The present invention monitors and interprets physiological signals and spontaneous breathing events to detect the onset of arousal. Once the onset of arousal is determined, the present invention determines adjustments that are needed in the operation of a therapeutic device to avoid or minimize arousals. In one embodiment, the present invention includes one or more sensors which detect a patient's physiological parameters, a controller which monitors and determines the onset of arousal based on the physiological variables received from the sensor, and a therapeutic treatment device which is controlled by the controller. The sensor can be a combination of one or more devices which are able to monitor a physiological parameter that is used by the present invention to determine the onset of arousal or the onset of a sleep disorder. The sensors can be integrated into one unit or may operate independent of the others.

Many therapeutic treatments are administered to a patient while they are sleeping or are attempting to fall asleep. While these treatments may achieve their intended result, they also often severely affect the quality of sleep that the patient gets while undergoing these treatments. These treatments often interrupt the patient's normal progression of sleep, causing transient arousals. While these arousals do not result in the awakening of the patient, they often pull patients from deeper stages or higher quality states of sleep. Patients often do not reenter these deeper stages of sleep for a relatively long period of time.
In some instances, a therapeutic treatment may cause numerous arousals. This fragments the patient's sleep and prevents the patient from reaching the deeper stages of sleep. Studies have shown that fragmented sleep results in excessive daytime sleepiness. This, in turn, is a direct contributor to many accidents, to a general feeling of lethargy, deterioration of cognitive performance, and/or daytime sleepiness, in the patient.
One example of therapeutic treatments causing sleep fragmentation is in the treatment of sleep disorders. Continuous Positive Air Pressure (CPAP) treatments are a primary remedy for a number of sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, hypopnea, and snoring. CPAP treatments consist of delivering a constant positive airway stream of air pressure into a patient's airway during sleep in order to keep the patient's airway from collapsing upon itself. State-of-the-art CPAP machines, often called auto-titration PAP (APAP) machines, automatically adjust the pressure of the delivered air in order to accommodate a patient's respiratory pattern. to the rapid changes of pressure in the patient's airway caused by the APAP machines. Another drawback of current state-of-the-art APAP machines is that they are subject to either false positives (such as when UAR and/or natural irregular breathing events are not pre-empted or do not occur, despite false detection of such and associated treatment control change) or false negatives (such as when genuine upper airway resistance (UAR) and/or related events are pre-empted or do occur but are not detected or responded to with treatment control change). This is due in part to the reliance of these machines on the correct interpretation of an inspiratory waveform and the inaccuracies related to the interpretation of the underlying waveform by the APAP machine. This can also be due to current state of the art gas delivery (or other treatment control such as pacemaker devices) devices inability to enable suitable algorithms to detect and adapt their computation detection sufficiently to pre-empt or predict the probability or onset likelihood of shallow breathing, UAR, arousals, and or associated sleep fragmentation or sleep quality deterioration.
The inspiratory waveform varies periodically for reasons not always associated with upper airway resistance. The use of inspiratory waveform as the primary or only means of detection of UAR-related events can cause remedial auto titration measures to be taken when none should be. This is particularly evident where the inspiratory waveform analysis technique does not employ an underlying time-course computational method. The time-course computational method refers to comparing a previous sequence of breaths (prestored from previous treatment session or stored from current session breathing data) or the current breath and comparing the variations or changes as an inferred measure of arousal or sleep fragmentation onset. Excessively rapid or excessively insensitive pressure changes often occur when an auto-CPAP machine tries to correct a normal non-UAR related event, or misses detecting the presence of subtle shallow breathing, hypopnea or UAR, respectively. It is believed that the primary cause of sleep fragmentation is the rapid pressure changes in the patient airway produced by the current APAP machines.
In addition to the above, studies have also suggested that some APAP machines are limited in their ability to accurately detect the onset or incidence of shallow breathing, mild hypopnea, or UAR events. This limitation is also possibly attributed to limitations of the machines in interpreting the wave form. Misdiagnosis of such mild hypopnea events results in increased UAR which in turn results in arousal and subsequent sleep fragmentation.
Current state-of-the-art therapeutic devices do not optimally adapt to minimize arousals during therapy. Each patient's arousal threshold is affected by varying parameters, yet current state of the art devices do not have adaptive control algorithms that can adapt their treatment levels to accommodate a number of these varying parameters. These varying parameters include (but are not limited to) sleep history such as sleep deprivation or sleep propensity, physiological factors, psychological factors including (but not limited to) stress or anxiety, environmental factors including temperature; noise; lighting; vibration, factors such as varying threshold to arousals with changing age, drugs and alcohol effects to arousal thresholds and others.
Consequently, in light of the inherent drawbacks in current therapeutic methods for administering treatments to patients who are sleeping or are attempting to sleep, there exists a need for an apparatus and method of monitoring for patient arousal and for adapting a therapeutic treatment to minimize arousal.

Method and apparatus for maintaining and monitoring sleep quality during therapeutic treatments


The present invention provides improved compression ratios for small data sets with only a minor impact of the compression ration of larger data sets by rapidly tracking the statistics at the beginning of the compression run, slowing down to a traditional pace as the size increases. This is accomplished by limiting the size of the probability table at the start. As more data passes through the compressor, the size of the table is expanded. The size of the probability is controlled by gradually opening the context window for limited number of bytes at the beginning of the data set.

