Systems and methods for positioning the oral cavity of a dental patient are described. A method includes: providing: a pivotable chair with: a reclinable back; and a headrest connected to the reclinable back, the headrest including: a bracket for attaching the headrest to the reclinable back; and a pad connected to the bracket, the pad including an internal perimeter that defines a hole through which a prone patient's nose and mouth can protrude so that the prone patient's oral cavity can be reached from below the prone patient; locating the dental patient on the pivotable chair in a prone position so that the dental patient's nose and mouth protrude through the hole; pivoting the pivotable chair; and reaching into the dental patient's oral cavity from below the dental patient. The systems and methods provide advantages in that back and neck stress on the dentist is reduced while dental prophylaxis is facilitated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of dentistry. More particularly, the present invention relates to a dental chair headrest and a dental chair that includes the headrest. Specifically, a preferred embodiment of the present invention relates to a dental chair that can be folded flat and which includes a headrest defining a void through which a prone patient's nose and mouth can protrude and be reached from below by the dentist. The present invention thus relates to dental apparatus and methods of the type that can be termed prone.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Within this application several publications are referenced by arabic numerals within parentheses. Full citations for these, and other, publications may be found at the end of the specification immediately preceding the claims. The disclosures of all these publications in their entireties are hereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present application for the purposes of indicating the background of the present invention and illustrating the state of the art.
Historically, it has been known in the field of odontology to seat a patient in a chair designed to facilitate dental treatment. Prior art dental chairs of the type hereunder consideration, sometimes called examination chairs, are well-known to those skilled in the art. A conventional dental chair is typically used to facilitate dental prophylaxis. For example, a patient will typically be reclined in a conventional seated posture and a dentist will sit to one side, and behind, the patient.
However, with regard to this conventional seated posture, the dentist is required to lean over the patient's oral cavity in order to provide treatment..sup.(1,2) This approach has been ergonomically inefficient because stress is induced in the neck and back of the dentist. The more time spent by the dentist leaning over the patient's oral cavity, the greater is the stress on the neck and back. If a long period of time is required to perform a procedure, or if more than just a few patient's are to be treated during the day, the stress on the neck and back can accumulate to a level that is uncomfortable for the dentist. This can result in fatigue, thereby possibly lowering the quality of treatment provided by the dentist. In a severe case, the fatigue can accumulate to a level that cannot be tolerated by the dentist. Thus, a previously recognized problem has been that leaning over the patient results in neck and back stress being incurred by the dentist leading to decreased efficiency. Needless to say, it is desirable to provide an arrangement having higher efficiency. What is needed therefore is an apparatus and method that efficiently positions a patient for more efficient dental treatment.
One prior art approach, in an attempt to solve the fatigue problem referred to above, involves stopping treatment to permit the dentist to take a break. However, providing dental treatment is a competitive business. A preferred solution will be seen by the end-user as being cost effective. Therefore, what is also needed is an apparatus and method that efficiently positions a patient and is cost effective. A solution is cost effective when it is seen by the end-user as compelling when compared with other potential uses that the end-user could make of limited resources.
Another previously recognized problem has been that debris created by dental treatment can fall down a patient's throat. Such events can more likely happen during certain procedures such as, for example, upper fillings and root canals. Therefore, what is also needed is an apparatus and method that helps to prevent debris entering a patient's throat.
One prior art approach, in an attempt to solve the debris problem referred to above, involves providing a vacuum nozzle within the patient's oral cavity. However, a disadvantage of this previously recognized approach is that not all debris is gathered by such a vacuum nozzle. Another disadvantage of this previously recognized approach is the vacuum nozzle can become obstructed by a solid object, such as the tissue of the patient's gum or inner cheek.
Another previously recognized problem has been that the effect of local anesthetics appears to be, at least in part, a function of the ambient gravitational field, as evidenced by spatially resolved differential block..sup.(3,4) Therefore, what is also needed is an apparatus and method that will permit the dentist to more fully adjust the patient's posture with regard to the gravitational field. Heretofore the above-discussed requirements have not been fully met.
The below-referenced patents disclose embodiments that were at least in-part satisfactory for the purposes for which they were intended. The disclosures of all the below-referenced prior United States patents in their entireties are hereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present application for purposes including, but not limited to, indicating the background of the present invention and illustrating the state of the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,713 discloses a head holder for nuclear imaging. U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,823 discloses an adjustable headrest. U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,776 discloses an adjustable head support. U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,638 discloses a massage table having a removable headrest. U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,102 discloses a chair with a face hole that is adjustable to a flat configuration. U.S. Pat. No. 2,631,303 discloses a portable folding cot with a face hole. Canadian Patent 1,061,219 discloses a head support. French Patent 553.787 discloses a surgical table having a head rest with a hole.


A waterjet system is provided, including a pump configured to pump fluid, an electric motor configured to drive the pump; a hopper configured to store abrasive, a mixing chamber configured to mix abrasive from the hopper and the fluid from the pump to produce a slurry, where the fluid entering the mixing chamber is at a pressure between 2000 psi and 8000 psi, a cutting bed configured to receive a workpiece to be cut, and a cutting head, including an outlet nozzle, in downstream fluid communication from the mixing chamber, the cutting head configured to expel the slurry through the outlet nozzle as a high-velocity jet into the cutting bed.

