the range of 0.1 to 1.0 micrometer. The insulation layer between shields and sensor is even smaller, often only a few hundred Angstroms or less. As is well known in the art, the shields may be electrically connected to the MR leads via thin film resistors. Further, writer poles may be electrically connected to a neighboring MR shield pair. When so connected, all poles and shields are clamped to a voltage that is derived from the MR sensor.
Modern linear tape drives typically write multiple tracks simultaneously on each pass of the bidirectional tape media. Additionally, the recording heads in tape drives usually have two modules, each of which contains both read and write elements. The modules face each other so that an MR head read element on one head module faces a Thin Film Inductive (TFI) head write element on the opposite head module. This way, the data that is being written with a TFI write element from one module can be verified by the MR read element on the opposite module on each pass of the tape.
In addition to specialized read and write elements, many tape drives employ servo control, or "servoing", via a servo read element in order to keep the read and write elements in line with the tape media. The servo read elements are similar to data readers. Advanced tape drives may employ a timing-based servo (TBS) to provide very precise position information to the drive. Tapes are factory-formatted with the TBS pattern, in which the obliquely written patterns are used to indicate position information. For instance, the physical media may be divided into four separate bands. Each band may be further divided. For example, each band may have twelve TBS positions, or six for each direction of tape travel, which would give a total of 24 unique positions for writing data to the tape.
Tape drives may incorporate redundant servo elements so that if a servo reader becomes temporarily defective or a portion of the pre-written servo track is corrupted, the redundant servo reader will keep the head in line with the track locations on the tape for the duration of the defect.
All the heads of a head module, the read, write and servo heads, are fabricated on a head substrate. The choice of the substrate has varied over the years, but in all cases, in order to protect the small, sensitive magnetic recording elements, the substrates are made of hard materials which have minimum wear when rubbed by tape. One example of a material is a hard ferrite which may also serve as a magnetic shield for the sensors. Another choice, and the one used in many hard disk drive and tape drive products, is a hard ceramic made of HIPed Alumina and Titanium Carbide (AlTiC). In the case of ferrites, the substrate is insulative, while in the case of AlTiC, the substrate may be conductive. In this case, as is well known, it is preferable to clamp the substrate voltage to a pre-set value.
The response of an MR read element to a magnetic field, defined as the device transfer curve, is non-linear. Therefore, in order to acquire an undistorted reproduction of a recorded magnetic field, the magnetization of the sensing layer of the MR read element is biased. As is well known in the art, the bias current through the MR read element is programmed so as to minimize the signal distortion. However, this may result in some MR elements getting programmed with an excessively high bias current. Raising bias current increases both MR temperature and voltage and shield and write pole voltages.
The bias current is programmed based on performance parameters of each MR head, typically in a range of 4-15 milliamps. The MR head substrate bias voltage is set to a preset voltage value, typically 0, 1.5, 3.0 volts, achieved with a fixed voltage divider connected to a supply voltage. It is determined pre-assembly and, once the drive is assembled, is not adjusted despite natural degradation in the MR head elements. Since modern linear tape drives have 8, 16, or more active channels, there may be as many different bias current values in each module.
Furthermore, the reader elements are resistors and conduct electric current. They operate at a voltage that may be very different than the triboelectric voltage on the surface of the magnetic physical media. This difference is associated with such phenomena as electro-chemical depositions upon the magnetic physical media and stripe oxidation, as well as other deleterious effects. Besides causing resistance increases in the sensing layer and consequential degradation of the sensing amplitude, such variations have been the cause of "head shorting," where the physical media shorts the MR sensor to its shields. In addition, parasitic conductive paths between head substrate and MR shields may develop over time with the passage of tape over the head. If the resistance of these parasitic paths is low enough, the substrate voltage itself can change, where the magnitude of change depends on the substrate bias circuit and other resistors. Furthermore, under normal operating conditions, current tape drives are unable to at detect and adapt to these measurable changes in the performance of head elements.
From the foregoing discussion, it should be apparent that a need exists for an apparatus, system, and method that overcome the limitations of conventional substrate biasing method. In particular, such an apparatus, system, and method would beneficially control substrate bias dynamically, thereby avoiding the drawbacks associated with a fixed substrate bias voltage. The apparatus, system, and method would also beneficially provide in-drive recalibration in the event of a variation in resistance in any of a plurality of head elements associated with a module.

