An improved system and method for performing autocapture/autothreshold detection in an implantable cardiac stimulation device or any device capable of stimulating some organ or tissue in the body. In some existing systems, loss-of-capture and capture decisions are based upon two consecutive cardiac events. However, such systems may be subject to subthreshold stimulation pulses that capture and lose capture on alternating pulses, trigeminy PVC sequences, or the like that require a higher stimulation pulse amplitude but cannot make this determination due to the two consecutive event requirement. Accordingly, in the present invention, the determination of whether there is a loss-of-capture is determined only according to paced events, i.e., ignoring intrinsic and PVC beats. Furthermore, the loss-of-capture determination is based upon X out of the last Y beats, where Y is greater than 2 and X is less than Y. Accordingly, consecutive loss-of-capture events are no longer required in determining the threshold level. In a further aspect, a preferred embodiment monitors cardiac events to detect a sequence of patterns that could indicate a trigeminy pattern and, if detected, the pacing rate is increased to attempt to break the pattern and thus permit the threshold level to be detected.

Implantable cardiac stimulation devices are well known in the art. They include implantable pacemakers which provide stimulation pulses to cause a heart, which would normally beat too slowly or at an irregular rate, to beat at a controlled normal rate. They also include defibrillators which detect when the atria and/or the ventricles of the heart are in fibrillation or a pathologic rapid organized rhythm and apply cardioverting or defibrillating electrical energy to the heart to restore the heart to a normal rhythm. Implantable cardiac stimulation devices may also include the combined functions of a pacemaker and a defibrillator.
As is well known, implantable cardiac stimulation devices sense cardiac activity for monitoring the cardiac condition of the patient in which the device is implanted. By sensing the cardiac activity of the patient, the device is able to provide cardiac stimulation pulses when they are needed and inhibit the delivery of cardiac stimulation pulses at other times. This inhibition accomplishes two primary functions. Firstly, when the heart is intrinsically stimulated, its hemodynamics are generally improved. Secondly, inhibiting the delivery of a cardiac stimulation pulse reduces the battery current drain on that cycle and extends the life of the battery which powers and is located within the implantable cardiac stimulation device. Extending the battery life, will therefore delay the need to explant and replace the cardiac stimulation device due to an expended battery. Generally, the circuitry used in implantable cardiac stimulation devices have been significantly improved since their introduction such that the major limitation of the battery life is primarily the number and amplitude of the pulses being delivered to a patient's heart. Accordingly, it is preferable to minimize the number of pulses delivered by using this inhibition function and to minimize the amplitude of the pulses where this is clinically appropriate.
It is well known that the amplitude value of a pulse that will reliably stimulate a patient's heart, i.e., its threshold value, will change over time after implantation and will vary with the patient's activity level and other physiological factors. To accommodate for these changes, pacemakers may be programmed to deliver a pulse at an amplitude well above (by an increment or a factor) an observed threshold value. To avoid wasting battery energy, the capability was developed to automatically adjust the pulse amplitude to accommodate for these long and short term physiological changes. In an existing device, the Affinity™ DR, Model 5330 L/R Dual-Chamber Pulse Generator, manufactured by the assignee of the present invention, an AutoCapture™ pacing system is provided. The User's Manual, ©1998 St. Jude Medical, which describes this capability is incorporated herein by reference. In this system, the threshold level is automatically determined in a threshold search routine and is maintained by a capture verification routine. Once the threshold search routine has determined a pulse amplitude that will reliably stimulate, i.e., capture, the patient's heart, the capture verification routine monitors signals from the patient's heart to identify pulses that do not stimulate the patient's heart (indicating a loss-of-capture). Should a loss-of-capture (LOC) occur, the capture verification routine will generate a large amplitude (e.g., 4.5 volt) backup pulse shortly after (typically within 80–100 ms) the original (primary) stimulation pulse. This capture verification occurs on a pulse-by-pulse basis and thus, the patient's heart will not miss a beat. However, while capture verification ensures the patient's safety, the delivery of two stimulation pulses (with the second stimulation pulse typically being much larger in amplitude) is potentially wasteful of a limited resource, the battery capacity. To avoid this condition, the existing device, monitors for two consecutive loss-of-capture events and only increases the amplitude of the primary stimulation pulse should two consecutive loss-of-capture (LOC) events occur. This procedure is repeated, if necessary, until two consecutive pulses are captured, at which time a threshold search routine will occur. The threshold search routine decreases the primary pulse amplitude until capture is lost on two consecutive pulses and then, in a similar manner to that previously described, increases the pulse amplitude until two consecutive captures are detected. This is defined as the capture threshold. The primary pulse amplitude is then increased by a working margin value to ensure a primary pulse whose amplitude will exceed the threshold value and thus reliably capture the patient's heart without the need for frequent backup pulses.
While the method used by this existing device has been proven to be a safe and effective method of determining a primary pulse amplitude that will reliably capture the patient's heart, conditions have been encountered that may cause the prior art system to rely upon backup pulses for extended periods of time, thus expending battery capacity to ensure patient safety. For example, in one case, a pulse amplitude may be set just below the threshold of a patient's heart (see the first portion of FIG. 8). Due to various factors, e.g., electrical noise, myopotentials or the like, the prior art system may alternate between capture and loss-of-capture events for an extended period of time. In a next case (see FIG. 9), a heart may be subject to periods of PVCs (premature ventricular contractions) generated by ectopic foci in the heart. Following a PVC, the heart muscle may be subject to supernormal conduction due to a longer repolarization period. Accordingly, an otherwise subthreshold primary pulse may still be capable of causing capture of the patient's heart for the next cardiac cycle. Accordingly, a trigeminy type pattern that alternates between loss-of-capture, a PVC (appearing as a sensed event), and a captured pulse may repeatedly occur. Since such a pattern does not satisfy the two sequential loss-of-capture event requirement of the existing device, the existing device will not be able to adapt to this condition. Although, patient safety is maintained, it is done at the expense of battery life.
Therefore what is needed is a flexible system that can determine a threshold amplitude for the primary pulse in such special cases as well as normal cases and that can preferably minimize the time to determine the threshold amplitude.

Implantable cardiac stimulation device having autocapture/autothreshold capability


A backlight module comprising a plurality of light sources and a light guide plate. The plurality of light sources comprises a plurality of first light sources and a plurality of second light sources. The light guide plate comprises a plurality of concave lens structures and a plurality of convex lens structures on a side of the light guide plate distant from the plurality of light sources. The plurality of concave lens structures and the plurality of convex lens structures correspond to the plurality of first light sources and the plurality of second light sources, respectively. A method for controlling a backlight module and a display device including the backlight module is also provided.

Along with development of display technology, various display devices brings various visual experiences to users. Currently, up to 70% users contact privacy information via electronic products in a variety of public places. Thus, peep-proof display technique for privacy information needs to be developed.
Current Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)-based switchable peep-proof display techniques mainly include two manners: (1) a solution of implementing beam correction based on an electric field change in a panel, two electric field distribution states correspond to a privacy display mode and a normal display mode (i.e. a non-privacy display mode), respectively; (2) a solution based on backlight switching, which can be further divided into a "peep-proof film+Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal (PDLC)" scheme and a "double light guide plates (LGP)" scheme.

Backlight module including a light guide plate comprising concave and convex lens structures, control method thereof and display device

HEFEI BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. Anhui, China


The present invention provides a male screwthread that does not loosen. In a male screwthread that has a thread ridge formed on an outer peripheral surface of an axial portion and a head portion that forms a tool mating means at one end of this axial portion, loosening and return between the male screwthread and a female screwthread is prevented (self-locking) by a configuration in which the thread ridge thereof is formed to have a major diameter that is larger than a reference value and the half-angle of the head-portion side of the thread ridge is formed to be less than 30 degrees.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a male screwthread that is configured in such a manner that loosening and return are prevented (self-locking) when the screwthread is engaged with a female screwthread.
2. Related Technical Information
As shown in FIG. 3, a male screwthread 1 and a female screwthread 2 conforming to metric screw regulations used in the conventional art are each formed to have a thread angle of 60 degrees, distributed symmetrically with a half-angle of 30 degrees with respect to a plane perpendicular to the axis thereof. One known method (self-locking) of preventing loosening and return is to ensure that deformation occurs in a plurality of thread ridges of the female screwthread, to provide buffer-zones between the female screwthread and the male screwthread.
However, when a tightening load is applied to male and female threads conforming to the metric screw regulations, elastic deformation of the thread ridges of the male screwthread is greater than elastic deformation of the thread ridges of the female screwthread, so that the surface pressures generated in both the flank surfaces subjected to the load are not even. When the flank surfaces of the thus configured male and female screwthreads deform elastically in contact with one another, the center of action of the load is biased towards the root sides thereof. This reduces the torque radius, giving rise to a problem in that it becomes easy for loosening to occur between the male or female screwthread and the other screwthread. Deformation of the thread ridge of the female screwthread leads difficulties in manufacture, which causes problems involving increased costs.
The present invention was devised in the light of the above problem, with the objective of providing a male screwthread that does not cause loosening or return (self-locking) when engaged.