Waterjet systems convert high pressure water into a high velocity water stream in an effort to erode the material that it is directed at. An abrasive may be present in this high velocity water stream. Such an abrasive may improve the cutting speed or expand the range of materials that can be cut. Waterjet technology is well known in the manufacturing industry due to its advantages over other cutting systems, such as its ability to cut a diverse range of workpiece materials and lack of induced thermal stress on a workpiece.
A waterjet may be defined by its configuration of fluid stream and abrasive with regards to the cutting head nozzle. One configuration, a pure waterjet, is fundamentally shown in FIG. 1A. A pure waterjet does not contain any abrasive in the fluid stream. A pure waterjet utilizes a high pressure fluid stream 100 that is fed into a cutting head 110, which accelerates the flow through a small orifice into a high velocity fluid stream 120. Pure waterjets are often limited in the materials that may be cut.
Another configuration, an Abrasive Suspension Waterjet (ASWJ), is fundamentally shown in FIG. 1B. An ASWJ utilizes a high pressure water-abrasive mixture or slurry 200 that is fed into a cutting head 210, which accelerates the flow through a small orifice into a high velocity fluid stream 220. Since the abrasive is suspended in the pressurized fluid (e.g. water), it causes significant wear on the small orifice as it flows through it. The abrasive may be added to the water upstream of the pump (before the water is pressurized) or downstream of the pump (after the water is pressurized). The abrasive may cause internal wear to the pump of the ASWJ if it is added to the water before the water is pressurized.
A third configuration, an Abrasive Injection Waterjet (AIWJ), is fundamentally shown in FIG. 1C. An AIWJ is similar to a pure waterjet, but includes an abrasive 300 that is injected into the cutting head 310 after the high pressure fluid stream 100 is accelerated to a high velocity. This provides a high velocity fluid and abrasive stream 320. An AIWJ may be advantageous compared to a pure waterjet due to its improved cutting capabilities, and does not experience the internal wear to the orifice and possibly the pump as in an ASWJ. For these reasons, and AIWJ may be preferred in the manufacturing industry.
A waterjet may be further defined by the construction of its hydraulic pump subsystem. One construction, a specialty direct drive crank pump, is illustrated in FIG. 1D and schematically shown in FIG. 1E. In this type of construction, line voltages 400 of 230-460V are provided to a variable frequency drive 490, which controls a motor 410 of 20-100 hp. The motor 410 is coupled 420 to the hydraulic pump 430 via a crankshaft 421 which drives a number of plungers 431 in respective cylinders 432 to an ultra-high pressure 470, typically in the range of 10,000-60,000 psi, which is fed into the cutting head of a water jet. Ordinary tap water 440 at least 30+ psi is fed through a 0.4-1 μm filtration system 450, resulting in purified water that is appropriate for the sensitive pump 430. These pumps are not capable of storing and holding their pressure, therefore, they also require a release valve circuit 480 to be present when the supply to the cutting head is shut.
Another construction, a hydraulic intensifier pump, is illustrated in FIG. 1F and schematically shown in FIG. 1G. In this type of construction, line voltages 400 of 230-460V are provided to a motor 410 of up to 200 hp. The motor 410 is coupled 420 to the hydraulic pump 500 which pressurizes hydraulic fluid 510 to around 3000 psi. A set of valves 540 comprising a pilot valve 541 and shifter valve 542 controlled by electronics 550 is used to appropriately manage the hydraulic fluid supply and return lines 560 to the reciprocating intensifier pump 570. The set of valves 540 is connected to the main hydraulic cylinder 571 of the intensifier pump 570 via a sub plate 543. The intensifier pump is symmetrical on either side of the main hydraulic cylinder 571 with an end bell assembly 572, high pressure cylinder 573, and end cap 574 on either side. Each end cap includes a check valve assembly 575. The hydraulic fluid 520 to the hydraulic pump 500 often needs to be cooled through a subsystem 530. With a 3000 psi hydraulic fluid supply line 560, the intensifier pump 570 applies ultra-high pressure to the fluid 580, typically in the range of 60,000-90,000 psi, which is fed into a hydraulic attenuator 590 to smooth out the pressure before it is fed to the cutting head 511. Ordinary tap water 440 at least 30+ psi is fed through a 0.4-1 μm filtration system 450, resulting in purified water that is appropriate for the sensitive intensifier 570.
A third construction, an electric servo pump, is schematically shown in FIG. 1H. In this type of construction, line voltages 400 of 230-460V are provided to a servo motor 600 of 15-50 hp. The motor 600 envelops a high load, precision ball screw, reciprocating plungers in the pump 620. The pump 620 creates an ultra-high pressure 630, typically in the range of 10,000-66,000 psi, that can be fed into a hydraulic attenuator 590 to smooth out the pressure before it is fed to the cutting head 640. Ordinary tap water 440 at least 30+ psi is fed through a 0.4-1 μm filtration system 450, resulting in purified water that is appropriate for the sensitive pump 620.
Current waterjet systems of the above constructions share numerous deficiencies, including high machine costs, high maintenance, costly material usage, and large spatial requirements. These systems also typically require specialized infrastructure to be present within the facility in order to support the operations. Many of the deficiencies are due to the high working pressures (e.g. in the range of 10,000-90,000 psi) and power requirements (up to 200 hp) of these systems. As a consequence, waterjet cutting systems are typically limited to sophisticated entities that have the resources to support such complex and expensive systems.
Significant effort has been devoted to increasing the efficiency of waterjet systems through research and multi parameter optimizations. The optimization efforts are typically focused on minimizing the direct cutting costs while minimizing the abrasive, electrical power consumption, or water flowrates to achieve a desired cut, and also minimizing indirect maintenance costs of the machines, such as rebuild costs. The ultra-high pressures and high horse-powers of typical hydraulic constructions are utilized for this research and optimization, as the industry has attributed that cutting costs will increase as pressure and/or horsepower are decreased. This ignores the costs that these systems command due to the high pressure and horsepower requirements.


Method and devices are provided for to simplify, for the user of a home network, the sharing of content with remote users. Some such implementations allow remote users who have logged into the home network to have access to devices and services within the home network. Some implementations of the invention provide solutions for sharing multiple devices within the home network in a grouping to a particular remote user who logs into the home network in a secure fashion. Some methods of the present invention are implemented in part by controlling a gateway of the home network. As such, the necessary hardware and/or software for implementing the invention can be located in a gateway of the home network. In alternative implementations, aspects of the invention may be implemented via a portal service offered by a service provider who also controls the gateway, or by a device in the home network.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to network technology. More particularly, the present invention relates to sharing content on a network, e.g., a home network.
2. Description of the Related Art
As home networks become more and more popular and the use of broadband connections becomes commonplace, people are looking for easy ways share content, e.g., with remote Internet users. As used herein, a "home network" refers to any private network, including but not limited to a private network controlled by an individual, a family, a business, a public entity, etc. However, the paradigm case of a home network is literally a network in a home.
The amount of digital content to be shared by the home network may be in the terabytes, when taking into account photos, music, documents, videos, data from Internet cameras, etc. The current solution is to post all content that the consumer wants to share on to public site web servers, such as www.geocities.com, www.msn.com, etc. However, there are several drawbacks to this solution. The space available is limited and extra storage space is costly. Advanced features (such as authentication) are also costly. Not all consumers want to post all of their content in a public place. Moreover, users may find it burdensome to transfer their content to public web servers. Moreover, users may find it burdensome to transfer their content to public web servers.
One possible way to allow the content to remain in the home, secure, and still allow Internet users to access it, would be for the consumer to host his own web server, e.g., on a personal computer ("PC") in his or her home. However, this solution would have at least the following requirements: (1) a dedicated PC running web server software; (2) an Internet gateway that supports network address translation ("NAT") and a firewall, and (3) the expertise to install and configure this equipment and servers.
All of these requirements are potentially problematic for a typical user. The last requirement is beyond the expertise of the vast majority of consumers.
Although the gateway provides the ability for multiple devices/PCs to gain access to the Internet, the devices/PCs are hidden in the home network from the Internet. If a consumer wants to share content from a PC/device behind the gateway to remote Internet users, the tasks of configuring the gateway properly to do port forwarding through NAT, which deals with mapping a selected port or protocol to a particular PC/device, and configuring the firewall to allow access to this PC on the home network, would be quite daunting for the casual consumer. The consumer would also need to install and configure the necessary servers on the PC/device to share the appropriate content.
The content would need to reside on a dedicated web server device and this device would need to remain on at all times. In order to secure the content on the web server, the web server would need to use authentication, which the consumer would need to configure with usernames and passwords. However, this database of usernames and passwords is usually only for a single device. It is not a common database used by all devices/PCs in the home network.
It would be desirable to provide content sharing capabilities for a home network without requiring consumers to be the IT department for the home network, the system administrator for servers running on the PC(s) in the home network and the web page designer in charge of displaying the content in a orderly fashion.

Methods and devices for sharing content on a network


A shift control system includes a belt-type continuously variable transmission (CVT) with primary and secondary pulleys, a shift actuator that regulates an oil pressure supplied to the primary or secondary pulley to vary an actual transmission ratio of the CVT, and a control unit that controls the shift actuator. The control unit sets a target transmission ratio in a first mode when a normal driving range is selected and in a second mode when an engine braking range is selected, drives the shift actuator to adjust the actual transmission ratio to the target transmission ratio, determines a delay time to delay the setting of the target transmission ratio in the second mode at the time of range switchover from the normal driving range to the engine braking range, and holds the target transmission ratio set in the first mode until the delay time has elapsed from the range switchover.

The present invention relates to a shift control system and a control apparatus and method for a belt-type continuously variable transmission.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 7-217712 discloses a belt-type continuously variable transmission (CVT) of which transmission ratio is controlled in response to a vehicle speed and a throttle valve opening. The CVT has selectable shift ranges including a normal driving range (generically known as D range) and a so-called engine braking range (such as such as L range or 1 range, 2 range or Ds range). When the normal driving range is selected, the transmission ratio is controlled according to a shift pattern within a normal driving ratio control region. When the engine braking range is selected, the transmission ratio is controlled according to a shift pattern within an engine braking ratio control region that has a minimum ratio value greater than that of the normal driving ratio control region.