Data compression systems are known in the prior art that encode a stream of digital data signals into compressed digital code signals and decode the compressed digital code signals back into the original data. Data compression refers to any process that attempts to convert data in a given format into an alternative format requiring less space than the original. The objective of data compression systems is to effect a savings in the amount of storage required to hold or the amount of time required to transmit a given body of digital information.
To be of practical utility, a general purpose digital data compression system should satisfy certain criteria. The system should have reciprocity. In order for a data compression system to possess the property of reciprocity it must be possible to re-expand or decode the compressed data back into its original form without any alteration or loss of information. The decoded and original data must be identical and indistinguishable with respect to each other. The property of reciprocity is synonymous to that of strict noiselessness used in information theory. Some applications do not require strict adherence to the property of reciprocity. One such application in particular is when dealing with graphical data. Because the human eye is not that sensitive to noise, some alteration or loss of information during the compression de-compression process is acceptable.
The system should provide sufficient performance with respect to he data rates provided by and accepted by the devices with which the data compression and de-compression systems are communicating. The rate at which data can be compressed is determined by the input data processing rate into the compression system, typically in millions of bytes per second (megabytes/sec). Sufficient performance is necessary to maintain the data rates achieved in present day disk, tape and communication systems which rates typically exceed one megabyte/sec. Thus, the data compression and de-compression system must have enough data bandwidth so as to not adversely affect the overall system. The performance of data compression and de-compression systems is typically limited by the computations necessary to compress and de-compress and the speed of the system components such as, random access memory (RAM), and the like, utilized to store statistical data and guide the compression and de-compression process. Performance for a compression device is characterized by the number of processor cycles required per input character under the compressor. The fewer the number of cycles, the higher the performance.
Another important criteria in the design of data compression and de-compression systems is compression effectiveness, which is characterized by the compression ratio. The compression ratio is the ratio of data size in uncompressed form divided by the size in compressed form. In order for data to be compressible, the data must contain redundancy. Compression effectiveness is determined by how effectively the compression procedure uses the redundancy in the input data. In typical computer stored data, redundancy occurs both in the nonuniform usage of individual symbology, example digits, bytes, or characters, and in frequent recurrence of symbol sequences, such as common words, blank record fields and the like.
General purpose data compression procedures are also known in the prior art, three relevant procedures being the Huffman method, the Tunstall method and the Lempel-Ziv method. The Huffman method is widely known and used, reference thereto in article of D. A. Huffman entitled "A Method For Construction Of Minimum Redundancy Codes", Proceedings IRE, 40, 10 pages 1098-1100 (September 1952). Reference to the Tunstall algorithm may be found in Doctoral thesis of B. P. Tunstall entitled "Synthesis of Noiseless Compression Codes", Georgia Institute of Technology (September 1967). Reference may be had to the Lempel-Ziv procedure in a paper authored by J. Ziv and A. Lempel entitled "A Universal Algorithm For Sequential Data Compression", IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, IT-23, 3, pages 337-343 (May, 1977).
One of the first general purpose data compression procedures developed is the Huffman method. Briefly described, the Huffman procedure maps full length segments of symbols into variable length words. The Huffman data compression procedure suffers from two limitations. Firstly, the Huffman procedure operates under the constraint that the input data to be compressed be parsed into fixed length segments of symbols. Although the Huffman procedure provides the best compression ratio that can be obtained under these constraints, when the constraint is relaxed it is possible to obtain significantly better compression ratios by utilizing other procedures. Secondly, Huffman coding requires full knowledge of the statistical characteristic of the source data. The Huffman procedure operates under the assumption that the probability with which each fixed length input segment occurs is known. This requirement of the Huffman procedure can in practice, be satisfied by the use of an adaptive version of the procedure which accumulates the necessary statistics during processing of the data. This, however, is cumbersome, and requires considerable working memory space and performs sub-optimally during adaptation.
The Tunstall algorithm, which maps variable length segments of symbols into fixed length binary words, is complimentary to the Huffman procedure with the fixed length constraints now applied to the output segments instead of the input segments. Like the Huffman procedure, the Tunstall procedure requires a foreknowledge of the source data probabilities. Again this foreknowledge requirement can be satisfied to some degree by utilizing an adaptive version which accumulates the statistics during processing of the data.
The Lempel-Ziv procedure maps variable length segments of the symbols into variable length binary words. It is asymptotically optimal when there are no constraints on the input or output segments. In this procedure the input data string is parsed into adaptively grown segments, each segment consisting of an exact copy of an earlier portion of the input string suffixed by one new symbol from the input data. The copy which is to be made is the longest possible and is not constrained to coincide with any earlier parsed segment. The code word which replaces the segment in the output contains information consisting of a pointer to where the earlier copied portion begins, the length of the copy, and the new symbol.
It would appear that Huffman or Shannon-Fano coding is the perfect means of compressing data. However, this is not the case. As mentioned above, these coding methods are optimal when and only when the symbol probabilities are integral powers of 1/2, which is usually not the case.
The technique of arithmetic coding does not have this restriction: It achieves the same effect as treating the message as one single unit (a technique which would, for Huffman coding, require enumeration of every single possible message), and thus attains the theoretical entropy bound to compression efficiency for any source.
In arithmetic coding, one decision after another is encoded to define successfully smaller, lesser included intervals along a number line. Additional information on arithmetic coding can be found in "An Introduction To Arithmetic Encoding"; by G. G. Langdon, Jr., IBM Journal of Research and Development, Vol. 28, n. 2, March 1984, 135-149; and "Arithmetic Compression Code Control Parameters Approximation"; by D. R. Helman, G. G. Langdon, Jr., and J. J. Rissanen, Vol. 23, n. 11, April 1981, 5112-5114 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,297, "Arithmetic Coding Encoder And Decoder System", Langdon, Jr. et al. all incorporated herein by reference.
As noted in the above articles, arithmetic coding provides that each decision has a plurality of possible exclusive outcomes "or events". Each outcome or event is represented in data by a symbol. In the imaging environment, for example, each decision may correspond to whether or not a given pixel is black. The decision outcome being represented by a Y (or YES) symbol if the pixel is black or an N (or NO) symbol if the pixel is not black. Thus, a plurality of decisions may then be represented by a sequence of symbols, e.g., YNNY . . . .
In accordance with prior arithmetic coding teachings, a probability line has a current interval defined thereon. The first current interval is 0 to 1. The current interval is divided into segments in which segment corresponds to one possible outcome for the next decision. Where there are only two possible outcomes for each decision, the current interval is divided into two segments. The length of each segment is based on its respective associated probability. The respective probabilities may remain fixed or may adapt as decision data is entered.
It is the correlating of large segments to symbols which occur with greater frequency that leads to the compression effect. In the former cited article ("An Introduction To Arithmetic Encoding"), a 4-symbol arithmetic coding example is set forth in which each decision can result in an "a" event (having a 50% probability), a "b" event (having a 25% probability), a "c" event (having a 12.5% probability), or a "d" event (having a 12.5% probability). Representing the four events in binary form would require two bits for each decision, where the events would be represented respectively by 00, 01, 10, 11. For three decisions such as "aab" which is highly likely, the straight forward encoding data would be 00 00 01; requiring six bits. However, as observed in the article at page 137, the arithmetic coding approach permits the sequence "aab" to be represented by the value 0.001. Instead of six bits, the information can be represented in three bits. This conservation of bits results as successive events having relatively high associated probabilities occur.
The conservation deteriorates if numerous events occur for which there are low probabilities and relatively short line segments. With the above noted probabilities, a sequence of events "dd" would be represented with encoded data as 11 11 whereas, by arithmetic coding, the "dd" events would be represented by 111111. Provided that the larger segments in fact correspond to events that occur with correspondingly greater frequency, the additional bits needed for less probable symbols are outweighed by the conservation achieved when more probable symbols occur.
Arithmetic coding adapts to data throughout the entire compression run and never forgets the past. This is counter to many LZ based schemes which are constantly losing the contents of their dictionaries. LZ rebuilds the dictionary, thus adapting to the next section of data. For LZ schemes, a 1 KB of data compresses just as well as a 100 KB of data. Arithmetic coding continues to improve it's probabilities throughout the run, which means that it will not do as well on 1 KB of data because it has not had the chance to optimize its adaptations. However, arithmetic coding compresses the 1 KB better than LZ.
Arithmetic coding uses a probability table to store statistics on the image. As each bit is compressed, the table is accessed to determine how the bit should be handled. The larger the table, the slower it moves to a final/optimal state. The larger the table, however, the better the compression ratios for larger images because more information is available for each bit. Simple experiments have shown the break point for benefiting from a larger table to be around 10 KB--after that point, larger tables yield a significantly better compression ratio.
In the operation of the printers, several different types of images are created. Some images are 100 KB to 200 KB in size, other images may be as small as 400 B or even smaller. A major contributor these small images is a font cache. Each unique character is first created and stored in the font cache before printing begins. Depending on the page, the amount of space used by the font cache may be an issue for successful rendering of the page.
Font usage becomes more critical if the same printer is used in a LAN environment. Several different users can send print jobs with their own preference for fonts and point sizes. With each new job, the printer determines if the requested character set already resides in the font cache from previous jobs. If it does not exist, then the time is taken to render the character. As the printer's memory is populated with font cache characters, there comes a point where those characters not immediately in demand must be removed from the font cache to make room for the other characters. Thus, the longer font cache characters stay around--especially across several jobs--the faster users receive their printouts. It is not uncommon for the wait for the font cache creation to be a noticeable amount of time. This is most often noticed when printing the first page after a power-on.

Arithmetic coding context model that accelerates adaptation for small amounts of data


A knitting machine part comprises a plurality of tool guides, each for one knitting tool. Each tool guide has a hardened region. The majority of the hardened regions are formed to be integral without seams or joints which transition integrally into adjacent, non-hardened regions. At least one hardened region of the knitting machine part is formed by a non-integral region, in that a hardened, separate component is arranged there, which forms the non-integral hardened region. The component can be designed as an insert part and inserted in a receptacle recess. The integral regions are preferably formed by induction hardening of a knitting machine part which is not yet hardened, wherein a separate hardened component can be arranged in each insufficiently hardened region in order to provide a hardened, non-integral region.

Such knitting machine parts are subject to wear during operation of a knitting machine. Particularly where knitting tools are moved in tool guides in a movement direction and the knitted fabric applies a force on the knitting tool concurrently that has to be supported by the knitting part or the tool guide, wear can occur.
Due to this stress and in order to reduce wear, at least sections or areas of the tool guides are hardened. First the knitting machine part is manufactured from a non-hardened metallic material and is subsequently hardened at least in a section. Because the at least one hardened section of the knitting machine part cannot be machined or only with high efforts.
One possibility of hardening is the induction hardening (e.g. GB 735 378 A). During induction hardening the workpiece to be hardened is heated by induction and quickly cooled subsequently, whereby the hardness of the material is increased.
The induction hardening of a knitting machine part is not easy due to its size. Depending on the used method, hardening of the knitting machine part in sections can result in that sections hardened before are tempered again due to the hardening of directly adjacent areas. Due to this tempering the hardness is reduced and the goal of hardness increase is not uniformly achieved everywhere.
Thus, it can be considered as object of the present invention to provide a knitting machine part and a method for production thereof that allows a reduced wear at all tool guides.

