A method and apparatus for notifying a user of an interactive event using a remote control device. In one embodiment, a remote control device contains either a display or a bright light, or both, which can create a visual alert to let a user know that an interactive function is available. The nature of the function may be displayed on a screen attached to the remote control device.

An Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) displays information about programs a viewer is currently watching as well as information about other programs on different channels or at different times. The first EPGs were typically displayed on one channel of a cable television system. These early EPGs were simple, displaying short program descriptions and scrolling past the screen at a predetermined rate. Also, these EPGs typically did not allow for user interaction. More recent digital EPGs allow for the user to interact with the programming schedule, and to view programs while scanning the guide. However, digital EPGs still typically rely on the television as a means of showing the EPG.
Currently, EPGs are displayed only on the primary video display, typically a television, itself. This is because a television is usually the most expensive component in a home entertainment system, and further because until recently a television was the only display device in many homes. As a result, the television is used to show both the programs themselves as well as the EPG.
Typically, an EPG will be displayed in one of two ways. It will either be displayed using the full television screen, completely preempting the programming selection, or the EPG may occupy only a portion of the screen as an overlay, the rest of the screen used to display the current program. Where an EPG only occupies a portion of the screen, however, it may be difficult to read because of the small size of the text, or may not provide much information about the current selection or other programs. Additionally, the main program is interrupted by the overlay.
This method of displaying programming information can have several other disadvantages as well. When there are several viewers, if one decides to view the EPG, all other viewers must wait until the one using the EPG is finished. This interruption may be quite inconvenient for the other viewers.
Current interactive television systems, such as Wink™, WebTV™, or MSTV™ create interactive applications that a television viewer may use while they are watching television. Once the application becomes active, the interactive television system must alert the user that there is an interactive function available. Previous systems have either displayed a logo or a window on the television screen itself. This can be disruptive to all viewers as it interrupts the programming.
What is needed is a way to alert a user to the availability of interactive television without disrupting other viewers by displaying the alert on the screen itself.

Method and apparatus for notifying users of interactive functions using a remote device


A device for retaining a graft on an artery, comprising a first part for contacting the graft and a second part for contacting the artery when the device is pierced radially through the graft and the artery wall, the first and second parts being connected by a resilient member, wherein the resilient member biases the first and second parts towards each other into a retaining configuration such that in use the artery and the graft are retained together between the first and second parts of the device, and wherein the first and second parts are moveable into an open configuration in which they are further apart than in the retaining configuration to enable the device to be conveyed along an artery.

For clinical applications, grafts made of woven, moulded or extruded synthetic polymeric or elastomeric materials are commonly used to replace natural tissue within a living organism which either is diseased or has suffered trauma. Commonly known in the art, grafts are sutured in place during an open surgical procedure or are held in place by stents in a combination known as a stent-graft. Some stent-grafts use barbs to fix the implant into the body conduit but successful stent-grafts can be complex and expensive to manufacture and, because of their rigidity, their use can be restricted to only straightforward surgical cases.
Stent-grafts, whose use now has a several years of history, show a tendency to migrate two to three years after implantation. Such an event currently requires major open surgery to replace the graft.
Other types of flat graft or patches are used to cover tissue damage. These grafts are also sutured or stapled in position during open surgery, but nevertheless also have a tendency to migrate.

Devices and methods for the repair of arteries


The present disclosure relates to a method for fabricating a scanning probe microscope (SPM) nanoneedle probe using an ion beam, a SPM nanoneedle probe, a method of fabricating a critical dimension scanning probe microscope (CD-SPM) nanoneedle probe using an ion beam, a CD-SPM nanoneedle probe, and uses thereof. A disclosed method can comprise: positioning the probe so that a tip of the probe on which the nanoneedle is attached faces toward a direction in which the ion beam is irradiated; and aligning the nanoneedle attached on the tip of the probe with the ion beam in parallel by irradiating the ion beam toward the tip of the probe on which the nanoneedle is attached.

Hereinafter, a term "nanoneedle" includes what terms "nanotube" and "nanowire" refer to.
An SPM is a device used in a field of nanoscale technology, which is very powerful and useful as well as being delicate. The SPM is distinguished into various kinds such as an atomic force microscope (AFM) utilizing an atomic force applied between a probe and a sample object, a magnetic force microscope (MFM) utilizing a magnetic force applied between the probe and the sample object, an electrostatic force microscope (EFM) utilizing an electrostatic force applied between the probe and the sample object, and a scanning near field optical microscope (SNOM) utilizing an optical property of the sample object, etc.
Although it is widely known that the SPM as such has a resolution in atomic level, there still exists a need to sharpen an end (or a tip) of the probe used in the SPM to enhance the resolution of the SPM better. Because a conventional method which enhances an aspect ratio of a probe using semiconductor micromachining techniques has an inherent limitation in improving the resolution, a demand for an alternative method has been increased for sharpening the end of the probe. As a result, a method using the carbon nanotube emerged as the new alternative.
The carbon nanotube has a high aspect ratio as well as excellent electrical and mechanical properties as well known. Accordingly, a research has been undertaken on a method for scanning a sample object by the carbon nanotube attached on the tip of the SPM probe (mother probe).
As technologies related to the research mentioned above, there exist U.S. Pat. No. 6,528,785 which discloses a technology of attaching the carbon nanotube on the tip of the SPM probe using a coating film, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,759,653 which discloses a technology of attaching the carbon nanotube on the tip of the SPM probe using focused ion beam and severing the carbon nanotube attached on the tip of the SPM probe in a required length.
However, there are several significant technical factors in using the nanoneedle being attached on the tip of the SPM probe in accordance with the series of those technologies. Those factors are as follows: First, the attaching strength of the nanoneedle on the tip of the SPM probe; Second, the length adjustment of the nanoneedle attached on the tip of the SPM probe; third, adjustment of a pointing direction and shape of the nanoneedle attached on the tip of the SPM probe regardless of shape of the tip of the SPM probe.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,528,785 and 6,759,653 mentioned above have successfully satisfied two factors out of those three technical factors mentioned above, which are the attaching strength and the length adjustment. However, the third factor remains unsolved by any of the methods disclosed so far.
Korean patent application number 10-2002-0052591 filed by the applicant of the present invention discloses a fabricating apparatus to adjust the pointing direction of the nanoneedle attached on the tip of the SPM probe and a method for fabricating such nanoneedle. However, Korean patent application 10-2002-0052591 still has technical disadvantages of long process time and high cost required to fabricate a nanoneedle SPM probe as well as low throughput because the patent application utilizes a nanomanipulator and a medium attached the tip of the probe to adjust the pointing direction of the nanoneedle.
Further, despite that the variation of the pointing direction of the nanoneedle attached on the tip of the SPM probe has to be within 2 to 3 degree to scan in critical dimension (CD), it is nearly impossible to correctly adjust the pointing direction of the nanoneedle with such an accuracy by the conventional technologies. In addition, it should be noted that adjusting the accuracy of the pointing direction of the nanoneedle is required not only for scanning in CD as described above, but also for obtaining a correct scanning image using a general nanoneedle SPM probe Particularly, in case where the nanoneedle attached on the tip of the probe, is long, it becomes a more important to adjust the accuracy of the pointing direction of the nanoneedle.
Besides, in some cases, the nanoneedle attached on the tip of the SPM probe is either crooked or curled due to certain manufacturing problems. Accordingly, a technical means is required to straighten the nanoneedle attached on the tip of the SPM probe for such cases.
Also, the conventional SPM probe or the SPM nanoneedle probe having an end with a shape of a straight line has a limitation in scanning the shape of the sidewall of the sample object having irregularity in nanoscale level. In other words, in case of scanning the sidewall of the sample object having irregularity in nanoscale level using the probe as shown in FIG. 12, a distorted image being different from the actual shape of the sidewall of the sample object is obtained instead as shown in FIG. 14 because the probe scans the sidewall illustrated in FIG. 13.
Although U.S. Pat. No. 6,246,054 disclosed the SPM probe having an end with shapes illustrated in FIG. 15, it still has a disadvantage in that the method to fabricate such probes and the scanning method are too complicated. Besides, it has a certain limitation in accuracy of the scanning the sidewall of a sample object to be scanned.
Due to problems mentioned above, an alternative is needed to solve the technical problems related to the SPM nanoneedle probe.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for fabricating SPM and CD-SPM nanoneedle probe using ion beam and SPM and CD-SPM nanoneedle probe thereby

Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science


The present invention relates to a pallet comprising a four-sided support plate, said support plate comprising two first edges arranged opposite each other and two second edges arranged opposite each other, first walls arranged along the first edges of support plate and hinged to the support plate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a load carrying pallet, and to a method for using such pallet.
2. The Prior Art
Although pallets have substantial advantages in improving the mechanical handling of goods and commercial products, their use have some disadvantages in respect to handling the pallet when unloaded. Since most pallets are being recycled or returned to the manufacturer of the goods or the warehouse from which they were shipped, the handling of the empty pallet is involving considerable handling costs. Furthermore, the empty pallets occupy space that could have been otherwise available for other purposes in the store/warehouse, or during transport/logistics.
A pallet of the type, requiring only a little space when empty is known from GB 2 061 871 A. The pallet described in this reference refers to a load carrying pallet comprising a base section having a surface layer and two support elements also having surface layers in contact with and secured to the surface layer of the base section, integrally formed and connected by an flexible hinge portion to said surface layer of the base section. The pallet is constructed of cardboard as a single element and comprised of respective outer layers of cardboard. Interposed a sandwiched honey-comb structure made of paper is arranged.
The pallet described in GB 2 061 871 A is intended for carrying both light weight goods and heavy goods. However, the construction is vulnerable to damage when handled by a fork-lift truck and especially when the support elements are subjected to relatively large laterally-directed forces the walls are vulnerable of collapsing.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a pallet of the above type that is more stable, and where the support elements are capable of withstanding relatively large laterally-directed forces.