Shift control system, and control apparatus and method for belt-type continuously variable transmission


An illumination device has a blue light emitting element that emits blue light and a light guide member that guides blue light emitted from the blue light emitting element to a light exit surface of the light guide member. A first color conversion element includes a red phosphor that emits red light in response to excitation with the blue light. The first color conversion element is disposed on an optical path between the blue light emitting element and the light guide member. A second color conversion element is disposed on a light exit surface side of the light guide member and separated from the first color conversion element. The second color conversion element comprises a pair of non-permeable transparent substrates, a resin disposed between the non-permeable transparent substrates, and a green phosphor dispersed in the resin for emitting green light in response to excitation with the blue light.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an illumination device for illuminating a non-self light emission display element and a display device which is provided with the illumination device and used for an electronic device. In particular, the present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device used for a portable information device, a mobile telephone, and the like and an illumination device such as a frontlight unit or a backlight unit to illuminate the display element.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, most of display devices used for a mobile telephone, a mobile computer, and the like are liquid crystal display devices capable of obtaining a high-definition color image with reduced power consumption. A liquid crystal element used for the liquid crystal display devices is a non-self light emission type, so the liquid crystal element is illuminated by an illuminating device using a high-intensity white LED as a light source.
In particular, a reflection type liquid crystal display device which has a large aperture and is bright or a liquid crystal display device of a double side visible type which can display image information on both front and rear screens is used for the mobile telephone. The white LED used to illuminate a display element of each of the liquid crystal display devices has a structure in which a resin into which a yellow phosphor is dispersed is provided immediately in front of a light emitting surface of a blue LED made of InGaN, GaN, or the like. According to the structure, yellow light can be mixed with original blue light to obtain white light. An yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) phosphor in which YAG is doped with a rare-earth element has been widely known as a phosphor for converting the blue light into the yellow light. A method of producing white light by additive mixing of blue, red, and green using a mixture of red and green light emitting phosphors instead of the YAG phosphor has been known (see, for example, JP 10-163535 A). A chalcogenide phosphor or a nitride phosphor which is doped with a rare-earth element has been widely known as a phosphor for converting the blue light into green light or red light with relatively high efficiency. There has been disclosed an LED display device in which a plurality of light emitting elements, each of which emits light having a wavelength equal to or shorter than the wavelength of the blue light, are arranged on a printed circuit board which has an arbitrary shape and an arbitrary area and includes circuits formed therein and the respective light emitting elements are coated with a translucent resin containing a wavelength conversion material (see, for example, JP 11-121802 A).
However, in the case of additive mixing of two colors using the blue LED and the YAG phosphor (i.e., pseudo white LED), the amount of light component having a wavelength region of 600 nm or more is small. Therefore, an LCD module having high color reproducibility cannot be realized. In general, when the pseudo white LED is used as a light source, it is very difficult for a current color filter to exceed an NTSC ratio of 100%. As described in JP 10-163535 A, when a structure in which two kinds of phosphors for converting blue light into green light and red light based on blue excitation are dropped on the light emitting surface of the blue LED is used, additive mixing of three colors (i.e., three-wavelength white LED) is possible, so the LCD module having high color reproducibility can be realized. However, the chalcogenide phosphor doped with the rare-earth element causes a chemical reaction with a reflective film included in the LED, so a problem in which a reflection characteristic deteriorates occurs in many cases. When the white light is to be produced based on blue excitation using the mixture of the green phosphor and the red phosphor, a nitride phosphor or a chalcogenide phosphor may be used as the red phosphor. An excitation wavelength of each of the phosphors includes that of the green light emitted from the green phosphor, so there is a problem in that intensity efficiency is low.

Illumination device and display device provided with the same


A method for interacting with a user through a smart watch can include displaying an interactive image. The method can further include detecting a contact moving continuously from a first edge of the touch-sensitive display toward a second, opposite edge of the touch-sensitive display. In response to the detection, the touch-sensitive display can display select function indicators in accordance with movement of the contact. The select function indicators can comprise four or fewer distinct, selectable icons.

1. Technical Field
Implementations of the present invention include wristwatches and bangle ornaments that comprise computing functionality.
2. Background and Relevant Art
In an increasingly quantized and connected world, innovators and consumers are seeking way of integrating technology more seamlessly into their daily lives. Modern smart phones have been one method by why consumers have increasingly integrated connectivity into their daily lives. For example, many smart phone users frequently user their phones to take and upload pictures, text friends, call friends, navigate streets, identify new restaurants, and perform other such activities.
An additional recent movement in integrating technology into consumer's lives has involved so-called "smart watches." Conventional smart watches vary dramatically in functionality and form. In general, many conventional smart watches include some form of rudimentary health tracking utilities. For example, many conventional smart watches include pedometers, which can be used to track the number of steps the user took. Similarly, many conventional smart watches include gyroscopes that can be used to detect movement during sleep.
In addition to providing health tracking, some conventional smart watches also provide limited forms of connectivity. In particular, conventional smart watches can communicate with a smart phone that is also owned by the smart watch user. For example, the conventional smart watch may be able to receive information from the smart phone through BLUETOOTH. For instance, a conventional smart watch may display a notification that the smart phone has received a text message. The notification may comprise brief information about the text message.
Conventional smart watches, however, suffer from several shortcomings. In particular, one will understand, that fitting the necessary components into a small form factor like a smart watch is an onerous task. In particular, because most consumers desire watches that are fashionable and attractive, there is a need for a smart watch that comprises a pleasing form-factor, while at the same time comprises a form-factor that allows the smart watch to function.
Additionally, conventional smart watches suffer from shortcomings in interface. One will understand that, in general, a smart watch will comprise less useable surface area for a user interface than a smart phone. Many conventional smart watches have failed to provide user interfaces that are both intuitive and visually useful. For example, the conventional smart phone user interface comprises a grid-like display of mobile applications. For several reasons, one will understand that displaying a large grid of several applications on a small smart watch display may provide a clumsy and inefficient user interface.


An image processing apparatus which inputs PDL described print data from a host computer, interprets the print data to develop the data into bitmap image data, and transfers the bitmap image data to a serial printer. Upon transferring the bitmap image data, the apparatus determines whether or not image data corresponding to one scanning by a print head of the printer, i.e., one band, includes image data having a value "1" according to a dot to be printed. If the image data includes no "1" data, i.e., all data values are "0", the apparatus controls the printer to omit scanning by the print head at the band corresponding to the image data including no "1" data and feed the recording sheet for the band.

The invention relates to an image processing apparatus and method and, more particularly, to an image processing apparatus and method for inputting print data represented by PDL (page description language), converting the print data to image data, and outputting the image data to a printer and the like for printing.
Conventionally, PDL developing devices which input print data described in PDL language, interpret the PDL language to develop pattern data, and output the pattern-developed raster image data, are known. Further, systems where these devices are connected to a color copying machine and printer units of the copying machine are used for printing image data on a recording medium such as paper, have been introduced. Color copying devices which have a printer unit having a print head including an array of ink-jet nozzles, and which divide image data for one page into bands each corresponding to the print head width, for band unit printing by reciprocating the print head, have been introduced. Further, output devices which develop PDL-described print data for one band, corresponding to the above-mentioned printers for band unit printing, and at each development, output the developed data in band units, have been proposed.
However, the above conventional devices have the following drawbacks.
In a case where the color copying machine having a printer for band unit printing is connected to the PDL developing device for inputting PDL-described data and performing pattern development, the PDL developing device performs pattern-development of PDL-described print data and outputs patterns of image data and character data in page units. That is, the PDL developing device receives PDL language for one page, interprets the PDL language, then performs pattern development for one page, and outputs pattern data in band units to the printer. In this system, considerable time is required from the data reception to the completion of printing. Especially, when a large amount of PDL language data is received from a host computer, since data transfer further takes a long time, time required for printing (data transfer+pattern development+print output) is very long.

