In a method for the presentation of projection images or tomograms from 3D volume data of an examination volume, particularly from MR or CT volume data, a grayscale image of a prescribable projection or of a prescribable section that is composed of individual pixels is calculated from the 3D volume data. The distance of a voxel or partial volume of the examination volume represented by the pixel from a reference plane is determined for each pixel of the grayscale image, and a chromatic value corresponding to this distance is allocated to each pixel of the grayscale image, the chromatic value is obtained by color coding of the distance, and a projection image or tomogram is presented by overlaying or coloring the grayscale image with the chromatic values allocated to each pixel. The presentation of a projection image with an unambiguous and immediately understandable depth, information is thereby enabled.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a method for the presentation of projection images or tomograms from 3D volume data of an examination volume, particularly from MR or CT volume data, wherein a grayscale image of a prescribable projection or of a prescribable section that is composed of individual pixels is calculated from the 3D volume data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The presentation of projection images or tomograms from 3D volume data plays a significant part in many technical fields, particularly in the field of imaging medical technology. Imaging methods such as magnetic resonance (MR) tomography and computed tomography (CT) acquire information from the entire examination volume of the examined body. X-ray computed tomography is a specific X-ray tomogram exposure method wherein transverse tomograms, i.e. images of body slices oriented essentially perpendicularly to the body axis, are obtained. For this purpose, the examination volume is transirradiated in slices from a number of angles, so that a three-dimensional volume dataset is obtained. The tomograms to be presented are calculated from the 3D volume data by means of suitable projection methods. In addition to such tomograms, other image presentations, for example of surface structures of subjects in the examination volume, can be calculated from the 3D volume data with the assistance of computed tomography techniques.
In magnetic resonance tomography, magnetic resonance signals of an examination volume are acquired using specifically switched, dynamic magnet fields, referred to as gradient fields, and radio-frequency pulses. A magnetic resonance tomogram is calculated from the magnetic resonance signals obtained from different, small body volumes, referred to as voxels, which are being stored as a 3D volume dataset. The position and orientation of the slices of the examination volume to be presented can be arbitrarily selected within broad ranges in both X-ray computed tomography as well as in magnetic resonance tomography. In addition to generating these tomograms or sectional images, different projections from the measured 3D volume data can be calculated and displayed on magnetic resonance tomography. A method that is just being introduced in MR angiography, referred to as MIP (Maximum Intensity Projection) technique, leads to a projection image that enables a presentation of larger vessel sections of the body. In this method, a family of parallel rays is placed through the three-dimensional volume dataset, and only that point having the highest signal intensity is sought along each individual ray. Since blood vessels are imaged with high signal intensity, a respective picture element that belongs to a vessel is thus selected along each ray. This point is then entered into the projection plane, which lies perpendicular to the rays, at the end of the respective ray. A projection image of the vascular system that makes a plastic impression arises in this way. The same technique can also be applied in computer tomography. The tomograms or projection images generated with this method usually are calculated and displayed as grayscale images.
The images of the calculation or projections methods that are utilized for the image presentation usually contain no depth information, so that the spatial relationships of the anatomical details presented in the image relative to one another cannot be clearly perceived and misinterpretations by the viewer are possible. Various projection directions are shown in continuous succession as a moving image for visualizing the spatial relationship of anatomical details, for example in the MIP technique, in order to thereby convey a spatial impression to the viewer. This, however, is computationally complicated and nonetheless cannot always be applied. The presentation is not immediately clear if covering exists, since a "front-back" transposition corresponds to a reversal of the rotational sense if the other presentation parameters are unaltered. Further, special devices such as 3D glasses are known that offer respectively different viewing directions to each eye. These glasses, however, assume a good spatial visualization and have not yet been able to prevail in practice. Back voxels are presented attenuated due to the intensity coding of the distance, so that a loss of contrast occurs.
German OS 44 36 263 discloses a method as well as a system for the presentation of 3D measured data of a volume in two-dimensional tomograms, wherein the tomogram of the slice to be presented is overlaid with the tomograms of neighboring slices. The information important to the viewer, namely which of the image details lie in front of or behind the slice to be presented, is achieved by different chromatic presentation of the overlaid tomograms. The method serves the purpose of conveying the direction of the further course of the subjects visible in the tomogram to the viewer of a tomogram. Although the three-dimensional relationship between the slice to be presented and its immediate environment is visualized for the viewer of a tomogram with this method, the method does not supply any depth information that, in particular, can be important in projection images.

Method for the presentation of projection images or tomograms from 3D volume data of an examination volume


The invention provides, according to its various embodiments, a method for secure communication that involves encoding and transmitting an optical communications signal that is encoded based on a multi-dimensional encoding technique. The multi-dimensional encoding technique includes multiple security layers and varies multiple physical characteristics of a communications signal. The multi-dimensional encoding technique may include at least one or more of encoding a phase of an optical communications signal, encoding a polarization of an optical communications signal, and encoding a frequency of an optical communications signal, or any combination thereof. According to embodiments of the invention, the encoding and/or any decoding of the optical communications signal may be carried out using one or more of an optical phase shift coding, a polarization multiplexing, and a multi-wavelength control. Multi-dimensional encoding and decoding keys are provided.

Optical communications are usually either free-space systems, or systems using waveguides, such as optical fibers or the like. Typically, when the security of information being communicated by way of an optical communications system is of high importance, one or more security layers may be added to the communications signal to protect the integrity and authenticity of the data. For example, data encryption and user authentication are two security layers commonly used in today's communications networks. Data encryption techniques are often used to encode a data stream (e.g., a data stream transmitted by way of a communications signal), preventing users who do not have the proper decryption algorithm or from decoding the encoded information transmitted by way of the communications network.
User authentication, on the other hand, involves procedures and/or technologies that are implemented to prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to confidential data. Although both of these techniques help maintain the integrity and authenticity of data transmitted by way of optical communications networks, they both have problems, and may not be sufficient for use in systems where the integrity, confidentiality, and/or authenticity of the data being communicated is of the utmost importance.
For example, standard data encryption algorithms can be broken by powerful computers or advanced computer algorithms. A user employing such resources could intercept encoded communications signals, record the signals, and later decode the signals. As these resources become more readily available and more powerful, the threat to maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of encoded communications signals increases.
Additionally, although user authentication procedures are often sufficient to ensure that sensitive data is secured at a receiving end of a communications link, they generally do not prevent a hostile user from intercepting communication signals while they are being transmitted. Such unauthorized interceptions of communication signals are difficult to detect, and can be accomplished by way of standard equipment that is readily available, either commercially or otherwise, to would-be data interceptors.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide one or more additional security. layers that allow for additional security of communications signals being transmitted in a communications system or network. Specifically, it would be desirable to provide additional encryption to information being communicated by way of optical communications systems, which provides security layers that exceed the security of standard data encryption and user authentication.

System and method for multi-dimensional encoding


A storytelling system in which a base unit broadcasts some blocks of audio data stored therein, and transmits other blocks of audio data stored therein to remote units for remote broadcast. Transmission to the remote units may be as radio signals, as ultrasound signals, as infrared signals, or as electrical impulses transmitted along wires. The blocks of data include identification codes to indicate which units are to broadcast them. The remote units have unique identifying features and are covered by matching dolls representing characters of the story. Each remote unit broadcasts the audio data appropriate to its own doll.

The present invention relates to a storytelling system and, more particularly, to a system in which audio data are transmitted to one or more "talking dolls", which translate the audio data into audible sound.
Extant audio storytelling systems are characterized by either extreme simplicity or a certain degree of complexity. At one end of the spectrum, there are audio cassette players, and variations thereof. At the other end, there are systems of talking dolls of varying degrees of complexity. Talking dolls have been elaborated in one of two ways. The first, more common way has been to animate the dolls, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,341 of DeSmet. The second has been to provide systems of dolls that interact intelligently, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,840,602 and 4,857,030 of Rose. Each of Rose's dolls is a miniature robot, equipped with a central processing unit, a read only memory for vocabulary, and a speech synthesizer. Each doll is capable of initiatin and maintaining a simulated conversation with the other dolls of the system. Rose justifies the complexity of his system as being necessary to maintain the interest of young children, and cites a study by "a child development specialist in the Pediatrics Department of a West Coast hospital" in support of his thesis. In that study, young children were found to become quickly bored with the limited repertoire of non-interactive talking dolls.
Neither animation nor interactivity is necessary to maintain the interest of young children. For ages, mothers and teachers have held the interest of children with classical fairy tales, with no need for technological gimmicks. Furthermore, the more elaborate prior art systems tend to be priced beyond the limited means of many young families. There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, a storytelling system in which the story is narrated, at least in part, by talking dolls of less complexity and cost than those of the prior art.