Apparatus, system, and method for controlling recording head substrate bias voltage

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for manufacturing EPROM tunnel oxide cell having a damage-free source region. The method comprises the step of providing a substrate having a device region formed thereon, and then forming an ion-implanted region in the device area. Next, a gate oxide layer is formed over the substrate. Subsequently, a floating gate, a dielectric layer, a control gate and an oxide layer are sequentially formed above the substrate. This invention utilizes the implantation of a moderately heavy dose of ions into a device area prior to the formation of the gate oxide layer, so that a thicker gate oxide layer is formed above the source region. Hence, when the first polysilicon layer is etched in a subsequent self-aligned etching operation to establish the common source region, the thicker gate oxide layer can serve as a protective layer for the source region.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an EEPROM structure. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing EPROM tunnel oxide (ETOX) cell that will not result in any damages to its source region.
2. Description of Related Art
Electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) is a kind of memory that is now extensively used in computers and electronic products. The advantage of EEPROM is its ability to retain written programs and data permanently, yet can reuse those memory spaces by erasing those programs and data. The erase operation is simple. One only has to pass an electric current into the memory circuit for a predefined period. Fresh new data or programs can then be re-programmed in and stored. Moreover, memory store, erase and read operations can be repeated many times and can be carried out in a bit-by-bit manner, and so an EEPROM is very similar to a disk drive functionally. Additionally, another kind of EEPROM memory known as flash memory developed by Intel that operates in a block-by-block manner is now in the market. Although data have to be modified one block at a time, its fast operational speed is more than compensated by this minor defect.
FIGS. 1A through 1C and FIGS. 2A through 2C are various top and cross-sectional views showing the progression of manufacturing steps in producing a conventional ETOX cell. FIG. 1A is a top view showing the initial layout in ETOX cell fabrication. FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view along line AA' of FIG. 1A, and FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional view along line BB' of FIG. 1A.
First, as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C, a substrate 10 is provided. Then, a local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) method is used to form field oxide layers 12 above the substrate 10 to define the device area. Next, a gate oxide layer 14 (tunnel oxide layer) is formed above the substrate 10 using a thermal oxidation method. Thereafter, a polysilicon layer preferably having a thickness of about 1000 .ANG. is formed covering the whole substrate structure using, for example, a low-pressure chemical vapor deposition method. Then, a dielectric layer 18 is formed over the polysilicon layer, wherein the dielectric layer 18 can be an oxide/nitride/oxide (ONO) composite layer. Subsequently, the dielectric layer 18 and the polysilicon layer are patterned to remove the dielectric layer and polysilicon layer lying above the device area, and forming a polysilicon layer 16. Finally, a substrate structure as shown in FIGS. 1A through 1C is obtained.
FIGS. 2A through 2C are top and cross-sectional views showing the subsequent stage in the manufacturing of a conventional ETOX cell. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view along line AA' of FIG. 2C, FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view along line BB' of FIG. 2C and FIG. 2C is a top view of the final layout.
Next, as shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, high concentration of ions are implanted into the source region inside the device area to form a buried ion-implanted region 19. Subsequently, thermal oxidation is carried out to grow a gate oxide layer above the source region. Oxide layer formed by the thermal oxidation is thicker in areas above the source region because the source region has heavily doped ions. Thereafter, a layer of polysilicon preferably having a thickness of about 3000 .ANG. is deposited over the whole substrate structure to form a second polysilicon layer 21 using, for example, a low-pressure chemical vapor deposition method. After that, an oxide layer 22 is deposited over the second polysilicon layer 21 using, for example, an atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition method. The oxide material for forming the oxide layer 22 can be TEOS oxide, for example.
Thereafter, using the dielectric layer 18 as an etching stop layer, conventional photolithographic and etching processes are used to pattern the second polysilicon layer 21 and the oxide layer 22. Thus, the second polysilicon layer 21 becomes a control gate. In the subsequent step, a self-aligned source terminal etching operation is carried out to pattern the first polysilicon layer 16 into a floating gate. Then, a common source region is formed above the substrate 10. Finally, a complete substrate structure is formed whose top view is shown in FIG. 2C.
In the above method, since the dielectric layer 18 does not form a good protective layer for the first polysilicon layer 16, subsequently formed substrate structure will have data storage problems. Hence, few manufacturers will use this method to fabricate flash memory.
Furthermore, in using a conventional manufacturing method, a trench will be formed above the common source region of the substrate 10. This trench will cut off normal connection between common source regions, and will lead to functional abnormality of ETOX cell. Furthermore, even connection between common source regions still exists; damages caused by etching will raise the resistance in the common source regions. Hence, read/write efficiency of an ETOX cell will be lowered.
To reduce damages caused by the trench, one method is to increase junction depth of the source region. However, this will reduce the effective channel width of an ETOX cell, leading to difficulties in reducing ETOX cell dimensions.
In light of the foregoing, there is a need to provide a method for manufacturing ETOX cell that will not damage the source region.