Thread forms for preventing disengagement between male and female screwheads


An aqueous vaginal douche which is at most marginally effective against bacteria but which includes a fungicidal/fungistatic agent to rid the vaginal zone of yeasts. The douche may include a penetrating agent and/or an adherent to hold the fungicidal/fungistatic agent to the vaginal tissues. The douche is inserted into the vagina by means of a nozzle or the like. The douche may incorporate a carrier or solvent for the fungicidal/fungistatic agent and may further include a preservative.

There are three types of compositions available that can be hygienically administered to the vaginal zone. The simplest is essentially water acting as a cleansing agent. A second type contains povidone-iodine. This product is effective against bacteria, but not against fungi. The presence of normal bacterial flora in the vagina is desirable, should not be reduced, and does not cause discomfort. The presence of fungal overgrowth in the vagina is undesirable causing discomfort and infection. Therefore, povidone-iodine is considered to be unsuitable for preferred hygienic administration to the vaginal area.
A third type of treatment consists of pharmaceutically acceptable fungicidal/fungistatic compositions which are effective. However, the methods of application for these products are cumbersome and insufficiently effective. The products that are supplied in tablet form require insertion into the vagina with the aid of a mechanical device. The tablet thereafter disintegrates and is distributed throughout the vagina to come in contact with the fungi in order to be effective. This method of treatment is not very effective. Miconazole nitrate supplied in a cream formulation is also cumbersome to apply vaginally and the difficulty of thorough distribution to all tissue surfaces reduces its effectiveness.
In reviewing prior art patents, relative to the preparation of this application there were uncovered U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,011,946 (Bartner et al) ; 4, 195, 172 (Falkowski et al) and 4,102,998 (Gutnick).
The Bartner patent develops an aqueous solution of nystatin which is highly soluble in an aqueous solution of a soluble saccharin. The discovery discloses that the incorporation of benzyl alcohol into the solution imparts an improved solubility to the nystatin. According to the patentee, nystatin preparations are parenterally administered and administration is intended to be by injection in an intramuscular or intravenous fashion. This is different from the administration of a vaginal douche by means of a nozzle or the like.
The Falkowski patent relates to salts of various compounds including nystatin which are of very high water solubility. The resulting compounds are said to exhibit antifungal activity. This patent relates to injectable solutions and not to the administration of douches. One of the specified nystatin salts derived is N-methylglucamine salt of the N-glycosyl derivative of nystatin.
The Gutnick patent relates to a process for the prevention of venereal disease. It embodies a metal intrauterine contraceptive device for medication, which is released gradually into the vagina and the lower end of the uterus over a prolonged period of time. This patent relates to antibacterials and antibiotics and the device includes a magnet. Reference is also made to antifungal activity in other places in the text of this patent, but nystatin is referred to as an antibiotic with antifungal activity. No reference is made to a water soluble nystatin.
None of the known prior art nor the forgoing patents relates to the preparation of a fluid douche especially suited for killing or inhibiting fungi such as yeast in the vaginal zone while being at most marginally effective with respect to bacteria.


A railroad track circuit providing for the positive detection of broken rails despite the presence of factors that would otherwise preclude such detection is disclosed. These factors include sneak paths arising from the presence of negative return cross-bonding as applied between parallel tracks in electrified territory. Broken rail detection is ensured through the provision of two track relays, or devices that function as track relays, uniquely arranged so as to render the track circuit immune from these factors.

The invention pertains to a railroad track circuit providing for the positive detection of broken rails despite the presence of factors that would otherwise preclude such detection. Prior art railroad track circuits that monitor for broken rails have been negatively affected by sneak paths that arise from the presence of negative return cross-bonding as applied between parallel tracks in electrified territory.

Track circuit providing enhanced broken rail detection


A method signals a quality of range estimates in a UWB network. For each range estimate, a confidence level of a range estimate is signaled, a confidence interval for the range estimate is signaled, and a confidence interval scaling factor for the confidence interval is signaled.

There is a growing demand for location awareness in short range radio networks, particularly in ultra wideband (UWB) networks. Typically, the location of a node in the network is determined based radio ranging measurements.
UWB or digital pulse wireless communication is a wireless technology for transmitting large amounts of data over a wide spectrum of frequency bands with very low power and for a short distance. UWB radio signals not only can carry a huge amount of data over a short distance at very low power, e.g., less than 0.5 milliwatts, but have the ability to carry signals through doors and other obstacles that tend to reflect signals having more limited bandwidths and a higher power.
UWB signals are transmitted as digital pulses that are timed very precisely on a carrier signal across a very wide spectrum of frequencies. A transmitter and a receiver are synchronized to send and receive pulses with an accuracy of trillionths of a second. On any particular frequency, the UWB signal has less power than normal and anticipated background noise. Theoretically, interference with conventional radio signals is negligible.
UWB communication has three main types of application. In radar applications, the UWB signal penetrates nearby surfaces but is reflected by surfaces that are farther away, allowing objects to be detected behind walls or other coverings. In data transmission applications, digital pulses allow a very low powered and relatively low cost signal to carry information at very high data rates over a short range. In location awareness applications, ultra wideband digital pulses allow accurate ranging estimate between different devices.
UWB applications communicate in accordance with a protocol stack that includes a physical layer (PHY), a media access control (MAC) layer, a network layer, a transport layer, a session layer, a presentation layer, and an application layer.
UWB two-way ranging is performed by two transceivers. Conventionally, a range packet is sent from a device A to a device B. Upon receipt of the range packet at the device B, the range packet is returned to device A. Measuring the length of time required for this roundtrip can reveal the distance between the two transceivers.
For example, a transmitter can send a signal to a receiver at t1. The receiver, as soon as possible, returns a reply signal to the transmitter. The transmitter measures the time of arrival (TOA) of the reply signal at time t2. An estimate of the distance between the transmitter and the receiver is the time for the signal to make the round trip divided by two and multiplying by the speed of light is, i.e.:
  D  =                                                  t            1                    -                      t            2                                      2                  c      .
To meet the need for improved and private location awareness in UWB, an IEEE 802.15.4a Task Group (TG) has been established to develop a UWB-based physical (PHY) layer standard with a precision ranging capability. An UWB signal has a relative bandwidth larger than 20%, or an absolute bandwidth of at least 500 MHz. One type of an UWB system is an impulse radio (IR). IR uses extremely short duration pulses to generate signal waveforms, and allows fine time resolution of channel multipath characteristics, which is important in identifying the line of sight signal for precision ranging.
Various publications have described ways to accurately estimate the distance between two devices. In a paper by J-Y. Lee and R. A. Scholtz, "Ranging in a dense multipath environment using an UWB radio link," IEEE Trans. Select Areas in Communications, vol. 20, issue 9, pp. 1677-1683, Dec. 2002, the entire contents of which is incorporated by reference, a time-of-arrival (TOA)-based ranging scheme using an ultra-wideband (UWB) radio link is described. That ranging scheme implements a search process for the detection of a direct path signal in the presence of dense multipath, utilizing generalized maximum-likelihood (GML) estimation. Models for critical parameters in the process are based on statistical analysis of propagation data. The process is tested on another independent set of propagation measurements. That UWB ranging system uses a correlator and a parallel sampler with a high-speed measurement capability in the transceiver to accomplish two-way ranging in the absence of synchronized clocks. In a paper by S. Gezici, Z. Tian, G. B. Giannakis, H. Kobayashi, A. M. Molisch, H. V Poor, Z. Sahinoglu, "Localization Via UWB Radios," IEEE Signal Pro. Magazine, v. 22, n. 4, pp. 70-84, Jul. 2005, the entire contents of which is incorporated by reference, localization techniques relying on wireless ultra-wideband (UWB) signaling are described. Various localization alternatives are considered and the UWB time-of-arrival based one is found to have a highest ranging accuracy.
A further important step is to derive the position (location) of a node (device) A from the estimates of the ranges between this device A and other nodes. Using three or more such range estimates, the position (relative to the other nodes) can be determined. If the ranges are known ideally, then the position estimate also is perfect, and it does not matter whether three or more range estimates are present. Additional range estimates, e.g., more than three, just confirm the position estimate. However, in practice, the accuracy of the range estimate is always limited. In that case, a larger number of range estimates helps to decrease the error in the position estimate. Different combinations of range estimates result in different position estimates, and combining those different position estimates improves the overall accuracy. When using that technique, it is important to know the reliability of the different range estimates, and this reliability has to be communicated through the network to the nodes that make the actual position estimates.
Communicating the reliability of range estimates in an efficient way is thus important, but nontrivial. Ideally, the probability density function (pdf) of the range estimate should be communicated. However, in order to reduce the overhead, limited information can be transmitted over the network and the transmission occurs digitally. Therefore, quantization has to occur.
A conventional way for quantizing pdfs is to express the pdfs in parametric form, and communicate the suitably quantized parameters through the network. A simple example of that is a description of a Gaussian pdf, where only the mean and the variance has to be signaled. However, no parametric form of the range estimate pdf is known; it is only established that the pdf is not Gaussian. Therefore the parametric representation cannot easily be applied to ranging data.
Therefore, the current state of the art defines nominal intervals describing the accuracy of the estimate (henceforth called confidence intervals) and signals the level of confidence into each of them. For example, a proposal from TimeDomain Corporation for the IEEE 802.15.4a standard defines a 5-bit range quality indication, see Vern Brethour, "Ranging Values," IEEE 802.15-05-0679-01-004a, incorporated herein by reference. Two bits are used for a confidence interval, and three bits are used for a confidence level. The possible range resolution is very small, because only two bits are used to indicate the confidence interval.
The requirements for range accuracy can vary widely, depending on the applications. For line-of-sight situations with high transmission bandwidth, e.g., 7.5 GHz, range accuracies of less than 1 cm are desired. For other situations, e.g., non-LOS, non-coherent receivers, and distances between nodes larger than 10 meters, range accuracies of more than 1 meter are desired. Therefore, the traditional method requires the definition and signaling of a large number of ranges, which in turns requires the transmission of a large number of bits.