Knitting machine parts and method for production thereof


A multiline tow cable assembly including swivel area components and slip g components. The swivel area components include a rotor member connected to an external housing, at least one contact member formed within the rotor member and rotatable with the rotor, and first electrical leads connected to the at least one contact member. The slip ring components include a multiline termination member, a stator connected to the multiline termination member, at least one contact pin formed in connection with the stator, and second electrical leads connected to the at least one contact pin. A substantially friction free member is interposed between the swivel area components and the slip ring components for enabling relative rotation of the swivel area components with respect to the slip ring components. By the described assemblies, continuous electrical connection is maintained between the first and second electrical leads upon rotation of the swivel area components with respect to the slip ring components.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a multiline tow cable assembly including a swivel and slip ring. More particularly, the invention relates to a multiline array assembly including a swivel and slip ring combination for use between a tow cable and a towed array.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
The following patents, for example, disclose towing and mooring of vessels using rings, and in some instances swivel type rings, but do not disclose a swivel and slip ring assembly for reducing the torque on a towed object.
Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 3,167,103 to Hawthorne et al. relates to flexible vessels such as barges and storage containers, particularly collapsible vessels intended primarily for the transport and/or storage of fluids and pourable solids. The device more particularly focuses on improving the method of manufacture of the vessel. According to the disclosure, a flexible envelope for a vessel is attached to a retaining ring which is adapted to be secured to a rigid end piece of the vessel, the end piece being provided with an annular shoulder against which the ring bears when the envelope is taut. The envelope may be attached to the ring by having its strength-giving layer turned over the ring and then sewn to itself. The shoulder may be formed by a recessed emplacement for the ring provided in the end piece or by one of two annular plates for which a seating is provided on the end-piece and between which the ring can be clamped.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,686 to Reynolds discloses a submerged mooring system for a tanker which is being loaded or unloaded. The mooring system permits the tanker to drift with the wind and/or current while maintaining the bow of the tanker headed toward the anchor point. The mooring system incorporates a swivel which rotates around a vertical axis as the heading of the tanker changes with variations in the wind and/or current. The swivel comprises a column means, a circular mooring ring loosely encircling and slidable circumferentially around the column means, means for retaining the mooring ring on the column means, and a slip ring linked with and slidable circumferentially of the mooring ring, the mooring line being connected to the slip ring. A hose for loading or unloading the tanker extends between the tanker and the mooring system and the mooring system incorporates another swivel which permits the hose to swivel about the same axis as the mooring swivel in response to changes in the heading of the tanker.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,793,623 to Gongwer discloses a hydrodynamic stabilizing device for use in high speed deployment and recovery of cable-suspended underwater devices making use of a swivelable tail or shroud. The device shown is a generally cylindrical underwater sonar transducer having a comparatively flat or blunt frontal surface entering the water and a tapered configuration near the upper or cable-suspended end and having a spaced frustoconical shroud or tail structure. The means of attachment of the cable to the body of the transducer includes a connector supporting the shroud and having a swivelable joint. A spring in the body is calibrated to hold the connector tightly against the body during descent, thereby holding the shroud firmly in place; but this spring yields under the greater force required to draw the transducer up out of the water, permitting an axial displacement of the connector and releasing the tail or shroud to permit the body to swivel relative to the shroud. Since the shroud always maintains its alignment relative to the end of the cable, perturbations affecting the body will always be damped out, causing the body to trail the shroud and cable, and ascent is as smooth and fast as the descent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,402 to Kruka et al. disclose a marine cable decoupler apparatus for isolating a towed marine streamer from noise transmitted from the tow vessel. The decoupling device comprises a fluid spring positioned in the tow cable with changes in the spring constant being minimized by controlling the fluid pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,268 to Gjestrum et al. disclose an angular member provided on seismic cables towed by a vessel and laterally displaced in parallel and in relation to the course of the vessel. The angular member comprises a frame at least partly enclosing the cable in the area of angular deflection between an inner cable portion and extending obliquely to the towing direction and the active main cable portion. The frame is formed of two frame plates secured in a spaced relationship and having at the lead-in end for the cable a cable-fastening device and at the other end a pivotable ramp swingable in the plane of the frame plates. The ramp has a further fastening device for the cable. Another fastening device is pivotably connected to the frame plates for connecting thereto a wire to a paravane or the like. When towed in the water the angular member absorbs most of the forces normally exerted on the cable at the area of angular deflection.
It should be understood that the present invention would in fact enhance the functionality of the above patents by providing a continuous electrical connection between a tow cable and towed array without damaging electrical components due to torque on the assembly. The enhanced functionality of the present invention is achieved at least in part by providing a combined swivel and slip ring assembly at an aft end of the tow cable.

Multiline tow cable assembly including swivel and slip ring

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


It is intended to provide an image forming apparatus and image forming method capable of obtaining a comparatively high-quality image output even under a correction mode that gives preference to processing time required for correction, and capable of suppressing interruption of image formation to the utmost under operational condition such that internal temperature changes continuously. There are saved last five detections of positional shift quantity under first correction mode that gives preference to correction accuracy for each temperature band. Under second correction mode that gives preference to processing time required for correction, there is calculated a difference of a value actually obtained through measurement and an average value of data history belonging to a target temperature band (#7 through #9). Furthermore, the difference is multiplied by a reliability coefficient of main scanning direction and that of sub scanning direction, respectively, to determine correction quantity (#10, #11). Thereby, excessive change of correction quantity is prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and image forming method wherein independent plural image forming units form primary images respectively and those primary images are superimposed on a medium to form a resultant image. More particularly, it relates to an image forming apparatus and image forming method that conducts positional correction with respect to superimposing position of each primary image.
2. Description of Related Art
There have been used tandem-type image forming apparatuses such as color printers, color copiers, and the like, wherein independent plural image forming sections for each color form their respective single color images and the single color images are superimposed on a carrying belt or on printing material mounted on the carrying belt. Tandem-type image forming apparatuses have an advantage such that output speed of a color image is fast in comparison with multi-cycle type ones in which each single color image is formed and superimposed at same image forming section in order. On the other hand, tandem-type ones need special device to secure superimposition accuracy among colors. That is, there occur uneven rotation among rotating members such as photosensitive drums of respective image forming section and uneven running of a carrying belt, due to degree of mechanical accuracy or the like. In case image formation is made without mending such uneven operations, images of respective colors do not meet one another and color shift occurs.
Image forming apparatuses of this type have conventionally been designed to execute a correction mode to correct such color shift. That is, under a correction mode, respective image forming sections form respective test patterns to meet positions of respective color images on a carrying belt. Positions of respective test pattern are read so as to grasp degree of positional shift of respective colors. Thereby, positional correction data of respective colors can be obtained for actual image formation. When actual image formation, images of respective colors are formed on positions corrected in accordance with positional correction data, whereby superimposition accuracy among respective color images is secured.
JP Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2000-194176 discloses an image forming apparatus that executes such correction mode. The image forming apparatus directed to No. 2000-194176 has two correction modes, namely, a first correction mode that gives preference to processing time required for correction, and a second correction mode that gives preference to correction accuracy. By selecting and using those two correction modes properly, the image forming apparatus intends to secure superimposition accuracy and prevent image formation speed from lowering. Furthermore, an image forming apparatus directed to JP Laid-open Patent Publication No. 8-305108 discloses system to detect internal temperature. That is, heat expansion occurring to each section due to internal temperature potentially causes positional shift among respective color images. Furthermore, in No. 8-305108, it is determined whether or not correction mode should be executed basing on internal temperature and past history. This mechanism intends to reduce execution frequency of correction mode that causes printer operation to stop.
However, those conventional image forming apparatuses have had the following problems. As to No. 2000-194176, correction accuracy is significantly low under first correction mode that gives preference to processing time required for correction. As to No. 8-305108, color shift correction could not be conducted appropriately under operational condition such that internal temperature changes continuously, e.g., during multi-printing operation or the like. In the event, multi-printing operation is sometimes forcedly interrupted due to correction mode execution. Therefore, actual productivity was poor.

Image forming apparatus and image forming method

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


Provided is a discharge device that can improve the efficiency of generating reactive species. A discharging unit that discharges in response to an application of a voltage protrudes from a housing. The discharging unit is disposed in a duct through which gas flows. An upstream support is disposed upstream of the discharging unit in a direction of gas flow without overlapping the discharging unit. The upstream support protrudes further from the housing than the discharging unit. The upstream support includes a root portion joined to the housing. The root portion includes a widened portion that is disposed in the duct and that protrudes toward the discharging unit when viewed in the direction of gas flow.

Ion generators have been used for such purposes as purifying, sterilizing, or deodorizing air in a room. Ion generators generally include a discharge electrode that generates ions through discharging.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2015-5387 (PTL 1) discloses an electrode protector that protects a needle electrode that generates ions through discharging. The electrode protector includes a first protection portion and a second protection portion, which protrude further from a housing than the tip of the needle electrode and oppose each other on both sides of the needle electrode while having a gap therebetween.

Discharge device and electric machine for improving efficiency of reactive species


The present invention relates to a black polymeric composition suitable for use in films, fibers and molded articles, where a soluble, easily dispersed colorant is desirable. The black polymeric composition provides a high black color quality and is small enough to function as a black colorant in microdenier fibers. The black polymeric composition comprises a thermoplastic resin in an amount between about 50 weight percent and about 99.9 weight percent of the black polymeric composition, and a black dye composition in an amount between about 0.1 weight percent and about 50 weight percent of the black polymeric composition. The black dye composition contains a black indanthrone compound as a major component. As used herein, black indanthrone compounds are defined as compounds having the general structure represented by Formula I: ##STR1## wherein R is hydrogen or at least one group independently selected from C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkoxy, halogen, hydroxy, trifluoromethyl, aryloxy, arylthio, arylamino, C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 carbalkoxy, --CO.sub.2 H, C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkanoyloxy, arylazo, --CN, --NO.sub.2, --SO.sub.2 --C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl, --SO.sub.2 N(R1)R2, and --CON(R1)R2, wherein R1 and R2 are independently selected from C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl, C.sub.3 -C.sub.8 cycloalkyl, aryl and hydrogen. The present invention further relates to a process for preparing the black polymeric composition, processes for preparing the black dye composition and articles formed from the black polymeric composition.