Method for manufacturing ETOX cell having damage-free source region

Worldwide Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp.


A direct-indirect luminaire is provided with a direct light control structure between the luminaire's light source and the down light openings in the luminaire's housing. The down light control structure has an interior light capture which extends to meet the light source and which is shaped to substantially conform to the shape of a capturable surface of the light source. The down light control structure captures and directs substantially all of the light emitted from the captured portion of the light source through the housing's down light opening to provide improved control over the down light component of the luminaire.

The present invention generally relates to architectural lighting, and more particularly relates to luminaires that provide both direct and indirect lighting, so called "direct-indirect" luminaires. The present invention finds particular application in the field of linear fluorescent lighting where ambient light is produced from fluorescent lamps mounted in an elongated housing having a predetermined length and characteristic cross-sectional shape.
Linear direct-indirect fluorescent lighting has been known for many years. Such fixtures normally provide indirect or "up" lighting through the top of the luminaire housing which is open (or is covered by a light transmitting element such as a lens cover), and a direct or "down" lighting component through one or more openings in the bottom of the housing, openings which are typically covered by lenses, baffles, or louvers to shield the luminaire's fluorescent lamps from direct view at high viewing angles. In many such fixtures, the available light output from a direct-indirect luminaire mostly escapes as indirect light through the top opening of the luminaire housing while only a fraction of the available source light contributes to the down lighting. Other than shielding the light source, there is relatively little control over the down light component of the fixture. The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing a direct-indirect luminaire which greatly increases the control of the down light component of the luminaire and which permits a lighting designer to increase the amount of down light in relation to the luminaire's total available light output.

Direct-indirect luminaire with improved down light control


To ensure an energy-efficient transfer of light signals between two elements of a machine which are movable relative to one another, a device and a method for transferring light signals between such elements is provided. A first element has a plurality of light sources for delivering light signals and a second element has at least one photoreceiver for receiving the light signals. A unit causing the turning on or off is configured such as to effect a turning on or off of only one portion of the light sources.

In the case of known machine tools and production machines, such as multi-spindle automatic lathes or rotary tables for example, electric motors, polyphase machines in particular, are arranged on a machine member which is capable of moving in a rotary fashion. In this situation, any drive control facilities and also a power electronics facility, such as line-commutated rectifiers, self-commutated rectifiers or unregulated rectifiers and inverters, for operating the motors are normally located in a control cabinet. In this situation, the power lines are as a rule routed out of the control cabinet in the direction of the motors.
On these machine tools and production machines, in which the power lines are used for connecting the power electronics facility to the machine part which is capable of moving in a rotary fashion, the circumstance in which no "continuous rotation" of the moved machine part can be executed in order to reduce the work piece processing times is to be regarded as disadvantageous. Furthermore, the power lines wear out relatively quickly as a result of the permanent bending and torsional stress. Moreover, replacement of the power lines in the event of a fault is extremely complicated on account of a complex machine design.
As a result, machine tools and production machines having the "continuous rotation" functionality are nowadays being used with increasingly frequency. Such types of machines are thus already known from the prior art. In this situation, the transfer of energy normally takes place by way of collector rings, or inductively, whereby the inductive transfer of energy denotes a considerable additional requirement in terms of power electronics.
Serial bus systems are used for the communication considered in the present case between fixed components, such as a control unit for example, and the rotatable components, such as a drive control facility for example. In this situation, the transfer of data can likewise take place by way of collector rings as in the case of the transfer of energy. In the present case, however, the invention is concerned with a transfer of information by means of light signals. With regard to the devices known from the prior art for transferring light signals between two elements of a machine which are movable relative to one another, glass or plastic bodies are fed with modulated light, whereby the lightwave signals constitute the protocol for the serial communication path.