Method for signaling quality of range estimates in UWB devices

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.


A new and distinct cultivar of Vaccinium plant named ‘TO-1719’, characterized by a combination of early to mid-season ripening and flowering, large, firm berries with good color, and mild sweet and acid flavor; and a chill requirement of about 350 to 450 hours, or more, below about 45° F.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of southern highbush blueberry plant, botanically know as Vaccinium corymbosum, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'TO-1719'.
The new Vaccinium corymbosum 'TO-1719' was first identified and selected by the inventor in 2012 in Griffin, Ga. The new variety 'TO-1719' is early to mid-season for flowering time and ripening. 'TO-1719'. 'TO-1719' has large berries with good color and flavor as compared to other early season varieties. 'TO-1719' produces high quality, flavorful fruit when grown in conventional production areas. The new variety is estimated to have a chilling requirement of about 350-450 hours, or more, below 45° F. when produced under typical low to mid chill production areas in temperate regions. 'TO-1719' is able to produce high-quality fruit when grown in conventional production areas and is being released primarily for home garden usage.
'TO-1719' was produced from seedlings derived from an open-pollinated cross of Vaccinium corymbosum 'TH-749' (female parent, non-patented breeding line) X unknown male parent. Seeds from the cross were collected in 2010 by D. Scott NeSmith. Seeds were planted in 2010, and new seedlings 'TO-1719' were identified in 2012. 'TO-1719' has been tested in asexually propagated (by softwood vegetative cuttings) plantings in Alapaha, Ga. since 2014 where it was established for testing comparing to industry standards. Observations of the resulting 'TO-1719' progeny have shown that the unique features of this new Vaccinium corymbosum 'TO-1719' are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.

Southern highbush blueberry plant named ‘TO-1719’

University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc.


A CAD apparatus designing patterns of a printed board. The apparatus includes a signal wiring pattern detecting unit for detecting a signal wiring pattern, and a guard ground detecting unit for tracing the signal wiring pattern along the longitudinal direction thereof, in order to detect whether or not a guard ground exists within a distance from the signal wiring pattern to a predetermined first discriminant value, identify a non-guard ground section within the distance to the first discriminant value, and to detect whether or not a guard ground exists within another distance from the signal wiring pattern to a second discriminant value, which is larger than the first discriminant value. The apparatus also includes a return path judging unit for judging an error of guard ground when no guard ground exists within the distance to the second discriminant value, thereby quickly checking a return path without mistake.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wiring design of a printed board, more specifically, to a method for checking a return path of a printed board and a CAD (computer aided design) apparatus for designing patterns of a printed board, which can take an EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) countermeasure for preventing the generation of unwanted emission noise from a printed board.
2. Background of the Related Art
In order to reduce unwanted emission noise from electronics, such as digital audio-visual equipment or information equipment, it is important to figure out a wiring path in a circuit board which may constitute a noise source. In a conventional CAD for a printed board, when detecting a wiring error, a person visually checks whether a wiring path of clock wiring pattern violates an EMC design condition in order to correct the violated point of the wiring path.
However, in the above-mentioned CAD for a printed board, since detection of an error in EMC design is dependent upon a person, there is a problem that leakage of detection is likely to occur and it takes much time to detect a error.
For this countermeasure, since recognition technology of pattern shapes is developed in CAD for a printed board, it is possible to detect a guard ground, that is a guard pattern with ground attribution, existing adjacent to a signal wiring. For a typical detection method, if there is a wiring section in which a guard ground does not exist within a defined guard ground discriminant value with respect to a signal wiring, an error is thought to occur.
JP-2002-16337-A is related art in this field of invention.
However, in the above-mentioned method for detecting a guard ground, as shown in FIG. 8, in a case of using a small defined guard ground discriminant value G, a splay portion 43 of a guard ground, around which a pad or a via hole is located for a signal wiring pattern 31, will be judged as an error of discontinuity of the guard ground.
In another case of using a large defined guard ground discriminant value G, on the other hand, a short erroneous discontinued portion 44 of the guard ground will be judged to be satisfactory.
To solve the above problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for checking a return path of a printed board and a CAD apparatus for designing patterns of a printed board, which can check a return path without mistake more quickly than the conventional method.

Method for checking return path of printed and CAD apparatus for designing patterns of printed board

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An elevator apparatus comprises two (2) or more sets of elevators with one (1) piece of an elevating passage. Each of the elevators has an elevator car and a hoist, which is connected to the elevator car through a rope. Each the hoist has a sheave, a motor and a brake. The hoist of one of the elevators is projected above the elevator car of the other elevator. Also, open/close doors of the one elevator and those of the other elevator are disposed, so that they shift in front and behind. Door cases of the juxtaposing elevators are disposed to overlap with each other in front and behind.

The present invention relates to an elevator apparatus, and it relates, in particular, to an elevator apparatus, wherein a plural number of elevators are installed within one (1) elevating passage, juxtaposing with each other.
Conventionally, an example is already known of an elevator apparatus, in which two (2) or more sets if elevators are installed juxtaposing with each other, such as, in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2000-351537, for example. With such the elevator apparatus as described in this publication, for the purpose of improving space efficiency of a building, a building wall is provided between the doorways of the two (2) elevators, and elevator control units for each thereof are provided within that building wall.
With such the elevator apparatus as described in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No.2000-351537 mentioned above, for the purpose of reducing a space for installing the elevators, an attention is paid, in particular, on a space for installing the control units of the elevators which are provide juxtaposing with each other. However, with the elevators of high-lift or high-speed, it is desired to reduce, not only the space for installing the control units therein, but also to reduce the space for installing a hoist, which accordingly increases the volume thereof, but in this publication is not paid sufficient consideration on that aspect.
Also, when equipments other than the elevator cars are disposed conventionally, there is a possibility that the juxtaposing elevator cars interfere with each other, in particular, on the door pockets thereof. In the elevator apparatus described in the publication mentioned above, since there is ascertained an enough space for installing the juxtaposing elevators therein, so that each of the elevators operates independently, then no such the drawback will occurs on the doors of the cars. However, the space for installing the elevators must be wider for it.
On a while, when installing the hoists for the elevators, a thin-type hoist having a disk-like motor is mounted on a wall surface of the elevating passage, or a cylinder-like motor is installed at a top or a bottom of the elevating passage. For this reason, with the method of installing the hoists on the wall surface of the elevating passage, the elevating passage must be increased in the cross-section of an area thereof if the hoist is large in the volume thereof. While, with the method of installing the hoist on the bottom of the elevating passage, there is necessity of providing pulleys for hanging up the cars by means of a rope at the top of the elevating passage, as well as, suspending the rope from the hoist to the pulley at the top. As a result of this, if the lift is higher, the length of the rope to be suspended around is also longer, and therefore it brings bout a vibration of the car, which is caused due to plasticity of the rope. With the elevator of high-lift or high-speed, from the reason mentioned above, the hoists are mounted directly within a top portion of the elevating passage, or within a machine room which is provided separately from the elevating passage, however it is desired to make the machine room small.