Image processing apparatus and method for printing data described in a page description language


A novel sorghum variety designated PHOO3VQKT and seed, plants and plant parts thereof. Methods for producing a plant that comprise crossing sorghum variety PHOO3VQKT with another plant. Methods for producing a plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into PHOO3VQKT through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the sorghum seed, plant and plant part produced thereby. Hybrid sorghum seed, plant or plant part produced by crossing the sorghum variety PHOO3VQKT or a locus conversion of PHOO3VQKT with another sorghum variety.

The goal of plant breeding is to combine in a single variety various desirable traits. For field crops, these traits may include higher seed yield, higher biomass yield, higher sugar yield, improved composition traits, improved conversion traits, resistance to diseases and insects, better stems and roots, tolerance to heat, tolerance to low temperatures, tolerance to drought and salt, reducing the time to crop maturity, greater yield and yield stability, presence or absence of dwarfing genes, improved nutrient value, increased growth rate, and better agronomic characteristics or grain quality. With mechanical harvesting of many crops, uniformity of plant characteristics such as germination and stand establishment, growth rate, maturity, plant height and fruit size, is important.
Grain sorghum is an important and valuable food and feed grain crop. In addition, its vegetative parts are used for forage, syrup and shelter. Thus, a continuing goal of plant breeders is to develop stable high yielding sorghum hybrids that are agronomically sound. The reasons for this goal are to maximize the amount of grain produced on the land used and to supply food for both animals and humans.
Sorghum is in the same family as maize and has a similar growth habit, but with more tillers and a more extensively branched root system. Sorghum is more drought resistant and heat-tolerant than maize. It requires an average temperature of at least 25° C. to produce maximum yields. Sorghum's ability to thrive with less water than maize may be due to its ability to hold water in its foliage better than maize. Sorghum has a waxy coating on its leaves and stems which helps to keep water in the plant even in intense heat. Wild species of sorghum tend to grow to a height of 1.5 to 2 meters; however in order to improve harvestability, dwarfing genes have been selected in cultivated varieties and hybrids such that most cultivated varieties and hybrids grow to between 60 and 120 cm tall.


An audio device includes a housing having first and second support surfaces for supporting the device at different orientations relative to the surface on which the device is placed, a driver to output sound in a radiating pattern associated with a first axis of the driver, and an orientation sensor to detect a direction of a force of gravity. A control circuit coupled to the driver and the orientation sensor determines the direction of the force of gravity relative to the first axis and whether the first axis is oriented to one of a first angle of elevation associated with physically supporting the device by the first surface and a second angle of elevation associated with physically supporting the device by the second surface. The circuit can alters the output by the driver based on the first axis being oriented to the first or second angles of elevation.

Portable audio speakers have become very popular due to their ease of use and high quality of sound. Users will often take such audio speakers with them to different locations and place them atop any of a variety of objects or physically support them in any of a variety of other ways. Unfortunately, some of these possible placements of audio speakers can be less than ideal with regard to the resulting quality of the experience of listening to their acoustic output. Some possible placements can result in distortion of various ranges of frequencies of sound as perceived by a listener and/or defeat the intended effect of stereo and/or surround sound. Improved sound quality coupled with increased flexibility in the use and placement portable speakers is desired by users of these audio technologies.

Multiple-orientation audio device and related apparatus


A method for making a seal between a sealing glass and titanium by forming a nitride layer on the titanium and then sealing the glass to the nitrided titanium. The formation of the nitride layer can be accomplished by the steps of placing the titanium in a substantially oxygen-free atmosphere comprising a major amount of an inert gas and a minor amount of nitrogen and heating the titanium in that atmosphere to a temperature of at least 300.degree. C. The method allows for the formation of the nitride layer and the glass seal in a single operation. The method works well in the manufacture of feedthroughs with conventional processing equipment.

The present invention relates to methods for making glass to metal seals for electrical feedthroughs and the like and especially for electrical feedthroughs in implantable medical devices.
It is well known in the glass sealing art to make hermetically sealed electronic components such as electrical feedthroughs. A typical feedthrough consists of an external metal part (a frame or ferrule) into which preformed solid or sintered glass part is sealed. Within the glass part, one or more metal leads (pins) are sealed. Since the reliability of critical implantable medical devices depend on hermetic sealing of various components, the integrity of the glass to metal seals used in battery components and the seal between the internal electrical components and the human body is of paramount importance.
In many implantable medical devices, titanium is used due to its superior corrosion resistance and biocompatability. However, for many glass-metal seals where titanium is a metal component, the glass compositions fail to readily wet the titanium surface and therefore the adhesion of the glass to the metal is compromised. In matched seals, the coefficient of thermal expansion of the glass and metal are similar so that good chemical bonding between the glass and titanium is necessary in order to provide an adequate seal. Thus, for matched seal configurations a poor bond between the titanium and the glass can be fatal to the integrity of the seal. In compression seals where the coefficients of thermal expansion of the various parts is mismatched, sealing is accomplished by establishing a compressive force between the components. However, even for compression seals, the wetting of the glass on the titanium and its adhesion to the titanium can improve the strength and reliability of the seal.
In order to improve the wetting and adhesion of glass and metal, oxide layers are typically formed on the metal in order to change the surface chemistry of the metal. For example, in European Patent Application 0 311 308, a method is disclosed for hermetically sealing a glass to a metal in which an oxide layer is formed on the metal in a one-step process by carrying out the sealing process in an atmosphere which includes an atmosphere of an inert gas such as nitrogen or argon together with water vapor and hydrogen. Also, in Brow et al., Reactions and Bonding Between Glasses and Titanium, Sandia National Laboratories SAND--87-0541C, hermetic seals between titanium and various candidate glasses are disclosed along with the suggestion that oxidation or nitridation may have an effect on seal properties and interfacial chemistries.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a glass to titanium seal having superior sealing properties.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method for making a superior glass to titanium seal which can be performed with conventional sealing techniques and equipment.


Provided herein are methods of isolating and using radioactive mercury. In particular, provided herein are methods of isolating radioactive mercury including the use of a thiacrown ether, and using the isolated radioactive mercury in therapeutic and/or imaging applications.

Radioactive mercury can be useful in both therapeutic and imaging applications. In the 1950s and 1960s, mercury isotopes with low specific activities—prepared from neutron reactions on natural mercury—were used for imaging, but the high toxicity and long biological half-life associated with mercury led to its demise as a radiopharmaceutical. The recent production of radiopharmaceuticals by charged particle reactions allows for no-carrier-added (NCA) radionuclides to be produced. This has led to a renewed interested in radioactive mercury, such as 197mHg and 197gHg, for imaging and therapy since they can be produced in large quantities without the toxic stable mercury present. The dominant reactions for producing these radionuclides includes irradiating platinum with alpha particles, or gold with protons, which can result in little to no stable mercury.
However, these methods have significant drawbacks, such as product loss, low efficiency, and difficult and timely post-processing of purified material. Thus, improved methods for preparing and isolating radioactive mercury are needed.