Device for transferring light signals between two elements relatively movable to one another


A extensible and retractable cargo container, comprises a top portion, a middle portion and a lower portion sleeve jointed together with each other, and further comprises a plurality set of block mechanisms for holding the top portion, the middle portion and the lower portion set in an extensible status, and a plurality of buffer rods for buffering the weight from the top portion, the middle portion and the top portion during retracting.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an extensible and retractable structure of a cargo container for extending and retracting side walls of the cargo container which is ready for loading cargos in the extended position, and is ready for storage in the retracted position.
2. Description of Prior Art
In the past, there are many disclosure of cargo containers which can be taken apart and reassembled. The side walls being taken apart from this kind of cargo container can be separately stocked up together for reducing the overall dimension of the returned empty cargo containers. Therefore, it decreases the shipping costs owing to greatly increasing the numbers of empty cargo containers transported.
However, this kind of structure of the cargo container which has separable side walls is not easy to be dismantled and reassembled. In fact, the size, the length and the weight of the dismantled side walls which assembles the cargo container are very large. It require several workers working together to complete these tasks. It is a common drawbacks and disadvantage of this kind of cargo container due to their time consuming in dismantling and reassembling.

Extensible and extractable cargo container


The invention provides genes that activate wax biosynthesis in plants. Also provided are constructs comprising these sequences, plants transformed therewith and methods of use thereof. The invention allows the modification of plants for increased wax production, particularly in leaves. The inventors have demonstrated increased drought tolerance in connection with increased leaf wax production engineered in plants.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of molecular biology. More specifically, the invention relates to plant genes that activate wax biosynthesis and methods of use thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cuticle layer covers most primary aerial organs of vascular plants and forms the contact zone between the plant and the environment (Kerstiens, 1996). Cuticular waxes are the major constituents of plant cuticle and play an important role in protecting aerial organs from damage caused by environmental stresses. Cuticular waxes are complex mixtures of very long chain fatty acids, alkanes, primary and/or secondary alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, esters, triterpenes, sterols, and flavonoids. Wax compounds can be embedded within the cutin polymer framework and form intracuticular wax. In many plants, however, more waxes are loaded outside of the cuticle membrane and form an epicuticular wax layer that give the plant surface a glaucous or grey appearance (Jenks and Ashworth, 1999; Post-Beittenmiller, 1996).
Plant cuticular wax biosynthesis and its loading to the plant surface is a complicated but actively regulated process (Broun et al., 2004; Jenks et al., 2002). Mutant analysis has contributed to the identification of some of the components and genes involved in wax deposition. Mutants with reduced wax accumulation or altered wax composition are in general characterized by a bright green phenotype which can be detected visually (Aarts et al., 1995). In Arabidopsis, 120 cuticular wax mutants representing a total of 31 recessive mutant loci have been identified, although dominant wax gene mutations have not been reported (Jenks et al., 2002). Wax-deficient mutants have also been identified in other species, including maize, sorghum, barley and rape (Kunst and Samuels, 2003).
Studies on the eceriferum (cer) mutants and T-DNA insertional mutants in Arabidopsis and glossy (gl) mutants in maize led to the identification and isolation of a number of wax-related genes. To date, 12 genes associated with wax production or regulation have been identified by molecular-genetic approaches. Among these genes, CER1, CER2, CER6/CUT1, 3-ketoacyl-CoA synthase (KCS1), FIDDLEHEAD (FDH), GL1, GL8 and WAX2, may encode metabolic enzymes or be involved in transport of wax compounds (Aarts et al., 1995; Chen et al., 2003; Fiebig et al., 2000; Hansen et al., 1997; Millar et al., 1999; Negruk et al., 1996; Pruitt et al., 2000; St-Pierre et al., 1998; Todd et al., 1999; Xia et al., 1996, 1997; Xu et al., 1997), while CER3, GL2, GL15 and WIN1/SHINE1 appear to encode regulatory proteins (Aharoni et al., 2004; Broun et al., 2004; Hannoufa et al., 1996; Moose and Sisco, 1996; Tacke et al., 1995). Mutations in most of these genes showed altered wax accumulation (Jenks et al., 2002), cosuppression of some of the genes resulted in waxless stems in Arabidopsis (Millar et al., 1999; Todd et al., 1999), and overexpression of some of the genes in Arabidopsis mutant background complemented corresponding mutant phenotypes (Fiebig et al., 2000; Hannoufa et al., 1996). However, only limited information is available on the effects of overexpression of these genes in a wild-type background.
Overexpression of the condensing enzyme gene CER6/CUT1 under the control of CaMV35S promoter failed to promote wax deposition (Millar et al., 1999), while under the control of epidermis-specific CER6 promoter, CER6/CUT1 overexpression led to increased wax load in stems of Arabidopsis (Hooker et al., 2002). The only report of increased wax accumulation in leaf tissues of Arabidopsis was by the overexpression of a transcriptional activator (Broun et al., 2004; Aharoni et al., 2004).
Transcription factors are regulatory proteins that modulate gene expression through sequence-specific DNA binding and/or protein-protein interactions. They are capable of activating or repressing transcription of target genes as switches of the regulatory cascade. Most of the transcription factors are grouped into gene families according to their well-conserved DNA-binding domains.
APETALA 2 (AP2)/Ethylene-responsive element binding factors (ERF or EREBP) domain-containing transcription factor is a group of transcriptional regulators that are specifically found in plants (Okamuro et al., 1997; Riechmann et al., 2000). The AP2 domains in these proteins play a major role in specific promoter DNA sequence/element binding and transcriptional activation (Okamuro et al., 1997; Sakuma et al., 2002). This gene family has been further grouped into three major subfamilies and some smaller groups based on their functions and sequence similarities (Dubouzet et al., 2003; Riechmann et al., 2000). The AP2 subfamily genes (containing double AP2 domains) were thought to developmentally control flowering time in plants (Jofuku et al., 1994; Schultz and Haughn, 1991). The genes in ERF subfamily have been found to be involved in plant response to pathogen infection and mediate disease resistance (Chakravarthy et al., 2003; Gutterson and Reuber, 2004; Onate-Sanchez and Singh, 2002).
Recently, a new group of AP2 domain-containing transcription factors, dehydration-response element binding protein (DREB)/C-repeat binding factor (CBF), have been identified and characterized (Novillo et al., 2004; Shinozaki et al., 2003; Thomashow, 1999). They are mainly involved in the regulation of abiotic stress inducible genes; overexpression of some members from this subfamily in transgenic Arabidopsis induced a host of genes and conferred stress tolerance (Gilmour et al., 2000; Haake et al., 2002; Jaglo-Ottosen et al., 1998; Kasuga et al., 1999; Stockinger et al., 1997).
While the foregoing studies have provided a further understanding of the metabolism of wax in plants, the prior art has generally failed to provide wax biosynthesis activating genes, for example, that would yield drought tolerance. The identification of such genes would allow the creation of novel plants with improved phenotypes and methods for use thereof. There is, therefore, a great need in the art for the identification of plant genes that activate wax biosynthesis and methods for their use.