A method of manufacturing a first embedding system (10) having a first envelope (12) which is made from a first envelope skin (12A) filled with a first envelope compressionable filling (12B). The first envelope skin (12A) is abrasion resistant and has properties of being permeable on the outside and non-permeable on the inside which allows a user to press an object into the first envelope compressionable filling (12B) forming an impression therein. The user thereafter sprays a catalyst onto the first envelope skin (12A) which reacts with the first envelope compressionable filling (12B) forming a permanent impression of the object within which the object is safely stored.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to impressionable trays. More particularly, the present invention relates to an impressionable tray which comprises a envelope having an envelope skin within which an envelope compressionable filling is contained. When an user places a tool or sensitive electronic device upon the envelope skin and applies pressure thereon, the object forms an impression with the envelope compressionable filling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Protective cases are well known in the art. They are configured in varying forms ranging from cut out foam filled encasements to expandable closed and/or open cell foam encasements. However, none of the prior art addresses the features of the present invention.
Numerous innovations for tool box trays have been provided in the prior art that are described as follows. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they differ from the present invention as hereinafter contrasted.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,223, Titled Insert Having Part Numbers or the like Printed at the Bottom of Retaining Recesses, invented by Phillip L. Allen, an insert for a tool box drawer or the like has a first lower layer of compressible material such as foam above which is a second upper layer of compressible material. The second upper layer of compressible material has a plurality of cut outs therein, each cut out being in the shape of the silhouette of the item or tool to be retained therein. A film of material is bonded between the first layer of compressible material and the second layer of compressible material such that the cut out portions become pockets. Labels are provided at the bottom of each pocket by printing information on either the first layer of compressible material or on the film with the printing positioned so as to be visible through the cut out portions of the upper second layer of compressible material. Where the lower layer of compressible material is non-porous, the film is not required.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,514, titled Customized Plastic Tray and Method of Making Same, invented by Joseph S. Wycech, a method and apparatus is disclosed that enables a consumer to store a wide variety of items in customized storage unit. The customized storage unit consists of a plastic storage tray that has a pattern of item-receiving compartments formed therein that will correspond exactly to the shapes of items that the consumer wishes to store. The pattern is developed first reading the profiles of the items the consumer wishes to store into a computer graphics unit and arranging these stored profiles into an optimized pattern. This pattern is next sent to a computer-aided manufacturing unit that is connected to a hot wire cutter that cuts the desired pattern into a sheet of structural foam. The cut-out cores of the profiles of the items to be stored are next removed from the structural foam sheet leaving cavities within the sheet. The structural foam sheet is next placed on the lower platen of a vacuum form machine, and the cut-out cores are attached to the upper platen. A sheet of thermoplastic is heated so that it is malleable and is placed upon the structural foam sheet. A vacuum is applied to the lower platen and the upper platen is next brought downwardly into contact with the thermoplastic sheet and pushes the plastic downwardly into the cavity formed in the structural foam sheet. The upper platen is next brought back upwardly away from the thermoplastic sheet, and the thermoplastic sheet and its associated structural foam sheet are allowed to cool. When forming a compartment for a thinner item, it is not necessary to utilize the cut-out cores. The resulting product is a sturdy plastic storage tray that has an upper sheet of plastic and a lower backing unit of structural foam.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,791, titled Dental Impression Supply Kit, invented by George E. Halverson and Gerald A. Nelson, a dental impression kit to assist the dentist or a dental technician in the making of dental impressions preparatory to the formation of a mold and the manufacture of a crown or full or partial dentures. The kit contains a compact and orderly arranged array of items necessary or desirable in formation of dental impression. Such items include a selection of upper and lower dental impression trays, dental impression material base and catalyst, adhesive, polish, instructions and a mixing pad. From the kit, the dentist is able to select the appropriate type and size of impression tray, mix the impression base and material on a mixing pad, prepare the tray with the adhesive and then fill it with the impression material and take the dental impression, all the while having instructions at hand if necessary. The finished dentures can be polished using the polish kit. Secondary inventory control cases complement the primary case by making inventory available as items from the primary case are depleted.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,465, titled Coin Display Case, invented by Edmund W. E. Stein, a coin display case includes an outer lens, an inner lens and a central laminate. The laminate is held between the outer lens and the inner lens. The laminate further includes a hole for accepting a coin. The laminate is made out of a layer of flexible foamed material sandwiched between two layers of sulfur-free acid neutral paper.
The above patents differ from the present invention because they lack describing or claiming one or more of the following unique features of the present invention: tray side lip, tray cavity containing impression material which consists of an outer durable impression material and an inner heat liable impression material within which a tool cavity can be formed by applying pressure of a tool thereto, and/or a tray handle.
Numerous innovations for tool box trays have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.


A compound represented by the following general formula (IA) or a salt thereof:

In the field of X-ray radiography using an iodine compound, for example, X-ray angiography, a technique is available which comprises administration of a water-soluble iodine-containing contrast medium for visualization of vascular flows, and detection of lesions at which the flows are obstructed. However, in the aforementioned method, the iodine-containing contrast medium is present in the vascular flows to detect changes of vascular flows inside the vessels, and the method has difficulty in distinguishing the lesions from normal tissues as compared to a method wherein an iodine-containing contrast medium is present in cells consisting a lesion. For this reason, by the above method, only a lesion where constriction progresses 50% or more can be detected, and it is difficult to detect a lesion before the onset of attack of an ischemic disease.
Separately, attempts have also been reported in which a hydrophobic iodine-containing contrast medium or a hydrophilic contrast medium is formulated for selective accumulation in a target lesion (International Patent Publications WO95/19186, WO95/21631, WO89/00812, British Patent No. 867650, WO96/00089, WO94/19025, WO96/40615, WO95/2295, WO98/41239, WO98/23297, WO99/02193, WO97/06132, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,192,859, 4,567,034, 4,925,649, Pharm. Res., 6 (12), 1011 (1989); Pharm. Res., 16 (3), 420 (1999); J. Pharm. Sci., 72 (8), 898 (1983); Invest. Radiol., 18 (3), 275 (1983)). For example, Pharm. Res., 6 (12), 1011 (1989) discloses that injection of an oil-particle dispersion of cholesteryl iopanoate as a hydrophobic compound allows accumulation of the iodine compound in arteriosclerotic lesions of experimental animals. Further, Pharm. Res., 16 (3), 420 (1999) discloses that administration of cholesteryl iopanoate after being taken up into acetyl-LDL allows accumulation of the iodine compound in arteriosclerotic lesions of experimental animals.
J. Pharm. Sci. 72 (8), 898 (1983) discloses examples of X-ray hepatography and splenography by injection of an oil-particle dispersion of cholesteryl iopanoate. U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,034 discloses a method of selective hepatography or splenography utilizing liposomes encapsulating an ester of diatrizoic acid. International Patent Publications WO96/28414 and WO96/00089 disclose contrast media for imaging vascular pools or lymphatic systems. However, the methods using these formulations are not satisfactory in efficiency and selectivity for a purpose of selective contrast of vascular diseases, and no example is reported in which vascular diseases are imaged by utilizing X-ray irradiation.
International Publication WO01/93918 discloses an example of radiography of arteriosclerotic lesions, wherein a hydrophobic and hydrolysis-resistant radioactive iodine-containing contrast medium is formulated into a microemulsion or allowed to be taken up into acetyl-LDL and then administered to experimental animals. Further, it is also reported that the aforementioned cholesteryl iopanoate is not degraded in living bodies and accumulated in organs in vivo, in particular, livers [J. Med. Chem., 25, 1500 (1982)]. These properties of the compounds indicate that the compounds remain in living bodies for a prolonged period of time, and the properties are not favorable when diagnostic use such as X-ray contrast media is desired.
From a viewpoint of intended use of chemical compounds, methods have been reported in which a triglyceride compound comprising an alkylcarboxylic acid formed by two of 3-amino-2,4,6-triiodophenyl groups and a saturated/unsaturated fatty acid is formulated as an oil particle dispersion (lipid emulsion) or a Tween 20 dispersion and used for the purpose of hepatography or imaging of blood-pool (Radiology, 216 (3) 865 (2000); Invest. Radiol., 35 (3), 158 (2000); International Patent Publication WO98/46275; J. Pharm. Sci., 85 (9), 908 (1996); Pharm. Res., 13 (6), 875 (1996); International Patent Publication WO95/31181; J. Med. Chem., 38 (4), 636 (1995); Invest. Radiol., 29 (SUPPL. 2), S284 (1994); International Patent Publication WO94/19025; U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,075; Appl. Radiol. Isot., 37 (8), 907 (1986); J. Med. Chem., 29 (12), 2457 (1986)). Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,075 and J. Med. Chem., 29 (12), 2457 (1986) mentioned above describe diacyl-1,3-glyceride compounds comprising an alkylcarboxylic acid containing two of 3-amino-2,4,6-triiodophenyl groups and oxidized compounds thereof. However, a use thereof other than as synthetic intermediates is not described. Moreover, the 2-position of the glycerin moiety is unsubstituted, and the compounds have no structurally characteristic functional group.
Phosphoric acid esters of diacylglyceride compounds comprising a saturated/unsaturated long chain fatty acid, in particular, those compound of which 1-position is esterified with phosphoric acid, are found as a membrane component of organisms, and therefore, various derivatives thereof have been known. However, most of these compounds are phosphoric acid ester compounds comprising an unsubstituted saturated/unsaturated fatty acid. In particular, compounds having an iodophenyl group in the structures are described in J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 117 (11), 3084 (1995); J. Org. Chem., 61 (1), 192 (1996); Eur. J. Org. Chem., 10, 2563 (1999); Tetrahedron Lett., 41 (35), 6737 (2000) and the like. However, these compounds have only one monoiodophenyl group in their structures. Although Tetrahedron Lett., 27 (3), 271 (1986) describes compounds having tyroxine, the bonding position of the tyroxine moiety is not in the aliphatic acid moiety, but at the end of the phosphoric acid ester moiety, and therefore their structural characteristic is totally different from that of the compounds of the present invention.