Pallet with walls hinged to support plate


Devices and methods for removing body tissue involving the use of a brush member (12) having a plurality of bristle members defining a capacity for carrying body tissue. The brush member (12) is capable of being manipulated within said body to thereby receive body tissue within said brush member (12) such that said body tissue may be carried and thereafter removed from said body. Also provided are protective devices (90) dimensioned to be positioned near an entrance into the target site, the protective devices (90) for establishing a barrier between the brush member (12) and at least a portion of the body tissue adjacent to the entrance. The protective devices (16) may comprise one of a cannula assembly (14) and a retractor assembly.

I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to devices and methods for removing body tissue. More particularly, the present invention relates to devices and methods for removing body tissue involving the use of a brush or brush-like element capable of collecting, carrying, or otherwise receiving body tissue for removal.
II. Discussion of the Prior Art
A large variety of pathologies affecting many different body tissues indicate the use of tissue ablation (i.e., removal or destruction of a tissue). Examples of such procedures include knee meniscectomy, knee synovectomy, chondromalacia and tears, loose body debridement, lateral retinacular release, plica removal, ligament and tendon release, contouring and sculpting of articular surfaces, debridement of inflamed synovial tissue, capsulectomy in the knee, complete or partial resection of internal organs, tumors and lesions.
Tissue ablation can be accomplished using many different ways, the two main categories consisting of mechanical and energy focusing means. Mechanical tools are used to cut away the targeted tissue. Thermal energy has also been used which heats the targeted tissue until the cells die. Lasers, radiofrequency waves, microwaves, ultrasound, and cryotherapy have all been used in thermal techniques. In a related technique, an electrical current is used to excite a fluid, creating a plasma layer. The highly energized plasma layer then incrementally disintegrates layers of the tissue.
The existing techniques suffer from a host of disadvantages. Typically, mechanical devices are small and remove tissue in very small increments. As a result, when large amounts of tissue must be removed the excision time may be exorbitant. The energy focusing techniques, in addition to suffering from the time disadvantage of the mechanical devices, are further limited. The energy levels applied to the tissue must be conservatively regulated to avoid damaging tissue beyond the targeted tissue.
One procedure, in particular, that is hindered by the existing devices and techniques is a spinal discectomy (i.e., removal of intervertebral disc material). Each disk is composed of an annulus fibrosus, a nucleus pulposus, and a pair of end caps which couple the annulus fibrosus and nucleus pulposus. The annulus fibrosus is an annular multi-layered composite structure. Each layer is constructed of fibrous tissue and fibrocartilage with the fibers of each layer ordered and oriented generally in the same direction. The fibers of adjacent layers pass in opposite directions so that when the layers are combined they create a mesh of concentric rings. The central cavity of the annulus houses the nucleus pulposus, which is a semi-gelatinous, highly elastic material. The final components are end caps constructed of thin layers of hyaline cartilage that cover both the top and bottom of each spinal disk. The end caps cover both the annulus fibrosus and the nucleus pulposus and assure that the nucleus pulposus remains within the confines of the annulus fibrosus.
Oftentimes, disks become herniated, or bulge, due to structural damage to the annulus fibrosus. The bulging disk may place pressure on nearby nerves, which can lead to debilitating pain, numbness or muscle weakness. Treatments used to reduce the affects of a damaged disk range from bed rest to spinal fusion. Due to the major shortcomings of those extreme treatments they are often not desirable. A discectomy, either full or partial, can help to balance the burdens and benefits of bed rest and fusion or help prepare the intervertebral site for procedures like fusion.
When a partial discectomy is performed, a portion of the nucleus pulposus of a herniated disc is excised. Partially removing the nucleus material can reduce the pressure exerted by the nucleus on the annulus and reduce the bulging. In this procedure, the surgeon must first make an appropriate incision through the skin and other tissue layers, and then typically create an access hole through the herniated annulus (i.e., an annulotomy) to treat the offending tissue. Such access holes are created with a variety of surgical instruments including scalpels, probes, trephines, etc., and the access hole may range in size from 3 to 6 mm in diameter.
Upon entry into the interior annular space, the surgeon removes the offending tissue. The tools typically used are only able to remove small portions of tissue with each approach. As a result, removal of the tissue during a discectomy can take an exorbitant amount of time. In addition, in some cases, when ablation of the verterbral body surfaces adjacent to the disc is required, an additional tool must be used adding additional time and steps to the procedure. The additional time requirement of this procedure gives rise to a need for tools and methods for performing rapid discectomy and end plate ablation.
The present invention is directed at addressing this need and eliminating, or at least reducing, the effects of the shortcomings of the prior art systems as described above.

Systems and methods for removing body tissue


Features are disclosed for generating and using personalized named entity recognition models. A personalized model can be trained for a particular user, and then interpolated with a general model for use in named entity recognition. In some embodiments, a model may be trained for a group of users, where the users share some similarity relevant to language processing. In some embodiments, various base models may be trained so as to provide better accuracy for certain types of language input than a general model. Users may be associated with any number of base models, and the associated based models may then be interpolated for use in named entity recognition on input from the corresponding user.

Natural language processing systems include various modules and components for receiving textual input from a user and determining what the user meant. In some implementations, a natural language processing system includes an automatic speech recognition ("ASR") module that receives audio input of a user utterance and generates one or more likely transcriptions of the utterance. Natural language processing systems may also include a natural language understanding ("NLU") module that receives textual input, such as a transcription of a user utterance, and determines the meaning of the text in a way that can be acted upon, such as by a computer application. For example, a user of a mobile phone may issue a spoken command to initiate a phone call. Audio of the spoken command can be transcribed by the ASR module, and the NLU module can determine the user's intent (e.g., that the user wants to initiate the phone call feature) from the transcription and generate a command to initiate the phone call.
An NLU module can identify particular words (e.g., named entities) in the transcription that are of particular importance in determining the user's intent. Based on those named entities, the NLU module can identify the user's intent and generate an output that may be used by an application to respond or otherwise perform an action regarding the user's intent. In a typical implementation, named entity recognition involves processing input to generate data about each word of the input, and then comparing that data to elements in a named entity recognition model to determine which element is the best fit for the input data.

Named entity recognition with personalized models


A process is provided for the production and purification of cyclic esters in which the purification includes the introduction of an aqueous solvent into a cyclic ester containing composition and allowing two phases to form. A first phase includes cyclic esters and any organic solvent, and a second phase includes the aqueous solvent and impurities.

Cyclic esters are useful in a variety of applications. For example, cyclic esters derived from hydroxycarboxylic acids are useful in the preparation of environmentally biodegradable plastic materials, and for plastic materials which resorb when used in medical applications. Particularly useful are those polymers which are derived from .alpha.-hydroxycarboxylic acids, such as lactic acid, because they can be degraded over time by hydrolysis under most environmental conditions. The resulting hydroxy acid units (e.g., lactic acid) or oligomers thereof are then readily taken up by microorganisms in the environment and converted to carbon dioxide and water aerobically or carbon dioxide and methane anaerobically.
Cyclic esters, such as cyclic esters of hydroxycarboxylic acids can be produced through a number of mechanisms; however, such cyclic ester products typically contain multiple undesirable impurities. Such impurities can degrade cyclic esters in the product, resulting in short shelf life of the cyclic esters produced. For example, free acid and water in a cyclic ester composition can propagate hydrolyzing of the cyclic ester bonds, degrading the cyclic ester back into hydroxycarboxylic acids or other degradation products. In addition, impurities in the cyclic ester composition can interfere with both the rate of polymerization of the cyclic ester and the molecular weight, thereby prohibiting the formation of desirable higher molecular weight polymerization products. Accordingly, there is a need to obtain substantially pure cyclic esters, which are substantially free from impurities which degrade the compounds or interfere with subsequent chemical reactions, such as polymerization of the cyclic esters into high molecular weight polymers.
Several processes are known to purify synthesized cyclic ester compositions. Such processes include solvent crystallization, solvent scrubbing, solvent extraction, distillation, melt crystallization and sublimation. Although satisfactory results can be obtained in controlled laboratory conditions, many processes are difficult to operate on a commercial scale because they are complex or have impractical operating parameters. In addition, such processes may require high energy costs, high equipment costs or high reagent costs. Moreover, machinery may not be available for implementing these processes on a commercial scale.
Other processes are commercially unacceptable because the cyclic esters being purified may degrade due to the residence time or temperature constraints of the process, resulting in poor purity. Further, some processes provide low yields, making them economically unsuitable.
Accordingly, there is a need for inexpensive, reliable methods for purifying cyclic esters. In particular, there is a need for methods of obtaining cyclic esters of sufficient purity for use in producing high molecular weight polymers. Furthermore, there is a need for methods of purifying cyclic esters that allow for recovering all isomeric forms of the cyclic esters.

