Methods and systems for transcoding a video sequence in a discrete cosine transform (DCT) domain, wherein a transcoder receives a video bit-stream including frames and each of the frames including blocks. The video bit-stream includes an intra-frame and an inter-frame that has been encoded by motion compensation based on the intra-frame or another inter-frame. A DCT-domain motion compensation module in the transcoder re-calculates first DCT coefficients for a target block in the inter-frame. For this re-calculation of the first DCT coefficients, the motion compensation module inputs second DCT coefficients of neighboring blocks in the inter-frame, and calculates partial DCT coefficients, using significant ones of the second DCT coefficients of the neighboring blocks.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to digital video signal processing using video compression schemes such as MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) and H.26x (ITU-T Recommendation H.261 or H.263). The invention is more particularly related to methods and systems for video transcoding in a compressed domain, such as a discrete cosine transform (DCT) domain.
2. Background
Video transcoding is a process of converting a previously compressed video bit-stream into another compressed video bit-stream with a lower bit-rate, a different display format (e.g., downscaling), or a different coding method (e.g., conversion between H.26x and MPEG, conversion among MPEG-1, 2, and 4, or adding error resilience), etc. An application of the bit-rate adaptation (usually rate reduction) can provide fine and dynamic adjustments of the bit-rate of the video bit-stream according to actual network conditions, e.g., available bandwidth.
The bit-rate adaptation may be performed for video bridging over heterogeneous networks, for example, multipoint video conferencing, remote collaboration, remote surveillance, video on demand, video multicast over heterogeneous networks, and streaming video. The video transcoder placed at a boundary between the heterogeneous networks enables each receiver of the video bit-stream to decode video as received, without additional functional requirements in the decoder.
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary process of video coding. Video compression is based on motion compensated predictive coding with an I-P or I-B-P frame structure. Here, I, P, and B frames represent intra, predictive, and interpolated frames, respectively. P and B frames are also called "inter-frames," whereas I frames are "intra-frames." An MPEG video sequence 100 has a group-of-picture (GOP) structure in which a P-frame coding is dependent on its precedent I/P-frame, and a B-frame coding is dependent on its preceding I/P-frame and succeeding I/P frame.
Each frame (picture) 110 is divided into blocks 120, each of which comprises 8×8 pixels. A 2×2 matrix of blocks is called a macroblock 115. For intra-frames, DCT converts each block 120 of pixels into a block of 8×8 DCT coefficients 130. The most upper-left coefficient is a DC component, i.e., a zero spatial frequency component. In the 8×8 block, as a distance from the most upper-left point becomes larger, the spatial frequency the coefficient represents becomes higher. Human eyes are more sensitive to lower-frequency coefficients, and thus n×n low-frequency DCT coefficients 135 may be sufficient for a required quality of decoded pictures.
For inter-frames, motion compensation is performed. A frame to code is called a "target" frame 140, and its preceding (and succeeding in the case of coding B-frames) I/P frame is called a "reference" frame 150. For each block 160 in target frame 140, reference frame 150 is searched to find a block 170 whose image best matches an image of block 160. A decoded image (not an original image) is used as the image of reference frame 150. A motion vector 155 represents an amount and direction of the movement of block 160 relative to block 170.
Then, a difference (prediction error) between the image of 8×8 pixel block 160 and the image of 8×8 pixel block 170 is calculated, and DCT converts the difference into DCT coefficients 180 for target block 160. Motion vectors 155 can be specified to a fraction of a pixel, i.e., half-pixels. The best-matching reference block 170 may not be aligned with the original blocks of reference frame 150, and may intersect with two or four neighboring blocks 190 of the original blocks. The location of block 170 within neighboring blocks 190 is represented by a height (h) and a width (w). An overlapping area of block 170 with the upper-right block of neighboring blocks 190 is h×w. An overlapping area of block 170 with the lower-right block of neighboring blocks 190 is (8−h)×w. An overlapping area of block 170 with the upper-left block of neighboring blocks 190 is h×(8−w). An overlapping area of block 170 with the lower-left block of neighboring blocks 190 is (8−h)×(8−w).
FIG. 2 shows a direct implementation of the video transcoder as a cascaded pixel-domain transcoder 200. Transcoder 200 decodes an incoming compressed bit-stream into a pixel-domain (e.g., blocks 120 and 160 in FIG. 1), and then re-encodes the decoded video into the desirable bit-rate or format. More particularly, the incoming bit-stream is processed by an inverse quantizer (IQ1) 210 and by an inverse DCT process (IDCT1) 220. The result is stored in a frame memory 230 to enable performing motion compensation at a motion compensator (MC) 235 on the result using motion vectors for decoding of inter-frames. This decoded and motion compensated video is then processed by a DCT process 245 and by a quantizer (Q2) 250 to output the re-encoded bit-stream. The output is re-decoded by an inverse quantizer (IQ2) 260 (inverse of Q2) and by an IDCT2 process 270 (inverse of DCT 245) and then stored in a frame memory 280 to perform motion compensation at a motion compensator (MC) 285 for encoding of inter-frames.
Cascaded pixel-domain transcoder 200 is flexible, since a decoder-loop 240 and an encoder-loop 290 can be totally independent from each other. Therefore, decoder 240 and encoder 290 in transcoder 200 can operate at, for example, different bit-rates, frame-rates, picture resolutions, coding modes, and even different standards. Also, transcoder 200 can be implemented to achieve a drift-free operation if the implementations of inverse discrete cosine transform (IDCT) in the front-encoder, which has encoded the incoming bit-stream, and the end-decoder, which will receive the outgoing bit-stream, are known. In this case, the decoder-loop and the encoder-loop can be implemented to produce exactly the same reconstructed pictures as those in the front-encoder and the end-decoder, respectively. If the implementations of the IDCT are not known but satisfy the IDCT standards specifications defined, for example, in IEEE 1180-1990, and the macroblocks are refreshed as specified in the standards such as ISO/IEEE 13818-2 and ITU-T Recommendation H.263, the drift will not be a major issue. Less drift errors result in a higher quality of pictures.
On the other hand, cascaded pixel-domain transcoder 200 is computationally expensive. The overall complexity is not as high as the sum of a decoder and an encoder in a case of reusing several coding parameters such as coding modes (Intra/Inter) and motion vectors (MVs) in transcoder 200. Even with this arrangement, however, a disadvantage of high-complexity still remains.
In implementing transcoders, the computational complexity and picture quality are usually the issues to be traded off to meet various requirements in practical applications. For example, the computational complexity is critical in real-time applications to speed up the transcoding operations.
Several fast video transcoder architectures have thus been proposed. FIG. 3 shows a simplified pixel-domain transcoder (SPDT) 300, which reduces the computational complexity of the cascaded transcoder by reusing motion vectors and merging the decoding and encoding process. In transcoder 300, IDCT 220, MC 235, and frame memory 230 of the cascaded transcoder are eliminated. That is, transcoder 300 performs an inverse quantization on an incoming bit-stream at an inverse quantizer (IQ1) 310, and the result is re-quantized by a quantizer (Q2) 320 to output a transcoded bit-stream. For transcoding of inter-frames, the output is subjected to inverse quantization by an inverse quantizer (IQ2) 330 (inverse of Q2), and then an IDCT 340 and a DCT 370 are used to perform a motion compensation in a pixel domain. In transcoder 300, IDCT 340 operates on a difference of the results of IQ2 330 and IQ1 310. The result is stored in a frame memory 350 for motion compensation by a motion compensator (MC) 360.
SDPT 300 has the advantage of low-complexity, but considerable drift errors may occur due to the merge of decoding and encoding processes, non-linear half-pixel interpolations, and finite word-length DCT and IDCT computations.
Further simplifications have been proposed by performing motion compensation LAW OFFICES in a DCT domain (e.g., blocks 130 and 180 in FIG. 1) so that no DCT/IDCT operation is required. FIG. 4A shows such a DCT-domain transcoder (DDT) 400, in which a DCT-domain motion compensator (DCT-MC) 450 and a frame memory 440 are substituted for a series of units 380 (from IDCT 340 to DCT 370) of SPDT 300.
As shown in FIG. 4B, the DCT-MC operation can be represented as computing the coefficients of each target DCT block B 460 from the coefficients of its two or four neighboring DCT blocks 471˜474. The neighboring DCT blocks can be referred to as Bi, i=1 to 4, where B=DCT(b) and Bi=DCT(bi) are the blocks of 8×8 DCT coefficients of the associated pixel-domain blocks b and bi of the image data, respectively. Mathematically, a function of DDT 400 shown in FIG. 4A is equivalent to those of the cascaded architecture shown in FIG. 2 (with motion vector reuse) and SPDT 300 shown in FIG. 3. On the other hand, DDT 400 outperforms SDPT 300 at least to the extent of experiencing much less drift errors.
The DCT coefficients in the DCT-MC operation can be computed as follows:
                    B        =                              ∑                          i              =              1                        4                                                                                H                              h                i                                                                B              i                                                  H                              w                i                                                                        (        1        )            where each of wi and hi is one of {1,2, . . . 7}. Hh1and Hw1 are constant geometric transform matrices defined by the height (h) and width (w) of each sub-block generated by the intersection of bi with b. Direct computation of Eq. (1) requires 8 matrix multiplications and 3 matrix additions. If using the following equalities in the geometric transform matrices: Hh1=Hh2, Hh3=Hh4, Hw1÷Hw3, and Hw2=Hw4, the number of operations in Eq. (1) can be reduced to 6 matrix multiplications and 3 matrix additions. Moreover, since Hh1 and Hw1 are deterministic, at least a part of the operations in Eq. (1) can be pre-computed and then pre-stored in a memory. Therefore, no additional DCT computation is required for the computation of Eq. (1).
DDT 400 has relatively low-complexity compared to the cascaded architecture shown in FIG. 2 (with motion vector reuse), and realizes relatively low drift compared to SPDT 300 shown in FIG. 3.