The present invention relates generally to protective covers for satellite dishes having a dish reflector body including a front concave face, a rear convex face and a rim portion disposed between the front and rear faces thereof. The protective cover has a substantially rigid, cover body shaped to conform to, and fit over, the front concave face of the satellite dish. The cover body has a body wall constructed from a transparent material. The body wall has a front concave surface, an opposed rear convex face and a peripheral flange disposed therebetween. The peripheral flange extends about the cover body, rearwardly and away from the front concave face of the body wall. The protective cover further includes visual indicia carried on the rear convex face of the body wall. The visual indicia are protected by, and visible from behind, the body wall. When the protective cover is mounted onto the satellite dish, the rear convex face of the body wall is disposed adjacent the rear concave face of the dish reflector body and the peripheral flange of the body wall is disposed adjacent the rim portion of the dish reflector body.

With the emergence of domestic and international specialty television networks and channels, television signal receiving satellite dishes have become increasingly popular with viewers leading to the proliferation of satellite dishes in the urban landscape. To prevent signal interference, satellite dishes are typically installed outside a building on the rooftop or on a sidewall thereof. As a result, the satellite dishes tend to be exposed to inclement weather conditions, such as wind, rain, snow and ice. Exposure to the elements may adversely affect a satellite dish's signal receiving capability. In particular, the accumulation of snow or ice on the satellite dish may damage the dish reflector body and cause signal deterioration. If sufficient interference is present and the signals received fall below a predetermined threshold, television reception may be lost. To address this problem and protect the dish reflector body, various solutions have been proposed.
One such solution is described and shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,933,908 issued to Mirabueno. This patent discloses a protective cover for satellite dishes that includes a rigid mounting plate removably securable to a support surface for mounting a satellite dish, and a dome section removably attachable to the mounting plate. The dome section is sized and shaped for housing the satellite dish therein and is formed from transparent fiberglass. When installed onto the satellite dish, the dome section of the protective cover fully encloses the satellite dish. The protective cover is also provided with a mechanism for contemporaneously rotating the satellite dish and a selected portion of the dome relative to the mounting plate. While this cover tends to adequately protect the satellite dish from external elements and other interferences, it tends to be bulky and cumbersome. With its plurality of moving parts, the costs associated with manufacturing such a cover tend be expensive and the installation of such a cover onto a support structure tends to be time-consuming and complicated. In addition, this type of protective cover may be ill-suited for use in conjunction with satellite dishes mounted on the vertical face of a building or structure.
Another approach is disclosed and shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,125 issued to Kelly et al. The satellite dish cover described in this patent includes a flexible sheet material constructed and arranged for being disposed over the dish and feeder horn of the satellite dish assembly. The sheet includes a main body panel that wraps around the dish and the feeder horn and a secondary body panel that is sewn to the main body panel and is designed to extend from the rear of the dish to the dish support. The main body panel is designed to fit tightly over the dish and the feeder horn, but is prone, however, to sagging when snow or ice is disposed on the cover. To mitigate such sagging, a cinching mechanism is provided. The cinching mechanism, in the nature of a hook and loop fastener, is affixed to the feeder horn-receiving, end portion of the main body panel and is adapted to maintain the main body panel in tight fitting relation with the satellite dish. However, a drawback associated with this type of protective cover is that the cover does not lie substantially flat against the front face of the satellite dish and thus tends to present a large surface area which, in high wind areas, may catch the wind thereby subjecting the satellite cover and satellite dish to large forces and possibly significant vibrations. Additionally, the provision of a protective cover that shrouds both the dish and feeder horn may require a significant amount of material for a large satellite dish and tends not to be aesthetically pleasing.
In an attempt to overcome the foregoing shortcomings, alternate satellite dish covers have been developed, an example of which is described and shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,940,047 issued to Pfnister. This patent discloses a cover that substantially conforms to the shape of the satellite dish. The cover has a first front portion and a second back portion sewn or otherwise attached to the front portion. When the cover is installed onto the satellite dish, the first front face is disposed adjacent the front concave surface of the satellite dish while the second back portion is disposed adjacent the back surface of the satellite dish. The cover may be constructed of a heavy, weather resistant flexible material such as a fabric. The dish cover further includes fastening mechanisms for allowing the dish cover to be releasably secured and closed about the dish cover. The patent further teaches that to enhance the aesthetic features of the cover, advertising material or decorative designs may be applied to the outer surface of the first front portion. While this constitutes an improvement over prior art protective covers, it tends to suffer from other disadvantages. More specifically, as a result of being tautly drawn against the concave face of the satellite dish, there is a tendency for unsightly wear lines to form on the cover along the points of contact with the satellite dish. In addition, the fabric may be prone to deformation from being overstretched, thereby resulting in the visual information displayed on the outer surface being distorted.
Other form-fitting fabric covers have been developed which at least partially avoid these problems. An example of one such cover is described and shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,714,167 issued to Gusick, Jr. The fabric cover described in this patent is made of a substantially non-stretchable fabric sewn with a hem that coincides with the rim of the satellite dish to provide additional strength to the cover along the wear line of the cover against the rim. However, the fabric in these types of covers tends to deteriorate over time which can lead to sagging of the dish cover with deleterious effects on signal reception quality. In addition, fabrication of the cover may require the use of an expensive computer controlled cutting process.
United States Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0092089 of Courtney eschews the form-fitting cover made of fabric in favour of a cover constructed of a generally rigid weatherproof plastic, thereby avoiding the sagging problems encountered in prior art fabric covers. In one embodiment, the cover is formed with a generally rigid concave outer surface that is suitable for decorative and/or advertising use. While this type of cover constitutes an improvement over other known protective covers, applying a logo or decorative motif on the concave outer surface of the satellite dish cover tends to expose it to excessive wear resulting from constant exposure to the elements or various wind strewn debris, such as leaves and pine cones or needles. In time, the logo or decorative motif may get scratched off and/or its colours may fade thereby severely detracting from its aesthetic features. Additionally, in the field, signal degradation or loss has been experienced as a result of moisture infiltrating between the satellite and the cover, at times, leading to the formation of ice.
In light of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to have a protective satellite dish cover which could obviate the drawbacks associated with the prior art—one in which a logo or graphic could be suitably displayed and easily visible, while being protected from the harsh effects of the weather and the environment. It would be further desirable if such a protective cover could be relatively easy and inexpensive to manufacture.


A laminated polyester film for a magnetic recording medium which has a first polyester layer (A) containing inorganic particles (a) having a Moh's hardness of at least 8 and a specific average particle size and inactive particles (b) having a Moh's hardness of less than 8 and a specific average particle size larger than that of the particle (a) and a second polyester layer (B) containing inactive particles (c) having a Moh's hardness of less than 8 and a specific average particle size, wherein a content of the particles (a) is from 0.25 to 5% by weight based on the weight of the polyester in the layer (A) and less than 0.15% by weight of the whole weight of the polyester in the layers (A) and (B), the contents of the particles (b) and (c) are each 0.05 to 2.0% by weight of the polyester in the layers (A) and (B), respectively, and exposed surfaces of the layers (A) and (B) have coefficients of friction and surface roughness (Ra) which satisfy the specific conditions.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laminated polyester film for a magnetic recording medium. More particularly, the present invention relates to a laminated polyester film for a magnetic recording medium which achieves cost reduction, has improved slitting properties and generates no or few flaws or abraded powder during traveling when it is used as a base film of a magnetic tape.

Laminated polyester film for magnetic recording medium comprising specific particles


During the manufacturing of the light guide device (20), the first and second bonding ribs (R1,R2) are used such that the light guide prism (10) and the opposing prism (50) are connected with each other from a specific offset direction. In this case, a difference between sizes of clearances between the first bonding surface (AS) and the second bonding surface (BS) caused by a difference in inclination angles of the offset direction with respect to the first bonding surface is used such that a flow direction of the adhesive is controlled and filling is performed in a desire state, and thus high accuracy of the joint formed by the adhesive is maintained.

Various optical systems have been proposed as an optical system assembled with a virtual image display apparatus such as a head-mounted display (hereinafter referred to as HMD) mounted on a head portion of an observer. Particularly, various prisms have been proposed as light guide prisms arranged in front of an eye (for example, refer to PTL 1, 2, and the like).
With regard to the virtual image display apparatus such as the HMD, it is desired to accelerate a reduction in size and weight and to achieve a wide angle of view without deteriorating image quality. Also, in a state where only image light is viewed with an entire field of vision of the observer being covered, the observer cannot determine a state of an outside world to be nervous. Meanwhile, with see-through view in which the outside world and the image are shown in an overlapped manner, various novel applications of virtual reality are generated. Accordingly, display expressing the image light overlapped without hindering the field of vision of the outside world is desired.
Allowing for the above-described situation, a light guide device is configured, for example, by a penetration-type prism arranged in a see-through manner in front of the eye of the observer with a plurality of free-form surfaces such that the observer can have a better feeling of mounting similar to a shape of glasses while a form of an appearance can be excellent. In a case of the light guide device applied to the virtual image display device with a see-through function, an inclined semi-transmissive surface is disposed on one end of a block-shaped light guide prism so as to overlap, for example, external light with the image light. In this case, in order to complement the inclination of the semi-transmissive surface and cover the front of the eye uniformly, another block-shaped light-transmitting member (opposing prism) that forms a pair is required to be bonded. During the bonding, acceptable see-through performance and image formation are not ensured if, for example, bubbles enter a bonding site and a distortion is generated on a reflection surface. Accordingly, it is important to appropriately control, for example, a flow direction of the adhesive during adhesion for the bonding and to have an excellent adhesive filling state.