Purifying cyclic esters by aqueous solvent extraction and further purification


According to one embodiment, an electric power conversion device includes an inverter which converts DC power into AC power and supplies the AC power to electric equipment of a railway vehicle, a battery capable of storing DC power, and a converter which converts the AC power into DC power and charges the battery. The battery supplies electric power to the inverter when the electric power is not supplied to the inverter from an external power source.

A railway vehicle is equipped with an electric motor which drives (enables movement of) the railway vehicle, and a vehicle control device which receives electric power from an overhead line, converts the electric power into power with the required voltage and current for operation of the electric motor, and supplies the electric power of the required voltage and current to the electric motor. When electric power is not supplied from the overhead line due to a power failure or the like, the operation of the electric motor stops so that the railway vehicle stops. Further, when electric power is momentarily not supplied from an overhead line due to a pantograph bounce or the like, electric equipment such as an air conditioner system or an illumination system in a train cabin stops, leading to reduction of services offered to customers on the train. In view of such circumstances, there has been a demand for the continuous supply of electric power to railway equipment such as an electric motor or electric equipment in a cabin even when electric power is not supplied from the outside such as from an overhead line.
In a rail yard where the maintenance of vehicles or the like is performed, overhead lines and third rails are installed. There has been a demand for the elimination of overhead lines in rail yards, from a viewpoint of the cost of construction and installation of the overhead lines, as well as safety. There has been also a demand for the elimination of third rails installed on the ground or at track level in the rail yard from a viewpoint of safety of field personnel to perform the maintenance of the third rails or the like.

Electric power conversion device, emergency traveling system and railway vehicle


A system for arranging searchable items, such as digital images or multimedia icons for presentation on a graphical user interface. The system has an optimizer module which minimizes a cost function for arranging items in a layout space and is applied to one or more predetermined characteristics of the items. The optimizer module also creates a mixture distribution by considering each item as having a spatial distribution in the layout space and controls the entropy of the mixture distribution in order to maximize the extent to which each item occupies a separate position in the layout space. A Renderer module then renders the layouts to generate a display.

Humans can process a tremendous amount of visual and multimedia information. However, they often have difficulty precisely defining and describing such information. For example, it is estimated that the brain can distinguish about 10,000 nuances in colour yet individuals can name only a small number of colour terms (approximately 12). As a consequence, accessing images when searching a database may be challenging using text-based searches which typically use metadata.
Content-based indexing and retrieval methods provide a partial solution to this problem. Emphasis in many content-based retrieval systems is on automated retrieval of relevant items based on notions of similarity to a query item. For example, content-based image retrieval (CBIR) can use features of a selected image of a painting, photograph, print, drawing, or other object to find visually similar images and locate matches in a collection even if they do not share metadata with the original image.
Browsing provides an effective means for exploratory search and a useful alternative to traditional content-based retrieval in which users formulate textual or pictorial queries. In addition, when exploring image and/or multimedia collections, users' intentions might be very vague. They expect the system to be able to provide a variety of cues and options to guide their navigation.
Image and/or multimedia browsing systems need to enable users to visualize collections of items (or their thumbnails or icons) by laying them out appropriately for display. Many systems categorize items into different classes and simply lay them out on a 2D display as 1D lists for each class (Kang, H. and Shneiderman, B. (2000). Visualization methods for personal photo collections browsing and searching in the photofinder. In IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo, pages 1539-1542.). Such 1D lists do not portray well the mutual relationships between items.
Alternatively, 2D map based visualizations (for example, Nguyen, G. and Worring, M. (2006). Interactive access to large image collections using similarity-based visualization. Journal of Visual Languages and Computing, 19(2):203-224) lay out items such that similar items appear close to one another on a 2D display while very different images will be further apart. The 2D map based techniques differ in the manner by which they extract high-dimensional feature vectors from items, measure pair-wise item similarity, and perform dimensionality reduction to map the distribution of items from the high-dimensional space to a 2D display space (Rodden, K. (2002). Evaluating similarity-based visualisations as interfaces for image browsing. PhD thesis, University of Cambridge.).
For example, Rubner et al (Rubner, Y., Tomasi, C., and Guibas, L. (1998). A metric for distributions with applications to image databases. In ICCV, pages 59-66, Bombay, India) used Earth Mover's Distance to measure pair-wise dissimilarity and performed multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) to transform image colour and texture features to a 2D space.
When a large number of items are visualized on a display for browsing, the items will overlap and the extent of this overlap will tend to increase with the number of items. Additionally, regions of the display space will often be empty. These problems are exacerbated by dimensionality reduction techniques that do not consider the sizes of the images used to represent the items (e.g. image thumbnails or icons) when mapping to display positions. Two very similar items will probably be projected to very close positions such that one will be heavily overlapped by the other. In order to reduce overlap, after obtaining image positions on a 2D display by dimensionality reduction, gradient descent methods have been used to move overlapped images towards unoccupied 2D display regions. Basalaj (Basalaj, 2000) and Liu et al. (Liu et al., 2004) used an analogue of MDS in a discrete domain to display each image within a single cell of a grid. While these approaches can help to reduce image overlap, they mainly deal with small numbers of images (about 20˜200).
It is an object of the invention to improve the manner in which items on a display are laid out or arranged.

System and method for arranging items for display


The base piece of a hood assembly for a personal water-craft mounts the components of an audio system in a watertight environment while, at the same time, affording ready access to its operating and functional features.

It is known in the art to incorporate a stereo speaker assembly into a contempory form of personal watercraft (PWC), as indicated by Pesce U.S. Des. Pat. No. 376,150. Tihany U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,722 provides means for carrying a portable radio/cassette player unit on the back of a watercraft seat, and Petrilli U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,810 provides a removable console system, for small boats, in which electronic instruments can be transported and positioned for convenient monitoring.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,191, to Madore, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,733, to Kobayashi, show that it is conventional to construct the hull of a PWC with a covered storage compartment; Kobayashi discloses that the hull provides areas for locating various components for the watercraft. Structures for installing stereo audio systems into motorcycles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,228, to Bruni, U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,251, to Murayama, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,779, to Eggert et al.

Personal watercraft having a hood assembly with a base piece for mounting a stereo system


The present invention is an electrode material comprising at least, a silver powder, a glass frit, and an organic vehicle, wherein a rate of Ag content of the electrode material is 75 wt % to 95 wt %, and a ratio of contents of Ag grains having an average grain diameter of 0.5 μm to 3 μm and Ag grains having an average grain diameter of 4 μm to 8 μm in the electrode material is (the Ag grains having an average grain diameter of 0.5 μm to 3 μm):(the Ag grains having an average grain diameter of 4 μm to 8 μm)=20-80 wt %:80-20 wt %, and a solar cell comprising an electrode formed by using the electrode material. Thereby, an electrode material that can be stably filled in an electrode groove formed on a semiconductor device and that an electrode with narrow line width and small resistance loss can be easily formed by, and a solar cell with high power having an electrode formed by using the electrode material are provided.