Methods and systems for video transcoding in DCT domain with low complexity

Industrial Technology Research Institute


An improved centrifugal pump is disclosed comprising a slip ring arranged around a central opening of a guidevane proximate the intake conduit shoulder of an impeller which is positioned, dimensioned and formed from a material sufficient to creat a lamellar interface between fluid movement on either side of the guidevane which retards the abrading effect of sheering forces at a point of critical clearance among the guidevane and the rotating impeller conduit shoulder.

Centrifugal pumps generally comprise an impeller, which is rotatably mounted in a stationary casing, the rotating impeller imparting pressure and kinetic energy to the fluid being pumped, and the stationary casing guiding the fluid to and from the impeller. The fluid is caused to flow in a generally circular direction about the perimeter of the casing by means of a guidevane which directs fluid exiting the impeller to a discharge nozzle of the pump.
In the operation of centrifugal pumps of such nature, the fluid flow is generally effected by the design and size of the impeller, the design and size of the casing and guidevane, the speed at which the impeller rotates, the design and size of the pump inlet and outlet, quality of finish of the components and the like.
In a popular commercially available centrifugal pump arrangement the pump is an assembly of multiple stamped metal parts. A base mounting plate is mounted nearest the motor and comprises a generally central opening through which a shaft from the motor extends for mounting of an impeller. A seal is mounted at the central opening of the base plate between the motor shaft and the base plate to resist reverse flow of fluids from the pump along the shaft.
A generally circular pump casing is mounted and sealed to the base plate, which together therewith enables a sealed housing containing a motor shaft driven impeller assembly, a guidevane (diffuser), inlet and outlet of the pump.
The impeller may comprise a fabricated assembly or may be molded, machined or otherwise formed from a single billet of material. In a particularly popular embodiment, whether molded from a billet or assembled, the impeller can be generally described as comprising opposing circular front and rear impeller plates, which contain therebetween vents which radiate from a central fluid intake opening in the impeller to the periphery of the impeller.
The impeller assembly is mounted to the shaft of the motor to rotate therewith, generally by means of a threaded mount which is positioned along about the center axis of the impeller spaced rearward toward the motor from the rear impeller plate to enable flow of fluid through the central intake opening past the front impeller plate through the radiating vents and out the periphery of the impeller. The front plate of the impeller further comprises a raised cylindrical shoulder (nose) which extends forward from the plate toward the inlet of the casing to enable a conduit for fluid flow from the inlet of the pump casing to the central opening of the impeller.
A guidevane, or diffuser, is generally press fit mounted to the interior of the casing and generally divides the casing among a rearward impeller section comprising the area from the base mounting plate to the guidevane and a forward outlet section comprising the area from the guidevane to the outlet. The guidevane generally comprises a dished circular plate with tangentially streamlined flow directors comprising openings along its perimeter. The flow directors are arranged to extend over the periphery of the impeller and direct fluid passing through the vanes of the rotating impeller, into the forward outlet section of the casing, in a stream circulating around the rounded interior of the wall of the casing. The design and placement of the guidevane is critical to achieving and maintaining a particular flow design of the circulating pump and constitutes an operational seal among the differential pressures between the impeller section and the outlet section.
The guidevane has an impeller opening to enable it to be mounted over an inlet conduit. The inlet conduit provides influent to the central opening of the impeller and generally comprises a conduit means extending from an opening in the casing of the pump to the cylindrical shoulder/nose of the impeller arranged about the impeller's central opening. Fluids in the inlet conduit are generally under a negative pressure in that the impeller sucks fluid therein. The impeller opening of the guidevane is critically sized to enable rotation of the shoulder of the forward plate of the impeller without engaging the edge of the impeller opening of the guidevane, but to a close tolerance to maintain an operational seal between the impeller section and the outlet section and may even include an operational seal among the inlet conduit, the outlet section and/or the impeller section.
Pumps of the above arrangement have manufacturing and assembly advantages in that the components can be conveniently produced from stamped thin metals and easily assembled with minimum skill. However, such arrangement has been found to have inherent failure problem. As the guidevane is stationary and the impeller rotating, the operational seal between the components typically involves maintaining a critical close tolerance impeller opening which enables impeller rotation without significant flow of fluids through the impeller opening between the guidevane and the shoulder of the impeller. Typical low cost metal stamping processes make it difficult to maintain close tolerances. Since the efficiency of the pump generally requires the maintenance of differential pressures at the operational seal, factors which may contribute to degradation of the operational seal may effect efficiency and pump life, involving costly down time and repair costs.
Fluids pumped in such arrangements characteristically are subject to significant lamellar flow sheering forces along the shoulder of the impeller forward plate particularly at about the critical operational seals and thus, can exacerbate degradation of operational seals. In utilities wherein particulate containing materials and/or fluid mixtures are being pumped, the lamellar sheering forces can degrade the material comprising the impeller and/or the edge of the impeller opening of the guidevane, beyond the design limits of the operational seal.
Various means have been tried to prevent the failure of operational seals. One means is to mount a metal or the like "O" ring seal on the collar of the impeller and maintain a critical tolerance among it and the guidevane impeller opening. However, such seals tend to be loose or loosen from the collar during operation of the pump and upon loosening have been known to cut through the collar and create further repair problems. In addition, the thin metals used in popular guidevanes can flex and otherwise distort during operation so that critical tolerances can be elusive. No satisfactory method of resolving the problem appears to have been found.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved seal among the critical tolerance at the guidevane impeller opening and the impeller shoulder.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved circular pump having longer wear characteristics.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following.


The present invention provides drilling assembles and methods that are especially useful for a bottom hole drilling assembly for drilling/reaming/or other operations related to drilling a borehole through an earth formation. In one embodiment, the drilling assembly utilizes standard drill collars which are modified to accept force transfer sections. In another embodiment, the drilling assembly comprises a tension inducing sub which creates a force that may be used to place the bottom hole assembly or portions thereof in tension. In another embodiment, a reaming assembly is held in tension to provide a stiffer reaming assembly.

Due to their size and construction, prior art heavy weight drill collars are unbalanced to some degree and tend to introduce variations. Moreover, even if they were perfectly balanced, the heavy weight drill collars have a buckling point and tend to bend up to this point during the drilling process. The result of imbalanced heavy weight collars and the bending of the overall downhole assembly produces a flywheel effect with an imbalance therein that may easily cause the drill bit to whirl, vibrate, and/or lose contact with the wellbore face in the desired drilling direction. The oil and gas drilling industry has long sought and continues to seek solutions to the above problems.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Tension/collar/reamer assemblies and methods


A clamping mechanism for releaseably securing the end of a rope to a winch drum. The winch drum includes first and second walls that are spaced apart in facing relation to each other to define therebetween a rope end receiving space having open front and rear ends. One of the walls in the space is contactable by the rope end that is to be secured to said winch drum. A clamping wedge member has an axis, a drum side contactable with the other of the winch drum walls, a rope side contactable with the rope end, and a drive end to which a first axial force can be applied. Application of the first axial force moves the wedge member axially into the space and causes a first lateral clamping force be applied, initially clamping the rope end against the one wall. A transverse thrust device is mounted on the drum for applying a transverse force against the drum side of the wedge member transversely of the wedge axis to cause a second lateral clamping force to be exerted against the rope end.

The present invention relates to a clamping mechanism for securing an end of a rope to a winch drum.
Winches typically have a power driven, rotatable winch drum to which one end of a rope, usually fabricated out of wire, is secured. The other or free end of the wire rope is secured to the load that is to be moved or lifted. Such winches are frequently used to move extremely heavy loads which may exceed 70 tons and it is very difficult to securely attach the rope end to the winch drum in a manner that will prevent its slipping free when subjected to high tension forces caused by such heavy loads.
The winch drum is normally provided with an open ended compartment having spaced apart sidewalls and open front and rear ends. One end of the wire rope is inserted through the open front end of the compartment to lie in contact along one of the walls. A wedge member is then placed between the rope and the other wall of the compartment. The next step is to initially "set" the wedge to clamp the wire rope between the wedge and drum sidewall with enough lateral force to increase the friction between the wedge and the rope to a magnitude such that tension on the wire rope will tend to pull the wedge further into the compartment and create a wedging action against the wire rope end that will prevent its slipping free under full load. If the wedge is not properly set the rope end will slip free, allowing the load to fall or otherwise move freely with potential damage. The wedge is "set" by placing a driver, such as a punch, into the rear end of the compartment against the wide end of the wedge and then driving it further into the compartment with a series of powerful hammer blows to the punch. This clamps the wire rope end between the wedge and drum wall.
In theory, setting the wedge is a simple act. In actual practice setting the wedge can be difficult and time consuming. Four independent components, (rope end, wedge, driver and hammer) have to be simultaneously handled. The rope end and wedge must be inserted into the compartment, accurately aligned axially of each other in the compartment and then held in such alignment while the driver is placed against the wide end of the wedge. With these three components held in loose alignment with one hand the installer must then swing the hammer with accurate and powerful blows to drive the wedge into its initial set position.
The initial setting of the wedge is made more difficult when the winch is located in a small restricted compartment. For example, in a tank retrieval vehicle (used to "tow" military tanks), the winch is in a restricted compartment which is enclosed, thus placing the winch in almost total darkness even during daylight conditions. Not only is it difficult to see the wedge, the space available for the winch is such that it is also difficult to find room to swing the hammer. Under battle conditions time is of the essence, and with known designs reattaching the end of a broken rope can take too long, with undue risk that the rope attachment will fail under full load.
If the wire rope breaks, removal of the wedge to release the wire rope end is also difficult. A punch must be inserted through the open front end of the compartment and hit with a hammer to unseat the wedge.