Abstract: wherein Ar1 represents hydrogen atom or an aryl group having at least one iodine atom as a substituent; Ar2 represents an aryl group having at least one iodine atom as a substituent; L1 and L2 independently represent a divalent bridging group of which main chain contains 6 or more carbon atoms; L3 represents a single bond or a divalent bridging group of which main chain contains 1 to 6 carbon atoms and one oxygen atom; X represents a functional group containing at least one heteroatom, provided that, when L3 is a single bond, X represents a functional group other than hydroxyl group. The compound can be used as a membrane component of liposomes, and the liposomes can be used as a contrast medium for X-ray radiography.


A lamp control scheme for rapid warmup of a cold cathode fluorescent lamp, to minimize the warmup time while maintaining long lamp service light. The lamp is over-driven with high current for up to a predetermined time limit to accelerate mercury vaporization. The drive current is then reduced to a normal level. The scanner light output is monitored by a sensor circuit, and the system waits until the light output exceeds a minimum output and the light profile is sufficiently stable. The scanner is then calibrated to a white reference, and the closed loop control of the signal level is activated. The scan or copy process is now performed, and the light level control is deactivated as needed. Thereafter, between uses the lower lamp current is 40% of normal level to keep the lamp warm while extending the life of the product. If the product has not been used in a long time, the lamp is turned off.

Scanners, copiers, and other office equipment using cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) take a long time for the bulb to warm up. This warmup time is the time required to achieve an acceptable light level and stability for the purpose of acquiring a good quality scan. Slow warmup is an inherent problem with CCFLs because they contain mercury. At room temperature, much of the mercury is in liquid state, and it must first be vaporized before it can contribute to the light generation process.
A common approach is to wait 1-3 minutes for the lamp to completely warmup before use. However, customers are dissatisfied with this long wait. Another approach is to leave the lamp on all the time. However, this will consume the lamp's useful life in only 1 to 2 years, requiring costly repair and downtime.
A new method described here has been shown to minimize the impact of warmup time on the customer, while maintaining long lamp life. This method assures that the customer will wait only the minimum time necessary for the bulb to warmup and achieve a good quality image.

Lamp control scheme for rapid warmup of fluorescent lamp in office equipment


An example method of operation may include automatically receiving information from a storage area in response to a signal, which information may include test results for a computer product evaluated by a plurality of test stages. The method may also include retrieving deployment parameters for the computer product, determining whether the test results satisfy the deployment parameters for the computer product, and automatically authorizing deployment of the computer product based on whether the test results satisfy the deployment parameters.

The development of applications and other computer products is central to the business plans of many companies. Before an application or product is released, it is often tested to ensure that it satisfies quality and compliance standards.
One approach for testing an application is performed on a stage-by-stage basis. Each stage of testing is performed by different personnel. As a result, it is difficult for personnel at subsequent stages of testing to determine and track the testing scripts, results, and parameters used in prior stages.
Also, changes made to the application in a prior stage may be missed or difficult to track by personnel at subsequent stages. Even worse, these changes may negatively affect performance of the application and/or make the application unsuitable for testing at a subsequent stage. This is especially true when stages test for quality and compliance across different platforms or operating systems.
Moreover, the decision to deploy a tested application is made using a decentralized process, often requiring managing personnel to access testing results from each stage and then make a judgment call as to whether deployment should be made. Such a decentralized process is cumbersome to implement and produces inaccurate results, e.g., applications which are not ready to be deployed are deployed for lack of an objective way of obtaining and evaluating testing results at each stage.
These and other drawbacks have made existing methods for performing quality assurance testing costly and inefficient, often resulting in extending the target release date for an application.

Automatic custom quality parameter-based deployment router


A method for minimizing microwave leakage into processing chamber of a microwave plasma system is provided. The method includes securing plasma traps to a plasma tube assembly, which is a cylindrical structure positioned upstream from the processing chamber and has a plasma-sustaining region. The plasma traps are electrically conductive disks surrounding the cylindrical structure and are positioned upstream from the processing chamber. The plasma traps include at least two electrically conductive disks. Each electrically conductive disk includes corrugated outer surfaces with plurality of corrugated peaks. The corrugated outer surface of the first electrically conductive disk is facing a corrugated outer surface of the second electrically conductive disk in a space-apart relationship to form an interstitial region between the electrically conductive disks. Both electrically conductive disk and the interstitial region form one of a set of upstream plasma traps and a set of downstream plasma traps relative to the plasma-sustaining region.

Plasma processing has continued to evolve as manufacturing companies attempt to stay competitive in the semiconductor industry. To gain a competitive advantage, different methods and arrangements have been implemented to increase the amount of plasma that may be utilized in substrate processing to produce non-defective devices
One development that has shown continuing promise is the use of new and different geometries in plasma processing machines. Different geometries, such as long straight plasma tube and convoluted plasma tube, have been utilized in an attempt to efficiently absorb microwave power or convert absorbed microwave power into useful plasma species. To facilitate discussion, FIG. 1 shows a simple diagram of a prior art convoluted plasma tube assembly. Plasma 112 may be formed within a plasma tube 102 through the coupling of one or more gases (e.g., O2, N2, N2H2, HeH2, water vapor, and fluorinated compounds) with microwave power, which may have been transmitted by a microwave power generator 106 through a waveguide 108. Those skilled in the arts are aware that conventional plasma tube of one inch or less in diameter may lose significant percentage of the microwave power that may be generated due to thermal loading. Since plasma 112 may include both harmful plasma species and useful plasma species, shape and dimension of plasma tubes may be manipulated to allow for harmful species to recombine into useful species. Consequently, different geometries may translate into higher efficiency apparatuses.
Consider the situation wherein, for example, plasma 112 travels through plasma tube 102 and encounters a bend 116. As plasma 112 interacts with walls of plasma tube 102 at bend 116, some of the plasma species may recombine. However, with a convoluted plasma tube, the chance for neutral species to recombine may have also increased. As a result, the more convoluted a plasma tube, the less efficient the plasma tube may be in delivering neutral species to a plasma processing chamber.
To reduce the number of useful plasma species from recombining, some manufacturers may use straight plasma tubes. Without a bend, the recombination rate of plasma species within plasma tube may be reduced. However, manufacturers may have to extend the plasma tube to minimize the possibility of harmful plasma species from reaching the plasma processing chamber.
Additionally, plasma species may be formed outside of the waveguide enclosed area of the plasma tube due to microwave radiation leakage that may occur. Traps have been used in some plasma tube assembly to limit the amount of leakage. Traps are usually hollow aluminum disk shape device, which may measure approximately 0.5 inches to 2 inches thick. However, in practice, not all microwave radiation may be contained and microwave leakage may occur resulting in power loss and an extension of harmful plasma species.
Although the geometry of plasma tubes and traps may provide a partial solution for delivering useful plasma species to plasma processing chamber, what are needed are methods and arrangement for creating a highly efficient downstream microwave plasma system.