In many applications where molding or spinning of precolored thermoplastic materials is used to prepare a colored article, it is desirable to have an evenly dispersed soluble dye in the resin as opposed to a pigment. Dyes commonly provide higher color strength, higher transparency and lower abrasion (in spinning of fibers) than pigments. A problem is, however, that no "true" black organic dye colorant exists.
Attempts have been made to produce adequate dark grays and black colors using organic dyes, usually by combining dyes of different colors, such as orange dyes and blue dyes. Unfortunately, these combinations require tedious process steps and produce products having inadequate color quantity. For instance, when a blue dye is mixed with an orange dye to form a black dye, the orange dye and the blue dye must fade at the same rate or the black will lose its color and exhibit an orange or blue tint. These and other problems have practically prevented the use of dyes as black colorants in thermoplastic materials.
Because no true black dye exists and attempts at combining dyes of differing colors have been unsuccessful, black pigments, such as carbon black, have traditionally been used to generate black coloration in thermoplastic materials. While carbon black produces materials having high black color strength, the use of carbon black in the processing of black thermoplastic materials results in problems with clogging of filter packs and erosion of spinnerets.
In addition, when carbon black is used to color fine denier thermoplastic fibers, such as fibers of less than about 4.0 denier/filament, weak fibers that are susceptible to breaking and fragmenting are formed. These weak fine denier fibers are a result of the size of the black pigment particles in relation to the fibers. For instance, as the fiber size decreases, the black pigment particles consume more and more of the diameter of the fiber, decreasing the amount of fiber-fiber bond at the location of the black particles. Hence, fine denier fibers containing pigment colorants generally result in fibers, which lack the strength for practical usage. Despite these drawbacks, carbon black has been the black colorant of choice in thermoplastic materials.
It is apparent from the above that there is a need for a black colorant that provides and maintains high black color quality in thermoplastic materials, such as molded articles, films and fibers. Furthermore, there is a need for a black dye composition that is small enough to function as a black colorant for fine denier fibers, such as fibers of less that 4 denier/filament.

Thermoplastic polymer compositions containing black dye compositions


A foot operated cabinet latch concealed in the cabinet kick-space of commonly used storage cabinets in, for example, kitchens and bathrooms. The cabinet latch has an operator knob located in the cabinet kick-space and a flexible lever and strike located inside the cabinet. Operation of the latch is accomplished by engaging a person's foot with the knob and pushing in an upwards direction. This action serves to disengage the lever from the strike and the cabinet door can then be opened.

Various arrangements are known for latching a cabinet door in a closed position while being readily releasable. In a common arrangement a latch may consist of magnetically engaged members or frictionally engaged members, mounted on the cabinet door and frame. Some latches are operable by a simple handle pull and others are operable by actuating an operating mechanism. A disadvantage of latches having operating mechanisms is that the operating mechanisms are typically in plain view on the face of the cabinet door. Also, having the operation mechanism on the face of the door may be disadvantageous to a user with hands full. Therefore, the user would like the operation mechanism to be operated by something other than their hands, or the user would like the operation mechanism to be concealed from view. Another disadvantage of conventional latches is that the mounting positions are difficult to locate since they are concealed from view by the cabinet door. Still another disadvantage of many conventional latches is that they may be noisy when the cabinet door is closed.
Accordingly, it may be advantageous to have a cabinet latch mechanism that has an operation mechanism which is concealed from view. Further, it may be advantageous to have a cabinet latch mechanism that is foot operable and concealed from view in the cabinet kick-space. Still further, it may be advantageous to have a foot operable latch mechanism that is substantially concealed from view and can be more easily mounted than conventional latches. Still further, it may be advantageous to have a cabinet latch that is substantially quiet when the cabinet door is closed.


A method is provided for use with a telecommunication relay device adapted to convey voice-band data signals over a given transmission path in a telecommunication network, which relay comprises a transmitter operative to encode and transmit voice-band data information, and a receiver operative to receive and decode said information and regenerate a voice-band data signal therefrom. The method that is provided comprises handling an echo associated with the regenerated signal and returned from the telecommunication network, in order to prevent it from being relayed backwards, thus impairing the voice-band data call process. The method comprises detecting and identifying the returned echo as such, and preventing it from being relayed.

Traditional PSTN networks (Plain Service Telephone Network) include 2 wire to 4 wire hybrids. These hybrids introduce what is known in the art as "echo" in telephony, e.g. a signal reflected from a far end circuit, and returned to a transmitting (near end) circuit. This phenomenon of a returned echo is well recognized both while transmitting voice signals and VBD type of signals.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a traditional PSTN network 1, in which facsimile device 5 receives signals originated by facsimile 3 at a significantly higher power level than that of the echo signals reflected from hybrid 7 (which path is indicated by 11). The echo signals are formed as a result of hybrid 7 reflecting back signals received from facsimile 5. The attenuation of the returned signal (echo) introduced by the hybrid is called Echo Return Loss (and will be referred to hereinafter as "ERL"). Typical echo control devices require a minimum ERL of 6 db (in accordance with ITU-T Recommendation G.122). Facsimile machines are designed to operate under such PSTN/ISDN conditions, i.e. attenuated echo signals.
When dealing with the transmission of voiceband data ("VBD") type of signals, e.g. when there is a need to relay a facsimile, a modem or a DTMF transmission so that it can be transmitted over a media other than PSTN, and/or in order to reduce bandwidth requirements and even improve call completion rate, a VBD relay is often used. The term "VBD relay" as used hereinafter, is used to denote a device adapted to operate by processing analog signals (or digitally sampled analog signals) transmitted from a suitable originating machine and by generating a new (corresponding) VBD signal that carries information of the original signals transmitted towards a matching destination device over the applicable network, e.g. over an IP-based network. In the case that the VBD signals are of the facsimile type or of the modem type, the analog signals (or their digitally sampled presentation) are demodulated in the VBD relay, transmitted over to the corresponding relay at the other side of the transmission path and remodulated thereat. Principles of such VBD relay method are illustrated in FIG. 2. When the VBD signal is of the DTMF type, the analog signals (or their digitally sampled presentation) are encoded (i.e. identified and the information retrieved is represented in a coded form), transmitted over to the corresponding relay at the other side of the transmission path, decoded and regenerated thereat. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art the term "VBD relay mode" should be understood to encompass a mode by which a VBD relay may operate, i.e. encoding a VBD signal by retrieving data included in the VBD signal (e.g. demodulation of a facsimile or of a modem signal) and representing it in a coded form, decoding an encoded VBD signal and regenerating a second VBD signal that carries information based on the information comprised in the original VBD signal (e.g. re-modulating the demodulated facsimile or modem). As would be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the regenerated second VBD signal may be, but not necessarily, identical to the original VBD signal.
A typical VBD relay as known in the art, comprises a Tx unit (module) and an Rx unit (module). In the example shown in FIG. 2, the Tx unit of the near end VBD relay 31 receives VBD type of transmission from the near end VBD signals' originating machine 25 (e.g. fax machine), detects and classifies the VBD signals, retrieves the information comprised therein, formats the information into a coded form and transmit their coded representation towards the Rx unit of the far end VBD relay 33. The Rx unit decodes the coded representation, regenerates a corresponding second VBD signal and transmits the regenerated signal to the far end VBD terminal 23 via hybrid device 27. In such a scenario, echo signals are reflected back from hybrid device 27, but contrary to the situation described above for PSTN networks, in the present case there is no guaranteed signal transparency between hybrid 27 and hybrid 29 due to the existence of VBD relays 31 and 33 along the transmission path. Therefore, appropriate measures must be taken in order to let the VBD transmission be successfully completed under these conditions.
As opposed to fax machines and dial-up modems, which are typically equipped with their own mechanisms to manage the progress of the communication session, a VBD relay is an entity that does not initiate nor is provided with information allowing independent handling of the communication session thereby. In other words, such a VBD relay typically operates as a "slave" of the VBD communication device that is linked thereto. This fact raises a problem that since a VBD relaying device is not provided with effective means to reduce the impact of the return echo, the encoded return echo signal received by the VBD relay is decoded and regenerated, or in other words, is treated as a legitimate VBD signal that should be processed when in fact such a signal should be discarded.
Another problem associated with the methods used in the art to handle fax relay devices, is that the fax relay might amplify the echo signal to a level which the fax machines themselves will not be capable of handling by using the conventional means which they are provided with.
Fax Relay methods have been described in a number of international standards. ITU-T Recommendation G.766 describes a Fax Relay method for TDM networks. ITU-T Recommendation I.366.2 describes such a method for ATM networks, ITU-T Standard Recommendation T.38 describes a Fax Relay method for IP networks, whereas Frame Relay Forum "Voice over frame relay implementation agreement" FRF.11 describes a Fax Relay method for Frame Relay networks.
However, neither of these publications suggests a method to control the echo signals during facsimile transmissions. When implementing fax relay over a packet network, one possible implementation of the T.38 standard is to re-modulate all signals at a predefined nominal level (e.g. −13 dbm0). In this case both the original source A signal as well as the echo signal of source B will arrive at facsimile terminal B at the same nominal level. Under these conditions the correct completion of the fax transaction cannot be guaranteed.
One method of addressing the return echo problem fax relay is described in ITU-T Standard recommendation G.766. The method provided in this Recommendation is to control the power level of the signals. According to this method, the demodulator side of the fax relay, relays also the power level of the received signal to the far end remodulator side. Consequently, this method guarantees similar echo levels like when operating without fax relay. However, this method does not provide a solution to ensure that the echo returned signals are discarded already at the transmitting fax relay, avoiding the transmission of the echo return signals over the whole transmission path.
The disclosure of the references mentioned throughout the present specification are hereby incorporated by reference.