Clamping mechanism for securing a rope to a winch drum


A device utilizes micropower, impulse radar and time domain reflectometry to determine the dielectric constant of a fluid. An electrically conductive probe preferably in the form of a transmission line, is inserted at least partially into the fluid. The device includes a signal generator that generates an impulse signal that is propagated along the probe. The time that it takes for the signal to reach the end of the probe is determined. The time of travel of the signal along the probe is then used to determine the dielectric constant of the fluid.

This invention generally relates to a method and device for determining the dielectric constant of a fluid using the time it takes a signal to travel along a probe that is inserted at least partially into the fluid.
There are a variety of situations where determining the dielectric constant of a fluid is necessary or would be useful. For example, diesel engines can develop cracks or leaks in cylinder liners, head gaskets and other components because of the heavy-duty work performed using diesel powered vehicles. Any one of these problems may present the potential for water to contaminate the oil in the engine. It is important to quickly detect the presence of water within oil because that presents potential engine failure or damage problems. Therefore, it would be useful to determine the dielectric constant of the oil on a routine basis so that the presence of water could be easily determined. Other uses for determining dielectric constants include determining mixtures of fuels and other liquids where the exact content of the liquid may vary. Another example would be to determine the quality of engine oil to facilitate changing the oil at an optimal time.
A number of proposals have been made for determining the dielectric constant of a fluid. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,422 describes a method that measures a dielectric constant based upon an amplitude of a reflected signal that reflects from an interface between different media such as air and fluid. The amplitude of the reflected signal provides impedance information that then is utilized to calculate the dielectric constant.
Although such a solution may be workable, it is not without shortcomings and drawbacks. A system that utilizes the amplitude of such a reflected signal requires using a variety of components including a peak detector with reset circuitry, a precision reference, and an analog-to-digital converter. Obviously, incorporating these various components can become cumbersome and overly expensive for some applications. Moreover, a system that relies on the amplitude of such a reflected signal is not as accurate as required for many applications because the measurements and the associated components needed to take those measurements are sensitive to temperature and other drift phenomena. In the diesel engine example described above temperatures can become very high. A further problem becomes evident in trying to compensate for signal drift in such systems.
This invention addresses the need for providing a method and device suitable for measuring a dielectric constant of a fluid in a variety of applications. This invention is especially useful and advantageous in situations where the level of a liquid also is determined.

Time-based method and device for determining the dielectric constant of a fluid


A lighting fixture for improving the luminance of a lamp tube includes a curved reflecting plate and a lampshade. The lampshade has partition plates with arc surfaces, side plates with inclined planes and end plates with curved surfaces. The lamp tube is disposed at a longitudinal axis of the curved reflecting plate. The reflecting plate reflects the light emitted from the lamp tube and the light reflected from the partition plates to the environment. The side plates are inclined with a certain angle for guiding light, and the end plates with curved surfaces are used to enhance the reflecting light. Thus, light output efficiency is improved and glare is reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lighting fixture for improving the luminance of a lamp tube, especially to a lighting fixture that reflects light off a curved reflecting plate and a lampshade for enhancing light output efficiency and reducing glare.
2. The Prior Art
Recently, lighting fixtures have been developed to decrease energy loss and environmental pollution. The studies for lighting technology have been developed toward energy saving, low pollution, and intelligent lighting. Forms and efficiency of illumination are decided by lighting fixtures. Therefore, lighting fixtures with high efficiency, low glare and low light pollution have become popular. For instance, Taiwan Utility Patent Nos. M326615 and M330418 both provide lighting fixtures with reflecting sheets, so as to improve luminance and enhance light output efficiency.
Referring to FIG. 1, Taiwan Utility Patent No. M326615 discloses a device 1 for improving luminance of a fluorescent lamp, which includes a reflecting sheet 10, a housing 12 and two retaining clamps 20. The reflecting sheet 10 is disposed under and protected by the housing 12. A lamp tube (not shown in figure) is disposed below the reflecting sheet 10 and is clasped at two ends by the retaining clamps 20. The concave surface of the reflecting sheet 10 can reflect the rays of light emitted from the lamp tube so that the luminance of the fluorescent lamp is thus enhanced.
However, the device 1 mentioned above has only one reflecting sheet 10 with concave surface, and it is incapable of fully reflect the rays of light. Thus, the device 1 only increases limited luminance, and is unable to reduce glare.
Referring to FIG. 2, Taiwan Utility Patent No. M330418 discloses a reflector unit 2 of a lighting fixture, which includes a carrier plate 30 and a housing 40. There are two lamp holders 32 at two ends of the carrier plate 30 for fixing lamp tubes 50, respectively. The housing 40 has two inclined reflecting surfaces 42 for reflecting the rays of light emitted from the lamp tubes 50. Therefore, illumination may be improved, and it allows a lamp tube with lower wattage to illuminate just like a lamp tube with higher wattage.
However, the reflector unit 2 having two reflecting surfaces 42 can not fully reflect the rays of light. Moreover, it disperses the rays of light. Thus, increased luminance is limited and glare is unable to be reduced.


A lighting system and method for broadcasting colored lights as emergency warning signals from a light source. A centralized continuous light source is coupled via a fiber optic transmission medium to an external display location such as a lens or the like located on a vehicle. The color and the relative intensity of each color is periodically modulated to alternate between at least two states such that the contrast between these alternating states is perceived by observers to be a flashing source of light with no off-time. The frequency and the duty cycle of the repetition rate of alternating between the states may be further controlled to better draw attention to the light source.

Presently, emergency vehicles, including ambulances, police vehicles, and emergency fire apparatus vehicles, output visible warning signals through the use of a beacon or a light bar mounted thereon, or via flashing strobe lights built into the body of the vehicle. A beacon ordinarily houses a continuous light source radiated by a rotating reflector, while a light bar typically contains a number of flashing (strobing) light sources or light sources radiated by rotating mirrors. A flashing strobe light built into the body of the vehicle is typically covered by a plastic lens or the like to increase its visibility and to achieve a specific color.
To ensure effectiveness, these lighting systems are required to meet certain performance specifications, such as those proposed by the Ambulance Manufacturers Division of the National Truck Equipment Association, AMD Standard 016. Another ambulance specification, General Services Administration Specification KKK-A-1822C, requires a minimum number of lights disposed at specific display locations on the vehicle and arranged to radiate the light in a certain manner.
With a beacon, a motorized driving mechanism rotates a parabolic reflector in order to alternately block and focus the light radiated to a given location so that the light appears to observers to be intermittent rather than continuous. The driving mechanism includes a relatively large motor, making such beacon systems rather inefficient. Beacons are also limited to flashing one color based on the color of the transparent housing surrounding the bulb and reflector.
With strobing bulbs, the desired intermittent light patterns are accomplished by repeatedly flashing one or more of the bulbs on and off. For example, in a light bar some of the lights are color-filtered so that observers can better differentiate between these emergency lights and the white and red lights of ordinary vehicles, and so that observers can distinguish among the different types of emergency vehicles. However, in order to display a variety of colors, a number of bulbs must be provided at different display locations in the light bar, each bulb radiating through its own colored glass or the like. Moreover, in addition to emergency lights, other lights may be added to an emergency vehicle. For example, an ambulance is typically outfitted with scene lights, also known as load lights, to continuously illuminate the area around the vehicle when parked to facilitate the loading of a person.
Although functional, light bars, strobe lights and rotating beacons have a number of additional drawbacks associated therewith. One drawback common to all three types of lights is that the bulbs often fail as a result of road-induced failures of the filaments therein due to shock and vibration. The high failure rate necessitates the frequent performance of time-consuming testing and maintenance procedures. The operating life of these conventional filament-based bulbs is typically on the order of 300 hours.
Consideration must also be given to the design and adaptation of vehicles for the subsequent installation of emergency lights. Significant mounting hardware and wiring is required to add light bars or beacons to a vehicle, or to build strobe lights into a vehicle, particularly when converting an otherwise standard vehicle to an emergency vehicle. Moreover, the mounting of either a beacon or a light bar onto the vehicle can result in a reduction in the vehicle's aerodynamics.
Another drawback that results from the mounting of light bars or beacons onto emergency vehicles is that the vehicles necessarily become more conspicuous, even at times when no emergency is present and the lights are not activated. This is undesirable in certain situations. By way of example, police officers often desire to have their police cars remain inconspicuous, such as when situating themselves to observe potential traffic offenders.
Finally, ambulances need to have a very stable, high-capacity power source so that the sensitive medical equipment present therein operates properly. However, flashing intermittent lights produce large, uneven power demands and can generate unpredictable electronic noise. Accordingly, ambulances having conventional flashing lights must be provided with a well-regulated, uninterruptible power source and adequate shielding, such as by adding electronic filtering and/or a completely separate power system. This increases the complexity and cost of the vehicle.

System and method for broadcasting colored light for emergency signalling


An automatic injection syringe assembly having an integrated and fillable medicine container that includes a medicine container within a housing and a conduit assembly. The medicine container includes a piston having an aperture at a distal end thereof for the passage of fluid therethrough. The conduit assembly includes a conduit member that is releasably connected to the housing and has an open proximal end and an open distal end. The open distal end of the conduit member is releasably engaged with the piston and in fluid communication with the piston aperture. The open proximal end and the open distal end of the conduit member are m fluid communication via a conduit within the conduit member.