Methods for implementing highly efficient plasma traps


High-performance heat-reflective films having a metallic silver layer bounded by two dielectric layers are disclosed. The thickness of the layers is selected to insure high levels of heat rejection but relatively high levels of light transmission together with a substantial level of color neutrality.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to heat-reflective window-glazing materials More particularly, it relates to heat-reflective window-glazing materials with very high heat rejection properties and relatively low visible light transmission properties.
2. Background Information
In energy-conscious architecture, windows pose a special dilemma Designers are asked to incorporate a maximum of window area into their plans notwithstanding the fact that window surfaces are major sources of energy control loss. In cold climates, added internal heat is lost through window surfaces. In warm climates, exterior heat enters through window surfaces, thus increasing air conditioning loads.
Historically, storm windows and multipane glazing have been employed to enhance window energy performance. More recently, the addition of a variety of films, coatings and glass compositions have been brought into use to achieve the same ends.
There is presently a call for window-glazing products having higher energy (heat) control performance (This performance property is often quantified as "shading coefficient" as will be defined below.) There are a number of approaches to enhanced energy control performance. One is to absorb the energy into the glazing material such as by bronzing or greying it and increasing its energy-absorbing ability. Another is to reflect the energy with reflective coatings or films. Each of these methods has its shortcomings. In the case of relying upon energy absorption, one has the problem that the absorbed energy is stored in the glazing material and a portion of it is radiated and convected across the glazing material, thus defeating in part the desired heat control When solar absorption is the mechanism, at low shading coefficients the degree of absorption required is so high that heat treated glass must be used. These materials must be able to withstand the amounts of heat stored in the glazing and their attendant temperature rises. Tempered glass and heat-strengthened glass are used to avoid fractures. These materials are more costly and can greatly prolong manufacturing lead times to market. In the case of relying upon energy reflection, it is difficult to achieve large degrees of energy reflection without also significantly degrading the performance of the glazing product in the visible spectrum This results in unwanted selective transmission and reflection of some visual wavelengths and thus a "tinting" of the transmitted light and/or reflected light and difficulties with batch-to-batch and intrabatch consistency as far as color properties are concerned. In addition, conventional reflective products are also marked by high absorption due to the type of coating used (i.e., titanium and stainless steel). These mirror-like glass products can be aesthetically unattractive when used with the required tempered glass due to nonplanarity in the glass.
Since the early 1980s, Southwall Technologies, Inc. has marketed a series of window thermal control film products under the trademark Heat Mirror. These products are plastic films having dielectric-metal-dielectric induced transmission energy filters on their surfaces. These products have been tailored to fill the need for substantial heat control while permitting transmission of a substantial amount (i.e., greater than 40% and often nearly 90%) of visible light While these products have met with customer acceptance, they have typically been used in settings where their high light transmissions have been desired rather than in settings where maximal heat rejection has been required. Their design has been such as to optimize visible light transmission.
Others have looked to low emissivity or "low E" coated glass glazings to reduce heat loss. These products have typically employed a partially transparent metal coating as heat control agent and optionally rely on heat reflectors or absorbers on or in the glass as a solar control mechanism. Emissivity refers to the heat emitting (or radiating) propensity of a surface. Emissivity is expressed as an emissivity number with a perfect blackbody radiator having a value of 1, window glass having a value of about 0.84 and glass with a low E coating having a value well below that, approximately 0.15. However, when low shading coefficients are needed, low E coatings have been used with tinting of the glass which has different low E property and results in increases in emissivity with attendant radiant heat losses. Even then, shading coefficients of low E glass are found to be greater than 0.35.
It is a general object of this invention to provide heat-reflective film products having a dielectric-metal-dielectric induced transmission structure but which are capable of high levels of heat rejection (low shading coefficient) while maintaining acceptable color properties throughout the visible wavelengths. It is a further object to achieve this in a product having a low emissivity.

Low transmission heat-reflective glazing materials


An image formation apparatus using a recording medium including a scattering-mode light-modulation member which takes an opaque state in response to a heat and takes a transparent state in response to an electric field. The apparatus comprises a heater and an electrode device which are disposed in opposed relation to the recording medium. The heater preheats the recording medium in accordance with a control signal from an external device and the electrode device applies an electric field to the recording medium after the heating, thereby completely erasing an image previously recorded in the recording medium. After the erasure, the recording medium is heated by a thermal head in accordance with an information signal from an external device so as to form a new image in the recording medium.

The present invention relates to an image formation apparatus using a scattering-mode light-modulation device as a recording medium and a method of erasing an image formed on the scattering-mode light-modulation device.
Recently, as an information writable and erasable type apparatus there is known an image formation apparatus equipped with, as a recording medium, a scattering-mode light-modulation device comprising a scattering-mode light-modulation plate and an electrode plate which are overlaid with each other on a base plate. The scattering-mode light-modulation device allows the recording and erasure of an electromagnetic-wave information such as an image through heating and application of an electric field, for example. Although such an image formation apparatus can form an extremely fine image, there is a problem, however, in that difficulty is encountered to completely erase the recorded image from the scattering-mode light-modulation device whereby a previous image remains, known as an after-image and the contrast deteriorates due to the effect of the electric charge left irrespective of the erasing electrification.

Image formation and erasure on and from scattering-mode light-modulation device


In some embodiments of the present invention, a signal received by a mobile communication station in standby mode is sampled. The samples are converted to digital samples and stored in a memory. The digital samples include data from a base communication station to the mobile communication station. The stored digital samples are processed.

While in standby mode, a mobile communication station may cycle through a number of operating modes. In some of these operating modes, for example, a sleep mode and various setup and power up modes, some of the blocks of the mobile communication station may be deactivated, in order to reduce the power consumption of the mobile communication station. This reduction in power consumption is particularly important for battery-operated mobile communication stations, as it may prolong the lifetime of the battery.
However, the operating modes may include a mode in which the mobile communication station may reactivate certain blocks in order to monitor a channel for messages from a base communication station. The longer the blocks are active during standby mode, the more the drain on the battery.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.

Method of saving power by reducing active reception time in standby mode


A problem is to solve problems on removal of solids by a screen and on an installation space and pipe connection in a separator. A solution to the problem is as follows. A separator 1, which is a device for separating solids contained in influent liquid, has a separation tank 2; a partition plate 5 partitioning an inside space of the separation tank 2 into an inflow chamber 3 and an outflow chamber 4; a screen 8 provided at the partition plate 5; a liquid inlet 6 formed at the inflow chamber 3; and a discharge outlet 7 formed at the outflow chamber 4; the inflow chamber 3 is provided with a guide unit 9, 10, 10a for forming a vertical swirling flow in the inflow chamber 3 by reversing the influent liquid from the liquid inlet 6; the screen 8 is disposed along a side face of the swirling flow thus formed. This configuration permits the solids to be removed, without clogging the screen with the solids.

Of drainage water such as rainwater flowing into a sewerage system laid in an urban area, part is stored in or discharged into the earth by facilities for storing or infiltrating rainwater, while the rest is discharged to rivers. Solids such as sediment, a variety of garbage, papers, and fallen leaves are mixed in the rainwater drainage flowing in the sewerage system after dropping onto the ground surface and flowing on the ground surface, and if those solids are discharged to the rivers, they will cause water contamination; if they flow into the rainwater storing-infiltrating facilities, it will become necessary to frequently perform maintenance of the facilities; therefore, they will cause disadvantage in terms of cost. Furthermore, rainwater is temporarily stored underground without removal of solids in a rainwater storage tank or the like for flood countermeasures against torrential rain, and the stored rainwater needs to be pumped up during fine weather to be discharged to a river; on that occasion, however, the solids are also simultaneously discharged to the river, so as to cause the river water contamination and environment pollution problem. As means to avoid the water contamination and environment pollution, a separator of drainage water to separate the solids is provided in part of the sewerage system.
It is common practice to use a screen or a filter as a device for separating and removing the solids in drainage water, but they are likely to be clogged by solids, to cause a maintenance problem thereof. A solution to this problem is a separator configured to generate a horizontal swirling flow (swirl) by energy of the drainage water influent into a separation tank, without use of power such as electricity, and to separate the solids by the swirling flow, and the known separator of this type is, for example, trade name FliudSep available from UFT Inc., Germany. However, while the separator permits easy maintenance because of no use of the filter or screen, it is difficult for the separator to perform secure separation and capture of floating and fine solids of size to be removed.
On the other hand, Patent Literature 1 describes a separator as a combination of the swirling flow generating method and the screen separation method. The separation tank in Patent Literature 1 is configured as follows: a cylindrical screen is disposed in the lower part of the separation tank with a circular plane cross section, drainage water is supplied in a tangent direction from the upper part of the separation tank to generate a swirling flow in the tank, solids are separated by the screen disposed in the lower part, and only the drainage water is made to pass to the outside of the screen.
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 8-141326