Method and device for handling echo in a communication network


Disclosed herein is an anisotropic conductive film forming composition, including at least one polymer comprising a polymer containing a silane group; at least one polymerizable compound; and a plurality of conductive particles. The at least one polymer may include an elastomeric polymer and a filler polymer, at least one of which contains a silane group. The at least one polymerizable compound may include a cross-linking agent and/or a polymerization reaction enhancer. The cross-linking agent may also have a silane group. In addition, the film forming composition may include a solvent. The film forming composition is advantageous in that the resulting anisotropic conductive film exhibits enhanced peel and adhesive strength and low electrical contact resistance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally, to an anisotropic conductive film forming composition.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Recently, an anisotropic conductive film has been widely used to electrically connect electronic components. An anisotropic conductive film contains conductive particles dispersed in the film made from an elastic insulating material. An anisotropic conductive film is typically sandwiched by two electrodes. When a sufficient pressure is applied onto one electrode against the other, an electrical connection is established through the conductive particles in the film.
An anisotropic conductive film forming composition is typically composed of conductive particles and an insulating resin. As for the insulating resin, a thermosetting resin is typically used and includes, for example, epoxy resins and acryl resins. The epoxy thermosetting resins have good adhesion strength onto various surfaces and have high heat resistance and moisture resistance properties. However, epoxy resins require a high curing temperature and a long curing time. On the other hand, the acryl thermosetting resins have a low (curing) temperature and a short (curing) time. However, the acryl resins do not have good adhesive strength, heat resistance, or moisture resistance.

Anisotropic conductive film forming composition


A hearing aid employs a permanent built-in rechargeable storage cell or battery, and a solar cell or other photo cell which powers the electronics of the hearing aid and recharges the storage cell. Favorably, a thin film amorphous silicon cell is employed, and is affixed onto an outward-facing surface of the aid. The photocell is connected in parallel with the storage cell and is of sufficient power capacity to power the amplifier and recharge the storage cell under average ambient light conditions. The storage cell is favorably of sufficient capacity to power the amplifier for at least several hours under darkness conditions.

This device relates to apparatus for the hearing impaired, and is more particularly directed to hearing aids. The intention is specifically directed to hearing aids of the type containing a rechargeable battery or power source, and containing means for recharging the battery or power source.
A number of rechargeable hearing aids have been recently introduced, and these have found favor particularly among those for whom, because of arthritis or other conditions, battery replacement is a problem.
As is well known in the field, conventional hearing aid batteries require periodic replacement, with a battery typically lasting no more than two weeks to a month. However, those hearing-impaired persons needing an aid are often afflicted with arthritis and may have trouble manipulating the battery into the case. Also, many hearing aid wearers often forget to purchase batteries, or find it inconvenient to go out to obtain them. Batteries also represent an ongoing expense, and many hearing-impaired persons are required to live on a rather stringent budget.
The incorporation of a rechargeable cell or battery into a hearing aid has alleviated this problem somewhat, and two types of rechargeable hearing aids have been introduced, the direct plug-in type and the inductively rechargeable type. The direct plug-in type requires the wearer to plug a charger directly into a socket on the hearing aid, to apply recharging current directly to the battery. The inductively rechargeable type of hearing aid is simply dropped into a recharger, which produces an AC magnetic field. This oscillating field is then converted, by the hearing aid, to a direct current which recharges the hearing aid battery.
While these types of aids have been an improvement, it often happens that the wearer is away from home and may forget his or her recharger. Further, the wearer is limited as to where he or she can travel, as the recharger must be plugged into a standard power source, which may not be available if the wearer travels abroad, or for example, goes on an extended camping or fishing trip.


The present specification discloses systems, devices, and methods provide a mounting system which includes rail and a bracket which is selectively secured to the rail. The bracket is selectively and/or automatically locked to the rail when positioned on the rail, and may be removed from the rail by activating one or more buttons or actuators. The disclosed mounting systems, devices, and methods enable a device to be protected from impact and moisture exposure, enable a device to be securely mounted on a base, and/or enable a device to be quickly secured and removed from a base.

The subject of this patent application relates generally to devices for securely and releasably mounting and/or protecting devices, equipment or other apparatus (collectively referred to as "devices").
By way of background, in rugged applications and environments, there is a need for devices, equipment or other apparatus to be protected from impact and moisture. For example, both electrical and mechanical devices can become damaged and their operability impaired or lost upon exposure to moisture, such as, e.g., air moisture or humidity or being submerged in a liquid. Such moisture exposure can affect electronical and/or mechanical mechanisms to such a degree that the device becomes inoperable. Similar damage can occur from the resulting impact if a device is dropped or struck by another object.
In addition, in rugged applications and environments, a user of a device may desire to take a device into an environment where moisture exposure is highly likely or certain to occur and/or device impact is a risk. In such situations, the user wants to protect a device to prevent such damage before entering into this environment. For example, a user may wish to take a photographic device, such as, e.g., a camera or device such as a smart phone or tablet having a camera underwater in order to take pictures of the sea life or environment. Such devices need protection for the inevitable exposure to the fresh or salt-water exposure. Likewise, a user may wish to take a photographic device while hiking or climbing in rugged terrain where there is a real risk of dropping the device or having the device striking the terrain. Again, such devices need protection for the impact when the device is so struck.
Further, in rugged applications and environments, there is a need for a device to be securely mounted (through a mount) on a base. Such device mounting could be done to facilitate operation of the device and/or store the device when not in use. Such mounting could also enable free use of the hands of a user to do other things or complete other tasks. For example, a user may desire to mount a smart phone, tablet, night vision goggle (NVG), ground-positioning system (GPS) or similar device to the dashboard of a vehicle in order to operate a navigational system while operating the vehicle or take a video during vehicle operation. Similarly, a device can be mounted on clothing of a user, for example, vest or harness, in order to attach a device to the person of the user. For example, a use may wish to mount a device on a helmet or vest worn by the user in order to navigate terrain while hiking or riding a bike or videotape the experience.
Moreover, in rugged applications and environments, there is a need for these devices to be quickly removed from the mount and reattached to another mount (or simply stowed), while preventing unintended removal or fumbling. Such quick removal can reduce user frustration, enhances operability of the devices and imparts greater flexibility of use. For example, a user could mount a photographic device on the dashboard of a vehicle in order to navigate to a rock-climbing location, and once there, quickly remove the device from the dashboard and the quickly attach the device to a helmet or vest worn by the user.
However, current devices, systems and methods are unable to achieve or attain all of the attributes discussed above. For example, while certain devices may offer protection to impact or moisture exposure, these devices are either ineffective or so cumbersome that they interfere with the operability of the device. Similarly, while current mounting systems provide a means to secure a device to a base, these systems typically ignore or are ineffective in protecting a device from impact or moisture exposure. These mounting systems also suffer in that they tend to be incompatible with other mounting systems, forcing a user to purchase additional adaptors to enable compatibility or simply choice one mounting system over another. Likewise, although certain mounting systems may offer a means to secure a device quickly to a base or remove the device quickly from the base, attachment security is sacrificed to achieve such each of use. As such, a device can become dislodged from a base and incur damage from the resulting impact or moisture exposure.
Aspects of the present invention fulfill these needs and provide further related advantages as described in the following summary.

Mounting system, devices, methods and uses thereof


The electrical connector includes a housing (1) having a cavity (2); female terminals (7) having a support section (7A) supported by the housing and a flexible section (7C) extending from the support section and having a contact portion (7C1); protective walls (3) extending in the cavity and having separation sections (3B) and a connection section (3C) for connecting the separation sections on the front side to form accommodation spaces (3A) for housing the flexible sections (7C) such that the contact portion projected from the accommodation spaces.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connectors having female terminals.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 6 shows a conventional electrical connector having a plurality of terminals arranged in rows. The electrical connector 50 includes a housing 52 and a plurality of male pin terminals 51 arranged in three rows in a cavity 53 of the housing 52. A mating connector (not shown) is fitted into the cavity 53 and has a plurality of female terminals for connection with the male terminals 51. The female terminals have flexible sections with contact portions for resilient contact with the male terminals 51.
As the number of terminals in a row increases, the width of the connector increases, and there is a increasing danger that terminals are damaged when the mating connector is plugged into the cavity 53 of the connector 50. Especially, the female terminals are less rigid than the male terminals and susceptible to deformation, resulting in poor or no contact of the contact sections.
To prevent such damage, columns 54 and protruded walls 55 are provided within the cavity 53 of the housing 52 for guiding the mating connector to prevent damage to and/or deformation of the terminals, especially the female terminals.
Japanese patent application Kokoku No. 53755/91 and Japanese UM patent Kokai No. 88076/94 disclose such connectors. The former discloses columns provided within the cavity of the housing while the latter discloses protruded walls.
In the above connectors, however, it is impossible to dispose terminals in the areas where the columns and/or protruded walls exist, making the connector larger and failing to meet a recent demand for miniaturization.