A vinyl- or allyl-containing compound represented by following Formula (3):

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of vinyl- or allyl-containing compounds. Such vinyl- or allyl-containing compounds are useful typically as semiconductor materials, raw materials for functional polymers, intermediates for the synthetic preparation of fine chemicals such as pharmaceutical preparations and agricultural chemicals, and intermediate materials for organic chemicals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Certain processes have been known as processes for the preparation of vinyl- or allyl-containing silicon compounds or amine compounds such as vinylsilanes, allylsilanes, silyl vinyl ethers, silyl allyl ethers, and allylamines. Allylsilanes or vinylsilanes, for example, have been prepared by reacting chlorosilane with an allyl (or vinyl) magnesium Grignard reagent (J. Org. Chem., 1957, 22, 1200). Chlorosilane used in this process, however, is difficult to handle. In addition, such allyl (or vinyl) magnesium Grignard reagents (allylating or vinylating agents) are expensive. Silyl vinyl ethers or silyl allyl ethers have been prepared, for example, by using chlorosilane as a raw material (Tetrahedron, 1989, 45, 2649). This process also uses chlorosilane which is difficult to handle, as in the above-mentioned process. Diallylamine has been prepared, for example, by a process of reacting allyl chloride with a primary amine (Russ. Chem. Bl., 2000, 49, 431). This process, however, uses an equivalent amount of sodium hydroxide and thereby invites by-production of a large quantity of salts.

Process for the preparation of vinyl- or allyl-containing compounds

Abstract: wherein R2, R3, R4, R5, and R6 each represent hydrogen atom or a nonmetallic atom-containing group; R7 represents a nonmetallic atom-containing group; Y represents a group selected from the group consisting of —Si(R8)(R9)—, —Si(R10)(R11)—O—, the left hand of which is combined with R7, and —NR12—, wherein R8, R9, R10, R11, and R12 each represent hydrogen atom or a nonmetallic atom-containing group; and “n” represents 0 or 1, is prepared by reacting a vinyl or allyl ester compound represented by following Formula (1):

Abstract: wherein R1 represents hydrogen atom or a nonmetallic atom-containing group; R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, and “n” are as defined above, with a compound represented by following Formula (2):R7—Y—H   (2)wherein R7 and Y are as defined above, in the presence of a transition element compound.