Method for manufacturing light guide device, light guide device, and virtual image display apparatus


A wavelength modulation spectroscopy method for measuring the concentration of a gas component is provided. A gas sample portion of the light is passed through a reference gas comprising the gas component in a constant concentration. Afterwards, the light is detected by a reference detector. Another portion of the light is passed through the gas sample and thereafter to a measuring detector. The light emitted by the light source is modulated with a frequency, while the wavelength is swept over a molecular absorption line of the gas component. Demodulation of the detector outputs is made at a higher harmonic. In order to compensate for variations of the modulation parameters of the light source in real time, a mathematical description of the demodulated reference detector output based on Fourier analysis of the modulated light and on a mathematical expression for the absorption line is provided.

In wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) for measuring the concentration of a gas component in a gas sample a portion of the light of a tunable light source, usually a continuously tunable laser such as a diode laser, is passed through a reference gas comprising the known gas component or another suitable gas component of constant concentration. Afterwards the light is detected by a reference detector. Another portion of the light is directed to a monitor detector for normalization purposes. Yet another portion of the light is passed through the gas sample and thereafter to a measuring detector. The light emitted by the light source is modulated with a frequency fm, while the wavelength is swept over a molecular absorption line of the gas component. As the light propagates through the reference gas or gas sample, respectively, wavelength dependent absorption converts some of the wavelength modulation into an intensity modulation of the light. Thus, the light will have an overtone spectrum generated by the absorption process, the harmonic content of the spectrum being dependent on the width and shape of the molecular absorption line in the gas and the etalons in the spectroscopy system. When the light then impinges onto the reference detector or measuring detector, respectively, the detector outputs contain AC components at the modulation frequency fm and its higher harmonics Nfm (N=2, 3, 4, etc.). Demodulating the respective detector outputs at one of said higher harmonics Nfm shifts the measurement from frequencies near DC, where the light source is noisy, into a higher frequency range, where the noise is lower, thus improving the measurement sensitivity.
The modulation of the emitted light can most conveniently be accomplished by modulation of the injection current of the diode laser, which imposes modulation on the wavelength and to some extend on the intensity of the emitted light. As the demodulated Nfm absorption signal depends not only on the concentration of the measured gas but also on the modulation parameters of the light source, variations of these modulation parameters can affect the accuracy of the measurement.

Wavelength modulation spectroscopy method


A drawbar apparatus for a cart, wagon or trailer. The drawbar apparatus includes a shaft having a first end suitable for connection to a cart, and a second end including a hitch coupling. The drawbar includes a handle member having a handle first end and a handle second end. The handle first end is pivotally connected to the shaft, and the handle second end includes a grip or gripping region. The handle member is selectively pivotal between a first position and a second position, the hitch coupling extending distally beyond the handle member in the first position, and the handle member extending distally beyond the hitch coupling in the second position. Some embodiments further include a lock configured to selectively secure the handle member when the handle member is in the first position and the second position.

1. Field of Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to a drawbar for a cart, wagon, trailer, or other wheeled transport device that can be pulled behind a moving vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional drawbars on carts, wagons, or trailers are equipped at one end with conventional hitch couplings such as a yoke or clevis. The hitch couplings can then be connected to the back of an automobile or a tractor. The automobile or tractor can then be used to transport objects or materials that can be loaded in the cart, wagon, or trailer.
More particularly, this invention pertains to drawbars for a cart, wagon, or trailer that can be configured to receive a handle assembly that can be attached to the hitch coupling. Conventional handle assemblies are removably attached to the hitch coupling via pins that must be inserted through the hitch coupling and the handle assembly. The handle assembly can then be used by an operator to pull the cart, wagon or trailer by hand.
One problem with conventional drawbars is that the handle assembly is an entirely separate piece. As such, when the handle assembly is not in use, it must be stored. Additionally, connecting the handle assembly to the drawbar by inserting pins through the hitch coupling and the handle assembly is cumbersome and time consuming. The pins must also be stored when the handle assembly is not in use. The handle assembly or the associated pins can easily be lost or misplaced.
What is needed, then, are improvements in conventional drawbars with handle assemblies.


A battery pack includes a first battery and a second battery each having a bent part at one side; and an adhesion member interposed between the bent part of the first battery and the bent part of the second battery and adhering the bent part of the first battery to the bent part of the second battery.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to a battery pack and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a secondary battery is classified into a cylindrical battery, a prismatic battery, and a pouch-type battery according to the external shape of a case to accommodate an electrode assembly.

Battery pack and method for manufacturing the same


A fiber block molding apparatus comprising: —a mold having a lower part and an upper part forming between them a cavity for forming a fiber blank into a fiber block article upon closing the mold; —a conveyor system for receiving the fiber blank to be molded at a receiving position, transporting the fiber blank via a heater for activation of a binding agent, and delivering the heated fiber blank into the lower part of the mold at a delivery end of the conveyor system, and —a horizontal position shifting arrangement for shifting the horizontal position of the delivery end of the conveyor system relative to the lower part of the mold between a first and a second position to lay the fiber blank on the lower part of the mold.

Molded cushion members are used in furniture to provide resilient properties and comfort. As an example, cushion members may be used in the seat of chairs and sofas as well as in the back rest. Urethane foam has been used in such cushion members. However, urethane foam suffers from generating toxic gas upon combustion. Further, recycling of urethane foam is difficult.
As alternative to urethane foam in cushion members, molded fiber mixtures including a thermally activated binding agent, e.g. melt binder fibers, have been used in the art. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,607, a process for filling a fiber mixture into a mold cavity and subsequent heating it therein to provide a molded cushion member is disclosed. The disclosed process results in random fiber orientation within the cushion member. Thus the resilient properties are approximately the same in any given direction within the cushion member.
In other applications (e.g. US 2005/0140059), fiber bats, e.g. carded fiber webs, with a pre-defined fiber orientation has been positioned in molds and molded into a resilient cushion member. In the resulting cushion member, the resilient properties will differ within the cushion member depending on the fiber orientation. This may be of interest in providing cushion members for chairs and sofas. However, fiber blanks with pre-defined fiber orientation suffer from lower mechanical resistance in some directions, e.g. perpendicular to the fiber orientation, posing limitations in positioning the fiber blank into the mold.
Regardless the molding technique used, it is of interest to keep the residence time in the mold low and to have flexibility in handling the fiber blank, whereas still providing the desired mechanic and resilient properties to the cushion member. Generally, the cycle time should be as low as possible in order to allow for efficient manufacturing. Further, the resilient properties in a direction perpendicular to the extension of the cushion member, i.e., in the load direction of the cushion member, should preferably be as high as possible in to provide comfort.
In EP 473 422 an apparatus for continuously producing fiber reinforced mold charge blanks for molding processes is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a shuttle assembly for transferring the mold charge blanks from the oven conveyor to a press. The apparatus is for pressing, i.e. preforming, a reinforcing member to provide a fiber reinforced mold charge blank to be impregnated with a liquid resin in providing a composite structure. The fiber reinforced mold charge blanks are positioned in the press by scraping them off from the shuttle assembly. Such a process is not suitable for handling and molding fiber blanks in which the fibers are arranged perpendicularly to the longitudinal extension of the fiber blank and to the transport direction in the process, as such a fiber blanks are very labile.
Thus, there is need for an efficient fiber block molding apparatus and process for providing molded cushion member, comprising thermally activated binding agent, with good resilient properties.