The present invention relates to an automatic injection syringe assembly having an integrated and fillable medicine container, such as a medicine cartridge.
The utility of automatic injection syringes collectively referred to as "autoinjectors" is to facilitate the onboard storage of a fluid medicament within a mechanism that provides an easy-to-use and automatic administration of an injectable drug solution or suspension. Often, such autoinjectors are provided with the drug pre-loaded into a syringe element or canister that has been prepared under sterile conditions at a factory. In other applications, the user prepares the drug solution and autoinjector just prior to administration of the injection. The former option depends on the pharmaceutical manufacturer to undertake a time consuming and expensive process to gain regulatory approval for the drug/autoinjector combination before that product can be marketed. Examples of such devices are the EpiPen® manufactured by Meridian Medical Technologies, Inc., Humira® manufactured by Owen Mumford Ltd. exclusively for Abbott Laboratories, Inc. and the SureClick® system marketed by Scandinavian Health Limited.
In most circumstances, a user has no options for dose adjustment, given that the product is sold as a "standardized unit dose" i.e., the dose is established at the factory. Thus, the "pre-filled" option does not afford any flexibility to the user. Moreover, only a limited number of therapeutic applications pass the financial hurdles that would justify a pharmaceutical manufacturer's decision to undertake a combination product program for a pre-loaded autoinjector. Such products offer the advantages of ease-of-use, as there is minimal preparation involved. Most products of such sort are single-use disposable items, a valuable convenience and safety afforded to an injecting patient.
Accordingly, there is still a need for an autoinjector having an easy to use and fillable medicine container that allows a user to easily fill the medicine container and adjust the dosage of the autoinjector in a cost effective, safe and economical manner. The present embodiments of the invention meet this need.

Automatic injection syringe assembly with integrated, fillable medicine container and method of filling an injection syringe assembly


A dust removal apparatus of a photographing apparatus comprises a movable unit and a controller. The movable unit has an imaging device and is movable. The controller moves the movable unit on a plane that is parallel to a first direction and a second direction. The first direction is perpendicular to an optical axis of a photographing optical system that captures an optical image on a photographing surface of the imaging device. The second direction is perpendicular to the first direction and the optical axis. The controller moves the movable unit to a predetermined position that does not make contact with a boundary of a range of movement of the movable unit, and strikes the movable unit against the boundary of the range of movement in the second direction under the condition where a coordinate value in the first direction of the movable unit is held constant, as a dust removal operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dust removal apparatus of a photographing apparatus, and in particular to restrain damage to the mechanism caused by the dust removal operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
A dust removal apparatus of a photographing apparatus that removes the dust on the imaging device and the cover such as the low-pass filter, is proposed.
Japanese unexamined patent publication (KOKAI) No. 2005-340988 discloses a dust removal apparatus that strikes the movable unit including the imaging device against the boundary of the range of movement of the movable unit so that the shock of impact will remove the dust on the imaging device and the cover etc.
However, the mechanism that includes the movable unit may sustain damage caused by the shock of impact.

Dust removal apparatus of photographing apparatus


There is herein described an LED lamp suitable for replacing conventional fluorescent lamps. The LED lamp has a tubular body and a flexible circuit board as compared to the rigid circuit boards used in other similar lamps. The flexible circuit board has a plurality of LEDs, electric circuitry for powering the LEDs, and a curvature that is maintained by a retention means. The curvature of the flexible circuit board substantially corresponds to the curvature of the tubular body which places the LEDs further away from the front surface of the lamp thereby allowing for improved diffusion and light distribution.

Standard linear fluorescent lamps are one of the most common lamp forms used to generate light. Given the large number of fluorescent fixtures installed in commercial, institutional, and industrial establishments, it is desirable to replace fluorescent lamps with other high efficiency, mercury-free lighting solutions having the same form factor so that replacement of the existing fixtures is not necessary. This has led to the development of solid-state replacement lamps which include linear arrays of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on circuit boards disposed within hollow tubes. These new solid-state lamps require different construction methods than conventional fluorescent lamps and in particular novel techniques are required for mounting the circuit boards within the tubular lamp bodies.

Tubular LED lamp with flexible circuit board


According to certain embodiments, a method by a wireless device is provided for mapping of application data packets onto bearers. The method includes associating at least one tag value with a bearer upon establishment of the bearer. A tag is attached to a packet when passing the packet to a lower layer. The packet is mapped onto the bearer, and a path to transmit the packet is selected.