A curved display panel includes a display surface curved about an axis of curvature. The curved display panel includes first and second substrates, a switching component, extending portions, and a spacer portion. The first and the second substrates include plate surfaces disposed to face each other with a gap therebetween. The switching component includes a source electrode and a drain electrode. The extending portions extend from elements of the switching component except for the drain electrode. The extending portions are disposed outside an arrangement area in which the switching component is disposed. The extending portions are adjacent to the switching component in a curved direction perpendicular to the axis of curvature and along the display surface. The spacer portion is disposed on the second substrate to hold the gap. The spacer portion overlaps the switching component or one of the extending portions adjacent to the switching component.

Conventionally, a liquid crystal display device described in patent document 1 is known as one example of a liquid crystal display device in which a display surface is curved. In the liquid crystal display device described in patent document 1, the long side of a pixel structure is arranged along a curved direction of a display surface, and a black matrix in which a length dimension in the curved direction of a black matrix opening is smaller than or equal to E−L{(T1/2)+(T2/2)+d}/R is provided on an opposing substrate side, where L is a length dimension in the curved direction of the display surface, T1 is a thickness dimension of an array substrate, T2 is a thickness dimension of the opposing substrate, d is a dimension of a gap between the array substrate and the opposing substrate, R is a curvature radius of the curved display surface, and E is a length dimension of the long side of a pixel electrode provided in the pixel structure.


Example systems and methods may allow for parallel operation of robotic devices within a workcell, such as industrial robots controlled to manufacture an output product. One example method includes receiving ordered sequences of operations for a plurality of corresponding robotic devices, determining time-based sequences of operations for each of the robotic devices, where a time-based sequence of operations indicates positions within the workcell at corresponding timesteps of a global timeline, determining one or more potential collisions involving the robotic devices that would result from parallel execution of the time-based sequences of operations within the workcell, modifying the time-based sequences of operations in order to prevent the one or more potential collisions, and providing instructions for parallel execution of the modified time-based sequences of operations at timesteps of the global timeline by the robotic devices within the workcell.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Automated manufacturing processes may involve the use of one or more robotic devices that may be used to construct an output product, such as a car, a wall, a piece of furniture, or any number of other physical fabrications. The robotic devices may be equipped with end-effector-mounted tools, such as a gripper or a drill, that may be used during a construction process. The robotic devices may be programmed with sequences of specific motion commands and commands for other operations in order to cause the robotic devices to complete a manufacturing process.

Systems and methods for time-based parallel robotic operation


Methods for fabricating an interconnect for a fuel cell stack include placing a compressed metal powder interconnect on a porous support, and sintering the interconnect in the presence of a non-oxidizing gas. The method may further include placing the sintered interconnect on a porous support, and oxidizing the interconnect in the presence of flowing air, or placing the sintered interconnect on a dense, non-porous support, and oxidizing the interconnect in the presence of a gas comprising pure oxygen or an oxygen/inert gas mixture that is substantially nitrogen-free.

In a high temperature fuel cell system, such as a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system, an oxidizing flow is passed through the cathode side of the fuel cell while a fuel flow is passed through the anode side of the fuel cell. The oxidizing flow is typically air, while the fuel flow can be a hydrocarbon fuel, such as methane, natural gas, pentane, ethanol, or methanol. The fuel cell, operating at a typical temperature between 750° C. and 950° C., enables the transport of negatively charged oxygen ions from the cathode flow stream to the anode flow stream, where the ion combines with either free hydrogen or hydrogen in a hydrocarbon molecule to form water vapor and/or with carbon monoxide to form carbon dioxide. The excess electrons from the negatively charged ion are routed back to the cathode side of the fuel cell through an electrical circuit completed between anode and cathode, resulting in an electrical current flow through the circuit.
In order to optimize the operation of SOFCs, the oxidizing and fuel flows should be precisely regulated. Therefore, the flow regulating structures, such as interconnects in the fuel cell system should be precisely manufactured. Furthermore, the interconnects of the fuel cell system should be manufactured to have a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) that matches the CTE of other components in the stack, such as the SOFC electrolyte.


Embodiments herein provide a chest wall repair plate device where a central portion of the device is comprised of an elastomer to allow for rapid resection using a standard surgical scalpel should there be a need to quickly re-enter the chest cavity. The elastomeric section adjoins two or more rigid plate sections creating a simple, easily removable sternal stabilization system.