Molding of fiber blanks into three-dimensional fiber block articles


Apparatus and method for depositing reagent only on a specimen contained in a cavity utilizing reagent deposition apparatus under the control of imaging apparatus providing an image of the specimen within the cavity; and an analytic implement including a pair of opposed and spaced apart transparent plates mounted in a frame and providing the cavity therebetween for receiving the specimen.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of analytic devices, systems and methods, especially those performed on tissue specimens and body fluids deposited on glass slides, or contained between rigid planar glass or plastic sheets. More particularly, this invention addresses the introduction of reagent fluids to generate a reaction of interest with the specimen mounted or entrained within the cavity defined by parallel rigid optically transmissible plates.
Slide-based diagnostic procedures constitute the oldest class of in vitro analysis of specimens of clinical interest. The mounting of tissue or other sample on a planar glass surface for microscopic examination dates to the dawn of modern pathology. The enhancement of contrast in specimens has been accomplished by using staining chemicals which delineate the structure of the specimen. These cytology and histology stains have in the past been inexpensive chemicals which were applied to the specimen by total immersion of the slide. Wastage of stain fluid was not a consideration in these procedures.
Recent developments in biotechnology have yielded a class of staining reagents which are derived from recombinant DNA or monoclonal antibody production procedures. Unlike traditional cytology and histology reagents these are extremely costly and cannot be applied by immersion procedures. Conventional slide staining equipment cannot economically apply these reagents to slide-based specimens. The development of these extremely effective but costly reagents has defined a requirement for precision deposition of reagent materials on slide mounted or entrained specimens only in areas of procedural effectiveness. Currently this is accomplished manually. The economical and technical need for an automated means of accomplishing precision reagent deposition on specimens of this class is the stimulus for this invention.
2. Prior Art
Prior art citations describing parallel rigid plate specimen mounting or retention, and introduction of reactant materials include the following examples as an overview of the patent literature. Chediak (U.S. Pat. No. 2,561,339) describes a slide form comprising a separated parallel glass and plastic arrangement designed to receive specimens in discrete retention areas, and features a sliding cover plate. Wallace (U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,833) teaches a parallel plate laboratory slide apparatus employing a plurality of blind apertures molded into a plastic member mounted parallel to a glass substrate. The intent of this arrangement is to retain specimen and reactant. Meunier (U.S. Pat. No. 4,237,234) describes a radially arranged series of parallel plates between which specimen materials are placed. The device is representative of a class of laboratory test implements which employ centrifugal force to distribute or remove reactive agents from areas of interest. Cottingham (U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,695) discloses a slide-like reaction chamber which entrains particulate reagents between parallel plates, and introduces the reactants by means of capillary action. Lilja (U.S. Pat. No. 4,088,448) a planar cavity molded to define parallel walls in which a reactant fluid combination is introduced. Additionally, Meserol U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,353, issued to the inventor of this application, teaches a coplanar device in which the particulate reactant is caused to move and mix under rotation.
In the scientific literature, Badley, et al. reported a planar capillary device (Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. London. B 316, 143-160). Kronick and Little report a quartz plate planar cell assembly in Journal of Immunological Methods 8 (1975) 235-240. None of the cited prior art references employ a means of precision deposition under control of automata. There exists a need for a slide implement compatible with laboratory specimen forms such as sections or swab depositions, processed, prepared, and evaluated by an automated system capable of efficient reagent deposition in accordance with modern protocols and reagent formations.

Slide type analytic device, method, and preparation apparatus


Monolayer packages comprised of an oxygen scavenging composition suitable for direct contact with package contents and recycle with other polyester bottles are disclosed. The oxygen scavenging composition is comprised of a modified copolymer which is comprised of predominantly polyester segments and an oxygen scavenging amount of oxygen scavenging segments. The polyester segments comprise segments derived from typical bottling and packaging polyesters such as PET and PEN. Use of these oxygen scavenging copolymers in bottles provides a clear and rigid monolayer bottle similar in appearance to unmodified polyester bottles. In a series of preferred embodiments, bottles fabricated with the oxygen scavenging copolymers of this invention are over 99 wt % PET and contain less than 50 ppb of extractable components.

Plastic packaging materials continue to gain acceptance by the packaging industry because they are tough, lightweight, and easily fabricated into containers. The deployment of plastic materials into films, trays, bottles, cups, bowls, coatings and liners is already commonplace. Although plastic materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyethylene naphthlate (PEN) offer the packaging industry many benefits with broad design flexibility, the utility of plastic materials is often limited in situations where preventing ingress of atmospheric gases (primarily oxygen) is necessary to assure adequate product shelf life. When compared to traditional packaging materials such as glass and steel, plastics often offer inferior barrier properties which limits their acceptability for use in packaging items that are sensitive to atmospheric gases, such as beer and fruit juices, particularly when the exposure to the atmospheric gases could result in spoilage. The packaging industry continues to seek packaging materials for use with oxygen sensitive products that offer the design flexibility of plastics with the inherent recycle advantage of plastics and at the same time have the barrier properties of glass and steel.
The use of multilayer bottles that contain core layers of an oxygen scavenging material is commonplace. Typically, the center layer is a blend of inorganic, or organic polymeric, oxygen scavenging material. Multilayer oxygen scavenging packages and walls for a package are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,021,515, 5,639,815, and 5,955,527 to Cochran. The multilayer packages of Cochran comprise inner and outer layers of a non-oxidizable polymer and a core layer that consists of an oxidizable polymer and a catalyst or polymer blends containing an oxidizable polymer and a catalyst. The oxidizable polymer is a polyamide such as MXD-6 nylon. Although oxidizable polymers such as MXD-6 could be used as a single layer package wall, Cochran teaches that the oxidizable polymer is preferably protected from undesired direct contact with the package contents and the environment by the inner and outer layers.
Blends of PET and MXD-6 in multilayer applications are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,111 to Collette. Collette discloses a five layer preform wherein the inner, outer and core layer are formed of PET and the inner and outer intermediate layers are formed from a blend of PET and MXD-6. Similar to the bottles disclosed in Cochran, the oxidizable polymer, MXD-6, comprises the core layer and is encapsulated by PET in the multilayer container of Collette. This is because direct contact with the package contents may cause difficulties such as undesirable chemical reactions between the oxygen scavenger and the package contents or leaching of oxygen scavenger components or oxidation by-products into the package contents.
The multilayer containers of the prior art have several drawbacks. First, due to the dissimilar nature of the materials in the core and outer layers, they are not readily recyclable. Recycling for multilayer containers often requires separation of the barrier layer (nylon or EVOH) from the main portion of the recycling stream. Such separation is often incomplete and thus the barrier resin contaminates the recycle stream.
Second, it is both more difficult and more expensive to manufacture multilayer containers. Currently, there are few organizations that are capable of producing good quality multilayer barrier preforms. The difficulty is often achieving a uniform layer of barrier material since it may constitute as little as 4% of the total bottle weight. The barrier material must uniformly cover the total bottle surface in order to be effective. Any non-uniformity of the core layers leaves pathways through which oxygen may more readily permeate. It is recognized, however, that some multilayer fabricators may intentionally inject the scavenger at variable thicknesses throughout the part to increase the relative scavenger concentration in the thinnest areas of the final part. Third, to prevent contacting the food and beverage with the core layer material which may not be suitable for direct food contact, fabricators must precisely control placement of this material so that the food contact surface is pure PET. In order to do this molders must start and finish each molding cycle with pure PET. This leaves areas of the preform without coverage at the base and finish of the bottle through which oxygen can enter the container. Fourth, multilayer injection molding equipment is more difficult to operate, more expensive to purchase and maintain and is not as prevalent in the bottling industry as monolayer equipment which is currently used, for example, in soft drink applications.
Fifth, because the multilayer barrier bottles are made from dissimilar materials the interface between the materials is weak and the bottles often delaminate in use or when stressed during filling. This results in a wall that appears to be fractured. This is common with multilayer bottles that have an EVOH or an MXD6 nylon scavenger inner layer with outer layers of PET. Sixth, industrial scrap made from the multilayer bottle process cannot be directly ground up and re-used in the process for the same reasons that they are less desirable in the recycle stream. Finally, multilayer containers work against an oxygen scavenger's ability to eliminate headspace oxygen since the scavenging layer and the headspace are separated by the inert inner-most layer of the multilayer container which reduces the scavenger's effectiveness.
Monolayer packages of the prior art have drawbacks as well. The Collette '111 patent teaches monolayer blends of PET and MXD-6. But as discussed above, direct contact between the package wall and the package contents may cause undesirable migration of the oxygen scavenger or its by-products from the package wall into the package contents. This effects the taste of the contents and the appropriateness of the package for direct food contact applications. In addition, these blends require a minimum of 4% MXD-6 which leads to a loss of clarity (haze) in the final package because the two polymers are incompatible and phase separate. Because of the mixture of dissimilar materials, the PET/MXD-6 monolayer containers are not suitable for direct recycling and must be segregated and landfilled.
Thus, there is a need for an oxygen scavenging container that is readily recyclable, has substantially uniform distribution of the oxygen scavenger throughout the package wall, can be manufactured on conventional molding equipment, is not prone to delamination when stressed and has a low level of extractable components. A monolayer package comprised primarily of polyester yet possessing oxygen scavenging ability can satisfy this need.
One method proposed for providing oxygen scavenging ability to polyester is the incorporation of oxygen scavenging species into the polyester. Such incorporation would result in a modified polyester with enhanced oxygen barrier properties that could be formulated to meet the particular needs of the packaged product by varying the level of oxygen scavenging substance incorporated into the polyester. Naturally, increasing the oxygen barrier properties of packaging polyesters such as PET must be done without sacrificing the salient features and properties of PET. For the purposes of this invention, the salient features and benefits of PET include (1) transparency, (2) rigidity, (3) good passive barrier properties, (4) recycle capability, (5) processability, (6) reasonable cost, (7) a long history of use by the plastic packaging industry, and (8) does not adulterate the package contents. Thus, there are at least two separate considerations involved in development of materials and methods that could be used to improve the oxygen scavenging properties of PET. First, it is necessary to identify species which are readily oxidizable and possess high oxygen scavenging capacity so that their amount can be minimized. Logic dictates that use of the smallest amount of material should have the least impact on the other salient features of polyester packages as well as the lowest amount of extractable by-products. However, other considerations must be made in addition to oxygen scavenging capacity including such factors as cost, clarity, processability, recycling, etc. Second, it is necessary to devise a means for permanently incorporating the more promising scavenging species into the packaging and bottling polyesters to form desirable oxygen scavengers.
Applicants were able to satisfy both of these considerations by developing novel modified copolymer compositions comprising predominantly polycondensate segments and a lesser weight percentage of oxygen scavenging moiety (OSM) segments. These oxygen scavenging compositions can be incorporated directly into a monolayer container wall that has all the salient features of PET as well as the ability to scavenge both headspace oxygen and oxygen permeating through the container wall.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A falling protective device for protecting a hard disk of a falling portable computer against damages includes a falling sensor arranged in the portable computer for generating and sending an interrupt signal to a keyboard controller in response to a detected falling state of the computer. An SMI signal line is extended between and connected to the keyboard controller and a system BIOS of the computer. On receipt of the interrupt signal generated by the falling sensor, the keyboard controller sends an SMI signal via the SMI signal line to the system BIOS, which in turn sends a park control signal to park the hard disk or a power-off control signal to terminate the supply of working power to the hard disk. The system BIOS sends a polling signal via a polling signal line to the keyboard controller, so as to poll about a state signal of a default status bit in a default signal port of the keyboard controller.