An optical pickup apparatus and method for recording and/or reproducing information onto and/or from optical discs having diverse specifications. Particularly, a diffraction grating for use in the optical pickup apparatus includes a substrate for refracting an output beam from a laser diode at a predetermined refractive index, a liquid crystal for refracting the beam, which is transmitted through the substrate, at a different refractive index and direction according to a track pitch of the optical disc, an electrode material for supplying power to the liquid crystal, and a switch for controlling power supply to the electrode material. Electrode materials are aligned with various spacing in order to change the refractive index of the liquid crystal according to the wavelength of a laser and the specification of an optical disc used. Also, power supply to the electrode materials is controlled depending on the optical disc specification.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate in general to optical pickup apparatuses and methods. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to an optical pickup apparatus and method capable of recording and/or reproducing information onto and/or from optical discs having diverse specifications, simply by changing a diffraction angle of a laser diode, according to the wavelength of the laser diode used and the optical disc specifications.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, optical pickup apparatuses are employed in CD players (CDPs), DVD players (DVDPs), CD-ROM drivers, and DVD-ROM drivers, to record and/or reproduce information onto and/or from a non-contact type recording medium.
The DVDP and the DVD-ROM, for example, are capable of recording and reproducing high-density data, so they have been preferably used with video and audio products. Particularly, the optical pickup apparatus for use in the DVDP is capable of recording and/or reproducing information on and/or from a DVD-ROM, and is manufactured to be compatible with the CD family media such as CD, CD-R (Recordable), CD-I, and CD-G, for example.
However, the thickness of DVDs has been standardized differently from that of the CD family media, at least in consideration of the allowable error in tilt angle and objective lens numeral aperture (NA). That is, the standard thickness of existing CD family media is 1.2 mm, whereas the standard thickness of DVDs is 0.6 mm. As such, when an optical pickup apparatus for DVDs is used for the CD family media spherical aberrations occur due to the difference in thicknesses between the two types of discs. As a result of the spherical aberrations, sufficient light intensity cannot be provided for recording an information signal or the signal reproduced from the CD is deteriorated.
In addition, the track pitch of a DVD is at least two times denser than that of a CD, and the spacing between each pit, for example, is much narrower, so the DVD storage capacity is several times larger than that of the CD storage capacity. As CD and DVDs have different thicknesses and storage capacities, wavelengths of laser beams used are different. For instance, the CD uses an infrared beam having a 780 nm wavelength for recording and/or reproducing information, while the DVD uses a red light beam of a 635 nm wavelength.
As described above, wavelengths of lasers used for the DVD and the CD are different because the DVD and the CD have different thicknesses and different track pitches. Therefore, it is difficult to reproduce information from the DVD and the CD using one optical system. In an attempt to solve this problem, lens switching methods have been developed. According to one lens switching method, two objective lenses, one for the CD and the other for the DVD, are installed. Even though this makes the product design more complicated and increases the cost of manufacture, recently it has been the best known method for use with the DVD and the CD.
Most recently, a new method has been introduced, where information is read from two media using only one DVD lens, with NA and annular control systems being typical examples thereof. Since these two systems use only one lens, they are cost effective and simplify the product design. Furthermore a hologram using two focal points with one DVD lens or a non-spherical lens corresponding to the NAs of two media can be used also.
Meanwhile, optical pickup apparatuses, depending on the type of light receiving element (or photodiode) used, can be divided into optical pickup apparatuses based on a push-pull method using a 4-split photodiode, and optical pickup apparatuses based on a 3-beam method using an 8-split photodiode. The 3-beam optical pickup apparatus is generally used for high-density discs where an accurate tracking servo performance is highly appreciated.
As can be seen in FIG. 1, the 3-beam optical pickup apparatus includes a LD (Laser Diode) 1 for emitting two light beams of different wavelengths, a diffraction grating 2 for splitting a laser beam from the LD 1 into three discrete beams, namely one main beam and two sub beams, a beam splitter 3 for reflecting a beam off of the diffraction grating 2 towards an optical disc and transmitting a reflected beam from the optical disc, a collimator lens 4 for condensing parallel beams reflected from the beam splitter 3 to form a beam spot on an information recording surface of the optical disc, and transforming a divergent beam of the beam spot reflected from the information recording surface of the optical disc to a parallel beam (or collimated beam), an objective lens 5 for condensing the reflected light transmitted through the beam splitter 3, and a photo detector 6 for photoelectrically converting three beam spots condensed by the objective lens 5 into electric signals.
Depending on whether the information recording medium is a CD or a DVD, the LD 1 of the optical pick up apparatus outputs laser beams having different wavelengths. An output laser beam is then split by the diffraction grating 2 into a main beam and sub beams. In other words, the diffraction grating 2 reads an information signal from the laser beam output from the LD 1, and splits the laser beam into an 0th-order main beam for a focus servo of the optical disc and ±1st-order sub beams for a track servo of the optical disc.
The split beams are reflected towards the optical disc by the beam splitter 3, and focused onto the optical disc by the collimator lens 4 to form beam spots, and reflected again from the optical disc. The reflected beams from optical disc transmit through the beam splitter 3, as collected by the objective lens 5, and detected by the photo detector 6. By detecting a main beam focused on a main beam spot part 6a, the photo detector 6 reads out stored information of the beam and, at the same time, detects focusing signal error of the optical disc. The photo detector 6 detects a tracking signal error of the optical disc by using a sub beam focused on a sub beam spot part 6b.
The beams (i.e., the main beam and the sub beams) are split through the diffraction grating 2 and reflected towards the optical disc, and focused onto the optical disc by the collimator lens 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the main beam is incident on a central part, and the pair of sub beams are incident on alternate sides. The main beam should be incident accurately on the track because it should read the recorded information signal. In addition, a straight line connecting each sub beam to the main beam and the track of the optical disc are at an angle of θ. At this time, the angle θ is determined based on the tracking method.
In one case of following the track using the diffraction grating, as shown in Table 1 below, a DVD-RAM has a track pitch of 1.23 μm, a DVD-RW has a track pitch of 0.74 μm, and a CD has a track pitch of 1.60 μm. In addition to the track pitch, the track servo control method differs. As a result, the angle θ between the straight line connecting each sub beam to the main beam and the track of the optical disc differs also. For instance, the angle θ for the DVD-RAM is 2.49°, whereas the angle θ for the DVD-RW is 1.50° and the angle θ for the CD is 2.71°. These angle requirements should be met for each sub beam to be incident upon a position within a measure of the track servo method. Therefore, it is very important that the main beam and the sub beams are incident on each optical disc at a corresponding angle θ with the track. To meet the angle requirement, the diffraction grating itself was rotated to adjust the incidence positions of the main beam and the sub beams upon the optical disc, or the tracking method itself was changed.
TABLE 1BD (BlueRay Disc)DVD-RAMDVD-RWCDWavelength (nm)408658658785Focal length of20202020collimating lens (mm)Focal length of2.22.282.282.28objective lens (mm)Track pitch (μm)0.321.230.741.60Diffraction20202020grating pitch (μm)Rotation angle1.08°2.49°1.50°2.71°of diffractiongrating (deg)Track servo methodDPPDPPDPP3-BEAM
Recent technical advances in the compact disc industry have introduced a BD (Blue ray Disc) with a capacity of 25 Gbytes, and there is a very high possibility that additional new discs with different specifications and greater capacities may be developed in the near future. Unfortunately though, the track pitch of the BD is 0.32 μm, which is only half of the track pitch of existing DVD-RWs, and the angle θ between the straight line connecting each sub beam to the main beam and the track of the optical disc is 1.08° degrees. Therefore, for tracking the BD, rotating the diffraction grating adjustively to the BD would be the best way. However, the rotation angle of the diffraction grating is set for the existing CDs and DVDs, so there is a limit to the rotation angle. This means that the range of the rotation angle of the diffraction grating has to be changed again adjusting for the BD. Further, a new optical system will have to be developed or an additional optical system will have to be added to the existing optical systems in order to reproduce information from BDs or discs having additional specifications that might be developed in near future. In so doing, the structure of the optical pickup apparatus, thus, has become complicated, increasing manufacturing costs.
Therefore, there is a need for an optical pickup apparatus having a diffraction grating compatible with existing CDs and DVDs as well as other discs with different specifications that might be developed in future.

Optical pickup apparatus and method to reproduce information onto and from discs having different thicknesses and storage capacities


A bogie includes two pairs of wheels (2), the wheels (2) of one pair being connected to one another by a shaft to form an axle (4), the axles (4) being connected to one another by two half-chasses (8) each having two side members (10) connected to one another by a cross-member (12). The side members (10) rest on one of said axles (4), the cross-members (10) of the half-chassis (8) being articulated by an articulation device (18) so as to permit rotation of one half-chassis (8) relative to the other about a substantially longitudinal axis (A). Each side member (10) of a half-chassis (8) is connected to a side member (10) of the other half-chassis (8) by a connector (20) mounted in an articulated manner about substantially transverse axes on the side members (10), the connector (20) extending at least partially in a horizontal plane offset in terms of height relative to the horizontal plane passing through the articulation device (18).