For a semiconductor device in which an electrode is formed such as a solar cell, it is necessary to form an electrode with low resistance having a narrow occupied area on a light acceptance surface so as not to block light. Therefore, for the purpose of enlargement of electrode cross-section area with controlling the electrode width to a certain size, a solar cell or the like has been produced by forming a predetermined electrode groove on a substrate surface and then forming a buried electrode inside the groove. As examples thereof, buried-type electrode solar cells (buried-contact-type solar cells) have been developed and disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (kokai) No. H08-37318 and No. H08-191152, and the like.
In the case of forming a finger electrode on a front surface of a solar cell, for example, a finger electrode formed by a screen printing method generally has approximately a width of 120 μm and a height of 15 μm. However, in the case of forming a buried-type electrode inside a groove as the above-described invention, a finger electrode having approximately a width of 30 μm and a depth of 60 μm can be formed by combining a plating method.
By forming a buried-type electrode (finger electrode) as described above, a solar cell with narrow electrode width and an electrode cross-section area being nearly equal to that of an electrode formed by a screen printing method can be produced. Thereby, without increasing resistance loss in the finger electrode portion, finger shadow loss is drastically reduced and the light acceptance area can be enlarged. Therefore, it becomes possible that the solar cell power is enhanced.
However, in the formation of a buried-type electrode by using a plating method as described above, in order to maintain the electrode formation condition to be constant, namely, in order to maintain a precipitation rate or a film composition to be constant, it is necessary that bath components such as a metal salt concentration of the electrode and a reducing agent concentration thereof are strictly analyzed and administered with pH and temperature, and it has been difficult to stably form an electrode having a desired quality. Moreover, in the case of using an electroless plating method, electrode forming cost is reduced. However, there has been a crucial disadvantage that formation of a predetermined cross-section area requires time and that productivity is very low. Furthermore, abnormal precipitation is easily caused against a minor defect on the device surface. Therefore, it is also difficult to pursue a beautiful physical appearance thereof.
With respect to such disadvantages, in Proceedings of 3rd World Conference on Photovoltaic Conversion, "Buried Contact Solar Cells on Multicrystalline Silicon with Optimized Bulk and Surface Passivation" or Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (kokai) No. 2001-223372, inventions for forming an electrode with the narrow electrode width by burying the electrode in a electrode groove by a screen printing method have been disclosed. However, for example, as the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (kokai) No. 2001-223372 or the like, when a groove having a width of approximately 100 μm is formed on a semiconductor substrate and then an electrode material (electrode paste) for a solar cell which is generally used by a screen printing method is pressed into the groove, a binder component contained in the electrode material is burnt out in firing the electrode material, and the electrode material is constricted by sintering of silver grains. Thereby, there has been a problem that the electrode material is not sufficiently filled in the groove and simultaneously delamination of the electrode material is caused in the groove and the contact area to the semiconductor substrate is reduced. Furthermore, there has also been caused problems that a vacancy taken in the groove with the electrode material in the printing expands at a burst in the firing, or decomposition gas in the time of the burning-out loses vents and expands in the groove, and therefore, the electrode in the groove is partially broken. Such problems have increased series resistance of the solar cell and consequently have caused degradation of the power of the solar cell.
Moreover, in pressing the electrode material into the groove, it is devised to lower viscosity of the electrode material to be approximately 40-100 Pa·s and thereby the electrode material is made to easily flow in the groove. However, in this case, the electrode material leaks out of the groove and generates blur (seeping-out). If blur is generated in the electrode formation as described above, the electrode width of the finger electrode widens. Therefore, a problem that shadow loss is increased to degrade the solar cell power is caused. On the other hand, if a squeegee speed in the screen printing is simply enhanced in order to reduce the blur of the electrode, there has been a problem that patchiness is generated in the electrode in the groove and accordingly the finger electrode becomes easily broken and the solar cell power is degraded.

Electrode material, solar cell, and method for producing solar cell


A turbine blade including a root section at an end of the turbine blade, a first airfoil section adjacent to the root section, and a tip section adjacent to the airfoil section and including a material block that is incongruous with the airfoil section. A midspan section may also include a material block. Each material block can be selectively machined to customize the length of the turbine blade and the position of a tip shroud connection or midspan connection. The turbine blade can be sized for retrofitting last stage blades of older turbines. A radial position of the root mounts for the turbine blade may also be adjusted to provide further customization.

The invention relates generally to turbine blade technology. More particularly, the invention relates to a turbine blade having material block(s) to allow for customization for retrofitting last stage blades of older turbines and a related method.
In the turbine industry, turbines may be periodically upgraded. One technique that is used to upgrade a turbine is to replace old turbine blades with more efficient design.

Turbine blade having material block and related method


According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for transmitting a reception acknowledgement response by an user equipment for performing device-to-device communication in a wireless communication system, comprises the steps of: receiving a physical downlink shared channel; and transmitting a reception acknowledgement response for the physical downlink shared channel on a resource for a physical uplink control channel, wherein the reception acknowledgement response is transmitted according to a setting of a round trip time (RTT), and the RTT is set for each user equipment.

A wireless communication system is developing to diversely cover a wide range to provide such a communication service as an audio communication service, a data communication service and the like. The wireless communication is a sort of a multiple access system capable of supporting communications with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). For example, the multiple access system may include one of CDMA (code division multiple access) system, FDMA (frequency division multiple access) system, TDMA (time division multiple access) system, OFDMA (orthogonal frequency division multiple access) system, SC-FDMA (single carrier frequency division multiple access) system, MC-FDMA (multi carrier frequency division multiple access) system and the like.
A device-to-device (D2D) communication indicates a communication scheme directly transceiving audio, data and the like between user equipments without passing through an evolved Node B (eNB) in a manner of configuring a direct link between the user equipments (UEs). The D2D communication may include such a communication scheme as a UE-to-UE communication, a peer-to-peer communication and the like. And, the D2D communication can be applied to an M2M (machine-to-machine) communication, an MTC (machine type communication) and the like.
The D2D communication is considered as a solution capable of solving the burden of an eNode B resulted from rapidly increasing data traffic. For instance, unlike a legacy wireless communication system, since the D2D communication transceives data between devices without passing through the eNode B, overload of a network can be reduced. If the D2D communication is introduced, it may expect such an effect as reduction of procedures of the eNode B, reduction of power consumption of devices participating in the D2D, increase of data transmission speed, increase of network capability, load distribution, expansion of cell coverage and the like.
The D2D communication can be classified according to a coordination station. The coordination station may correspond to an eNode B, a network, a user equipment or the like. A D2D UE can receive information necessary for transmitting and receiving data from the coordination station.

Method and device for transmitting reception acknowledgement response in wireless communication system


An electronic timepiece with a solar cell includes a timepiece movement, a timepiece case for housing the timepiece movement, a casing ring for housing and holding the timepiece movement in the timepiece case, a solar cell and a dial. The solar cell is disposed almost vertically to a solar cell positioning portion provided in the casing ring, and the solar cell has a slender strip shape formed on a flexible substrate. Consequently, the solar cell is not disposed in the timepiece movement, and it is only necessary to change the casing ring as an external component even when a panel cover diameter is changed. Further, a solar cell can be coiled to match the size of the casing ring when it is incorporated in the casing ring, so that a common solar cell can be used despite a change in the panel cover diameter of the timepiece.