Methods of isolating radioactive mercury and uses thereof

LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL SECURITY, LLC


Methods, systems, and devices for auditory enhancement are described. A device may receive a respective auditory signal at each of a set of microphones, where each auditory signal includes a respective representation of a target auditory component and one or more noise artifacts. The device may identify a directionality associated with a source of the target auditory component (e.g., based on an arrangement of the multiple microphones). The device may determine a distribution function for the target auditory component based at least in part on the directionality associated with the source and on the received plurality of auditory signals. The device may generate an estimate of the target auditory component based at least in part on the distribution function and output the estimate of the target auditory component.

The following relates generally to auditory enhancement, and more specifically to multiple microphone speech generative networks.
Signals communicated over a wireless medium (e.g., speech, wireless communications, etc.) may experience interference (e.g., from other such signals, from physical obstacles in the communication environment, etc.). By way of example, a user may be located in a communication environment that includes multiple auditory sources, each producing a respective auditory signal. The communication environment may thus be noisy, and it may be difficult for the user to distinguish a target auditory signal from one of the multiple auditory sources. Improved techniques for resolving a target signal in a noisy communication environment may be desired.

Multiple microphone speech generative networks


An electro-mechanical lock for gates and similar applications having a latch assembly and a strike assembly. The strike assembly has a strike which is self-adjusting to accommodate misalignment to guide the strike roller into proper engagement in the latch assembly. The latch assembly has a latch which is operably connected to a solenoid by a trigger and transfer mechanism which provides pre-load capability.

Areas such as industrial yards, apartment complexes, office complexes often control entry and egress. This is accomplished by use of a security gate which may either be a sliding gate or a pivotal gate and requires the use of a key, entry of code or use of a magnetic card to actuate an electro-mechanical lock to open the gate.
A problem that arises with gates of this type is that they are generally quite large and often heavy and, over time due to normal use, wear and tear and in some cases abuse, the latch and strike components of the electro-mechanical lock become misaligned. This misalignment may cause the lock components to not properly engage, resulting in lack of security requiring maintenance and repair.
Electromagnetic locks are commonly used to address these applications, but only in fail safe or locked when power is applied mode. This mode of locking is beneficial to accommodate the pre-load often found with a heavy or misaligned gate. Currently there are no solutions for fail secure applications where constant power is not available or not preferred. Another problem with conventional electro-mechanical or electro-magnetic locking products used with various access control devices is in matching the voltage of the electric locking product with the access control components. Yet another problem is the alignment of electromechanical locks with the movable gate mounted strike device.


A method of controlling a dishwasher, which heats air in a washing chamber while supplying water into the washing chamber to generate hot water through a heat exchange between the heated air and the supplied water. Further, a second method of controlling a dishwasher operates an air generator while starting of the supplying of water into a washing chamber to heat the supplied water and air in the washing chamber. If a temperature of the water in the washing chamber exceeds a first reference value, the supplying of water is stopped and the air generator is operated. If a temperature of the air in the washing chamber exceeds a second reference value, the supplying of water is started.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a dishwasher and method of controlling the same and, more particularly, to a dishwasher and method of controlling the same, which is provided with a heater to heat washing and rinsing water, and which performs washing, rinsing and drying processes while using the heater.
2. Description of the Related Art
A dishwasher is an apparatus that removes contaminants from dishes by spraying a cool water or a hot water on the dishes disposed on racks in a washing chamber. To remove contaminants, pumps and nozzles are basically required to spray a washing water and a rinsing water, and a heater is required to generate the hot water. Herein is described a conventional dishwasher with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional dishwasher 100. As shown in FIG. 1, a washing chamber 104 having an opening in a front thereof is provided in a body 102 of the conventional dishwasher 100, and a door 106 that is selectively opened or closed is connected to the front of the body 102 with hinges. Dish racks 104a, provided to hold dishes, are disposed in upper and lower portions of the washing chamber 104 to slide in both forward and backward directions. Upper and lower spray nozzles 104c that spray the washing water on the dishes are disposed under the dish racks 104a, respectively.
A heater 150 that heats the washing and rinsing water and therefore generates the hot water is disposed under the dish rack 104a seated in the lower portion of the washing chamber 104. If the washing or rinsing water is supplied into the washing chamber 104 and the heater 150 is submerged under the water, the hot water is generated by a heat exchange between the supplied water and the heater 150. The hot water is used to remove food dregs on the dishes, or to soak dried food dregs in the water and remove the dried food dregs in a washing process. The hot water is used to heat the dishes for a rinsing process. If the dishes are heated using the hot water for a last operation of the rinsing process, water is rapidly vaporized by a latent heat of the dishes in a drying process to be later performed.
A water tank 108 is disposed in a separate space under the dish rack 104a seated in the lower portion of the washing chamber 104 to contain washing or rinsing water. The water tank 108 is connected to a discharge pump 110 and a water supply pump 112 through a discharge pipe 110a and a circulation pipe 112a, respectively. The circulation pipe 112a is connected to water supply pipes 104b connected to upper and lower spray nozzles 104c, respectively.
With this construction, the washing or rinsing water sprayed from the upper and lower spray nozzles 104c, which is circulated inside the washing chamber 104, passes through the water tank 108 and the circulation pipe 112a, is supplied to the water supply pipes 104b, and then is resprayed by the upper and lower spray nozzles 104c, and is recirculated inside of the washing chamber 104 by an action of the water supply pump 112. When a washing time elapses or a rinsing time elapses, the washing or rinsing water discharges outside the body 102 of the conventional dishwasher 100 by an action of the discharge pump 110.
In the conventional dishwasher 100 having the heater 150 therein, since the heater 150 is submerged under the water to generate the hot water, compounds of calcium (e.g., calcites) form on a surface of the heater 150, so that a lifetime of the heater 150 is shortened. Further, since the water is directly heated, relatively large periods of time are required to generate the hot water. Further, in a case where air in the washing chamber 104 is heated to perform a drying process using the heater 150, dishes are excessively heated, so that removing the dishes immediately after the drying process is complete is inconvenient for a user.
A model of a convention dishwasher exists in which an exterior heater is installed in a separate space outside the washing chamber and is constructed to supply water heated by the heater to the washing chamber. In this case, since the heater is submerged under the water to generate the hot water, there remains the problems that the lifetime of the heater is shortened by the heater being covered with the calcium compounds, a washing time is increased by a direct heating of the water, and considerable energy is consumed. Further, the conventional dishwasher having the exterior heater rinses dishes using the hot water for the last operation of the rinsing process instead of heating air in the washing chamber to prevent the dishes from being excessively heated for the drying process, so that the dishes are properly heated and will be rapidly dried by the latent heat of the dishes in the drying process to be later performed. As described above, since the conventional dishwasher having the exterior heater dries the dishes using the latent heat, rinsing using the hot water should be performed at the last operation of the rinsing process just prior to the drying process. Accordingly, an independent drying process in which the water is not required cannot be performed. Further, since the rinsing of the dishes using the hot water is performed at the last operation of the rinsing process just prior to the drying process, unnecessary power results, so that an energy consumption efficiency of the conventional dishwasher is decreased.

Dishwasher with heater and method of controlling the same


A filtering chamber for a set for the administration of fluids is provided. The chamber includes a housing providing a passageway for the fluid in the administration set. Within the chamber is a filter of screen which filters the fluid flowing through the housing. The filter or screen is attached to the housing during molding of the housing without the use of bonding agents, resulting in a chamber component which may be produced automatically and economically.