The interest in vehicular communications, also known as Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), has by industry and government agencies increased significantly over the years. Communication between neighboring cars may improve safety, driving efficiency, and user experience. In addition, the concept of 'connected car' provides connectivity from the vehicle to a network cloud and makes use of V2X services which are provided in the network. There are many research projects and field tests of connected vehicles in various countries or regions, including projects that are based on the use of existing cellular infrastructure.
The collective term Vehicle-to-Anything (V2X) is often used for vehicular communications services. From an application point of view, V2X may include any of the types of communication/services depicted in FIG. 1. As depicted, FIG. 1 illustrates vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), and vehicle-to-network communication/services.
V2V covers communication between vehicles using V2V applications and is predominantly broadcast-based. V2V may be realized by either direct communication between the devices in the respective vehicles, or via infrastructure such as a cellular network. An example of V2V is the transmission of a cooperative awareness message (CAM) with vehicle status information (such as position, direction and speed) transmitted to other vehicles in the proximity repeatedly (every 100 ms-1 s). Another example is the transmission of a decentralized environmental notification message (DENM), which is an event-triggered message to alert vehicles. These two examples are taken from the ETSI Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) specification of V2X applications, which also specifies the conditions under which the messages are generated. A central characteristic of V2V applications is the tight requirements on latency that can vary from 20 ms (for pre-crash warning messages) to 100 ms for other road safety services.
V2I comprises communication between vehicles and a Roadside Unit (RSU). The RSU is a stationary transportation infrastructure entity which communicates with vehicles in its proximity. An example of V2I is transmission of speed notifications from the RSU to vehicles, as well as queue information, collision risk alerts, and curve speed warnings. Due to the safety related nature of V2I, delay requirements are similar to V2V requirements.
V2P covers communication between vehicles and vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, using V2P applications. V2P typically takes place between distinct vehicles and pedestrians either directly or via infrastructure such as cellular network.
V2N covers communication between a vehicle and a centralized application server (or an ITS Traffic Management Center). Specifically, the communication is between a V2N application in the vehicle and a V2N application in the centralized application server. The V2N communication uses infrastructure-based communication, such as a cellular network. One example is a bad road condition warning sent to all vehicles in a wide area, or traffic flow optimization in which a V2N application suggests speeds to vehicles and coordinates traffic lights. Therefore, V2N messages are supposed to be controlled by a centralized entity (i.e. the Traffic Management Center) and provisioned to vehicles in a large geographical area, rather than in a small area. Additionally, unlike V2V/V2I, latency requirements are more relaxed in V2N because it is not meant to be used for non-safety purposes, e.g. 1 s latency requirement is typically considered.
The development of V2X standards, including the application layer, have so far been based on IEEE 802.11p dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) as in the ETSI Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS G5) and IEEE WAVE (Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments) families of specifications. FIG. 2 illustrates example protocol stacks for ETSI ITS and IEEE WAVE. Depending on the application layer protocol, either IP-based or non-IP-based transmission is used. For example, for V2V and V2I, non-IP based broadcast transmission may be typically used. As another example, for V2N, IP-based communication may be used.
The DSRC-based V2X communication inherently provides short range coverage (such as 250-500 m). In order to provide a wide area coverage, V2X communication is dependent on the deployment of Road-Side Units (RSUs), which may be used as a relay. Moreover, by connecting the DSRC-based RSU to a Traffic Management Center, it is also possible to use V2N applications over DSRC. FIG. 3 illustrates DSRC-based V2X communication using Road-Side Units (RSUs).
Besides providing pure relaying functionality, the RSU is also typically involved in Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communication. Some of the use cases where the RSU is involved may include, for example, V2I Emergency Stop, Queue Warning, Automated Parking System, and V2X road safety service via infrastructure.
A concept of geographical networking ("GeoNetworking") is specified, in ETSI TS 102 636-4-1. Specifically, it is described how a wireless device may transmit a "GeoBroadcast" packet, including V2X application data, with a geographical area ("GeoArea") as the destination of that packet. This GeoArea is part of the Geonetworking header.
A device which receives such a GeoBroadcast packet uses the included GeoArea to decide whether it is the intended receiver of that packet and whether to route the packet further. For example, if the receiving device is located within the GeoArea, the device may identify itself as an intended recipient and route the packet further using relaying.
Because of the range limitations of DSRC and to avoid deploying a new separate technology and/or wireless infrastructure only for V2X, reuse of the cellular network for V2X communication is desired. However, the cellular network infrastructure cannot alone support all types of vehicular application for V2V communication. In particular, the cellular network infrastructure cannot support rapid exchanges of information between a large numbers of cars in proximity. Thus, a direct wireless communication may still be needed as a complement.
Recently, 3GPP agreed to investigate the use of the Evolved Packet System (EPS), including LTE as a wireless technology for V2X services. It was intended that Rel-14 would include the support for V2X, as described in 3GPP TR 22.885 V14.0.0 (2015 December), Study on LTE support for Vehicle to Everything (V2X) services. Proximity-based Services (ProSe) (also known as, Device-to-Device communications (D2D)) introduced in 3GPP Rel-12 already provides the basic functionality to support direct communication for V2X services over the so called sidelink (also known as the PC5 interface). For example, a direct link between wireless devices has been introduced in 3GPP Rel.12. Furthermore, LTE-based broadcast services, such as eMBMS, could provide additional functionalities for V2X services.
FIG. 4 illustrates an example of how LTE can be used for V2X communication. Specifically, FIG. 4 depicts using a combination of sidelink (aka D2D/PC5) and uplink/downlink over Uu. A vehicle in the V2X context may include a (vehicle) UE, which in turn provides a Uu interface as well as a PC5 interface which corresponds to the sidelink interface. Moreover, both UE-based RSUs (providing PC5 connectivity with vehicle UEs) as well as eNB-based RSUs (providing only Uu connectivity with vehicle UEs) have been discussed as two alternative realizations of the RSU.
Machine type communication (MTC) represents a significant growth opportunity for the 3GPP ecosystem. To support the so called 'Internet of Things' (IoT), 3GPP operators have to address usage scenarios with devices that are power efficient (with battery life of several years), can be reached in challenging coverage conditions such as, for example, indoors and in basements, and are cheap enough to be deployed on a mass scale while preferably being disposable.
In order to optimize the support of 'Internet of Things' in 3GPP cellular networks and to compete with non-3GPP technologies in the lower data rate and low complexity end of the MTC market, architecture changes and solutions are needed. For example, security solutions, simplification for signaling, and mobility have been introduced in the Rel-13 for a 3GPP cellular system of ultra-low complexity and low throughput. "Internet of Things" devices that may also be constrained with respect to, for example, processing power, memory, battery capacity, and other constraints are also needed.
It is not uncommon to find applications in the machine-to-machine world which utilize non-IP data. For example, 6LowPAN, MQTT-SN, and other applications utilize non-IP data and do not use the Internet Protocol (IP) network layer. When such applications are deployed in the mobile domain (over CIoT), the non-IP data needs to be transferred between Application/Service Capability servers and CIoT devices. Until recently, the Evolved Packet System (EPS), based on LTE radio technology, only supported IP-based applications.
A solution has been introduced in 3GPP Rel-13 using so called 'non-IP PDN connection' that enables data transfer of applications that do not make use of IP. FIG. 5A illustrates support for non-IP data over EPS. FIG. 5B illustrates non-IP data paths through EPS.
FIG. 6 depicts a solution supporting transfer of non-IP data over the MME. Specifically, FIG. 6 depicts transfer of non-IP data over the Control Plane (CP) over the T6a interface towards the Service Capability Exposure Function (SCEF) and Application Server, as discussed in 3GPP TS 23.401v13.6.0.
Alternatively, the non-IP data path can be mapped on the User Plane (UP), the S1-U, S5/8 and SGi. Further details can be found in 3GPP S2-161259 and in 3GPP TS 23.401v13.6.0.
A Service Data Flow (SDF), as defined in 3GPP TS 23.203, is an aggregate of packet flows that matches a service data flow template. Each Service Data Flow is associated with a QoS treatment. Moreover, in the EPC/E-UTRAN, an EPS bearer is the level of granularity for bearer level QoS control. Specifically, all traffic mapped to the same EPS bearer receives the same bearer level packet forwarding treatment. For example, all traffic mapped to the same EPS bearer uses the same scheduling policy, queue management policy, rate shaping policy, RLC configuration, and other EPS-bearer-specific treatments. Providing different bearer level packet forwarding treatment requires separate EPS bearers. This means that, for example in case of EPC/E-UTRAN, an EPS bearer can be used to realize the QoS treatment of a Service Data Flow. Where multiple QoS levels are provided, each QoS level may be associated with a SDF.
An EPS bearer is established when the UE connects to a Packet Data Network (PDN). The EPS bearer remains established throughout the lifetime of the PDN connection to provide the UE with always-on IP connectivity to that PDN. The established EPS bearer is referred to as the default bearer. Any additional EPS bearer that is established for the same PDN connection is referred to as a dedicated bearer.
As also depicted in FIG. 6, the actual data packets transmitted over an EPS bearer use the Radio Bearer, which may also be known as the Data Radio Bearer (DRB), when sent over the LTE Uu radio interface between the UE and the eNB. The data packets use the S1 bearer when sent over the S1 interface between the eNB and the S-GW (Serving Gateway), and the data packets use the S5/S8 bearer when sent over the interface between the S-GW and the PDN Gateway (P-GW).
The EPS bearer traffic flow template (TFT) is the set of all packet filters associated with that EPS bearer. An UpLink Traffic Flow Template (UL TFT) is the set of uplink packet filters in a TFT. A DownLink Traffic Flow Template (DL TFT) is the set of downlink packet filters in a TFT. Every dedicated EPS bearer is associated with a TFT. A TFT may be also assigned to the default EPS bearer. The UE uses the UL TFT for mapping traffic, that is, packets constituting a Service Data Flow, to an EPS bearer in the uplink direction. The PCEF (for GTP-based S5/S8) or the BBERF (for PMIP-based S5/S8) uses the DL TFT for mapping traffic, that is, packets constituting a Service Data Flow, to an EPS bearer in the downlink direction.
The set of packet filters associated with a given TFT defines which data packets, constituting a Service Data Flow are mapped onto a given bearer. Each packet filter identifies the packets belonging to a certain Service Data Flow, also known as a packet flow aggregate. The packet filter information is typically a 5-tuple, defining the source and destination IP addresses, source and destination port, and a protocol identifier identifying, for example, UDP or TCP as part of the packet itself. The packet filter information may also include other parameters. However, the current EPS QoS concept only supports QoS differentiation and enforcement for IP-based data and only over the Uu interface.
The QoS differentiation for LTE D2D communication is known as ProSe Per-Packet-Priority (PPPP), as specified in 3GPP TS 23.303 section 5.4.6 (and 3GPP TS 36.321 section 22.214.171.124.1 (MAC specification). The PPPP value is selected by the application layer. The PPPP is associated with the individual application protocol data unit (PDU) down to the underlying 3GPP layer in the UE. This PPPP value indicates the priority of the packet and is used by the transmitting UE for differentiation of packets on the sidelink radio channel. For example, in order to provide a certain level differentiation, also known in this context as a certain priority, to all the originating packets constituting a given Service Data Flow, the application typically would associate all the packets constituting this Service Data Flow with the same PPPP value. The PPPP can have 8 different values and a lower value means higher priority.
For Rel-12-13 LTE D2D communication over the sidelink, there are two communication modes. In the first mode, known as "Mode-1" or "eNB-scheduled mode", the UE needs to have sidelink grants issued by the eNB before transmitting data. Specifically, when a UE has data to transmit over the sidelink, the UE sends a Sidelink Buffer Status Report (BSR) MAC control element to the eNB over the Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol. This Sidelink BSR, which is similar to the BSR used for uplink Uu communication, indicates the amount of data in the transmit buffers of the UE for each logical channel group and destination. Where the eNB decides that the UE is allowed to transmit data, the eNB issues a scheduling grant to the UE over the PDCCH physical channel. The scheduling grant is valid during a given period of time but does not indicate on which logical channel or bearer on the sidelink that the UE may transmit. Thus, the UE may transmit low priority data even if the sidelink BSR actually was triggered by high priority data. As such, there is no enforcement of the QoS differentiation by an eNB or other network node.
In the second mode, known as mode-2 or UE autonomous mode, the UE is configured with a resource pool to be used for transmission. This resource pool is provided by the eNB, using System Information broadcast when in network coverage. The resource pool may also be provided as preconfigured information stored in the UE to be used when outside of network coverage. When transmitting data on the sidelink in this mode, the UE selects a resource within the pool and issues a Scheduling Assignment (SA) physical layer message to inform other UEs within proximity that the UE has data to transmit and on which resources in the pool the data will be sent. No priority information is included in the SA. Thus, no QoS differentiation is possible in the same resource pool.
The current solution in EPC/E-UTRAN, to carry non-IP traffic, such as a Service Data Flow, which includes non-IP based packet flow(s), over Uu is limited to support one default non-IP bearer for each UE. This implies that no QoS differentiation is possible for non-IP EPS bearers, and as a result not possible for a Service Data Flow which includes non-IP based packet flow(s).
The present method for mapping data onto an EPS bearer only supports data based on the Internet Protocol (IP). Specifically, in order to use the packet filters to identify data as belonging to a given EPS bearer, the data must be encapsulated in an IP packet. The IP header is examined by the packet filter function. Data which is not sent in IP packets cannot use the TFT packets filters. Thus, in order to support QoS differentiation between several non-IP bearers (default or dedicated), the current packet filtering of the TFT cannot be used for mapping of the non-IP data.
A similar problem also exists for the PC5, which may also known as the sidelink, used for D2D communication in LTE. PC5 does not support non-IP data. Moreover, on PC5, the method known as PPPP, has been specified for QoS differentiation. However, how the transmitting UE actually prioritizes packets based on the PPPP value is largely left to UE implementation. Because it is up to the UE to implement, there is no enforcement of the priority value. Additionally, there is no difference in charging depending on which priority a UE is using. For example, the network node cannot prevent a cheating UE which marks all the packets with the PPPP value meaning the highest possible priority (and probably not following the intention of the specification).
As described above, the sidelink communication procedure for mode-1 does not include enforcement of the QoS by a network node. The sidelink communication procedure for mode-2 is not able to differentiate between QoS levels of communication taking place within the same resource pool.
There are two ways to perform wireless V2X communication. Specifically, the V2X communication may be performed via a network infrastructure, such as an LTE cellular network. Alternatively wireless V2X communication may be performed by direct communication between the vehicles such as using LTE D2D or DSRC. Both ways to communicate have pros and cons for a given application, such as for example V2V or V2I, and environment. For V2V applications, using LTE D2D or DSRC may be seen as a natural choice. However, not all vehicles meant to be reached by a V2V message may be in direct communication range or even have the capability of receiving LTE D2D or DSRC. Additionally, the direct link may be affected by higher interference than the ordinary cellular link and be subject to the well-known near-far and hidden node problem, which is not desired for road safety applications. On the other hand, using the cellular network may cause unnecessary delays and might require some degree of network coordination if the communication range of certain V2X message should span multiple cells

Method and apparatus for attaching a tag to a packet for transmission


The present invention relates to aminoclay, for harvesting algae, which is prepared by fixing aminosilane around cationic metal ions through a sol-gel reaction. Also, the present invention relates to a method for harvesting algae using the aminoclay according to any one selected from the above methods.