An inline ratcheting mechanism for motorized hand tools that includes a drive body, a ratchet shaft, ratchet pawls, a reversing collar, and a reversing switch adapted to cause the reversing collar to engage or disengage the ratchet pawls with ratchet teeth of the ratchet shaft.

Power hand tools, such as motorized ratchet wrenches and drivers, are commonly used in automotive, industrial and household applications to install and remove threaded fasteners and to apply torque and/or angular displacement to a work piece, such as, for example, a threaded fastener. Motorized hand tools, such as power ratchets and drivers, generally include an electric motor contained in a housing along with other components, such as switches, light emitting diodes (LEDs), and a removable battery, for example.
Power ratchets are often used to access a work piece, such as, for example, fasteners, nuts, etc., that is in a tight or hard to reach space, such as, for example, an automobile engine bay. Power ratchets generally include an oscillating-type head driven by an electric motor to actuate a mechanical ratcheting mechanism, thereby transferring torque to a drive unit of the tool and eventually to the work piece. The mechanical ratcheting mechanism also allows the power ratchet to be manually operated as a conventional ratchet, when necessary or desired. The mechanical ratcheting mechanism also includes a reversing mechanism, which includes a lever or switch, is typically located on or near the head of the ratchet and adapted to be actuated to select a direction to drive the work piece. However, the reversing mechanism disposed in the ratchet head requires a large tool head that can be difficult to fit into tight spaces to access a work piece. Further, the lever or switch disposed on the ratchet head increases the possibility that the tool can get stuck in a position where the user is unable to actuate the reversing mechanism.


The invention features a glenoid (shoulder socket) implant prosthesis, a humeral implant prosthesis, devices for implanting glenoid and humeral implant prostheses, and less invasive methods of their use for the treatment of an injured or damaged shoulder.

The invention provides a glenoid shoulder implant, a humeral implant, and devices for preparing the glenoid and humeral head for joint replacement.
Shoulder replacement surgery is currently used to treat patients suffering from disabling pain due to worn or damaged shoulder joints, which can be caused by, e.g., arthritis or injury. The humeral implants currently in use are typically made from metal, and the implants are affixed to the bone using bone cement (e.g., polymethylmethacrylate) or by press fitting the implant into the bone using a roughened outer surface coating on the metal for bony integration. Most glenoid (shoulder socket) implants are made completely from polyethylene and affixed to the cortical bone using bone cement. Some glenoid implants have a metal base plate with a polyethylene insert. Current glenoid implants are made to sit on the surface of a reamed glenoid, which is prepared by removing any remaining cartilage and flattening the bony surface. These implants use either a keel or multiple elongated pegs on the back of the prosthetic glenoid implant to secure the glenoid implant inside the glenoid vault.
Keeled and pegged glenoid implants suffer from several disadvantages, which limit their lifespan once implanted and reduce the number of indications for which they can be used when the age of the patient is a factor. For example, the glenoid implants can loosen due to poor fixation within the bone, and they are prone to wear and fatigue failure of the polyethylene due to adhesion, abrasion, and shear stress. Because of these deficiencies, surgeons hesitate to perform glenoid replacement surgery on young or middle aged patients with glenoid articular cartilage injuries or damage due to early arthritis for fear that the implant may not last more than 10-15 years in the body, thus subjecting the patient to the possibility of two or more surgeries during the lifetime of the patient to preserve the function and pain-free state of the joint. Finally, current glenoid implants with a long keel or pegs are sometimes contraindicated in patients with significant glenoid bone loss. As arthritis progresses, the humeral head can wear medially and destroy the foundation of glenoid bone. In these cases, the glenoid vault can be significantly reduced in volume and depth. Thus, a typical keel or peg design can broach the glenoid vault and injure the suprascapular nerve along the suprascapular notch or spinoglenoid notch with resultant denervation injury to the rotator cuff muscles. Broaching through the glenoid vault can also fracture the body of the scapula and cause early implant loosening.
There are also several disadvantages associated with current glenoid replacement surgical techniques. Current techniques require extensive shoulder exposure with capsular releases in order to fully expose the glenoid surface circumferentially. Since the axillary nerve is located within 1 cm of the inferior capsule, there is potential risk of axillary nerve injury with resultant denervation injury to the deltoid muscle when these releases are performed. However, use of the current keeled or pegged glenoid implants requires this extensive glenoid exposure for proper fitting and placement. Current glenoid replacement surgery also requires a long skin incision and extensive soft tissue stripping in order to fully expose the glenoid circumferentially, which produces a cosmetically unappealing scar. Finally, current glenoid replacement surgical techniques require advanced surgical training and expertise within the specialty of shoulder surgery, yet the majority of shoulder implants performed in the U.S. every year are performed by orthopedic surgeons who do not have advanced training in the subspecialty of shoulder surgery. Therefore, many surgeons have difficulty preparing the glenoid site for a total shoulder replacement using the current techniques.
Because there are more than 20,000 shoulder arthoplasty surgeries performed per year, many U.S. patients incur a risk of continued pain and disability, neuromuscular injuries, or failed shoulder prostheses requiring revision surgery. Thus, there remains a need for an improved glenoid implant and improved methods for performing replacement shoulder surgery.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods for less invasive glenoid replacement


A substrate holding structure having excellent corrosion resistance and airtightness, excellent dimensional accuracy and sufficient durability when mechanical or thermal stress is applied thereto is obtained. A holder (1) serving as the substrate holding structure includes a ceramic base (2) for holding a substrate, a protective cylinder (7) joined to the ceramic base (2) and a joining layer (8) positioned therebetween for joining the ceramic base (2) and the protective cylinder (7) to each other. The joining layer (8) contains at least 2 mass % and not more than 70 mass % of a rare earth oxide, at least 10 mass % and not more than 78 mass % of aluminum oxide, and at least 2 mass % and not more than 50 mass % of aluminum nitride. The rare earth oxide or the aluminum oxide has the largest proportional content among the aforementioned three types of components in the joining layer (8).