Frequently surgical operations and other medical procedures and treatments require the intravenous infusion of fluids such as whole blood or whole blood products. The infusion is typically accomplished by an administration set which provides a fluid path between a container of the fluid and a catheter which extends through a patient""s skin and into a vein or artery.
These fluids must be acceptable for infusion upon administration. Although the fluids are generally packaged in a formulation which is appropriate for infusion, filtering of the fluid after the fluid leaves the container but before administration is frequently desired. In particular, whole blood may produce fibrin accumulations and clumped cells during storage which should be removed prior to administration of the whole blood. Thus administration sets for intravenous fluids including blood will typically include a filter element along the flow path established by the administration set.
Generally administration sets include a filter element within a component referred to as a drip chamber. The drip chamber is generally tubular and has an upper end cap and lower end cap attached to opposite ends of a chamber. The upper end cap will contain a means for establishing a fluid connection with the upstream portion of the administration set and the lower end cap will contain a means for establishing a fluid connection with the downstream portion of the administration set. Typically flexible tubing will be connected to the upper and lower end caps; however, other components of the administration set may be directly attached to the end caps. For example, a spike for accessing an administration port of a flexible container of fluid may be attached to the upper end cap.
At the upper end cap is typically a drop former which is designed to produce droplets of a desired volume of the fluid as the fluid flows through the upper end cap and into the chamber. Then by adjusting the flow of fluid so that a desired number of droplets enter the chamber over a certain period of time, a desired rate of volume administration may be accomplished.
A filter element is generally placed within the chamber for filtering the fluid before the fluid exits the chamber. The filter element and chamber walls are generally configured so that all fluid which flows through the chamber must flow through the filter element before the fluid exits the chamber.
In most prior art chambers, the filter is a separate element which must be attached to the other parts of the chamber during assembly. The two most common method of attachment are bonding with either a solvent or adhesive or a press fit. Each option has drawbacks. For example, bonding introduces a bonding agent into the materials which must be acceptable from a clinical standpoint and the bonding step adds cost to the construction of the filtering chamber.
Use of press fit components may make the chamber rigid, and hinder the ability of a health care provider to flex the chamber walls during priming. Also this flexing may contribute to the dislodging of the press fit parts. In addition press fit may require the addition of other parts to insure that the parts are properly attached to each other.
Thus it is an object of the present invention to provide a drip chamber which filters fluid flowing through the chamber and may be economically constructed in a manner which facilitates use by a health care provider. More particularly includes a filtering element which may be attached to the chamber without use of a bonding agent or through a press fit configuration or additional parts.
The present invention generally accomplishes the objectives by providing a filter chamber in which a filter element is attached to a chamber during the molding process of the chamber. More particularly the present invention provides a filter chamber having a chamber which forms a passageway for the flow of fluid through the filter chamber. The filter chamber also includes a filter element and the filter element and chamber are configured and arranged so that a portion and preferably all the fluid flowing through the filter chamber flow through the filter element. The filter element is attached to the chamber during the molding of the chamber. More particularly the filter element is attached to the chamber when the material forming the chamber hardens about one of more portions of the filter element during the molding process of the chamber so that the filter is arranged and supported in the desired position and configuration.


Methods and systems for calibrating an engine having a rotating shaft are provided. Readings from a plurality of speed sensors provided in one of a plurality of configurations about the shaft are obtained over a plurality of rotations of the shaft, the readings indicative of the passage of position markers and associated with a first precision level. A parameter indicative of relative spacing between the plurality of speed sensors is determined by applying a statistical algorithm to the readings, the parameter being associated with a second precision level higher than the first precision level. The parameter is compared to reference parameters associated with the plurality of configurations to identify an actual speed sensor configuration from amongst the plurality of configurations. The engine is calibrated based on the actual speed sensor configuration.

In a gas turbine engine, inlet air is compressed, mixed with fuel in an inflammable proportion, and exposed to an ignition source to ignite the mixture which then continues to burn to produce combustion products. The combustion of fuel can be leveraged to produce mechanical work, for instance to rotate fans, turbines, propellers, an output shaft, or the like. Electrical motors, as well as other types of engines, can also be used to produce similar mechanical work.
In some engines, it can be desirable to monitor the rotational speed of the mechanical systems subjected to the aforementioned mechanical work. For this purpose, speed sensors of various types are used, which can require calibration.
While existing approaches for calibrating engine speed sensors are suitable for their purposes, improvements may be desirable.

Systems and methods for engine calibration


A flow diverter valve is used in controlling the pressure and/or flow rate of a breathable gas supplied to the airways of a patient by a breathable gas flow generator supply apparatus during, for example, ventilatory assistance treatments such as non-invasive positive pressure ventilation and nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea. The flow diverter valve includes a vane and a housing. The housing has an inlet port, an outlet port, and an exhaust port. The exhaust port opens to atmosphere, and the inlet port is in fluid communication with the flow generator. The outlet port is in fluid communication with a patient mask via a conduit. The vane is configured with respect to the housing such that a blower associated with the CPAP apparatus remains substantially unchoked, regardless of whether the vane is in the open or closed position.

Non-Invasive Positive Pressure Ventilation (NIPPV) is a form of treatment for breathing disorders which can involve a relatively higher pressure of air or other breathable gas being provided to the entrance of a patient's airways via a patient mask during the inspiratory phase of respiration, and a relatively lower pressure or atmospheric pressure being provided in the patient mask during the expiratory phase of respiration. In other NIPPV modes the pressure can be made to vary in a complex manner throughout the respiratory cycle. For example, the pressure at the mask during inspiration or expiration can be varied through the period of treatment.
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) treatment is commonly used to treat breathing disorders including Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). CPAP treatment continuously provides pressurized air or other breathable gas to the entrance of a patient's airways via a patient mask at a pressure elevated above atmospheric pressure, typically in the range 3-20 cm H2O. CPAP treatment can act as a pneumatic splint of a patient's upper airway.
CPAP treatment can be in a number of forms, including the maintenance of a constant treatment pressure level, alternating between two different constant levels in synchronism with the inspiratory and expiratory phases of respiration ("bi-level CPAP"), and having an automatically adjustable and/or a computer controlled level in accordance with a patient's therapeutic needs. In all of these cases there is a need for control over the pressure of air or breathable gas supplied to the patient mask.
Breathable gas supply apparatus used in CPAP and NIPPV treatments broadly comprise a flow generator constituted by a continuous source of air or other breathable gas generally in the form of a blower driven by an electric motor. A pressurized supply of air or other breathable gas can also be used. The gas supply is connected to a conduit or tube, which is in turn connected to a patient mask (or nasal prong) which incorporates, or has in close proximity, a vent to atmosphere for exhausting exhaled gases, such as carbon dioxide. To vary the flow supplied to the patient during inspiration and expiration, a valve member can be used, such as the valve member disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/598,053. For example, a cammed rotatable member can be used to permit a large flow during patient inspiration, and a relatively small (or substantively no) flow during patient expiration. However, this type of valve arrangement may be disadvantageous since during the patient expiration, when the valve member does not permit a significant, if any flow, the blower, which is upstream of the valve member, may be choked. Stated differently, flow through and from the blower may temporarily stop if the valve member is positioned to prevent or substantially prevent flow to the patient, e.g., when the patient is in the expiration phase of the breathing cycle. When inspiration resumes and the valve member rotates so as to permit flow or more flow to the patient, the fan or impeller associated with the blower may require a few revolutions (e.g., two) in order to reinstate flow through the impeller to the conduit and to the patient. As such, the response time of the CPAP apparatus when changing from the expiration to the inspiration may be delayed.
Treatment pressure of the air or other breathable gas can be controlled by speed control of the electric motor driving the blower of the flow generator. An example of a related art flow generator using a speed controlled blower is illustrated in FIG. 1. Conventional flow generator 110 is comprised by a chamber 112 that is segregated from a housing 114 of the flow generator 110. The housing 114 houses control circuitry (not shown) associated with the flow generator 110. The flow generator 110 is further comprised by a motor 116 driving an induced flow centrifugal turbine (impeller) 118, which induces the flow of air or breathable gas by an air inlet 120 to pass the air or breathable gas under pressure by an air outlet 122 to the air delivery tube (not shown) and so to the mask (also not shown). The turbine 118 has radially directed impeller blades 124. The alternate use of axial fans is known also in CPAP apparatus.
For typical CPAP treatment, the blower motor must be able to change its operational speed quickly. This results in the need to supply additional electrical power during times of operational speed increases. Disadvantages associated with rapid transitions in motor speed are, for example, noise, vibration, blower choking, and increased thermal dissipation requirements, in addition to increased power requirements.
Treatment pressure can alternatively be controlled by driving the electric motor of the blower at a constant speed, and venting or bleeding-off excess air from the output side of the blower. An example of this type of related art pressure control is shown in FIG. 2. A turbine 118 is connected to a plenum chamber 130 by a supply pipe 132. The plenum chamber 130 has a controllable spill valve 134 operable to indexingly open and close an opening 136 in the chamber wall to allow the venting of air to atmosphere so as to achieve the desired output pressure at an air outlet 138. Consequently, venting can be associated with excessive noise when the treatment pressure is adjusted. Additionally, it is difficult to maintain precise treatment pressure regulation and to maintain a high maximum flow rate, due in part to the large volume of plenum chamber 130. Imprecise treatment pressure regulation can lead to patient discomfort.
FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a prior art treatment pressure control using a bleeding valve 140 in fluid communication with blower 150 that is operated by a mechanism 142 situated within the flow path 144. In this embodiment, the mechanism 142 operates primarily in either an open position 146 (FIG. 3A) or a closed position 148 (FIG. 3B), resulting in imprecise, abrupt treatment pressure regulation. Additionally, the mechanism 142 situated in the flow path 144 can impede flow and cause noise, and can introduce into the flow path 144 odors and/or other contaminants generated during the operation of the mechanism 142. This results in patient discomfort and decreased patient compliance with treatment.
Noise and/or patient discomfort decrease patient compliance with treatment of breathing disorders. Therefore, there is a need in the prior art for an improved apparatus that increases patient compliance with treatment by reducing disadvantages including noise emissions and imprecise treatment pressure regulation. There is also a need to provide a valve arrangement that can prevent choking of the blower and/or improve the speed and/or response time when the ventilation changes from the expiration mode to the inspiration mode.