Computer apparatus have been widely employed in factories, business offices, and homes. With the use or the help of computer apparatus, it is possible to obtain the highest working efficiency, the optimal advertising effect, and the most convenient living conditions. Particularly, in recent years, the popularization of portable or notebook computer has brought even increased conveniences to users.
However, the portable or notebook computer is subject to undesirable falling due to poor working environment, user negligence, or improper use of the computer, which would adversely affect the normal operation of the portable computer and result in damage of precision devices in the computer, including the hard disk thereof, and data in the damaged hard disk would be destroyed. To protect the hard disk of a portable computer from damages in falling or violent vibration, some portable computers are incorporated with a falling sensor.
There are various techniques of prior art for detecting and protecting a computer from possible damage at falling. For example, Taiwan Utility Model No. M298215 discloses a storage device with power failure protection. The storage device includes a sensing unit for sensing a displacement of the device in at least one dimension; a processor coupled with the sensing unit for receiving the displacement and then outputting a control signal; a medium unit coupled with the processor for reading or setting data; and a switch respectively coupled with the processor and the medium unit for receiving the control signal to turn on or off power supplied to the medium unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,982,573 discloses a disk drive having a fall detection control system that detects when a disk drive is in a free fall, and takes precautionary protective action to minimize physical damage from any resulting shock upon impact. The disk drive includes an accelerometer device that measures acceleration of the disk drive along three mutually orthogonal axes x, y, and z and resolves the measurement into respective x, y, and z vectors. In a method disclosed in the prior art, to minimize shock-induced damage of the disk drive, the acceleration of the falling disk drive is detected; the detected acceleration is compared with a selected acceleration threshold level; a duration that the detected acceleration exceeds the acceleration threshold level is measured; the measured duration is compared with a selected reference time period; and a warning signal is output when the measured duration exceeds the reference time period. Upon receipt of the warning signal, a controller initiates protective routines in preparation for shock.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,929 discloses a protective reflex system for a portable computer hard disk. The portable computer hard disk protective reflex system includes a three axis accelerometer, a dedicated processor, and a central processing unit of the portable computer. The accelerometer detects changes in the acceleration of the portable computer and generates a signal to the dedicated processor, informing the dedicated processor to tell the central processing unit of the portable computer to park the disk heads.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,472 discloses an apparatus for sensing operating shock on a disk drive. The apparatus comprises a piezoelectric polymer film, an amplifier and a comparator. The piezoelectric polymer film is encapsulated and electrically shielded by a metallic or metallic coated package, for sensing shock loads generated by or applied to the disk drive and generating a voltage to the amplifier for amplification and then to the comparator for comparison with a predetermined threshold voltage. The control circuit accordingly issues a write fault signal when the detected signal exceeds the predetermined threshold voltage, to stop writing of the read/write heads. The device may be mounted on the computer disk drive of the unit in such a manner as to be at a 45 degree angle to each of the x, y and z axis of the orthogonal coordinate system so that linear and torsional forces may be monitored.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,138 discloses an apparatus and method for preventing data corruption in disk drives from mechanical shock during write operations. The apparatus comprises includes a mechanical shock sensor to sense mechanical shocks having a magnitude exceeding a predetermined threshold. When a mechanical shock is detected, a write disable circuitry interrupts the write current to the disk drive write head. A repositioning circuitry then repositions the data head over the original data track and the incomplete data that was interrupted by the mechanical shock is rewritten. The method disclosed in the prior art includes the steps of sensing a mechanical shock having a magnitude exceeding a predetermined threshold; storing information identifying the data being written at the onset of the sensed shock; interrupting the write current to the write head; repositioning the data head to the original track; and rewriting the data which was interrupted because of the sensed shock.
The falling sensor in U.S. Pat. No. 6,771,449 includes a tubular conductive member, a flexible member arranged inside the tubular conductive member, and a weight arranged to an edge of the beam. The weight contacts the conductive member at the deflected state (the normal state) of the flexible member, and the weight comes out of contact with the conductive member during a falling of the magnetic disk drive. On detecting the falling state, the drive activates an evacuating operation to evacuate the magnetic head by the unload mechanism. Therefore, demolitions of the magnetic head and the magnetic disk by a crush between the magnetic head and the magnetic disk, which is caused by a shock at the end of falling, can be avoided.
Further, a protection apparatus for hard disk drive unit of a portable computer is disclosed. The device senses the acceleration of the computer when the computer is in a free fall, and a control microprocessor of the disk drive unit determines that such state lasts for longer than a certain minimum of time. Upon these conditions being met, the control microprocessor signals the removal of the heads from the disk to park the heads.
However, these prior art techniques are usually uneasy to effectuate; some of them necessitate modification of an internal structure of the hard disk, while others require a special and specific processor to achieve the protection of the hard disk of a falling portable computer.

Falling protective device for hard disk of a portable computer


A motor control unit having an anti-burning device is provided which includes a rotation detection device for detecting whether the rotational speed of a given motor is below a predetermined level, a power supply limiting device for limiting the time of supplying current to the motor according to its rotational speed when the speed has been detected by the rotation speed detection device to be below the predetermined level. Thereby, the motor is prevented from burning, deteriorating in performance or shortening in life when the motor is overloaded. Also, the rotation detection device detects the condition when the motor is not rotating, and a cyclic power supply device for supplying current at a given cycle when the motor has been found to be not rotating by the aforementioned rotation detection device. Thereby, if the motor has been locked under an overload condition the motor can be readily restarted automatically when the load has been relieved.