Many electronic timepieces each of which has a solar cell and utilizes a light such as a sunlight as a power generation source have been conventionally commercialized. In these electronic timepieces, when a solar cell is arranged under a light semi-permeable dial, a design of the dial is restricted, and commodities with various designs cannot be proposed.
That is, since the surface of the solar cell has a dark brown color, the dial must be arranged on the solar cell in order to hide this color of the surface. On the other hand, in order to generate the power upon receiving a light at the solar cell, properties which transmit a light to some extent, i.e., the light permeability is required. Therefore, using a white color to the dial results in the dial having an off-white color tone like frosted glass, and a beautiful white color cannot be obtained, thereby restricting the design.
Meanwhile, a reduction in power consumption of timepieces has advanced in recent years, and each timepiece can be driven even if an area of a solar cell is decreased to some extent. Thus, an electronic timepiece with a solar cell in which a solar cell is arranged on an outer periphery substantially vertically with respect to the dial has been proposed. Such a prior art is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. 42390-1987 (Patent Reference 1) or Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-148366 (Patent Reference 2). There is a timepiece in which a solar cell formed on a strip-like printed board having the flexibility is wound on a wall surface of a gap portion between a windshield and a dial.
FIGS. 17 to 20 show an embodiment described in Patent Reference 1, in which FIGS. 17 and 18 show a first embodiment and FIGS. 19 and 20 show a second embodiment.
A solar cell block 121 shown in FIG. 18 has a configuration in which a plurality of solar cells 123 are mounted on a flexible printed board 122, these solar cells 123 are connected with each other through an electrode pattern and spacers 124 are arrange to fill gaps between the solar cells 123. A solar cell block 121 is bonded to a support ring 125 through the flexible printed board.
FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of a wrist watch showing a state in which the solar cell block 121 depicted in FIG. 19 is assembled in a watch case 127. In the solar cell block 121, the surface of each solar cell 123 is erected with respect to a dial 126 and faces the center of the watch. This solar cell block 121 is configured to be attached to the support ring 125.
A solar cell block 131 shown in FIG. 21 is obtained by forming solar cells 133 each consisting of amorphous silicon on a stainless sheet 132 on which an insulating film is applied. The plurality of solar cells 133 are connected with each other through positive and negative electrodes 134a and 134b arranged at both ends of the stainless sheet 132 and a wiring pattern 135.
FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of a wrist watch showing a state in which the solar cell block 131 depicted in FIG. 21 is assembled in a watch case 136. The solar cell block 131 formed of a flexible stainless sheet is wound on the inner side of a facing inner wall surface 137 of the watch case 136, and the solar cell block 131 is arranged in such a manner that the solar cells 133 are erected with respect to the dial 138 and face the center of the watch.
FIGS. 22 and 23 show the first embodiment described in Patent Reference 2.
FIG. 22 is a plan view of an elongated strip-like solar cell 141 formed on a substrate 140 having the flexibility, and positive and negative electrodes 147a and 147b are arranged at both ends of the solar cell 141.
FIG. 23 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a solar cell 141 is assembled in a watch case 146. As to the solar cell 141-in FIG. 23, there is shown a cross-sectional view taken along a D-D line in FIG. 22 and a part where the positive/negative electrode 147a (147b) of the solar cell 141 is in contact with a connection spring 148. The solar cell 141 is arranged on an inner peripheral surface 144a of an annular banking portion 144 along an outer peripheral portion of a timepiece movement 142 above an arrangement surface 142a of a dial 143 of the timepiece movement 142. This solar cell 141 is assembled in a watch case 146 with a facing ring 145 having the light permeability being arranged on the inner side.
However, in the configuration according to the first embodiment of Parent Reference 1 shown in FIG. 18, the plurality of solar cells 123 are circularly arranged, electrically connected in series and have a fixed length. Therefore, when the same solar cell block 121 as this embodiment is assembled in a timepiece having a small panel cover diameter, a light is not applied to some solar cells 123 because the solar cells 123 overlap each other. However, the solar cell block 121 has a problem that the necessary power cannot be obtained since the output power from the solar cells 123 on which a light is not applied restricts the entire output power.
Likewise, since the solar cells 133 are electrically connected in series, the second embodiment of Patent Reference 1 shown in FIG. 20 has the same problem as the first embodiment of Patent Reference 1 shown in FIG. 18.
Further, in case of the solar cell block 131 of the second embodiment of Patent Reference 1, since the positive and negative electrodes 134a and 134b for fetching the generated power are provided at both ends of the solar cell block 131, there is a problem that the positive and negative electrodes 134a and 134b overlap each other and hence the power cannot be fetched when this solar cell block 131 is used in a timepiece having a small panel cover diameter.
Likewise, the first embodiment of Patent Reference 2 shown in FIGS. 22 and 23 has the same problem as the second embodiment of Patent Reference 1 since the positive and negative electrodes 147a and 147b for fetching the generated power are provided at both ends.
It is to be noted that the panel cover diameter means a diameter of a shape in a plane direction in a space in which hour/minute/second hands are arranged between a dial and a windshield, and it means an internal diameter of a facing ring in case of a timepiece having the facing ring formed therein.
Furthermore, in the configuration of the first embodiment of Patent Reference 2, since the annular banking portion 144 on which the solar cell 141 is arranged is formed on a timepiece movement component, there is a problem that the timepiece movement component on which the solar cell is arranged must be changed in case of varying a panel cover diameter.
It is to be noted that reducing the internal diameter of the facing ring 145 alone to increase a width W of the facing ring 145 can be considered in case of a timepiece having a small panel cover diameter, but a timepiece having a large external diameter of the timepiece case 146 with respect to the panel cover diameter is obtained, resulting in a design problem.
As described above, the prior art has a problem that the solar cell or the timepiece movement component on which the solar cell is arranged cannot be used in common in a timepiece having a different panel cover diameter, and that the solar cell, the solar cell block and the watch movement component on which such members are arranged must be newly recreated in accordance with a panel cover diameter.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide, in an electronic timepiece with a solar cell in which the solar cell is arranged substantially vertically to a dial, an electronic timepiece with a solar cell having a configuration in which a common solar cell and a common timepiece movement can be used irrespective of a panel cover diameter size.