The sternum is a bony structure that connects ribs at the front of the chest wall. A sternotomy is a surgical procedure in which the sternum is cut along its longitudinal midline. A sternotomy is performed to gain access to the thoracic cavity for surgery on the heart, lung or other inner organs.
After a sternotomy has been performed, the divided sternum must be reconnected, or "closed," in a sufficiently stable manner to allow for bony healing of the sternotomy cut. Closure of a sternal osteotomy has traditionally been performed using stainless steel wires that are circumferentially wrapped around the sternum or through the sternum. The circumferential cerclage wires are tensioned to compress the opposing sides of the divided sternum against each other. This traditional cerclage wire technique for sternotomy closure can exhibit healing complications caused by deficient stabilization due to loose or broken wires. Especially in older patients with weaker bone, the thin steel wires can gradually cut through the sternum and loosen. Moreover, circumferential cerclage wiring is time-consuming and complicated, since it requires routing of multiple wires around the back of the sternum.
To provide a simpler and more durable fixation, metallic plates and clamps for sternal closure have been developed that attach to the front of the sternum. Clinical studies have shown that compared to traditional wire cerclage, repair of a sternal osteotomy with plates provides more stable fixation and leads to better healing, whereby patients experience less pain and require less narcotic medication.
Moreover, sternal plates and clamps generally do not require surgical access to the back of the sternum, and eliminate the application of circumferential wires or ties. However, their removal typically requires special instruments and extraction of fixation screws, whereby screw heads are frequently overgrown by soft tissue or damaged during implant insertion, complicating screw removal. The speed and ease of implant removal is critical when emergency surgical re-access is required in patients who incur a life-threatening complication. Any delay during emergent re-entry of the thoracic cavity caused by removal of a sternal plate or clamp can therefore be life-threatening, especially in case of heart failure or hemorrhagic bleeding.
In addition, other aspects of the chest wall may need to be repaired in addition to, or independent of, the sternum, such as caused by injury or other damage or by rib resection.


The laminated RFID tag, mountable to a part of a personal care appliance, has rounded corners or a round peripheral edge, which is adapted to prevent absorption of water or other solvents.

RFID tags, usually in laminated form, are typically approximately 0.0007 inches thick, and typically have a square or rectangular configuration with sharp corners. An example of a conventional laminated RFID tag is shown in FIG. 1 at 10. Laminated RFID tags are used in a variety of applications, including wireless identification of workpieces. Such RFID tags when used in corrosive or wet locations are subject to failure by virtue of separation from the surface on which they are mounted and/or separation of layers within the RFID tag. Separation, i.e. delamination, often accelerates following some degree of initial delamination of the tag. The square corner RFID tag shown in FIG. 1 is thus typically not suitable or recommended for use in challenging conditions, such as for instance in a facial cleansing personal appliance, as failure of the adhesive bond is common, beginning at the corners of the tag.
A round, molded, plastic encapsulated tag, known as a puck tag, is referred to at 14 in FIG. 2. The puck tag, which typically has a thickness of approximately 0.10 inches, is sometimes recommended for use in challenging environmental conditions. While the puck tag does have some advantage over the conventional laminated RFID tag for certain environmental conditions, the puck tag has its own disadvantages, namely, weight, size and cost. Accordingly, even the round puck tags are not recommended for certain applications, including a resonant skin cleansing brush, where the additional weight would result in a resonance change.
Accordingly, it is desirable that an RFID tag be designed which will survive and operate well in challenging environmental conditions.


A acceleration sensor includes a supporting part, a beam part connected to the supporting part, a weight part connected to the beam part, and a protruding part formed beneath the beam part so that the protruding part supports the beam part. With such an arrangement, the adjustment of the sensitivity of the acceleration sensor can be easily performed, as well as the evaluation of the acceleration sensor.