In conventional motor control units, for instance, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 280751/'86, a unit which generates a rotating magnetic field through repetitive energizations of the exciting coil and interruptions thereof by timing a transistor ON/OFF is known for starting or otherwise controlling a motor.
When a motor is overloaded, its speed will be lowered until it eventually locks. Then, the exciting coil of the motor is subjected to a current approximately three times greater than the current supplied when the motor is running under a normal load. This results in undue heating of the motor which causes the motor to burn, deteriorate, shorten in life and other similar malfunctions.
Therefore, a motor control unit provided with an anti-burning device has been used which, for instance, detects the temperatures of semiconductors constituting a control circuit. When the temperature of such semiconductors have risen above a preset temperature, the supply of current to the motor is stopped.
Furthermore, various motors used as power source have different resistance values of the exciting coil according to the rated voltage and the torque generated. Hence, the amount of current flowing through the exciting coil is different. Even with motors having the same amount of current flowing under an overloaded condition varies according to differences in the resistances of the exciting coils, environmental conditions, etc.
However, a motor control unit provided with a conventional anti-burning device, as mentioned above, is arranged so that the current supply to the motor is stopped upon detecting a rise in temperature of the semiconductor elements constituting the control circuit. Hence, with a motor having a relatively high amount of working current, it is possible for the anti-burning device to stop the supply of current to the motor even if the load on the motor is not extremely large.
Meanwhile, in a motor having a relatively low amount of current flowing even when it is overloaded, it is possible that the temperature of the semiconductor elements constituting the control circuit may not reach the preset temperature even if the motor is overloaded. In such a case, the anti-burning device may fail to act or act too late which may result in a failure to ensure the motor against burning, deteriorating, shortening in working life, etc.
To cope with this problem it is possible to modify the detection sensitivity and detect the rise in temperature of the control circuit according to the type of the motor to be controlled, but this is bound to result in the loss of the general purpose features of such a motor control unit.
In another function required for this kind of motor control unit, after the current supply to the motor is stopped by actuation of the anti-burning device, it is necessary to resume the current supply when the load on the motor has been relieved. In such a case, as mentioned above, it is possible that an anti-burning device for stopping the current supply to the motor through the detection of a rise in temperature of the semiconductors constituting the control circuit. It is conceivable to resume the current supply to the motor after stopping the current supply to the motor, the temperatures of the semiconductor drop below the predetermined temperature.
However, even if the load is relieved immediately after stopping the power supply to the motor, a relatively long amount of time is required before the temperature of the control circuit is lowered and the current supply is resumed. Also, the amount of time until the power supply resumes will vary depending on the environmental conditions such as the atmospheric temperature. Even when power supply is resumed, if the overload condition remains, it means that the overcurrent will continue to blow until the temperature of the control circuit increases and actuates the anti-burning device, which may cause a deterioration in performance and a shortening in life of the motor.

Motor control unit provided with anti-burning device


A method and a device for the detection of obstruction in image sensor systems made up of at least two image sensors, which record essentially the same scene. If at least one image feature of the respective images differs unacceptably between the respective images, a signal is generated indicating the obstruction.

Image sensor systems including at least two image sensors, which record essentially the same scene (so-called stereo camera systems), will be used in the future for object recognition, e.g. within the framework of a driver assistance system. Since the recorded images are evaluated in subsequent systems, the image sensor system has to provide for sure functioning and for ensuring the quality of the images, test its own performance reliability, react when faults appear, and especially inform subsequent systems evaluating the images on the manner of appearing, and possibly the type of the fault. One fault condition, which may impair the performance reliability of the image system or the quality of the images delivered, is the obstruction of the visual range of one of the image sensors by interfering objects. Such cases occur particularly in the field of motor vehicles when, for example, while it is raining, the windshield wiper runs briefly through the camera image or the windshield in front of a camera is dirty. Such an obstruction, for instance, has disturbing effects on a stereoscopic determination of distances to (from) objects.

Method and device for detecting obstruction in image sensor systems


A liquid crystal device 100 comprises a liquid crystal panel 110 and a holding member 120. A liquid crystal driving IC 115 and chip part 116 are mounted on a substrate extension portion 111T of the liquid crystal panel 110. The holding member 120 comprises, on an extension facing portion 122, a storing recess 122a for storing the liquid crystal driving IC 115, and a storing recess 122b for storing the chip part 116.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electro-optical device, a method for manufacturing the electro-optical device, a light guide, a liquid crystal device, a method for manufacturing the liquid crystal device, and electronic equipment, and particularly relates to an assembly structure between an electro-optical panel substrate and a holding member or circuit board disposed along the electro-optical panel substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, with various types of electro-optical devices such as liquid crystal devices, electroluminescence devices, organic electroluminescence devices, plasma display devices, and so forth, there are cases wherein electronic parts such as driving ICs and the like are mounted on electro-optical panel substrates made up of glass or the like.
For example, liquid crystal devices generally have a pair of liquid crystal substrates with electrodes formed on the inner faces thereof and liquid crystal sandwiched therebetween, wherein the orientation state of the liquid crystal thereof is controlled by controlling the voltage applied to the liquid crystal, thereby modulating incident light to the liquid crystal. With this liquid crystal device, generally liquid crystal driving ICs are used for controlling the voltage applied to the liquid crystal, but there are cases wherein the liquid crystal driving ICs are directly mounted on the liquid crystal substrates, and cases wherein the liquid crystal driving ICs are mounted indirectly by mounting structures (flexible line boards, circuit boards, etc.) connected to the liquid crystal substrate.
Also, the liquid crystal panel itself has only a light modulating function, so separate illuminating means is necessary for allowing the display to be visually recognized as a liquid crystal device. An example of such illuminating means is a back-light for example, and this back-light includes members such as a light guide positioned behind the liquid crystal panel along the liquid crystal substrate.
However, in recent years, there is the need to advance reduction in size and reduction in weight of liquid crystal devices even further in order to meet the demands for reduction in thickness and reduction in weight and so forth regarding electronic equipment, so there is the need to reduce the thickness and reduce the weight of the overall liquid crystal device including the illuminating means such as the back-light and so forth, and there is the need to aim for securing space within the electronic equipment.
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and accordingly it is an object thereof to provide a structure for electro-optical equipment whereby reduction in thickness and reduction in weight can be realized, a structure of a light guide, and electronic equipment having these. Also, it is an object thereof to provide a manufacturing method whereby reduction in thickness and reduction in weight of electro-optical devices can be realized.

Electro-optical device, method for manufacturing electro-optical device, light guide, liquid crystal device, method for manufacturing liquid crystal device, and electronic equipment


A flex cable for a head stack assembly of a hard disk drive comprises a base film, a first adhesive layer coupled with the base film, and at least one interrogation trace and at least one signal trace coupled with the first adhesive layer. The interrogation trace is configured to be probed to measure a deterioration of electrical conductivity. The flex cable has a second adhesive layer that is coupled with the interrogation trace, the signal trace, and the first adhesive layer. The flex cable comprises a cover film coupled with the second adhesive layer.

Flex circuits are used to electrically couple components together such that relative motion between the components is made possible while maintaining electrical coupling. Relative motion between components can be desirable in either the operation of the components or in their assembly. If the relative motion provided by the flex circuit is required for the operation of the components, the flex cycles can be as much as several thousand to hundreds of millions of flex cycles. If relative motion is provided by the flex circuit to facilitate assembly, the number of flex cycles can be as few as one or two flex cycles.
A hard disk drive (HDD) uses several flex circuits, known as flex cables in the HDD industry, which facilitate assembly as well as provide electrical coupling of components during HDD operation which require relative motion of the coupled components. The assembling of components in an HDD typically involve several operations wherein the flex cable is subjected to bending and at times overstressing due to the flex cable inappropriately interacting with a test fixture or an assembly tool. Examples of such inappropriate interaction of the flex cable with a test fixture or an assembly tool can be: pinching, chafing, scraping, creasing, tearing, and the like. The overstressing can go undetected until the flex cable fails a test at a higher level of assembly. Higher levels of assembly have higher cost associated with them since more components and more labor have been introduced to the flex cable at the higher level of assembly. An overstressed flex cable discovered at a higher level of assembly incurs more cost than if the overstressed flex cable had been discovered at a lower level of assembly.

Flex cable for a hard disk drive having an interrogation trace

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, Netherlands B.V.


A network shelf system is disclosed, which includes a network mounting shelf for mounting networking components and a rotatable swivel mounting assembly, for a patch panel. There is a support shelf disposed intermediate associated support brackets, which mount the network shelf system to a wall or like structure. The rotatable swivel mounting assembly is rotatably mounted to and extends between the support brackets. Also, disposed intermediate the support brackets and below the mounting shelf may be a patch panel, which is securely attached to the rotatable swivel mounting assembly at the patch panel's center line to allow the patch panel to be rotationally positioned between zero and one hundred and eighty degrees to provide access to punch down blocks, located on the posterior side of the patch panel, from either above or below the network shelf system or any position therebetween. There is also a "stand-alone" system having no attached shelf wherein the rotatable swivel mounting assembly may be attached to standard relay racks or may also be wall mounted. All embodiments of the invention allow a patch panel to be rotated in place, without requiring the patch panel to be moved to any other space, as is the case with conventional hinged mechanisms, in order to have work performed on both sides of the patch panel.