A sealed secondary cell maintaining enclosed property and battery performance for a long period in a wide range of environments of use including high temperature, high humidity, and vibration is presented. A terminal pole is composed of a current collector, a flange with a flat top surface, and a pole formed on the flange upper surface projecting at right angle, a rotation arresting portion of the terminal pole is formed by the flange and lower side of a lid, an annular packing is disposed between the flange upper surface and lid lower side so as to surround the pole, an annular pressing spring is pressed in from above the pole, the annular packing interposed between the flange upper surface and lid lower side is compressed in the vertical direction by the elastic force of the annular pressing spring, the annular pressing spring is stopped on the outer circumferential edge of the pole at a position for sealing and fixing the terminal pole in the lid, and thereby the battery jar is enclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sealed secondary cell having a terminal pole serving also as an external terminal.
2. Prior Art
Hitherto, the majority of demands of secondary cells were occupied by small cells used as the power source of portable appliances such as VTR camera, and the technical development has been promoted mainly in the direction of smaller size and larger capacity. Recently, however, there is an increasing demand for stationary secondary cells used as emergency power source such as no-break power unit installed in a computer system, secondary cells as mobile power supply used in electric vehicle (EV) developed as environmental protection or energy-saving measure, and high performance secondary cell of medium capacity or large capacity ranging from scores to hundreds of Ah (ampere-hours). In particular, the secondary cell used in EV or other mobile use is required to satisfy the acceleration equal to the internal-combustion engine such as gasoline engine, high output characteristic and high energy density to withstand a large current load of 100 A (amperes) or more to obtain a sufficient traveling distance, and high reliability enclosed structure of a long maintenance-free period for the ease of handling. Research and development efforts continue with respect to sealed nickel-cadmium storage cells, nickel hydrogen storage cells, alkaline secondary cells, and lithium secondary cells, among others, as batteries which surpass the performance of the improved type lead storage cell hitherto considered for use in EV. To enhance the output characteristic of these batteries, however, it is desireable to improve the characteristics of positive and negative plates, while considering the optimal structural conditions of the plate group, such that the electric power obtained from the plate group is delivered to the external terminal of the battery with minimal power loss. Accordingly, it is desireable to decrease the electric resistance of the connection between plural lead plates and the external terminal of the battery and keep the resistance between the external terminal and external coupling plate as low as possible. Moreover, to meet the demand for an enclosed battery having high reliability, a joining method is required which can connect an external terminal to the battery lid with a seal which is air-tight and liquid-tight.
In conventional alkaline secondary cells or lithium secondary cells which are enclosed and have medium to large cell capacities as discussed above, typically terminal poles were employed which have the same or similar shapes as those used in vent type nickel-cadmium storage batteries having low Ah ratings (i.e., less than 100 Ah). The size, material, or design of these batteries were changed depending on the battery capacity or the like. Various examples of alkaline storage battery terminal pole structures are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-open Utility Model 49-88221, Japanese Laid-open Utility Model 57-23869, and Japanese Laid-open Utility Model 61-99966. An essential lateral sectional view near terminal unit of a conventional alkaline storage battery is shown in FIG. 9.
The terminal unit shown in FIG. 9 is a screw tightened terminal.
In FIG. 9, a terminal pole 62 is formed by connecting a current collector 62c for connecting a flange 62b and plate lead plate to the lower end of a pole 62a having threads 62d, integrally by cutting, or fabricating separately and welding. The material for the terminal pole 62 is, when applied in an alkaline secondary cell, generally nickel plated steel, nickel alloy, or other corrosion resistant metal. A lid 61 is made of a synthetic resin. In a pole insert hole 6a provided in the lid 61, the pole 62d of the terminal pole 62, and two annular packings 63a, 63b are inserted, and the terminal pole 62 is tightened and fixed to the lid 61 by tightening a nut 65 on the threads 62d provided in the pole 62a through a metal washer 64. The annular packings 63a, 63b are made of synthetic rubber or synthetic resin. In this prior art, the external terminal is formed by a step 62e and a terminal screw 62f provided in the upper part of the pole 62a, and a perforated coupling plate is disposed in the step, so as to be connected by screwing. In these cell systems, the terminal poles are mostly fixed by screwing on the lid, and by the use of integrated terminal pole, the electric resistance from the plate group to the external terminal portion is lowered.
In this conventional structure, thread cutting of the nut 65 and pole 62a and tightening of nut are desireable, and the labor is complicated. To eliminate this defect, without using the nut 65 for tightening the pole, a vent type alkaline storage battery in a structure for fixing the terminal pole by using an annular spring having a central opening is proposed (Japanese Laid-open Utility Model 54-171143). An essential lateral sectional view near the terminal unit of this vent type alkaline storage battery is shown in FIG. 10 (A), and a perspective view of the annular spring composed in the terminal unit is shown in FIG. 10(B).
In FIG. 10(A) and FIG. 10(B), a terminal pole 72 is composed of a pole 72a, a step 72b of circular flange form abutting against the lower side of a lid 71, and a current collector 72c. The pole 72a projects outward through an insert hole 71a provided in the lid 71, and a rubber annular packing 73 for keeping airtight between the pole 72a and insert hole 71a is mounted on an annular step 71b of the lid 71, and a washer 74 is placed on the packing 73. A central opening 75a of an annular spring 75 is inserted into the pole 72a, and is pressed in to penetrate through. In this case, a spring upper end 75b is inserted and fixed in an annular groove 72d provided in the middle peripheral edge of the pole 72a, and the annular packing 73 held between the lid 71 and washer 74 is pressed and deformed in the radial direction, by an elastic force of the annular spring 75 against the step 72d of the terminal pole 72, and an extended portion 73a is hit against the pole peripheral edge, and the terminal pole 72 is fixed in the lid 71 while keeping airtight by plugging the gap between the pole 72a and insert hole 71a of the lid 71. In the annular spring 75, as shown in FIG. 10(B), a notch 75d is formed at the upper end (opening) side.
When using the same structure as a conventional small-sized battery of medium to large size, since the required performance and condition of use are severe, it was difficult to maintain the battery performance for a long period by keeping airtight and liquid tight for a long time.
That is, to enhance the output density and energy density of the battery, it is desirable to minimize the electric resistance and suppress the dimension in the height direction as far as possible in design, concerning the terminal pole and its sealing structure. Moreover, in particular, the following conditions for use of the battery are desireable.
(1) At the present, in a narrow space of electric vehicle or the like, about scores to 250 cells are connected in series to be used in high voltage stage. Therefore, if electrolyte leaks out from a terminal or other part of a certain cell, leak current may cause discharge, or lead to short circuit, heat generation, ignition, or electric shock.
(2) The operating ambient temperature is -30.degree. to 50.degree. C. or a wider range, and the reserved heat temperature rise of the battery due to charge and discharge of a large current in a narrow accommodation space is significant. As a result, in high temperature condition, the battery temperature may exceed 70.degree. to 100.degree. C.
(3) A battery life equal to or longer than the life of the appliance (for example, vehicle), 5 to 10 years or longer, is desireable.
The problems in the prior art are described below.
First, in the terminal pole by screw fixing shown in FIG. 9, the inventors were aware that problems occurred in the screw tightening process. That is, between the pole 62a and the pole insert hole 61a for inserting the pole 62a, there is a slight gap for the ease of processing and assembling of parts. The nut 65 for tightening must be relatively thin as compared with the screw diameter, as shown in the drawing, in order to enhance the battery energy density. To realize a battery of large size and large capacity, the pole 62a must be thick and large, and hence the screw diameter for fixing the pole increases, thereby increasing the thread pitch and play. In such constitution of parts, by rotating the nut 65, when compressing spherical packings 63a, 63b such as O-rings to a thickness of about 1/3 to 1/2, the nut 65 may be tightened at an inclination of angle .theta. as shown in FIG. 8. This problem tends to expand further in mass production. In such screw tightening state, tightening of the annular packings 63a, 63b is uneven, and the air tightness or liquid tightness of the pole may be lowered, and leakage may occur in an early phase. Besides, as mentioned above, when inserting the perforated coupling plate into the terminal screw 62f above the pole 62a to mount onto the step 62e, and tightening the nut to connect the terminal screw 62f to the coupling plate to couple between cells, in order to lower the connection resistance in the coupling portion, it is desireable to tighten the coupling plate firmly, and the nut is tightened to a torque of about 70 to 200 kgf-cm. At this time, the torque is transmitted to the whole pole through the pole 62a, and the plate group connected to the current collector 62c receives a torsional stress through plural lead plates, which may lead to short circuit between plates, or lowering of characteristic or breakage due to disconnected of welding of lead plates. On the other hand, in the method of tightening by putting the perforated coupling plate directly on the upper side of the nut 65, without forming step in the pole 62a, the nut may be rotated together to lower the air tightness, or the nut may be tightened obliquely, and the contact resistance increases. Or, in a method of tightening by using a strap nut serving also as pole and current collector, without using metal washer 64, in the state of holding the lid by two annular flat packings made of resin, the rotating nut flaws the packing. If dust deposits, this phenomenon is intensified, and anyway the tightness is lowered.
In a proposed improved vent type alkaline storage battery as shown in FIG. 10(A), simplification of labor is intended by eliminating screw tightening in fixing of pole. As mentioned above, the rubber annular packing 73 is compressed in the vertical direction by pressing force of the annular spring 75 through the washer 74, and is deformed in the radial direction, and the extended portion 73a of the packing caused by this abuts against the peripheral edge of the pole 72a so as to seal tightly. In this method, the sealing capability is determined by the pressing force and its duration of the leading end of the extended portion 73a in vertical free state abutting against the pole 72a. In other words, the sealing capability is determined by the repulsive elastic force of the rubber annular packing 73, and its compression rate, and the packing material is a dominant element. As the material for the annular packing 73, synthetic rubber or resin having rubber-like elasticity is used, but in this case, as in the above structure, when sealing at the extended portion of the packing, it was difficult to obtain a sufficient pressing force in the area by the repulsive elastic force alone. The vent type alkaline storage battery is used in an application where electrolyte supplement and cleaning are possible, and it is designed to exhaust the gas generated during overcharge through a low pressure exhaust valve or the like. In this vent type alkaline storage battery, the battery internal pressure is low, being less than 1 kgf/cm.sup.2, and hence there was no problem in sealing even in the terminal pole fixed structure as in FIG. 10(A).
In that sealed secondary cell, especially in the alkaline secondary cell, the internal pressure is usually 2 to 5 kgf/cm.sup.2 due gas generated in the battery, or reaching around 10 kgf/cm.sup.2 in a specific condition. Accordingly, in such a method of sealing by the extended portion 73a of the packing as mentioned above, the leading end of the extended portion 73a is lifted from the peripheral edge of the pole 72a by the internal pressure, and gas leaks and mist-like electrolyte leaks out onto the surface of the lid 71, and as a result the characteristic is lowered and handling troubles are likely to occur, and hence it was difficult to assure the quality. To increase the pressing force at the leading end of the extended portion 73a of the packing, there is means for increasing the compression rate of the annular packing 73. However, if the compressive rate of the annular packing 73 is large, the compressive permanent strain rate of the packing material increases, and hence creep phenomenon (plastic deformation) occurs in a short period, and the sealing performance is lowered. Besides, in the wide range of battery operating temperature, especially in summer when the battery temperature may exceed 70.degree. C., deterioration of packing material is added, and the creep phenomenon is amplified and the pressing force decreases significantly, and hence it was further difficult to maintain the sealing performance for a long period. It also may be required to decrease the dimensional tolerance of the inner and outer diameter of the annular packing 73, outer diameter of the pole 72a and diameter of the annular step 71b of the lid 71. If the dimensional tolerance is large, a runout may occur between the annular packing 73 and pole 72a, and hence uneven pressing force of the extended portion 73a of the packing takes place and the air tightness may drop.
A lateral sectional view near the terminal unit in another conventional vent type alkaline storage battery is shown in FIG. 11. The sectional view shown in FIG. 11 is a structure of fixing a terminal pole 82 to a lid 81 by using an annular spring 85, same as in the prior art shown in FIG. 10(A). Annular packings 83c, 83b are disposed on upper and lower sides of the lid 81, and the upper and lower stages abut against the peripheral edge of the pole 82a. In such a structure, leakage of electrolyte is decreased. In the vent alkaline storage battery shown in FIG. 11, as in the prior art in FIG. 10(A), the lid 81 is provided with an insert hole 81a for insert made of synthetic resin and the pole 82a, and annular types 81b, 81c are provided, as shown in the drawing, in the upper and lower corners of the insert hole 81a. The terminal pole 82 is formed by integrally assembling a columnar pole 82a having a terminal for connecting a coupling plate in the upper part, and a disk-shaped flange 82b abutting against the terminal pole 82 at the lower side of the lid 81 at the lower part, and a current collector 82c is provided at the lower end. The upper and lower annular packings 83c, 83b are rubber-made O-rings. By the elastic force of the spring occurring between the annular spring 85 and the flange 82b of the pole, the lower annular packing 83b is pressed between the flange 82b of the pole and the lower taper 81b of the lid 81, and the upper annular packing 83c is pressed between the washer 84 and the upper taper 81c. At this time, the spherical packings 83b, 83c are pressed by the tapers 81b, 81c so as to fill up the gap between the penetration hole 81a and pole peripheral edge, and deformed by receiving a stress inward in the radial direction by the tapers 81b, 81c, thereby abutting against the pole peripheral edge. Thus, when applied in the storage battery of low internal pressure such as vent type, by using double annular packings, an effect is noted in suppression of leakage of electrolyte by capillary action as compared with the prior art in FIG. 10(A). It is, however, same as in the constitution in FIG. 10(A) that the clearance in the pole peripheral edge is sealed by the elastic force (rubber elasticity) of the annular packings 83b, 83c themselves, and therefore physical properties are lowered by aging effects of packing material and high temperature deterioration, and a sufficient air tightness is not obtained at the battery internal pressure of 3 to 5 kg/cm.sup.2 or higher, and the balance of battery composition may be broken due to gas leak in a long course of use, which resulted in deterioration of battery performance due to decrease of electrolyte, and leakage of electrolyte. Owing to such reasons, it was improper to apply the terminal structure as shown in FIG. 10 into the novel sealed secondary cell. As the terminal structure of secondary cell, the structure of forming the pole and lid hole in a taper form narrow at the upper side and putting the O-ring into the taper clearance (Japanese Laid-open Patent 57-15356), and the structure of forming the lid hole and rubber packing in an outward open taper form, and tightening the packing by screw (Japanese Laid-open Utility Model 61-42776) have been proposed among others, but anyway the occupied dimension in the height direction is large, the energy density is lowered, and the same problems as in the prior art shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 9 are present, and hence it is difficult to apply in the novel sealed secondary cell.
Moreover, in the terminal structure shown in FIG. 10(A) and FIG. 11, since the pole is fixed to the lid only by the pressing force of the annular spring, same as in the prior art in FIG. 9, when connecting the coupling plate by tightening the nut, the current collectors 72c, 82c receive a torsional stress by external pressure such as torque, and hit stress is larger than in the terminal structure of the screw tightening type in FIG. 9, and moreover the plate group may be short-circuited inside, and factors for deterioration of battery are involved, and handling of the battery is made difficult.
It is hence a primary object of the invention to solve the problems of the conventional fixing method of terminal pole, and present a sealed secondary cell of medium to large capacity, capable of exhibiting a stable battery performance for a long period in environments including high temperature.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A photoelectric conversion device includes a circuit board, light-emitting modules, light-receiving modules, an optical coupling module, and a protecting member. The light-emitting modules and the light-receiving modules are mounted on the circuit board. The optical coupling module is mounted on the circuit board, and includes first and second optical surfaces, a reflection surface, first converging lenses formed on the first optical surface and corresponding to the light-emitting modules and the light-receiving modules, and second converging lenses formed on the second optical surface and corresponding to the first converging lenses. The protecting member is mounted on the circuit board to shield the optical coupling module, the light-emitting modules, and the light-receiving modules, and only exposes the second converging lenses.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to communication technologies, and particularly to a photoelectric conversion device and an optical fiber coupling connector.
2. Description of Related Art
An optical fiber coupling connector includes a photoelectric conversion device and a number of optical fibers. The photoelectric conversion device includes a circuit board, a number of light-emitting modules, a number of light-receiving modules, and an optical coupling module. The light-emitting modules, the light-receiving modules, and the optical coupling module are mounted on the circuit board. The optical fibers correspond to and are optically coupled with the light-emitting modules and the light-receiving modules one-to-one through the optical coupling module.
After the photoelectric conversion device is manufactured, other electronic elements, such as capacitors or resistors, are mounted on the circuit board by an installation device. However, the optical coupling module is easily damaged during the installation process.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a photoelectric conversion device, and an optical fiber coupling connector with the photoelectric conversion device, to overcome or at least alleviate the above-mentioned problems.