Chlorophyceae (hereinafter, referred to as 'green algae') includeprocaryota (that is, blue-green algae) and eucaryota (that is, most of green algae), and have in general a photosynthetic pigment and are autotrophic like as plants. In other words, it is known that green algae generate oil and efficient ingredients by photosynthesis using light and carbon dioxide. Blue-green and green algae may occur a blooming to cause water contamination, however, are currently cultured in laboratories and fields for purposes of producing health substances such as EPA, DHA, etc., as well as useful carotinoid-based pigments present in cells of green algae. Furthermore, culturing green algae with a high lipid content may produce FAME (biodiesel) possibly used as a biofuel, thus coming into the spotlight.
In a process of manufacturing algal (green algal) biodiesel, in particular, in downstream processes (culture, harvest/drying, extraction, and conversion to biodiesel), one among significant parts to reduce costs is green algae harvest. In particular, great energy is intensively required to harvest small cells (1 to 10 μm) from an extremely diluted solution, which is a significant problem that has yet to be overcome. Accordingly, there is still no certain way for rapidly and effectively harvesting green algae.
At present, techniques reported in the art may include, for example, centrifugation, flocculation, filtration, floating, pH control (to pH 11), or electrolysis method. However, these are energy consuming techniques, and it is not easy to use equipments for increasing efficiency thereof. Even though electrolysis method has better advantages, compared to other methods, this is a technique based on leakage of Al3+ ions due to use of an electrode and application thereof, hence being cumbersome in use. Accordingly, development of appropriate techniques is still needed.
For flocculation method, use of existing cationic polymer or bioflocculant (bio-flocculation agent) produced by microorganisms has been reported. However, forms of water-soluble molecular ion and polymer have decreased efficiency. In order to effectively harvest the green algae, as a positive value of zeta-potential of a molecule is concerned, the bigger the better. Furthermore, if the flocculant has strong cationic properties at a pH level ranging from 7 to 10 similar to conditions for green algae culture, green algae may be effectively harvested through flocculation. The reason for this is because the surface of green algae exhibits anionic properties. Furthermore, when using a flocculant in a particle form rather than ionic status, it is possible to find an alternative way capable of more effectively applying the flocculant and recovering the same. If the flocculant can be mass-produced and does not have residual toxicity, medium nutrients may be used in re-culture of green algae, thus considerably reducing unit cost of a product.
Accordingly, in order to solve the above-described problems, there is a need for a novel inventive flocculant in a particle type to rapidly and effectively harvest (that is, flocculation/sedimentation) the green algae.

KOREA ADVANCED INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


Dielectric sheets 2 having internal electrodes 4 and 5 formed on the respective surfaces thereof, a dielectric sheet 2 having an outgoing electrode 6 formed on the surface thereof, and a dielectric sheet 2 having a shielded electrode 3 formed on the surface thereof are piled and integrally sintered to form a lamination. Grounding external electrodes are formed on first and second opposite sides of this lamination, respectively, and an input/output external electrode is formed on a third side thereof. An end portion 4a of the internal electrode 4 and an end portion 3a of the shielded electrode 3 are connected to the grounding external electrode on the first side. An end portion 5a of the internal electrode 5 and an end portion 3b of the shielded electrode 3 are connected to the grounding external electrode on the second opposite side. An end portion 6a of the outgoing electrode 6 is connected to the input/output external electrode on the third side. The end portion 6b of the outgoing electrode 6 is capacitance-coupled with the adjacent internal electrode 5.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resonator and a band pass filter using the same, and more particularly, to a laminated resonator and a laminated band pass filter using the same, used in a portable telephone set.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional resonator as shown in FIG. 16, includes a dielectric substrate 192 having a conductor 93 over the entire back thereof and a strip conductor 94 on the surface thereof. The resonator further comprises another dielectric substrate 192 having a conductor 93 over the entire surface thereof, bonded to the first-mentioned substrate 192 with the strip conductor 94 in between to achieve a laminated structure. Assuming that the length of this strip conductor 94 is L, the central wavelength of the resonator is .lambda., and the specific inductive capacitance of the dielectric substrate is .epsilon., then the following formula (1) applies: EQU L=(.lambda./4).times.(1/.epsilon.).sup.1/2 ( 1).
In the conventional resonator, however, it is difficult to downsize the resonator, because the strip conductor 94 is required to have a length L satisfying the relationship of the formula (1). Further, the strip conductor 94 and other resonator parts are typically configured to satisfy strict dimensional tolerances, thereby rendering the manufacture of the resonator difficult.
Another conventional band pass filter, as shown in FIG. 38, comprises a dielectric substrate 102 having conductor 103 over the entire back thereof, and two strip conductors 104 which are .lambda./4 resonators on the surface of the dielectric substrate. The two strip conductors 104 are configured to be separated by a distance (D) of about .lambda./4. The band pass filter further comprises another dielectric substrate 102 having a conductor 103 over the entire surface thereof, bonded to the first dielectric substrate 102 with the strip conductors 104 in between to achieve a laminated structure. Assuming that the length of the strip conductors 104 is L, the central wavelength is .lambda., and the specific inductive capacity of the dielectric substrate is .epsilon., then the foregoing formula (1) applies.
However, it is difficult to downsize conventional band pass filters, because the strip conductors are required to have a length L satisfying the relationship of the formula (1). Further, configuring the strip conductors 104 and other band pass filter parts in compliance with strict dimensional tolerances renders the manufacture of the band pass filter difficult.

Laminated resonator and laminated band pass filter using same


The present invention discloses a method of manufacturing a thin film resistor with a moisture barrier by depositing a metal film layer on a substrate and depositing a layer of tantalum pentoxide film overlaying the metal film layer. The present invention also includes a thin film resistor having a substrate; a metal film layer attached to the substrate; and a tantalum pentoxide layer overlaying the metal film layer, the tantalum pentoxide layer providing a barrier to moisture, the tantalum pentoxide layer not overlaid by an oxidation process.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for a thin film resistor having a tantalum pentoxide moisture barrier.
Current film resistors and the associated processes of making such resistors have had problems with the ability to create or use an effective moisture barrier. A moisture barrier is that layer that is deposited on the surface of the resistor in order to prevent moisture in the form of condensation or vapor from degrading the resistive film element. Screen-printed material has been used as a moisture barrier and this has been shown to reduce the failure rate of the resistor due to moisture. However, problems remain.
Tantalum pentoxide has been used in the semiconductor industry as an insulator and to improve recording performance of cobalt alloy media on glass-ceramic disks. Tantalum pentoxide has been used within the resistor industry to improve resistive elements integrated with spark plugs and to form a graze resistor. It is also associated with a tantalum nitride resistive system that prevents moisture failure. It is recognized that tantalum nitride resistors have a naturally occurring layer of tantalum pentoxide, the result of an oxidation process. Further, tantalum nitride resistors and tantalum nitride capacitors are known for their resistance to moisture.
Many thin film resistors, especially those of nickel-chromium alloys and other alloys containing nickel, chromium, and other metals are particularly susceptible to moisture conditions. These and other types of alloys have a failure mode of electrolytic corrosion that is capable of causing an electrical open under certain moisture conditions. In particular, under powered moisture conditions, electrolytic corrosion can occur and the resistor can fail. This makes the thin film resistor unsuitable for applications where moisture conditions may occur.
Thus, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for a moisture barrier for film resistors.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for a film resistor which is less susceptible to powered moisture testing.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for a moisture barrier capable of use with nickel-chromium, alloy thin film resistors.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for a moisture barrier for thin film resistors that does not require tantalum nitride.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for a moisture barrier for a thin film resistor replaces screen-printed moisture barriers.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for a moisture barrier for a thin film resistor that is compatible with normal manufacturing techniques and materials.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for a moisture barrier for a thin film resistor that can be used with nickel and chromium alloys.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for a moisture barrier for a thin film resistor that performs favorably under MIL-STD-202 method 103 testing.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for a moisture barrier for a thin film resistor that performs favorably under MIL-STD-202 method 106 testing.
Yet another object of the present invention is to a method and apparatus to reduce or eliminate failures of thin film resistors due to electrolytic corrosion under powered moisture conditions.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for a moisture barrier that may be deposited through sputtering.
These and other objects, features, or advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the specification and claims.

Method for tantalum pentoxide moisture barrier in film resistors


Systems and methods are disclosed for performing imaging with a crossed-electrode ultrasound transducer array, where ultrasound transducer array is configured for focusing in one direction via conventional time-delay phased array beamforming, and for focusing in a second direction via a Fresnel aperture formed via the application of bias voltages. The ultrasound transducer array connections are switched between transmit and receive operations, such that the Fresnel aperture is generated in the first direction upon transmit, and in the second direction upon receive. One or both of the transmit Fresnel aperture and the receive Fresnel aperture are configured as a set of delay-corrected Fresnel sub-apertures, where the delay associated with each Fresnel sub-aperture is selected to compensate for variations in path lengths between the Fresnel sub-apertures and the focal point. The use of multiple Fresnel sub-apertures and time delay corrections overcomes problems associated with steering-induced bandwidth degradation.