This invention relates to network shelf systems, which are used to support networking equipment and to provide mounts for patch panels for interconnecting communication cables.
Telephone and data cables in a building, for example, interconnect telephone handsets and computer terminals located at desks and offices throughout the building with each other and with centralized communication facilities, including trunk lines, network servers, and PBX equipment. To permit flexibility in configuring and later changing the interconnections, cables are run from each telephone, computer, truckline, PBX, server, and other device, to a central interconnection "closet". The end of each wire of a cable is connected to terminals in a punch down block, which is commonly part of a patch panel. The terminals of the punch down block are in turn tied to accessible modular connectors. The final interconnection of cables is then achieved by short cables run between selected pairs of the connectors. To reconfigure the interconnection scheme, the user simply disconnects and reconnects the short cables to other pairs of the connectors.
Setting up an interconnection closet is a labor intensive activity. Typically, there are a large number of patch panels. The many hundreds of wires in the cables routed to the closet must be individually punched down into the blocks. Then, the patch panels must be individually mounted on a rack or in a cabinet often using screws.
Occasionally a new cable is run into the closet and must be punched down to one of the blocks. This requires that the installer have access to the back of the blocks where the punching down is done.
Various wall mounted patch panel devices have been configured to attempt to allow an installer to have ready access to the back of their punch down blocks. These configurations typically include hinges, which allow the patch panel to swing left to right or top to bottom to give access to the back of the panel. Both of these arrangements require careful cable management to prevent excessive stresses on the attached wires. Also, since punching down typically requires an installer to apply substantial forces in order to punch down a wire or cable, many patch panels are, or must be, configured to be removed from a rack or a wall to another location (e.g., a table), which is able to support the panel against the forces exerted during punching down. An alternate arrangement, which is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,193 (Lo Cicero et al.), is a Patch Panel System, which includes a support shelf against which a hinged patch panel is supported to allow an installer to readily apply the necessary forces to punch down a connection. However, a significant drawback of the Lo Cicero Patch Panel System is that it requires an installer to be physically located at an elevation above the patch panel system in order to apply forces against the support shelf when punching down connections. Thus, the Lo Cicero Patch Panel System can only be used in relatively low locations. Accordingly, a drawback of Lo Cicero and other patch panel systems is that they cannot be stacked up to the ceiling level and still be readily accessible by an installer.


A method characterizes field of view (FOV) distortion and may correct machine vision measurements accordingly. A plurality of distorted images are acquired, with the same calibration target at a plurality of spaced-apart locations within the FOV. The method analyzes the images and determines distortion parameters that can correct the distortions in the images such that features included in the calibration target pattern achieve a sufficient or optimum degree of congruence between the various images. Distortion parameters may be determined for each optical configuration (e.g., lens combination, magnification, etc.) that is used by a machine vision inspection system. The distortion parameters may then be used to correct FOV distortion errors in subsequent inspection and measurement operations.

Precision machine vision inspection systems (or "vision systems" in short) can be used to obtain precise dimensional measurements of inspected objects. Such systems may include a computer, a camera and optical system, and a precision stage that is movable in multiple directions so as to allow the camera to scan the features of a workpiece that is being inspected. One exemplary prior art system that is commercially available is the QUICK VISION® series of PC-based vision systems and QVPAK® software available from Mitutoyo America Corporation (MAC), located in Aurora, Ill. The features and operation of the QUICK VISION® series of vision systems and the QVPAK® software are described in the QVPAK 3D CNC Vision Measuring Machine User's Guide, published January 2003, and the QVPAK 3D CNC Vision Measuring Machine Operation Guide, published September 1996, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. This product, as exemplified by the QV-302 Pro model, uses a microscope-type optical system to provide images of a workpiece at various magnifications, and moves the stage to traverse the workpiece surface beyond the limits of any single video image.
Measurement accuracy in the micron or sub-micron range may be desired in such systems. At such accuracy levels, even a slight FOV distortion due to optical system imperfections may lead to unacceptable measurement errors. The present invention is directed to providing a system and method for correcting the FOV distortion to a refined level in a precision machine vision inspection system.

Robust field of view distortion calibration


Apparatus for separating solids and liquids has an initial separator for removing coarse solid material from a mixture of solids and liquids, a first screen for separating further solid material from the liquid and a first auger extending axially through the first cylindrical screen for removing the separated further solid material from the first cylindrical screen. A second screen receives the liquid from the first screen and separates fine particles from the liquid, and a compactor between the first and second screens compacts the solid material removed from the first screen by the first auger. A second auger is provided in the second screen for mixing and removing the compacted solid material and the separated fine particles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates apparatus for separating liquids and solids, e.g. from a mixture of biological waste material or sludge and water.
More particularly, the present invention is useful, for example, in the treatment of biological waste and sludge by dewatering and composing to form fertilizer, and in the conversion of waste water into usable water or even into drinking water, and may be employed in the treatment of waste in waste treatment plants, from municipal sewerage systems, industrial sewage treatment plants, and other sources of human and animal waste, for example slaughter houses, hospitals and other buildings, greenhouses and other agricultural installations. The present apparatus may be connected to or separate from sewers and is useful both in fixed installations and in mobile waste treatment apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For the separation of solids from liquids, it is known to employ a cylindrical screen or basket formed of a plurality of circular bars which are spaced apart axially of the screen and which extend around an auger which is coaxial with the screen and which extends upwardly, at an inclination from the screen, for conveying separated solids from the screen. The auger is provided in an upwardly-open semi-cylindrical trough. The incoming mixture of liquid and solid material flows into the cylindrical screen through a lower, open end of the screen, and the liquid then flows outwardly from the screen between the circular bars, so that the solid material in retained on the interior of the screen. The screen is rotated periodically to raise the solid material over the auger, into which the solid material drops, or a rake is rotated around the interior of the screen to collect and raise the solid material so that it can then be deposited in the auger. One such apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,461, issued May 5, 1992 to the present inventor.

Apparatus for separating liquids and solids comprising screens and augers


When a recording start executed in a variable-speed recording mode, at ST44 a signal having a variable frame rate is selected on the basis of a validity signal from among image signals having a predetermined output frame rate in which the images having the variable frame rate are contained and stored in a memory. If it is decided at ST46 that a phase difference between a write position and a read position in the memory has reached a recording start level, the stored signal is recorded in a recording medium at ST47. If it is decided at ST48 that the phase difference has decreased to a recording stop level, recording to the recording medium is stopped at ST49. When an end operation is executed at ST51, the signal in the memory is recorded in the recording medium to then end actions. The signals are selected and recorded, thus resulting in a smaller signal quantity. Further, if the variable frame rate is varied, video effects can be confirmed only by reproducing the recorded signals.

In conventional movie production etc., to obtain special video effects, a shooting speed of a film camera, that is, the number of frames per second during the shooting varies. For example, if the shooting is made at a speed higher than an ordinary one and played back at the ordinary speed, images are reproduced slowly. Therefore, it is possible to observe easily and in detail a slow motion of, for example, a water droplet falling on a water surface. If the shooting is made at a speed lower than an ordinary one and played back at the ordinary speed, on the other hand, images are reproduced speedily. Therefore, it is possible to present images having high realistic sensations in which a speed sensation is increased in a scene of a fight, car chase, etc.
Further, while in TV program production etc., the digitalization of shooting, editing, broadcasting, etc. for a program has been conventionally involved, film making, etc. is also intended to be digitalized recently owing to improvements in picture quality and decreases in equipment cost as digital technologies has progressed.
Note here that in a case where images are shot using a video camera owing to digitalization of film making etc., to obtain the above-mentioned special video effects, for example, not only image signals obtained by shooting at a predetermined speed but also image signals obtained by shooting at a high speed or a low speed are all recorded in a recording device such as a server so that an image signal of frame images required to obtain the special video effects may be read from these recorded image signals to process the images, thereby creating the image signal that provides special video effects.
In such a manner, the image signals shot at several frame rates are all recorded in the server, so that the server needs to have a large storage capacity. Further, to confirm the special video effects, the image signals must be read from the server to perform image processing, so that those effects cannot be confirmed readily at, for example, a site of film making.
Further, to easily obtain the special video effects such as high speed playback or slow playback, a shooting device that is possible to vary a frame rate during shooting (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application. Laid-open Publication No. 2000-125210) is used to shoot at a frame rate lower than a predetermined one and then, the reproduction thereof is executed at the predetermined frame rate, thereby easily obtaining high speed playback images. Alternatively, by shooting at a higher frame rate and then, the reproduction thereof is executed at the predetermined frame rate, slow playback images can be obtained easily. However, in the case of recording an image signal output from this shooting device, if a recording device has a constant recording frame rate, an image signal having this recording frame rate is generated so that the number of effective picture frames corresponding to the frame rate at the time of shooting may be contained in this image signal. Therefore, if recording the image signal output from the shooting device at the recording frame rate, it is impossible to efficiently record only a signal having a required effective picture frame rate.