Photoelectric conversion device and optical fiber coupling connector


An intramedullary device (1) for pinning bones, wherein an elongated body (6), insertable inside the medullary canal of the bone (2), is connected to the bone (2) by a connecting device (14) having at least one deformable metal pin (15), and an assembly (16) for deforming and guiding the pin (15) along a respective given path (19); the guide assembly (16) having at least one guide surface (23) extending at least along a portion of the path (19), and a radial constraint element (28) distinct from the elongated body (6) and connected to the elongated body (6) in a position facing an intermediate portion of the guide surface (23) to define, in use, a radial constraint for the pin (15).

For bone treatment in general, a pinning device, as described in Patent Application n. TO94A000407 filed on May 20, 1994 by the present Applicant, is used comprising a cannulate metal rod, which is inserted inside the medullary canal of the bone; and an anchoring or pinning assembly for releasably connecting one or both end portions of the cannulate rod to respective portions of the bone.
The anchoring assembly comprises two or more deformable metal pins and, for each pin, a respective guide conduit formed inside the cannulate rod. Each conduit has an inside diameter approximately equal to but no smaller than the outside diameter of the respective pin, so as to guide the pin along a given path, and the pins are connected positively to a common slide, which is movable from the outside by means of a mechanical device for moving the pins simultaneously to and from a forward pinning position, in which respective deformed end portions of the pins project outwards from the rod and are inserted in use, inside the respective bone portion.
Though widely used, by permitting withdrawal of the pins from the bone when the fracture heals, known devices of the above type are not altogether satisfactory, mainly on account of the considerable force normally required to remove the pins.
This is substantially due to the inside diameter of each guide conduit being comparable with the outside diameter of the respective pin, so that, when withdrawing the pin, fairly severe friction components opposing withdrawal are generated between the pin and the conduit. For this reason, the pins are connected to said mechanical device, which not only increases the cost of producing the device, but, by comprising a single slide common to all the pins, also creates problems when, for various reasons, the pins must be withdrawn separately.
Moreover, the conduits of known devices of the above type are at times fairly difficult to form, due to their normally being formed by drilling and subsequently milling a solid portion of the rod.


A line card is provided for a mechanical enclosure unit for an optical network unit. The line card includes a printed circuit board, a mechanical enclosure and a connector element. The mechanical enclosure substantially surrounds and support the printed circuit board. The connector element, which is coupled to provide access to the printed circuit board, is exposed at a surface of the mechanical enclosure. The line card further includes a fastener coupled to the mechanical enclosure. The fastener is adapted to hold the mechanical enclosure on an external support plate of the mechanical enclosure unit of the optical network unit.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a mechanical enclosure for elements of a communications system. More particularly, the invention relates to an optical network unit mechanical enclosure.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical network units (ONUs) are commonly used in fiber-to-the-curb communication systems. An optical network unit is a unit, typically located in the customers' neighborhood, which receives an optical fiber from a central office location. The optical network unit includes circuitry which converts the optical signals received on the fiber into electronic signals. These electronic signals are transmitted to customers on coaxial cables and/or single or multiple pair conductors (i.e., voice frequency (VF) drop cables). The optical network unit also provides circuitry which allows electrical signals received from the customers to be converted to optical signals which are transmitted back to the central office on the optical fiber.
Conventional ONU enclosures are suitable for a limited range of deployments. For instance, Raynet Corp. provides a narrowband 8-line ONU enclosure and a narrowband 16-line ONU enclosure, each being suitable for mounting in a vertical pedestal, but not for strand (horizontal) mounting. Raynet Corp. further provides a narrowband 32-line ONU enclosure which is suitable for for strand or horizontal pedestal mounting. Raynet Inc. also provides a narrowband 48-line ONU enclosure which is suitable for strand mounting, but is not suited for deployment in a vertical pedestal, pole or wall mounting. It would therefore be desirable to have an ONU enclosure suitable for mounting in both horizontal and vertical configurations.
In addition, conventional ONU enclosures require that a drop terminal block or blocks be mounted external to the ONU. Drop terminal blocks provide the industry-standard connection to the customer's VF drop cables. The drop terminal blocks most widely deployed in the United States are tested against Bellcore requirements, and are produced by a variety of manufacturers including Reliance Corp., Amp Inc., 3 M Corp., and Raychem Corp. Because the drop terminal blocks are mounted externally, an additional housing is required to provide security and environmental protection for the drop terminal blocks. In addition, an outdoor cable must be used to provide environmental protection to the bundle of VF electrical conductors which connect the external drop terminal block or blocks to the ONU. Both the drop terminal block housing and the outdoor cable require mounting space and installation time. Conventional ONU enclosures which require that the drop terminal block or blocks be mounted external to the ONU enclosure include Raynet's 8-line narrowband ONU, 16-line narrowband ONU, 32-line narrowband ONU and 48-line narrowband ONU.
It would therefore be desirable to have an ONU enclosure which eliminates the previously described shortcomings of conventional ONU enclosures.