The present disclosure relates to ultrasound beamforming and ultrasound imaging. In some aspects, the present disclosure relates to volumetric ultrasound imaging.
Fresnel based beam focusing has been investigated for use as a steerable lens for 3D imaging arrays. Acoustic waves, like light, can be focused using a Fresnel lens or zone plate approach. Fresnel zone plates are capable of producing a tight focus, especially when using a large aperture. A conventional Fresnel zone plate is made up of rings or strips of alternating transmissive and opaque regions. The waves diffract around the opaque zones and, because of the specific spacing, constructively interfere around the focus. In a phase zone plate, both zones transmit the wave, however, there is a phase reversal for every other zone. This type of plate has the advantage of efficiency and has shown potential to be a good approach for passive ultrasound focusing.

Systems and methods of combined phased-array and Fresnel zone plate beamforming employing delay-corrected Fresnel sub-apertures


A molecule suitable for use as an indicator of free iron levels in a biological sample, the molecule including an iron binding moeity and a signal generating moeity, wherein an intensity of the signal generated by the signal generating moeity is related to an amount of the iron bound by the iron binding moeity.

The present invention relates to novel molecules, which can be used to measure non-transferrin-bound iron. Specifically, the molecules of the present invention can be used to diagnose disorders associated with abnormal levels of free iron, such as hereditary hemachromatosis.
The presence of non-transferrin-bound iron (NTBI) in the circulation is a pathological phenomenon, which occurs in patients with iron-overload conditions. NTBI is absent from healthy individuals where virtually all of the serum iron is bound to the iron-carrier protein, transferrin. However, in iron-overloaded individuals, the iron binding capacity of transferrin is overwhelmed, resulting in the adsorption of the excess iron to various proteins and possibly other molecules in the serum. This iron so adsorbed is collectively referred to as NTBI.
Generally, chronic iron-overload accompanied by NTBI occurs as a result of pathological conditions associated with specific diseases. Illustrative examples of such conditions include: 1) repeated transfusions, which are required by patients with various hemolytic diseases, hemoglobinopathics (among which the most common is thalassemia) or other forms of anemia whose treatment demands blood transfusions and/or iron infusion (e.g. dialysis patients) and 2) ant inherited defect causing excess iron absorption, called Hereditary Hemachromatosis. Transient, reversible NTBI can also appear in the circulation of patients undergoing chemotherapy, heart bypass operations and other conditions where large amounts of iron, such as from hemoglobin catabolism, are suddenly released into the circulation. NTBI was also found in patients receiving dialysis who are treated for anemia with erythropoietin and intravenous iron supplements.
Accurate assessment of NTBI concentration is critical for a number of therapeutic applications. Patients suffering from Iron-overload are often prescribed a regimen of Iron chelating agents, whose efficacy hinges on accurate NTBI quantification. Low-level NTBI detection is critical for accurate diagnosis of Iron-overload [Sham, et al., Asymptomatic hemochromatosis subjects: genotypic and phenotypic profiles. Blood (2000), Vol. 96: 3707–3711]. The availability of a rapid and inexpensive NTBI-test would additionally provide screening methods for populations at high-risk for from overload. Since a high frequency of genetic mutation causing Hereditary Hemachromatosis (1 in 8 are heterozygous) exists in Northern European and American populations, and a doubling of the frequency is observed in some African and African-American populations, such screening procedures would clearly impact a large segment of the population. Further, Hereditary Hemachromatosis is often initially misdiagnosed due to a lack of definitive symptoms in the first decades of life, with evidently normal transferrin-iron saturation levels.
To date, there is no single convenient and reliable method for detection of Iron-overload and for specific quantification of NTBI. Iron-overload is most often diagnosed by the estimation of total serum iron via chemical/physicochemical methods, determination of the percent transferrin-iron saturation, or serum iron-binding capacity, by measuring high-affinity binding of radioactive iron to serum components or by determining circulating ferritin levels by immunoassay. While these assays are effective in detecting severe Iron-overload, they often fail to detect low-moderate Iron overload, and additionally have been known to produce false positives.
Currently, a few methods exist for determining NTBI in biological samples. One method [Singh, S., Hider, R. C. and Porter, J. B. (1990) Anal. Biochem. 186, 320–323] utilizes HPLC isolation and incorporation of an iron chelator, deferriprone (or L1), which forms a colored complex that is stoichiometric when in contact with sample NTBI, thereby quantifying the amount of iron in the sample.
The three main drawbacks of this method are its cost, its cumbersome nature, which makes it difficult to set up in non-specialized laboratories, and its relatively low throughput efficiency.
A second method [Evans, P. J. and Halliwell, B. (1994) Methods Enzymol., 233, 82–89] employs the use of the antibiotic bleomycin, which combines with NTBI, but not with transferrin-bound iron, to form highly reactive complexes which generate DNA cleavage products. The relative amount of DNA cleavage product is proportional to the amount of input NTBI and is quantified by a thiobarbituric acid test. The method, however, tends to overestimate NTBI and may give false positive results, limiting effective clinical application.
World patent application No. 00/36422 submitted by the applicant, incorporated fully herein by reference, describe an alternative method for determining the concentration of a free metal ion, in particular non-transferrin bound iron (NTBI), in biological samples. The method consists of incubating a sample suspected of containing NTBI with a surface coated with a polymer-conjugated form of an Iron chelator, for example, a desferrioxamine (DFO) polymer, enabling sample Iron capture by the chelator. Following Iron capture, a labeled moiety containing bound Iron that can be captured by the Iron chelator is added and the concentration of NTBI in samples tested is obtained from the change in label signal obtained with the serum sample relative to control which is regarded as nominally NTBI-free.
The above NTBI detection assay provides an effective process, however the presence of several discrete steps within the assay result in a labor-intensive process, that may not be optimal for all potential clinical settings where the precision and simplicity of the assay are critical for efficient execution.
The use of fluorescent probes in detection systems for clinical applications is highly desirable. Fluorescent probe incorporation in clinical assays typically allows for simple, high-throughput efficiency detection systems. The use of fluorescent-labeled probes in developing the aforementioned NTBI detection system has been problematic, however. Coupling of fluorescent probe to the chelator results in a probe that is sensitive, by its nature, to the environment, hence affected by color, turbidity, pH, ionic strength) of solutions utilized in the assay system, confounding assay readout results.
Further confounding issues in the accurate determination of NTBI in biological samples is poor detection of aggregated Iron, present in the samples, resulting in a lower estimation than the actual amount of NTBI in a given biological sample.
The presence of apo-Transferrin, or Transferrin not bound to Iron, in biological samples, provides yet another source of error in attempting to determine absolute levels of NTBI. Since apo-Transferrin is universally found in biological samples, except in cases of extreme iron-overload where the Transferrin is 100% iron-saturated, actual NTBI in vivo may in fact, bind to apo-Transferrin in the assay sample, resulting in a low estimation of in vivo NTBI levels.
While it is a logical consideration to utilize fluorescein-labeled Transferrin as a means of detecting NTBI within a given sample, the existing art for conjugating fluorescein to transferrin (Egan T J: Fluorescence energy transfer studies on fluoresceinated human serum transferrin. Identification of the possible fluoresceination sites. S. Aft. J. Sci. 89: 446–50) conjugated the fluorescent label to iron-loaded Transferrin. A major drawback to fluorescein-transferrin prepared by this protocol is its failure to detect iron appropriately when measures are taken to inactivate endogenous apo-Transferrin within samples, resulting in a lower level of NTBI than what is actually present in vivo. Utilization of Gallium compounds for inactivation of endogenous apo-Transferrin with this protocol result in inaccurate detection of NTBI, and hence does not provide an accurate assay system.
There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, an NTBI detection assay, devoid of the above limitations. A highly sensitive assay system for the quantification of NTBI that is cost-effective, providing high-throughput efficiency, yet not compromised for accuracy and sensitivity has broad clinical application in both the diagnosis and validation of treatment regimens for Iron-overload conditions.

Molecules and methods using same for measuring non-transferrin bound iron

Yissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem


A louver roof system having a simplified assembly and installation methods. The louver roof system is constructed with multi-functional mechanical components by means of pre-molded parts to reduce skilled installation time. Louvers of the roof system each include a louver body defining an integrally formed channel configured to direct water internally from the louver body, through the integrally formed channel of the respective louver, within a frame, and out of the louver roof system when the louvers are in a closed position. The louver body of each of the louvers includes a top surface with an uppermost portion of the top surface that defines, when in the closed position, a non-perpendicular angle relative to the vertical direction such that water is directed to the integrally formed channel of the respective louver Thus, a water drainage path is an integral part of the main structural assembly.

Louver roofs have been commercially available for many years. These roofs are typically used on patios or outside event areas to allow sunlight on clear days and dryness on rainy days. This is accomplished by moving the louvers from an open to shut position manually or motor-driven by means of sensors and/or control panel switches. These lover roofs are constructed from a plurality of rotatable louvers, linked together by mechanical links and hinges that require skilled workers to install in the field. Alignment of these parts are critical to the reliability and longevity of the louvers' ability to move freely from the open to closed position. The assembly of super structure that houses and supports the lovers are also critical to the smooth mechanical action of the assembly. Water sealing and water removal from the structure is also challenging with the multitude of parts requiring skilled and experienced installers.