In a fabrication process for a semiconductor device such as a semiconductor memory device or a liquid crystal display, a processing apparatus (the so-called single wafer processing apparatus) processing substrates one by one is generally employed for carrying out a film forming step of forming a prescribed film on the surface of a substrate such as a semiconductor substrate or a glass substrate to be processed or an etching step. In the fabrication process for a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display, a plurality of processing apparatuses of the aforementioned single wafer processing type are set for transporting/supplying substrates to be processed to the processing apparatuses with a moving apparatus such as a loader. A substrate holder for receiving the substrate supplied by the loader is set on each processing apparatus. Film formation or etching is performed on the substrate received on the substrate holder.
A heater is set on the substrate holder for increasing the temperature of the substrate to a prescribed level. Further, an electrostatic attraction electrode may be formed on the substrate holder, in order to attract and fix the substrate to the substrate holder. Alternatively, a method of improving flatness of the surface (substrate receiving surface) for receiving the substrate in the substrate holder for adsorbing the substrate on the substrate receiving surface may be employed for fixing the substrate to the substrate holder.
In the aforementioned substrate holder, the substrate receiving surface and portions around the same are exposed to reaction gas for carrying out film formation or etching in the film formation step or the etching step on the substrate. Therefore, the component of the substrate holder must have sufficient corrosion resistance against such reaction gas (for example, halogen gas having high corrosiveness).
In the film formation or etching of the substrate, the substrate temperature may be increased to a relatively high level. Therefore, the substrate holder is required to have sufficient heat resistance in addition to the aforementioned corrosion resistance.
Thus, in consideration of corrosion resistance, heat resistance and durability, employment of not a metal or resin but ceramic is studied as to the material for the substrate holder. Among ceramic materials, aluminum oxide, which is relatively easy to fabricate and low-priced, is put into practice as the material for the substrate holder.
However, aluminum oxide has low thermal conductivity of about 30 W/mK, and hence it is difficult to precisely control the temperature such that temperature distribution on the substrate receiving surface of the substrate holder is dispersed when aluminum oxide is employed as the material for the substrate holder. In this case, the temperature of the substrate to be processed is also dispersed, and hence it may not be possible to homogeneously perform film formation or etching on the substrate. Consequently, the characteristics of the fabricated semiconductor device or liquid crystal display are disadvantageously dispersed.
In order to avoid this problem, aluminum nitride is noticed as the material for the substrate holder. This is because aluminum nitride is excellent in heat resistance and corrosion resistance, and has a high insulation property and high thermal conductivity.
A method of fabricating a substrate holder with aluminum nitride includes the following steps, for example: First, a compact is prepared from aluminum nitride powder. A coil or a wire consisting of a high melting point metal such as molybdenum is held in this compact. The coil or the wire serves as a heater or an electrostatic attraction electrode. Thereafter the compact is subjected to hot press sintering, thereby obtaining a substrate holder. This holder is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 6-76924, for example. Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 6-76924 discloses an embedded heater structure for improving the soaking property of the substrate holder.
When a heater or an electrode is embedded in the substrate holder, power must be supplied to the heater or the electrode from outside the substrate holder. Therefore, an electrode wire connected to the heater or the electrode to outwardly extend from the substrate holder is set on the substrate holder. Further, a temperature measuring member such as a thermocouple or a sensor measuring the temperature of the substrate holder is set on the substrate holder for controlling the temperature of the substrate holder.
The electrode wire or the temperature measuring member may be corroded by reaction gas (for example, halogen-based gas) employed for substrate processing (film formation, etching, cleaning etc.). Therefore, the electrode wire or the temperature measuring member must be protected against the reaction gas in a chamber. Thus, a protective member reliably separating the reaction gas in the chamber and a region provided with the electrode wire or the like from each other is set on the substrate holder. The electrode wire or the temperature measuring member is arranged in the inner part of the protective member. This protective member must have high corrosion resistance against the reaction gas such as halogen gas and high airtightness. In particular, the junction between the protective member and the substrate holder must be subjected to airtight joining.
As a method of joining the protective member to the substrate holder in the aforementioned manner, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 4-78138, for example, shows a method of joining a cylindrical protective member consisting of aluminum nitride, silicon nitride, alumina or stainless steel to the back surface of a substrate holder by glass joining or brazing.
As another method of joining a substrate holder and a protective member to each other, a method of diffusion-joining a substrate holder consisting of aluminum nitride and a pipelike protective member consisting of aluminum nitride to each other by hot pressing is also known.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 10-242252 discloses a technique of joining a substrate holder and a protective member consisting of aluminum nitride to each other with a joining layer mainly composed of aluminum nitride and containing a rare earth oxide, a shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing a conventional holder consisting of a substrate holder and a protective member. Referring to FIG. 4, a ceramic base 102 including resistance heating elements 106 and a substrate base 103 and a protective cylinder 107 serving as a protective member are joined to each other with a joining layer 108 in the conventional holder 101. This gazette lists Y2O3, CeO2 or Er2O3 as a rare earth oxide contained in the joining layer 108, and states that the content of this rare earth oxide is 3 to 20 mass %.
As a technique relevant to the aforementioned technique in the point joining members consisting of aluminum nitride to each other, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 7-50369 discloses a technique of joining a base and a fin part consisting of aluminum nitride to each other with a joining material mainly composed of aluminum nitride. As to the composition of the joining material, the ratio of aluminum nitride to Y2O3 is exemplarily set to 97:3.
When a substrate to be processed is set on a substrate holding structure so that etching or film formation is performed on this substrate, the substrate holding structure is used under such severe environment that the temperature thereof is increased or the substrate holding structure is exposed to plasma or halogen gas employed for the aforementioned etching or the like. The substrate holding structure must maintain its strength or the like also under such severe environment. Therefore, the junction between the substrate holder and the protective member must also have sufficient corrosion resistance and heat resistance against the aforementioned plasma or halogen gas.
When foreign matter such as a trace amount of particles is present in the chamber in substrate processing, the foreign matter exerts bad influence on the substrate processing. Consequently, a failure may result from the foreign matter in the fabricated semiconductor device or liquid crystal display. Therefore, the substrate holding structure must not cause the aforementioned foreign matter. Thus, the junction between the substrate holder and the protective member is also required to have excellent corrosion resistance not to cause such a problem that the junction is damaged following substrate processing to result in foreign matter such as particles.
From this point of view, the aforementioned conventional substrate holding structure has the following problems: The metal employed for the junction in glass joining or brazing shown in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 4-78138 is generally inferior in corrosion resistance and has a relatively low melting point. Therefore, the metal reacts with corrosive gas such as halogen gas employed for processing the substrate, to cause foreign matter such as particles.
When diffusion-joined by hot pressing, the substrate holder and the protective member are joined to each other at a high temperature with a high load of about 9.8 to 29.4 MPa (100 to 300 kgf/cm2) applied to the junction. Thus, dimensional accuracy of the substrate holder may be deteriorated due to deformation through the hot pressing step. When such a hot pressing step is utilized, the cost for equipment necessary for fabricating the substrate holding structure or for executing the fabrication process is disadvantageously increased.
When a joining layer mainly composed of aluminum nitride and containing a rare earth oxide as in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 10-242252, the joining layer containing 3 to 20 mass % of the rare earth oxide such as Y2O3 as hereinabove described must be sintered at a high temperature of at least 1800° C. for joining the substrate holder and the protective member to each other. The temperature of at least 1800° C. is equivalent to a sintering temperature for forming the substrate holder consisting of aluminum nitride. Therefore, the substrate holder may be deformed due to the heat treatment under the high temperature of at least 1800° C. for joining the substrate holder and the protective member to each other with the aforementioned joining layer. In the stage of joining the protective member, the substrate holder is already provided therein with a heater or an electrode, and the shape and the dimension of the substrate holder are precisely set by machining or the like. If the substrate holder is deformed by the heat treatment for joining with the aforementioned joining layer, therefore, the shape of the finally obtained substrate holding structure is deformed. This results in a problem such that temperature distribution in the substrate holding structure differs from the designed distribution (the soaking property is deteriorated) due to the deformation of the substrate holding structure.
The joining layer mainly composed of aluminum nitride is densified by sintering. In the heat treatment for joining, therefore, no such phenomenon that the joining layer flows along irregularities of the surfaces of the substrate holder and the protective member coming into contact with the joining layer in the joined portions remarkably takes place in the heat treatment for joining. When the heat treatment for joining is performed, without particularly applying a load to the joining layer and the joined substances (the substrate holder and the protective member), therefore, such an effect that the joining layer fills up clearances resulting from the aforementioned irregularities is not much attained. The joining layer obtained in this manner is inferior in airtightness due to a large number of clearances. In order to protect the electrode wire against halogen gas or the like in the chamber with the protective member, the protective member including the joining layer must have sufficiently high airtightness (it is assumed that a helium (He) leak rate must be less than 10−8 Pa·m3/s). In order to implement such high airtightness, heating must be performed while crushing clearances of the joining layer by hot pressing in the heat treatment (the heat treatment for joining) on the joining layer. The heat treatment is performed while applying a load to the joining layer in this manner, and hence the problem that the substrate holder is deformed in this heat treatment particularly remarkably takes place as described above.
Further, mechanical or thermal stress is readily applied to the junction between the substrate holder and the protective member forming the substrate holding structure due to handling such as portage of the substrate holding structure or attachment to or detachment from an apparatus or thermal stress resulting from heating/cooling in a case of mounting the substrate holding structure on the apparatus in practice and using the same. Therefore, the junction must have sufficient strength (practically the bending strength in the junction must be at least 147 MPa (15 kgf/mm2) in four-point bending strength according to JIS).
The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 7-50369, related to a ceramic radiator for a semiconductor comprising a base and a fin part consisting of aluminum nitride, belongs to a technical field different from that of the present invention and does not particularly require airtightness. Even if the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 7-50369 can be applied to joining between a substrate holder and a protective member of a substrate holding structure, problems similar to those in the aforementioned Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 10-242252 take place.
The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the aforementioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a ceramic joined body and a substrate holding structure having excellent corrosion resistance and airtightness, having excellent dimensional accuracy and having sufficient durability upon application of mechanical or thermal stress and a substrate processing apparatus comprising the same.

Ceramic joined body, substrate holding structure and substrate processing apparatus


A semiconductor device includes first conductive lines and first and second insulation patterns on a substrate, first structures spaced apart from each other on the first conductive lines, a variable resistance pattern on the first structures, and a second electrode on the variable resistance pattern. The first conductive lines extend in a first direction. The first structures include a switching pattern and a first electrode sequentially stacked. The first insulation pattern fills a space between the first structures in a second direction and the first insulation pattern has a first top surface higher than a top surface of the first structures. The second insulation pattern fills a space between the first structures in the first direction, and the second insulation pattern has a second top surface higher than a top surface of the first structures. The variable resistance pattern fills an opening defined by the first and second insulation patterns.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to a semiconductor device and/or a method of manufacturing the same. More particularly, example embodiments relate to a variable resistance memory devices and/or methods of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of Related Art
As semiconductor devices are highly integrated, variable resistance memory devices having cross point array structures have been manufactured.

Semiconductor devices and methods of manufacturing the same


A circuit arrangement (10) for compensating for nonlinearities (NL1, NL2) from analog/digital converters (15, 16) operating with different timing, having at least two analog/digital converters (15, 16) which are each clocked with different timing and which each have a predetermined nonlinear converter characteristic with integral nonlinearities (NL1, NL2), and which accept an analog input signal (VIN) applied to an input (11) on the circuit arrangement and respectively convert it into a digital intermediate signal (Z1, Z2); and having a multiplexer (22) which is arranged downstream of the analog/digital converters and which successively switches through the digital intermediate signals (Z1, Z2) in order to produce a digital output signal (ZD) from the circuit arrangement (10); where at least one of the nonlinear converter characteristics of the various analog/digital converters (15, 16) is predetermined such that after the intermediate signals have been combined in the multiplexer (22) the integral nonlinearities (NL1, NL2) in the various analog/digital converters (15, 16) essentially compensate for one another.