Flow diverter for controlling the pressure and flow rate in CPAP device


A new Locking Nut System for locking a nut onto a conventional fastener without the nut becoming loosened thereby providing a safe, reliable and quick securing means to the conventional fastener. The inventive device includes a hexagonal nut having a plurality of radial apertures and a perimeter channel, a length of wire having a loop at one end, a protective coating covers the wire, and a plurality of traverse ribs extend from the coating opposite of the loop. The end of the wire opposite of the loop projects through a pair of aligned apertures with a passage within a fastener and then removably engages the loop with a substantial portion of the wire within the perimeter channel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to Locking Pin Devices and more particularly pertains to a new Locking Nut System for locking a nut onto a conventional fastener without the nut becoming loosened thereby providing a safe, reliable and quick securing means to the conventional fastener.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of Locking Pin Devices is known in the prior art. More specifically, Locking Pin Devices heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art Locking Pin Devices include U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,689; U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,299; U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,586; U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,338; U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,428 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,553.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new Locking Nut System. The inventive device includes a hexagonal nut having a plurality of radial apertures and a perimeter channel, a length of wire having a loop at one end, a protective coating covers the wire, and a plurality of traverse ribs extend from the coating opposite of the loop.
In these respects, the Locking Nut System according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of locking a nut onto a conventional fastener without the nut becoming loosened thereby providing a safe, reliable and quick securing means to the conventional fastener.

Combination nut and threaded fastener with locking pin


A terminal cutter includes a tool frame having a first cutting member coupled to an upper handle having a first cutting surface for cutting a terminal from a carrier strip and a second cutting member coupled to a lower handle having a second cutting surface for cutting the terminal from the carrier strip. A terminal strip guide assembly is coupled to the upper handle and/or the lower handle offset from the first and second cutting members. The terminal strip guide assembly includes a strip guide having a slot receiving the carrier strip and having a guide surface adjacent the slot. The guide surface is configured to engage the terminal to locate the terminal relative to the terminal strip guide assembly and to control a depth of the carrier strip received in the slot.

The subject matter herein relates generally to terminal cutters for removing terminals from a carrier strip.
Terminals used in electrical connectors are typically stamped and formed from a metal sheet. During the manufacturing process, the terminals are initially held on a carrier strip stamped from the metal sheet with the terminals. The terminals are removed from the carrier strip during a later manufacturing process. In some applications, the terminals are removed from the carrier strip by a machine during another process, such as a crimping process where the crimping machine shears the terminal from the carrier strip as the terminal is being crimped to a wire. The machine has tight tolerances to accurately and repeatably shear the terminal from the carrier strip leaving a small shear tab at the location where the terminal was previously attached to the carrier strip.
In other applications, the terminals are removed from the carrier strip by a handheld tool, such as a terminal cutter. However, conventional handheld terminal cutters lack features to control positioning of the terminal during the cutting process. Handheld terminal cutters produce terminals having shear tabs with variable lengths, and in some circumstances produce terminals having shear tabs that are outside of industry standard lengths.
A need remains for a handheld terminal cutter capable of accurately and consistently positioning terminals in a cutting zone.

Terminal cutter for removing terminals from a carrier strip


A method and apparatus for implementing power modes in microcontrollers (MCUs) using power profiles. In one embodiment of the method, a central processing unit (CPU) of the MCU executes a first instruction for calling a subroutine stored in a memory of the MCU, wherein the first instruction comprises a first parameter to be passed to the subroutine. Thereafter the CPU writes a first value to a first special function register (SFR) of the MCU in response to executing the first instruction, wherein the first value is related to the first parameter. The MCU operates in a first power mode in response to the CPU writing the first value to the first SFR. The CPU also executes a second instruction for calling the subroutine, wherein the second instruction comprises a second parameter to be passed to the subroutine. In response the CPU writes a second value to a second SFR of the MCU in response to executing the second instruction, wherein the second value is related to the second parameter. The MCU operates in a second power mode in response to the CPU writing the second value to the second SFR. The MCU consumes more power operating in the first power mode than it does when operating in the second power mode.

A microcontroller (MCU) is a small computer formed on an integrated circuit. MCUs vary in size and complexity. However, nearly all MCUs contain a central processing unit (CPU), a read only program memory (e.g., flash memory) that stores an embedded program, a random access memory (RAM), one or more general purpose timers, and one or more general purpose input/output (GPIO) ports.
MCUs are employed in many types of products for many different markets consumer, medical, industrial, security, and others. Many of these products are battery powered. Thus power consumption is a key specification to which embedded program developers must pay close attention. Even if the system is line operated, power consumption can be a concern since many products are contained in sealed enclosures, and the heat produced during operation must be kept to a minimum to prevent such products from overheating. Energy efficient operation of MCUs also makes it possible to eliminate fans or other schemes designed to remove heat.
There are several factors that affect power consumption in MCUs. Clock speed and clock gating are two. MCUs generate clocks that drive the CPU and other components such as timers. Internal devices (e.g., phase-lock loops) that generate clock signals, and the components driven by the clocks, consume more power with higher clock speeds. Also MCUs typically employ a clock distribution tree that distributes clock signals throughout the MCU to components that need them. The power used to drive the tree can be a substantial portion of the total power used by MCU. The whole tree structure with gates at the ends and amplifiers in between have to be loaded and unloaded every clock cycle. To save energy, clock gating temporarily shuts off parts of the tree to those components that don't need clock signals. Voltage regulation is yet another important power factor. Reducing the operating voltage of the MCU has long been a traditional approach to power consumption reduction. As the voltage goes down, so does the operating power. Importantly, developers must pay close attention to power consumption when developing embedded programs.