An object of the present invention is to provide a sample repairing apparatus, a sample repairing method and a device manufacturing method using the same method, which can reduce an edge roughness in a repaired pattern and also can provide the repairing of a sample by applying an electron beam-assisted etching or an electron beam-assisted deposition. There is provided a sample repairing method comprising: (a) a step of focusing an electron beam by an objective lens to irradiate a sample: (b) a step of supplying a reactive gas onto an electron beam irradiated surface of said sample: (c) a step of selectively scanning a pattern to be repaired on said sample with the electron beam so as to repair said pattern by applying an etching or a deposition; and (d) a step of providing a continuous exhausting operation by means of a differential exhaust system arranged in said objective lens so as to prevent the reactive gas supplied onto said electron beam irradiated surface from flowing toward an electron gun side.

The present invention relates to a sample repairing apparatus and a sample repairing method for repairing a defect with high accuracy in a sample, such as a mask, used in the production of a device or the like having a line width equal to or less than 0.1 μm, and further to a device manufacturing method using such a sample repairing method.
There has been a known method in the prior art, in which a sample, such as a mask, is irradiated with a finely focused electron beam and then a reactive gas is blown to the irradiated region thereof with a nozzle so as to carry out the etching of the sample.
When the mask subject to the repairing has the minimum line width as narrow as about 90 nm, the edge roughness in the repaired pattern should be controlled to be of the order of some ten nm or less, which in turn requires to focus the beam to be half a size of the required roughness or smaller than that. On the other hand, from the reason that the electron beam, if having a higher landing energy, could cause a back scattering after an incidence upon the sample and the reflected beam thereof could emit secondary electrons to contribute to the etching, there is another problem that a precision of processing would be not greater than that limited by the extent of the back scattered electrons.
Besides, it has been a main stream to use an ion beam for repairing the mask in the prior art. The repairing apparatus employing the focused ion beam has a problem that an ion implantation to a mask substrate or a damage from an irradiation beam could deteriorate a transmittance in a silica substrate, substantially inhibiting the repair of opaque defect from being carried out, which is considered to be a serious problem especially in the F2 lithography.
REFERENCE
[Non-Patent Document]
A set of advance copies from the NEXT GENERATION LITHOGRAPHY WORKSHOP (NGL2003), Jul. 10 and 11, 2003, National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, "Next generation Electron Beam mask repair tool", Dr. Jayant Neogi, Johannes Bihr and Klaus Edinger, hosted by: Silicon Technology Subcommittee, Next Generation Lithography Technology Workshop, Japan Society of Applied Physics, co-hosted by: No. 132 committee, "Industrial Application of Charged Particle Beam", Japan Society of the Promotion of Science.

Sample repairing apparatus, a sample repairing method and a device manufacturing method using the same method


A method for cleaning and drying crucibles for use in pulling single crystals by the Czochralski method after transportation of the crucibles, includes cleaning a crucible in a cleaning process; warming the crucible with pure water heated at a temperature of at least 50.degree. C.; and drying the warmed crucible under ambient conditions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cleaning method of a crucible which is used to contain a raw material melt in pulling a semiconductor single crystal by a Czochralski method. More particularly the present invention relates to a method for drying a crucible which is conducted in the last step of a cleaning process before the use of the crucible.
2. Related Art
Heretofore, in the case where a semiconductor single crystal is pulled by a Czochralski method, such a process has been adopted that raw material of the crystal is charged into a crucible, the crucible with the raw material is placed in a pulling furnace, the raw material is heated up to a temperature equal to or higher than the melting point to form a melt, thereafter a seed crystal is dipped into the melt and then the seed crystal is pulled upwardly from it. Crucibles used in the Czochralski method are made of high-purity quartz glass or the like, and they are shipped to customers from crucible makers after cleaning and drying in respective final processes. The crucibles each are delivered in a plastic bag in a sealed manner in order to avoid contamination during transportation.
When a crucible delivered is actually used at a customer, it is again cleaned with pure water (deionized water which has usually a resistivity of 10M .OMEGA. cm or higher) before the use in pulling a crystal for the purpose to remove contamination produced by friction with a plastic bag or contamination caused by poor sealing during transportation.
Cleaning before the use is very important for a high-purity quartz glass crucible used in pulling a silicon single crystal. The reason why is that a high-purity quartz glass crucible has a shiny, smooth inner surface, with which raw material contacts in the use, but the outer surface is a rough surface and quartz powder is with ease detached from the outer surface through friction between the crucible and the plastic bag during transportation though quartz raw material powder has been firmly adhered on the crucible. The detached quartz powder has a chance to stray onto the inner surface of the crucible and to adhere there. When a single crystal is pulled from a melt which is formed in such a contaminated crucible by heating silicon raw material charged in the crucible, a growing crystal comes to have dislocations caused by unmelted such detached quartz powder and to be disturbed in crystal growth. Accordingly, cleaning of a crucible before the use has been especially important for a crucible in pulling a silicon single crystal.
In such circumstances, a crucible has been again cleaned with pure water before the use at a site of the use after transportation, and then dried in order to remove adhered water on the surface by a dryer (for example, a dust free clean oven). A drying process with such a dryer is carried out in the following way: A crucible is placed in the dryer, a high-temperature air flow is circulated in the dryer, while wet air flow is partly exhausted to the outside through an exhaust duct. As alternatives, there are methods such as to blow a warm air flow on a crucible and to dry it by a infrared (IR) lamp.
When a crystal is pulled with a crucible which has not been dried enough, it takes a long time for gas replacement with an inert gas through vacuum in the pulling furnace, which reduces a working efficiency. Foreign matter is attached to a surface holding water with ease. Accordingly, it is necessary to dry the crucible enough.
In the case where crucibles are dried with a dryer after re-cleaning the crucibles before the use in a conventional manner, however, such drying and related processes need large-sized facilities. Such facilities cause a big loss in energy and require precaution on heat resistance of parts of their own, and, therefore, as a whole, cannot have been said to have an economically good efficiency. Even when warm air flow is adopted for the drying, there is a requirement for installation of a fan and the like, so that such drying needs a large-scaled facilities, too, and still loses a lot of energy. Furthermore, heating and drying by an infrared lamp cannot have been said to be an efficient, good drying method either, because of requirements for consideration on heat resistance of facilities and rotation of crucibles to achieve uniform heat distribution of a heating environment.


Disclosed herein is an intraocular lens injector for inserting an intraocular lens into an eye, the intraocular lens injector including: a cylindrical cylinder, into which a plunger for passing the intraocular lens to be guided into the eye is inserted; a connection block having a C-shaped longitudinal cross-section and integrally formed at the front end of the cylinder; a cartridge, which is connected to the connection block and includes first and second wing portions, which are folded with respect to each other, first and second receiving grooves formed at the connection portion of the first and second wing portions and having a semicircular longitudinal cross-section, and a truncated conical guide portion, which extends from the second receiving groove in the lateral direction and includes a guide passage having a circular cross-section corresponding to the shape of the assembled first and second receiving grooves; and a cover member inserted into the connection block together with the second wing portion of the cartridge and detachably connected to the connection block.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an intraocular lens injector for inserting an intraocular lens into an eye in replacement of a crystalline lens extracted during cataract surgery, and more particularly, to an intraocular lens injector, in which a cartridge, in which an intraocular lens is placed, is integrally formed with a cylinder, in which a plunger slides, and the cartridge is slidably covered such that the intraocular lens can be kept or carried while being placed in the cartridge, thereby eliminating the inconvenience of connecting the cartridge including the intraocular lens to the cylinder during cataract surgery and facilitating the cataract surgery.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Cataract is a disease caused by opacity of the crystalline lens of the eye and may lead to blindness in severe cases. The cataract is classified into a congenital cataract present in utero or at birth, a senile cataract occurring in the aged, a generalized cataract caused by various diseases, and the like. Among them, the senile cataract is most frequently observed in the aged.
Methods for treatment of cataract include pharmacotherapy and surgery. Since there is no guarantee that the pharmacotherapy can completely cure the cataract, the cataract surgery is mainly used.
Cataract surgery methods include intracapsular extraction, in which the entire crystalline lens and its enclosing capsule are removed, and extracapsular extraction, in which the posterior capsule of the crystalline lens having a thickness of about 0.01 mm, which is located adjacent to the hyaloid, is left in place and the remaining crystalline lens is removed.
The intraocular lens is an artificial lens used to replace the natural crystalline lens of the eye when the natural lens has cataracts or is otherwise diseased. The intraocular lens is also sometimes implanted into an eye to correct refractive errors of the eye. The intraocular lens may be made of a variety of materials or combinations of materials such as poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), silicone, hydrogel, silicone hydrogel, etc.
In order to implant the intraocular lens into the eye, the sclera of the eye is incised, and a viscoelastic material is injected into the sclera to protect the anterior tissues. Then, the upper part of the lens capsule is incised to remove the clouded lens. Subsequently, the clouded lens nucleus is completely removed from the lens capsule, and the intraocular lens is injected into the lens capsule while injecting the viscoelastic material into the lens capsule to facilitate the insertion of the intraocular lens. The intraocular lens is injected into the lens capsule in a folded or rolled state and then restored to its original state, during which an intraocular lens injector is used.
The above-described intraocular lens injector has a structure in which a cartridge in which an intraocular lens in a folded or rolled state is placed and a cylinder for pushing the intraocular placed in the cartridge to the eye are separated from each other, and thus it is inconvenient to connect the cartridge and the cylinder for the use of the intraocular lens injector. Moreover, the intraocular lens preloaded into the cartridge is inserted into the eye by pushing the cylinder during cataract surgery on the eye from which the crystalline eye is extracted, which increases the difficulty of the surgery.
Various studies have been carried out to solve the above problems, various studies have been conducted to in progress in recently years, but there is no clear solution yet.