Line card for optical network unit mechanical enclosure


The closing protection mechanism provided herein includes a control unit, a sensing switch and a sensing switch actuator. The control unit is coupled to, and in electronic communication with, the trip device. The control unit is structured to receive a sensing switch signal and to provide a control signal to the trip device. The sensing switch coupled to, and in electronic communication with, the control unit. The sensing switch is disposed adjacent to the toggle assembly. The sensing switch is structured to provide a sensing switch signal to the control unit. The sensing switch actuator is disposed on the toggle assembly. The sensing switch actuator is structured to actuate the sensing switch. The sensing switch is structured to be actuated by the sensing switch actuator when the toggle assembly is in the second, over-toggle configuration.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical switching apparatus operating mechanism and, more specifically to a closing protection mechanism for a closing assembly having an over-toggle linkage.
2. Background Information
An electrical switching apparatus, typically, includes a housing, at least one bus assembly having a pair of contacts, a trip device, and an operating mechanism. The housing assembly is structured to insulate and enclose the other components. The at least one pair of contacts include a fixed contact and a movable contact and typically include multiple pairs of fixed and movable contacts. Each contact is coupled to, and in electrical communication with, a conductive bus that is further coupled to, and in electrical communication with, a line or a load. A trip device is structured to detect an over current condition and to actuate the operating mechanism. An operating mechanism is structured to both open the contacts, either manually or following actuation by the trip device, and close the contacts.
That is, the operating mechanism includes both a closing assembly and an opening assembly, which may have common elements, that are structured to move the movable contact between a first, open position, wherein the contacts are separated, and a second, closed position, wherein the contacts are coupled and in electrical communication. The operating mechanism includes a rotatable pole shaft that is coupled to the movable contact and structured to move each movable contact between the closed position and the open position. Elements of both the closing assembly and the opening assembly are coupled to the pole shaft so as to effect the closing and opening of the contacts. The closing assembly may be actuated manually by a user input or in response to an input from a remote actuator.
The trip device included an over-current sensor, a latch assembly and may have included one or more additional links that were coupled to the toggle assembly. Alternately, the latch assembly was directly coupled to the toggle assembly. When an over-current situation occurred, the latch assembly was released allowing the opening spring to cause the toggle assembly to collapse. When the toggle assembly collapsed, the toggle assembly link coupled to the pole shaft caused the pole shaft to rotate and thereby move the movable contacts into the open position.
Low and medium voltage electrical switching apparatus typically had stored energy devices, such as a closing spring and an opening spring, and at least one link coupled to the pole shaft. The at least one link, typically, included two links that acted cooperatively as a toggle assembly and which were coupled to each other at a toggle joint. When the contacts were open, the toggle assembly was in a first, collapsed configuration and, conversely, when the contacts were closed, the toggle assembly was, typically, in a second, toggle position, that is, an in-line configuration, or in a slightly over-toggle position. The closing spring was usually compressed, or "charged," by a motor or a user utilizing a lever arm. The closing spring, typically, holds more stored energy than the opening springs and during the closing operation wherein the contacts are moved to the second, closed position, the opening spring was charged. The opening spring biased the pole shaft, and therefore the toggle assembly, to the collapsed position. The opening spring and toggle assembly were maintained in the second, toggle position by the trip device.
When the contacts were in the first, open position, the toggle assembly links, which define lines of force, were "folded," typically at an acute angle. When the mechanism was closing, a closing component applied a closing force to the toggle joint. The closing component moved the links until the lines of force, that is, the links, were nearly in-line or on "center." If the fully closed position of the separable contacts was reached before the lines of force were fully in-line, the closing assembly is an "under-toggle" mechanism and the toggle joint continued to rest on the closing component to prevent the toggle joint from collapsing. In this type of closing assembly, the closing component was, typically, a cam. If, during closing, the closing component moved the toggle joint through the in-line position and beyond, the closing assembly is an "over-toggle" mechanism and the toggle joint typically rested upon a stop that is separate from the closing component. That is, the toggle joint typically came to rest on a stop pin that prevented the toggle joint from collapsing in a reverse direction.
In either an under-toggle or over-toggle mechanism, the contacts would initially engage each other when the angle of the lines of force were approaching the in-line position. After the contacts engage, the driving force required to complete the closing of the contacts increases. That is, prior to the contacts engaging each other, the closing component was, essentially, only moving the moving contact and compressing the opening springs. Once the contacts engaged each other, the closing component was required to overcome any electromagnetic forces generated by a current passing through the contacts, as well as, forces created by the contact spring as they were being compressed. If the closing component was not able to overcome these forces, there was a chance that the closing operation could stall. If the closing operation stalls, dangerous arcing may occur at the contacts if the contacts are subject to inadequate force or support, for example is the contacts are held in close proximity or if the contacts slowly separate from each other.
Some under-toggle mechanisms have attributes that mitigate the consequences of a stall. That is, when the closing component is a cam acting upon the toggle joint, the cam surface is rising, that is, increasing in radius, so as to effect the movement of the toggle joint. Such a cam is structured to rotate in a single direction during closing, wherein the radius of the cam is increasing, and subsequent charging, wherein the radius of the cam is generally constant. Thus, if a stall occurs, the cam needs only to be rotated further, such as by charging after the close attempt, to cause the toggle joint to be moved into the proper position.
An over-toggle mechanism, however, is not structured to be supported by the closing component. Typically, the closing component acts upon the toggle joint and is then, slowly, withdrawn during the charging of the closing spring. Thus, unlike an under-toggle mechanism, a stall in such a closing assembly could allow the toggle joint to return to the open configuration. If, for example, the toggle joint is resting on the closing component as it is being slowly withdrawn, the contacts will be slowly separated allowing for dangerous arcing to occur.
It is further noted that a device may have a high-current capacity for withstanding an electrical fault that appears after the device is already closed, but may not have enough mechanical energy to complete a closure on that same fault current. That is, high current flowing in the device adds electromagnetic force to the springs which resist closing and increasing the mechanical energy to close on all such faults would shorten the mechanical life or add cost to the mechanism. The trip device is often self-powered by current passing through the contacts of the electrical switching apparatus, and therefore the trip device is inactive before closing. If a fault current which is higher than the closing, or "making" capacity, but lower than the "withstand" capacity appears in the electrical switching apparatus, the trip device must determine if the operating mechanism is closing, in which case the trip device should trip open to protect against harmful arcing at the contacts due to stalling at less-than-fully-closed, or the operating mechanism was already closed, in which case the trip device should remain closed until the manufacturer or customer-programmed delay time for tripping is reached.
One strategy for immediately tripping an operating mechanism that is closing on a fault above its making capacity is the use of a "time-delay" switch. This type of switch senses the state of the device, typically by sensing the pole shaft position, and connects to the trip device. The switch is held in one state when the device is open, and released to move to its other state when the electrical switching apparatus is closed. The switch assembly typically contains a mass with a relatively light bias spring resulting in an inertial delay off its motion when the device closes. This delay serves as a mechanical memory used by the trip device when a fault current above the making capacity appears. If the switch indicates the "device-closed" position, then the device was already closed some moments before the current appeared and the operating mechanism is not attempting to close on the high current; therefore it is not necessary to trip open to protect against prolonged harmful arcing. If the switch still indicates the "device-open" position, then the device was open moments before and the current flowing is the result of a closure attempt. Thus, the trip device must immediately re-open the contacts to protect against a potential stall.
As a result of its kinematics, an over-toggle mechanism has the characteristic of "over-driving" the contacts as the lines of force passes through in-line, or "center", before settling back to the full closed position. Therefore, in a normal closing, the pole shaft is at the full closed position twice; once before the lines of force reach center, and again after passing through center. A switch sensing the pole shaft position, such as the time delay switch, is not able to discriminate between fully closed and partially-closed, where it could potentially stall. Despite these characteristics, there are some reasons to select over-toggle mechanism for some applications, rather than under-toggle mechanisms.

Closing protection mechanism for a closing assembly over-toggle linkage


The invention relates to an optical component including an optical fiber with a lens constituted by a single-mode optical fiber and a graded index optical fiber and a method of manufacturing the same. The invention provides an optical component in which an optical fiber with a lens can be accurately mounted on a substrate and which has high performance and highly stable manufacturability.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical component having an optical fiber with a lens constituted by a single-mode optical fiber and a graded index optical fiber and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical multiplexers/demultiplexers are used for wavelength division multiplex (WDM) communication in the field of optical communication. An optical multiplexer/demultiplexer is an optical component utilizing an optical fiber with a lens (optical fiber collimator) constituted by a single-mode optical fiber (hereinafter referred to as an SMF) and a graded index optical fiber (hereinafter referred to as a GIF).
In the case of an optical component such as an optical multiplexer/demultiplexer according to the related art, each of constituent parts such as a lens, an optical fiber, and optical elements is independently formed in a predetermined configuration in advance, and an optical axis aligning operation (active aligning) is performed to adjust the positions of the constituent parts while passing light through them. After the constituent parts are adjusted to the respective optimum positions, fixing operation is performed so as to hold the constituent parts at the respective optimum positions. As a result, there is a need for a great number of members, jigs, and facilities to hold the constituent parts, which constitutes a factor that can increase the cost of the optical component.
Patent Document 1 discloses a polarization-independent optical isolator as an optical component. The polarization-independent optical isolator includes a substrate formed with a V-shaped groove for setting an optical fiber with a lens and a recess which is orthogonal to the V-shaped groove and in which an isolator block is disposed. Thus, the number of components of the polarization-independent optical isolator can be very small, and an optical axis aligning operation for the same can be simple.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-2004-157318
Once an optical fiber with a lens is mounted on a substrate, it is difficult to adjust the position of the same thereafter. For this reason, in order to provide a polarization-independent optical isolator with high performance, the initial positioning of the optical fiber with a lens on the substrate must be performed with high accuracy. Unless the optical fiber with a lens is formed with high accuracy, it is difficult to provide the polarization-independent optical isolator with sufficiently high performance.
As thus described, in order to improve the performance of optical components of a polarization-independent optical isolator or the like, it is necessary to secure an optical fiber with a lens formed with high accuracy after positioning it with high accuracy. It is therefore difficult to manufacture the optical component with high performance, and a problem arises in that the cost of an optical component becomes high because of low yield of manufacture of the same.

Optical component and method of manufacturing the same

Abstract: An optical component has three V-shaped grooves for disposing optical fibers. An optical fiber with a lens is disposed in each of the V-shaped grooves. The optical component has a positioning mark using for positioning optical fiber connecting surfaces. The positioning mark extending across the V-shaped grooves in an orthogonal relationship therewith is provided. The positioning mark is formed line a concave groove and is visually perceived as two parallel straight lines when viewed in a direction normal to the surface on which the V-shaped grooves are formed. The optical fiber connecting surfaces are positioned between the two parallel straight lines.