The bogies of railway vehicles must be able to travel over distortions, that is to say be able to exhibit points of support on the ground which are not in the same plane, because the tracks can have defects, called "distortions".
When the bogie is of the "rigid chassis" type, it is mainly the flexibility of the suspension between the axles and the bogie chassis which allows wheel load transfers to be limited when the vehicle travels over distortions in the track. When the bogie is of the "articulated chassis" type, such as, for example, the bogie described in document EP 0 409 128, it is the articulation of two half-chassis about a transverse axis which allows the wheel load transfers induced by distortions of the track to be limited.
However, a rigid chassis requires the presence of a primary suspension, that is to say of a suspension arranged between the axles and the bogie chassis, for absorbing distortions, which suspension is bulky and heavy. It is possible for an articulated chassis not to have primary suspensions, because deformations in the event of distortions are absorbed by the articulation of the chassis. This solution accordingly enables a weight saving to be made and is of greater interest economically.
The chassis of the bogie is either of the "exterior" type, when the side members are arranged outside the wheels, generally resting on axle boxes arranged outside the wheels, or, on the other hand, of the "interior" type when the side members are arranged inside the wheels, that is to say between the wheels, on axle boxes which are likewise arranged inside the wheels. An interior chassis enables the mass of the bogie to be lowered and its manufacturing costs to be reduced. Such a chassis also allows the brake callipers to be accommodated outside the chassis, which improves the accessibility of the callipers should they have to be removed.
The exterior chassis is more bulky and adds a considerable mass to the railway vehicle. However, it allows a larger and more powerful motor to be accommodated between the wheels because the axle boxes located outside the wheels free space between the wheels.


An apparatus receives messages having a linking keyword for identification of a transaction, classifies the received messages in terms of transaction using message patterns and the linking keyword. It compares a series of messages associated with the transaction with the message patterns. It makes a decision as to whether the series of messages associated with the transaction matches any one of the message patterns. It creates a record including an identifier for the transaction and the linking keyword. It searches for the unclassified messages based on the linking keywords contained in the unclassified messages, and identifies the record containing the identical linking keyword. It stores the identifiers for the unclassified messages into a linked candidate list in a corresponding manner to linked candidate transactions. It adds the unclassified messages to the message pattern which corresponds to the linked candidate transaction to create a new message pattern.

In a system having plural servers such as an electronic commercial transaction system, when a request from a client is received, messages are exchanged between servers and the process progresses. One example of the electronic commercial transaction system is shown in FIG. 1. In the electronic commercial transaction system, whenever a request is received by a web server, an application server (AP server) is required to perform processing that is necessitated by the request and results of the processing are obtained. Alternatively, a database server (DB server) is required by the request to make a reference to a database or update it, and results of the processing are obtained. In this way, plural messages are exchanged between servers, and processing is carried out. Furthermore, a log of the messages exchanged between the servers is gathered and used to monitor the behavior of the system or for other purposes. Messages required to make a response to one request are recognized as one transaction using keywords contained in the messages.
Where processing for classifying messages in terms of transaction and lining up messages associated with each individual transaction is performed (hereinafter may be referred to as a message linking process), it is conceivable to make a decision as to whether the linking process has been completed using a message pattern for each type of transaction (i.e., whether a full set of messages associated with the transaction has been obtained).
In this method, however, it is necessary to predefine message patterns. Some transactions are found after the system is run and so it is difficult to define all message patterns. In this method, if a transaction not defined as a message pattern is executed, it is impossible to judge correctly whether a full set of messages associated with the transaction has been obtained.
Accordingly, an object of the present technique is to provide a technique for automatic creating of message patterns used in a message linking process.

Computer-readable recording medium, method, and apparatus for creating message patterns


A composite reverse osmosis membrane has a polyamide type skin layer whose specific surface area ranges from 3 to 1000. The composite reverse osmosis membrane of this invention is superior in the salt rejection property and water permeability. The composite reverse osmosis membrane comprises a negatively-charged crosslinked polyamide type skin layer obtained by reacting a compound having polyfunctional amino groups and a polyfunctional acid halide compound having polyfunctional acid halide groups, and a microporous support to support the skin layer. The specific surface area of the skin layer is at least 3. A first stage of reverse osmosis treatment is carried out in a membrane module using this composite reverse osmosis membrane. The skin layer can be coated with a layer of an organic polymer having positively-charged groups e.g. polyethyleneimine in order to be used as another membrane module. The organic polymer of this case is crosslinked, for example, by glutaraldehyde. The layer which is crosslink-coated on its surface area is a composite reverse osmosis membrane excellent in desalination of mineral salt in a low-concentration region and removal of cationic organic materials.

Several composite reverse osmosis membranes have been proposed, and such a conventional composite reverse osmosis membrane is produced by forming an activated skin layer having a substantially selective separability on a microporous support. This reverse osmosis membrane has a different structure from that of an asymmetric reverse osmosis membrane.
Several composite reverse osmosis membranes, each having been formed on a support as a thin film and comprising a polyamide obtained by an interfacial polymerization of a polyfunctional aromatic amine and polyfunctional aromatic acid halide, are disclosed in e.g., JP-A-55-147106, JP-A-62-121603, JP-A-63-218208, and JP-A-2-187135. The term "JP-A" means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application".
Other prior art references disclose composite reverse osmosis membranes wherein skin layers comprising polyamide are formed on supports, and the polyamide is obtained by an interfacial polymerization of a polyfunctional aromatic amine and a polyfunctional alicyclic acid halide (cf. JP-A-61-42308).
The composite reverse osmosis membranes described above have a high desalination property and a high water permeability, but it has further been desired for those membranes to improve the water permeability while keeping the high desalination property from the standpoint of the efficiency and lowering the cost for operation or equipment. For these requirements, various kinds of additives are proposed e.g., in JP-A-63-12310. However, in the conventional composite reverse osmosis membranes, the improvement of the water permeability is still insufficient even where these additives are used, and a composite reverse osmosis membrane having a higher water permeability has been desired.
Such a composite reverse osmosis membrane has a support on which a skin layer of polyamide obtained by interfacial polymerization between the polyfunctional aromatic amine and the aromatic or alicyclic polyfunctional halide. The polyamide of the membrane has negatively charged fixed groups. Thus, the anion exclusion rate is high while the cation is hardly excluded in a high pH region when desalination of mineral salt is conducted in a low-concentration region. In order to solve such problems, JP-A-62-266103 discloses a composite osmosis membrane which comprises an activated layer on which an organic polymer having positively charged fixed groups is coated. This membrane is manufactured to function as an adsorptive film. Thus, the predetermined efficiency will deteriorate after the membrane is used repeatedly. This membrane is especially inadequate for use as a second membrane in a two-stage reverse osmosis treatment (RO) conducted before preparing ultra-pure water for manufacturing semiconductors. In this newly-developed treatment, a negatively-charged membrane having high desalination property is used in the first stage, and the permeated liquid is supplied for the second stage. Thus, the desalination efficiency is deteriorated if the two membranes have the same characteristics.


A passage channel is calculated by taking into account a plurality of requirements having different importance degrees. A channel calculation unit (202) of a transport control server (100) calculates a plurality of passage channel candidates with respect to a passage setting request wherein an active passage candidate and a standby passage candidate are paired in the passage channel candidate; and calculates the occurrence number of phenomena that violate a predetermined requirement relating an operation of the active passage and the standby passage, or a value of a network element for determining whether the requirement is violated, with respect to each passage channel candidate. A cost calculation unit (205) calculates the cost of a passage channel from the calculated number of occurrence, network element value, and a predetermined cost calculation coefficient corresponding to the requirement. A GUI control unit (display control unit) 201 displays identification information of the passage channel candidate, the number of occurrences or the network element value, and the cost, as a list on, for example, a management terminal.

In a conventional transport control system, various techniques for automatically designing a path channel have been used in setting and controlling a path such as multi-protocol label switching (MPLS). For example, JP-A-2008-85642 (Patent Literature 1) provides a technique by which when a network is divided into plural areas, a path crossing the areas is efficiently set. Also, JP-A-2008-54211 (Patent Literature 2) enables an LSP channel calculation which minimizes the number of links configuring a label switch path (LSP). Also, JP-A-2007-166433 (Patent Literature 3) sets a channel by easing conditions even in any network environments, and even under circumstances where an alternative channel is not found. Also, JP-A-2007-158818 (Patent Literature 4) provides a technique by which the number of paths caused by a channel change is reduced during recalculation while achieving an effective use of network resources. Also, JP-A-2007-74312 (Patent Literature 5) enables a bypass for P2MP TE LSP due to P2MP TE LSP to be set.

Transport control server, transport control system, and transport control method