Picked up image recording system, signal recording device, and signal recording method


The present invention defines a method of unbiased policing of data flow in a network device. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the token bucket policer of the network device ‘permits’ (forwards) incoming packets even when the size of the token bucket is less than the size of the incoming packets. Permitting incoming packets that are larger than the token bucket ensures that incoming packets are not dropped because of the size of the incoming packets. Incoming packets are policed by TBP when the magnitude comparison of the token bucket and a predetermined constant value does not comply with the policing scheme defined for the incoming packets. When a packet is ‘permitted’ (forwarded), the size of the token bucket is reduced by an amount equal to the size of the packet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to packet switching and routing systems, specifically to packet forwarding techniques.
2. Description of the Related Art
In data networks, Quality of Service (QoS) is a feature that allows network devices to drop packets on a selective basis to avoid or reduce congestion in the network. Generally, the elements of QoS include: "classification" and "policing". Packets are classified into different traffic classes according to a policy defined by the network administrator. For each class of traffic, packets are processed based on certain policing parameters set by the network-administrator using a given policing algorithm. When packets conform to assigned 'policing' parameters, the packets are referred to as "in-profile" packets and when the packets do not conform to the 'policing' parameters, the packets are referred to as "out-of-profile" packets. The network device forwards or 'permits' 'in-profile' packets. "Out-of-profile" packets are dropped or marked. Marking of "out-of-profile" packets lowers the priority of the packets and increases the probability that another network device in the network may drop the packets. Packets that are dropped or marked by the network device are referred to as "policed" packets.
Various algorithms exist to perform the policing of packets. Each algorithm can be implemented in a network device using a logic-module referred to as a 'policer'. The 'policer' performs certain computations according to an algorithm defined by the network administrator on all incoming packets. One such policer that limits the total number of bytes of all incoming packets in any defined interval of time is referred to as 'token bucket policer' or a 'leaky-bucket regulator'. A token bucket policer in a network device regulates the incoming data by limiting the data from a given incoming port to a predefined maximum amount during any given time interval. A user can contract with the network administrator to allow certain bit rate through the incoming port of a given network device. In such case, the policer of the network device limits the number of bits of the incoming port during any given time interval 'T' to: [(T*contract-rate)+burst size]. Where the 'contract-rate' is the mean bit rate agreed upon by the user and the network administrator and the burst is the maximum number of bits allowed above the contract rate during any given time.
In token bucket metaphor, a token bucket (state variable) represents the amount of data that any given port can transmit during a given time interval through a network device. The token bucket has a specified capacity. The value of the token bucket is increased according to a predefined bit rate. The maximum value of the token bucket is the maximum burst size contracted by the user. In token bucket policer implementation, the incoming data at a given port is measured and compared against the token bucket. When the value of the token bucket is greater than the size of an incoming packet, the incoming packet is 'permitted' to traverse through the network device. When the value of the token bucket is less than the size of the incoming packet, the incoming packet is 'policed'. When the packet is policed, the network device either drops the incoming packet or marks the incoming packet.
The conventional implementation of token bucket algorithm presents a problem when different sized packets arrive at a network device. When there is congestion in the network, the token bucket algorithm favors smaller sized packets over larger sized packets. Congestion occurs when the incoming data-rate is greater than the contract-rate. For example, when two users are coupled to a network device via a single port, both the users can send traffic on the ports. The traffic from both the users is policed according to the same policing scheme. During the congestion, if the users send different sized packets, the network device allows smaller sized packet to flow through and the larger sized packets are dropped. This can be illustrated by the following example.
Two users, A and B, are connected to a network device via a single port. The network device has one token bucket policer (TBP) for the port. The traffic from both the users is policed by the TBP. The TBP is configured to allow traffic with a contract rate of 10 Mbps. The traffic from user A includes 64 byte packets arriving at a speed of 11 Mbps. The traffic from user B includes 1K bytes packets arriving at 11 Mbps. The cumulative incoming traffic that is mapped to the TBP is 22 Mbps (11+11) which is greater than contract rate, 10 Mbps. Initially, the traffic from users A and B is permitted until a steady state is reached and bucket of the TBP is empty. The network device adds tokens into the token bucket according to the contracted rate. The incoming packets are held into an incoming buffer. When enough tokens are accumulated in the bucket, the 64 bytes packets from user A 'sneaks' through the network device because the packet size is smaller and the token bucket includes just enough tokens to allow the smaller packets. In such case, the 1K bytes packets from user B are always blocked (policed). Thus, once a steady state is reached, the traffic from user A is permitted (10 Mbps permitted, 1 Mbps policed) and the entire traffic from user B is policed.
Similarly, when a single token bucket policer is assigned to multiple incoming data flows with different sized packets (multiple users on single port, single user on multiple ports, multiple users on multiple ports or the like) and the incoming data is higher than the contract rate during a certain time window, the token bucket policer permits higher percentage of smaller sized packets as compared to larger sized packets during such time window.
A method of packet policing is needed that can eliminate the 'bias' for smaller sized packets and allow 'unbiased' forwarding of different sized packets during traffic congestion.


Electrical connections between a motor vehicle wire harness (32) and an air bag module (65) are made by a unitary switching module (55) provided with accessory switches (57) therein and electrical connectors (112) which receive mating connectors from the wire harness and electrical accessory controls (35 and 40) disposed on the steering wheel.

In the evolution of automotive design, great importance has recently been placed on automotive safety and ergonomics. Modern automobiles are provided with many safety systems to protect both the vehicle itself and its passengers, in the event of a collision. Among such safety systems is the supplemental passenger restraint system for the front seat occupants of the vehicle. This system, oftentimes referred to as an air bag system, is provided in the hub of the steering wheel for the vehicle driver and occasionally, at the right-hand end of the vehicle's instrument panel for the front seat passenger.
In the case of the driver's side supplemental restraint system, the hub of the steering wheel houses an air bag, a rapidly combustible material which when burned, gives off gases which inflate the bag and an ignition system for initiating the combustion. The hub is covered by a soft, frangible, flexible cover which tears open under the force of air bag inflation, thereby allowing the bag to fill the area of the passenger compartment between the driver and the steering wheel as the bag inflates. The flexibility of the cover contributes to the frangibility thereof, provides a soft shock absorbing surface to reduce the risk of injury during minor incidents in which the air bag does not deploy, and provides an aesthetically pleasing extension of the colors and textures employed in other parts of the vehicle's passenger compartment.
One of the primary goals of modern ergonomic vehicle design is to provide controls which are conveniently accessible to the driver with a minimum of diversion of the drivers attention from the road. Since the vehicle's accessories are, for the most part, manually actuatable and operable, accessories such as horns, cruise controls and the like are conveniently operable from the steering wheel itself. Historically, horn buttons (switches) were positioned at the center of the steering wheel and studies have shown that drivers who are not completely familiar with the operation of a vehicle will instinctively reach for the center of the steering wheel when they wish to operate the horn. However, prior art horn buttons have not generally been conducive for use with steering wheels having flexible air bag covers. Thus, automotive interior designers have been forced to move horn buttons to the spokes of the steering wheel and, in some cases, to stalks extending outwardly from the steering column. Both locations have been found to be more inconvenient than the center of the steering wheel from the standpoint of the driver.
Recently, conventional horn switches have been mounted in vehicle steering wheel hubs beneath air bag modules containing the bag, a gas generator and an ignitor so that when it is desired to actuate the horn, the driver depresses the entire air bag module. Typically, a plurality of horn switches are connected in parallel to the vehicle's wiring within the hub of the steering wheel, below the air bag module such that actuation of any single switch will activate the horn. Heretofore, it has been the practice to employ stamped metal or wire conductors to connect such horn switches to the vehicle's wiring by such prior art connectors as crimp or screw-type connectors. Such arrangements exhibit a number of significant shortcomings. For example, use of individual wires and/or metal stampings requires substantial hand labor during vehicle assembly operations and, therefore, contributes significantly to the cost of steering wheel assembly. Moreover, such stamped metal connectors and individual wires are also subject to damage from overlying components in the supplemental restraint system when the steering wheel is assembled. In fact, it is oftentimes necessary to employ wire retention clips to position the wires so as not to be so damaged, to employ shields to protect the wires from such damage, both of which add to the bulk and complexity of the steering wheel assembly and contribute further to the manufacturing costs thereof.
Moreover, with the prior art connection techniques mentioned hereinabove, there is significant risk of assembly error. That is, right-hand and left-hand conductor stampings risk being inadvertently reversed in vehicle assembly operations, often resulting in inoperability of the electrical system within the steering wheel or damage to the horn switch connections during subsequent assembly operations. Quality control testing of such systems is also inconvenient in that it must be performed within the vehicle as the vehicle undergoes further assembly.
Accordingly, an improved scheme for making electrical connections to vehicle accessory switches such as horn switches and the like in a steering wheel hub beneath an air bag module, characterized by simplicity and reliability of structure, economy of manufacture, and ease of assembly and testing is desirable.

Electric signalling in a supplemental vehicle restraint system