Arrays of analog/digital converters operating in parallel comprise a plurality of analog/digital converters which digitize an analog signal in parallel but with a certain timing offset. The individual digital signals are then recombined using a multiplexer, so that effectively a higher sampling rate than that of the individual analog/digital converters is achieved. Such converter arrays are also called TIADCs (Time Interleaved Analog to Digital Converters).
In the simplest case of a TIADC, two analog/digital converters are connected in parallel, alternately sample a common analog input signal and digitize it. As a result, the sampling or conversion rate of the overall system appears to be twice that of the sampling rate of the individual analog/digital converters.
In the more general case, increasing the number of analog/digital converters operating in parallel or increasing the number of channels, in the case of N analog/digital converters, allows the effective sampling rate of the converter array to be increased to N times the sampling rate of a single analog/digital converter.
FIG. 1 shows a converter array or TIADC based on the prior art. There are N analog/digital converters A/D1, A/D2, . . . , A/DN, which each have an analog input E1, E2, . . . , EN, a digital output A1, A2, . . . , AN and an input C1, C2, . . . , CN for a respective clock signal CLK1, CLK2, . . . , CLKN.
The analog inputs E1, E2, . . . , EN have a common analog input signal VIN applied to them. The outputs A1, A2, . . . , AN of the analog/digital converters A/D1, A/D2, . . . , A/DN deliver respective digital intermediate signals Z1, Z2, . . . , ZN which are switched through in succession by a downstream multiplexer MUX as digital output signal ZD from the TIADC.
A clock generator CLKG produces a global clock signal CLK, which is routed to a delay locked loop DLL and is used to produce an N phase clock, or N clock signals CLK1, CLK2, . . . , CLKN which each have the same clock period T as the global clock signal CLK, but in each case with a delay by a timing offset of T/N=ΔT. These clock signals CLK1, CLK2, . . . , CLKN are each routed to the clock inputs C1, C2, . . . , CN of the individual analog/digital converters A/D1, A/D2, . . . , A/DN.
In the case of such arrays, there is the difficulty that any type of inequality among the individual converters results in conversion errors. By way of example, different offset values in the various analog/digital converters result in interfering sounds at frequencies which comprise whole portions of the sampling frequency. Different nonlinearities in the channels, differences in the gain, discrepancies from the ideal sampling time or a different bandwidth in the analog/digital converters also result in unwanted interference in the digital output signal.
In particular, different nonlinearity properties in the analog/digital converters used result in output signal energies in the converter array's frequency spectrum which interfere.
FIG. 2 shows the characteristic for a 3-bit analog/digital converter by way of example. In the case of a characteristic or transfer function for an analog/digital converter, the digital output signal Z is plotted over the analog input signal VIN, which in this case has been normalized to the maximum level of the analog input signal VINMAX. An ideal converter with infinitely high resolution would result in an exact bisector IAD as characteristic. An ideal characteristic for an ideal analog/digital converter with finite resolution provides a staircase curve I3BAD, the steps all having the same width and height. The dotted line corresponds to a characteristic for a 3-bit analog/digital converter which has two nonlinearities NL1, NL2. The integral nonlinearity or the linearity error is a measure of the maximum discrepancy in the converter characteristic from the bisector and is normally indicated in the number of the least significant bit. The nonlinearity NL1 is a positive linearity error, for example, and the nonlinearity NL2 is a negative nonlinearity error.
Methods are known for reducing but not eliminating nonlinearities in analog/digital converters. FIG. 3A shows a basic circuit diagram of a flash analog/digital converter by way of example.
The converter has a plurality of comparators K1–K8 which each have a first input EF1–EF8, a second input DF1–DF8 and an output AF1–AF8. The first inputs EF1–EF8 have received an analog input signal VIN.
A resistor ladder is provided which comprises a plurality of resistors R1–R8 which are connected between a first reference voltage VREF and a second reference voltage or ground GND. Between the resistors, it is possible to tap off reference potentials U0–U7 which are each routed to the second inputs DF1–DF8 of the comparators K1–K8.
The comparators K1–K8 deliver intermediate signals W1–W8 which are routed to a decoder DEK. Since the comparators K1–K8 have different switching potentials or switching thresholds as a result of the reference voltage U0–U7, the intermediate signals W1–W8 map the analog input signal into a digital signal in the thermometer code. This thermometer code is converted into a suitable digital code by the decoder DEK and is output as a digital output signal WD.
A corresponding analog/digital converter such as is shown in FIG. 3A normally has nonlinearities as a result of comparators K1–K8 which are not of exactly identical design. This may be caused inter alia, by fluctuations in the substrate properties of a semiconductor substrate on which the converter is produced. As a result, the switching thresholds of the comparators may not be exactly equidistant, for example, and hence may cause one or more nonlinearities in the transfer characteristic of the converter.
FIG. 3B describes a possible compensation for nonlinearities by virtue of topological interchange of the resistors in the resistor ladders.
Accordingly, the resistors in the resistor ladders are connected up such that the voltage dropping across the original resistor R1 or the corresponding reference potential U1 is routed to the comparator K2.
The voltage U2 dropping across the original resistor R8 (in this case referred to as R2′) is connected to the third comparator K3.
The voltage U3 dropping across the original resistor R2 (in this case referred to as R3′) is connected to the fourth comparator K4.
The voltage U5 dropping across the original resistor R7 (in this case referred to as R4′) is connected to the comparator K5.
The voltage U6 dropping across the original resistor R6 (in this case referred to as R6′) is connected to the comparator K7.
Finally, the voltage U7 dropping across the original resistor R4 (in this case referred to as R7′) is connected to the comparator K8.
Hence, the resistor R1 from FIG. 3B corresponds to the resistor R1 from FIG. 3A, the resistor R3′ corresponds to the resistor R2, the resistor R4′ corresponds to the resistor R7, the resistor R5′ corresponds to the resistor R3, the resistor R6′ corresponds to the resistor R6, the resistor R7′ corresponds to the resistor R4, and the resistor R8′ corresponds to the resistor R5.
Such topological interchange based on the prior art in order to compensate for or reduce nonlinearities is very complex in terms of connections, however. This additional connection also causes parasitic capacitance which severely restricts the maximum clock frequency of the flash converter. Furthermore, such additional connection needs to be reserved for each analog/digital converter contained in a converter array as described in FIG. 1. The method of topological interchange is therefore disadvantageous for analog/digital converters which are provided for use in TIADCs or converter arrays.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a circuit arrangement for compensating for nonlinearities from analog/digital converters operating with different timing which has low circuit complexity and can be implemented independently of production technology.

Circuit arrangement for compensation for nonlinearities from analog/digital converters operating with different timing


A recording apparatus includes a first accommodating section, a transporting mechanism configured to transport the recording medium in order of a first path to a fourth path and which includes a separating mechanism, and a recording section. The separating mechanism includes a feeding roller and a separating member. The first accommodating section, the second path, and the fourth path are arranged to overlap with each other in a vertical direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus configured to record an image on a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known an image forming apparatus including a paper feeding tray (referred to as a accommodating section) on which a plurality of recording media is stacked, a paper feeding roller (feeding roller) and a separating pad (separating member) which are configured to separate and transport the recording media stacked on the paper feeding tray, an electrostatic attraction belt which is configured to attract and transport the recording medium that has been separated and transported from the paper feeding tray, and a recording head (recording section) which records an image on the recording medium that is being transported by the electrostatic attraction belt. In this image forming apparatus, the feeding roller makes a contact with an upper surface of the recording media stacked on the paper feeding tray, and the separating pad makes a contact with a lower surface of the recording medium transported by the paper feeding roller. Accordingly, multi-feed of the recording medium is suppressed.


An arrangement for mounting a stent graft prosthesis (1) onto a deployment device (2) with a retention arrangement (3) which includes retention at a number of points of the circumference of the proximal end of the stent graft prosthesis (1). The arrangement provides a greater circumferential distance (13) between two adjacent retention points (9) then other of the points. When the deployment device is deployed in a curved lumen such as the thoracic arch it is oriented so that the greater circumferential distance (13) is on the inner side of the curve.

This specification will be discussed in relation to its application to treatment of aortic arch disease, that is to treatment in the thoracic arch of a patient but the invention is not so limited and is applicable to any lumen of the human or animal body and particularly curved lumens.
Throughout this specification the term distal with respect to a portion of the aorta, a deployment device or a prosthesis such as a stent graft is intended to mean the end of the aorta, deployment device or from the heart and the term proximal is intended to mean the portion of the aorta, deployment device or end of the prosthesis nearer to the heart. For other lumens within the human or animal body the terms caudal and cranial respectively should be understood.
When deploying a stent graft which is substantially cylindrical in a curved aorta there is a danger that the proximal end of the stent graft, that is the end nearer the heart, will not lie flat against the walls of a aorta and blood flow can get underneath the edge of the graft particularly on the inner side of the curve of the thoracic arch and cause the stent graft to buckle and close off thereby causing serious problems.