This invention relates to an acceleration sensor, and particularly relates to a technology that enables the adjustment of the sensitivity of the acceleration sensor (made by microfabrication) to be easily performed, and enables the determination whether the acceleration sensor is defective or non-defective to be easily performed.
Generally, a three-dimensional acceleration sensor includes a supporting part for fixing the acceleration sensor to an external board or the like, a weight part, and a deformable beam part that connects the supporting part and the weight part. The conventional three-dimensional acceleration sensor is composed of a laminated structural body. One type of the laminated structural body is made by laminating a plurality of layers on which the supporting part, the weight part and the beam part or the like are formed. The other type of the laminated structural body is made by microfabrication to form the weight part or the like on a laminated board such as SOI (Silicon On Insulator) having been previously laminated.
The present invention relates to the three-dimensional acceleration sensor made by microfabrication on the laminated board.
The three-dimensional acceleration sensor is manufactured by the following process. First, a laminated board including three layers is prepared. The three layers are referred to as first, second and third layers in order beginning at the uppermost layer. Piezoresistive elements are formed on portions of the first layer of the laminated board corresponding to the beam parts. The patterning is performed on the first layer (i.e., the top side of the laminated board), and then the patterning is performed on the third layer (i.e., the bottom side of the laminated board). The acceleration sensor manufactured by such a process is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-198243. The publication also discloses the structure and the manufacturing process of an acceleration sensor having a stopper for enhancing the impact resistance and a reinforcing member provided on the stopper.
However, in order to adjust the sensitivity of the conventional acceleration sensor, it is necessary to change the length of the beam part by changing the positions of the supporting part and the weight part. Thus, it is necessary to change the positions of the through holes formed on the top side and the bottom side of the laminated board, and therefore it is necessary to change the layouts on the top side and the bottom side of the laminated board. Accordingly, it is not easy to adjust the sensitivity of the acceleration sensor.
Moreover, in the conventional acceleration sensor, it is difficult to align the through holes formed on the top side and the bottom side of the laminated board with each other. Therefore, it is necessary to pick up several acceleration sensors as samples and to destruct each sample to thereby observe the cross section of each sample using SEM, TEM or the like. Therefore, it is difficult to align the through holes formed on the top side and the bottom side of the acceleration sensor, without destructing the acceleration sensor.


In a method of isolating osteogenic protein from bone, in which an osteogenic protein-containing fraction is extracted from bone and enriched by a sequence of enrichment steps selected from ultrafiltration and chromatography, the invention provides the improvement of removing higher molecular weight components from the osteogenic protein-containing fraction prior to the enrichment steps. The higher molecular weight components have a molecular weight of about 100-300 kDa and are selected from collagen, collagen fragments, collagen aggregates and mixtures thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
THIS INVENTION relates to osteoinductive biomaterials. In particular the invention relates to an osteogenic composition and to the use of an osteogenic composition in therapy.
2. Description of Related Art
The osteogenic composition of the invention is particularly intended for human or mammalian tissue regeneration and for promoting or inducing bone growth. For the purposes of this specification, the phrase "osteogenic protein" refers to the material which is obtained by fractionation of total mammalian bone protein and which is capable of inducing bone formation. The terms "osteogenic" and "osteoinductive" are considered to be synonymous. Osteogenesis is the term used to describe the de novo formation of bone in adult mammals and is evidenced in adults during regeneration of bone fractures. It proceeds via a process which closely resembles embryonic osteogenesis. Osteogenic protein contains, amongst other unidentified proteins, Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs). This is a family of characterized proteins which have been classified as part of the larger transforming growth factor-beta superfamily of morphogenic proteins. The BMP family comprises more than a dozen individual members which are known to be capable of inducing bone formation in mammals.
Mammalian bone tissue is host to a family of protein growth and differentiation factors, called the bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs). These proteins are capable of inducing new bone formation when implanted in adolescent and adult mammals.
The BMPs are redeployed in adults to cause regeneration of bone via mechanisms closely resembling embryonic differentiation. The developmental cascade of bone differentiation consists of chemotaxis of mesenchymal cells, proliferation of progenitor cells, differentiation of cartilage, vascular invasion, bone formation, remodeling, and finally marrow differentiation (Reddi, (1981) Collagen Rel. Res. 1:209-226). It has been shown that the natural endochondral bone differentiation activity of bone matrix can be dissociatively extracted and reconstituted with inactive residual matrix to restore full bone inductive activity (Sampath and Reddi, (1981) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 78:7599-7603). The purification of osteogenin, an osteogenic protein from mammalian bone is disclosed by Sampath et al. (1987) (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84, 7109-7113). Urist et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (1984) 81:371-375) disclose a bovine bone morphogenetic protein extract having the properties of an acidic polypeptide and a molecular weight of approximately 18 kD. The authors report that the protein is present in a fraction separated by hydroxyapatite chromatography, and that it induces bone formation in mouse hindquarter muscle and bone regeneration in trephone defects in rat and dog skulls.
European Patent Application No. 148,155, published Oct. 7, 1985, discloses osteogenic proteins derived from bovine, porcine, and human origin. One of the proteins, designated by the inventors as a P3 protein and having a molecular weight of 22-24 kD, is reported to have been purified to an essentially homogeneous state. This material is reported to induce bone formation when implanted into animals.

Method of preparing an osteogenic protein fraction