Method and apparatus for implementing power modes in microcontrollers using power profiles


A developing blade apparatus may include a supporting a protrusion and a developing blade connected to the supporting member and including an opening. The protrusion of the supporting member may be disposed within the opening. The developing blade may include a plurality of weld marks that includes a first weld mark and a second weld mark. The protrusion and the opening are disposed between the first weld mark and the second weld mark on an imaginary straight line connecting the first weld mark and the second weld mark.

Conventionally, there has been an electrophotographic image forming apparatus that includes a developing device including a developing roller and a blade assembly for regulating a thickness of a developer layer held on the developing roller. Further, there has been known a blade assembly that includes a blade that contacts the developing roller and a supporting member that holds the blade in an overlapping manner.
The blade has a pair of openings and the supporting member includes a pair of positioning protrusions. The openings are engaged with the positioning protrusions, respectively, thereby determining a position of the blade with respect to the supporting member in the blade assembly. The blade is welded to the supporting member at a portion of the blade between the positioning protrusions along the blade in an extended dimension of the blade.

Developing device, blade assembly, and developing device manufacturing method


An engine start control device that is capable of winding back a crankshaft more quickly at the time of an idling stop includes a swingback controller for performing a swingback control process for reversing a crankshaft when an engine is started by operating a starter switch, a windback reverse controller for performing a windback control process for reversing the crankshaft immediately after the engine is stopped by the idling stop control process, and a motor brake controller for performing a motor brake control process for braking the crankshaft reversed by the windback control process by rotating the crankshaft in the normal direction after the windback control process performed by the windback reverse controller. The value of a motor current supplied at the time the crankshaft is reversed by the windback reverse controller is set as a value equal to or larger than the value of a motor current supplied at the time the crankshaft is reversed by the swingback controller.

PTL 1 discloses an engine start control device, to be described below, that is capable of shortening the time until a windback control process in an idling stop control process is completed, as described in its abstract.
Specifically, PTL 1 discloses, in paragraph 0048, a control process in which, when the engine starts from a fully stopped state, a swingback reverse duty ratio, e.g., 100%, set by a swingback controller is used, and a windback reverse duty ratio, e.g., 100% or between 90% and 100%, set by an idling-stop-start windback controller is used.
PTL 1 also discloses, in paragraph 0050, a control process of the idling-stop-start windback controller in which, when it is detected that the crankshaft is wound back to a predetermined position, motor brake means reverses an alternating-current generator (ACG) starter motor to apply a motor brake force to the crankshaft, the motor brake means applying the motor brake force stepwise at a plurality of duty ratios. For performing such a motor brake control process, a throttle opening and a crankshaft rotational speed are detected.
According to PTL 1, specifically, in order to restrain "rollback" by which the piston is pushed back under a compressive reaction force to actuate the crankshaft to rotate in a normal direction upon swingback, the motor brake force is applied stepwise at the plural duty ratios, thereby shortening the time spent until the windback control process is completed.


The present invention permits solder joints to be made directly to via and through holes without the solder being wicked into the vias or through holes, by filling plated through holes with an epoxy or cyanate fill composition. When cured and overplated, the fill composition provides support for the solder joint and provides a flat solderable surface for the inter-connection. In certain embodiments, the cured fill compositions, offer a further advantage of being conductive. The invention also relates to several novel methods for filling through holes with such fill compositions, and to resistors located in through holes and vias.

In circuit board construction, solder ball connection of a module, such as a ceramic module, provides significant electrical performance advantage over conventional pin-in-hole technology. Pin-in-hole technology involves the attachment of modules to circuit boards using projections or pins which insert into corresponding holes in the board. Pin-in-hole connections, due to mechanical considerations, occupy considerable surface area of the circuit board thwarting further miniaturization. In contrast, solder ball technology attaches modules to the board using balls of solder on the module which are joined to corresponding contact points on the surface of the board.
Specifically, a high melting point solder ball is placed on the backside of a module and attached to the module with a low melting point solder paste reflow process. The module is then attached to the surface of the circuit board with a screened, low melting point solder paste. Since attachment of the module to the board is made only on the surface of the board, the attachment land, drill diameter, and clearance land sizes may be reduced in size, thus allowing greater wiring area. Solder ball connection provides the advantage of enhanced system speed because the signal net length is reduced and also provides the advantage of enhanced wiring capability due to reduced via and land diameters.
However, a problem with solder ball connect technology occurs where the solder ball connection is being made to a conventional through hole or via. When such a connection has been attempted, the screened eutectic paste used to connect the solder ball to the board flows through the hole away from the intended inter-connection site during the reflowing process. This results in poor and unreliable solder joints. One attempt to attach a module directly to a via in pad type of land was to pre-fill the through holes with solder to create a solid land prior to attachment of the solder ball. However, the solder is pulled down through the hole, away from the inter-connection during the assembly of the circuit board. This pulling down or "wicking" of the solder results in a void below the ball which leads to cracking and thus produces poor, unreliable solder joints.
Another solution to the problem of connecting solder balls to through holes has been to utilize a "dog-bone" type termination where a solid copper land is displaced from the plated through hole or via. The solder joint is made to the solid copper land which is then connected by a circuit line to the via or through hole. While the dog bone termination provides excellent solder joints, it decreases the advantages otherwise obtained with the via in pad solder ball connection technology because the wireability is reduced and the signal line length is increased. Concomitantly, the circuit line occupies space or "real estate" on the surface of the circuit board.
Attempts have also been made to fill vias and through holes with certain polymer materials, but such polymer materials incompletely fill the vias thereby creating significant voids. Such polymer materials also require lengthy processing time due to drying of the solvent. These polymer materials also tend to shrink as the solvent is released, thus causing non-planar surfaces and additional voids. A still further drawback with such materials is limited solderability.
It would be desirable to have solder ball connections directly at through holes thereby consuming less real estate, decreasing signal line length and increasing wireability, and yet exhibiting satisfactory solder joints.

Method for applying curable fill compositon to apertures in a substrate

International Business Machines Corporation


In the process sequence for replacing conventional gate electrode structures by high-k metal gate structures, the number of additional masking steps may be maintained at a low level, for instance by using highly selective etch steps, thereby maintaining a high degree of compatibility with conventional CMOS techniques. Furthermore, the techniques disclosed herein enable compatibility to front-end process techniques and back-end process techniques, thereby allowing the integration of well-established strain-inducing mechanisms in the transistor level as well as in the contact level.

1. Field of the Invention
Generally, the present disclosure relates to the fabrication of highly sophisticated integrated circuits including highly scaled transistor elements comprising highly capacitive gate structures including a high-k gate dielectric of increased permittivity compared to gate dielectrics, such as silicon dioxide and silicon nitride.
2. Description of the Related Art
The fabrication of advanced integrated circuits, such as CPUs, storage devices, ASICs (application specific integrated circuits) and the like, requires the formation of a large number of circuit elements on a given chip area according to a specified circuit layout, wherein field effect transistors represent one important type of circuit elements that substantially determine performance of the integrated circuits. Generally, a plurality of process technologies are currently practiced, wherein, for many types of complex circuitry, including field effect transistors, MOS technology is currently one of the most promising approaches due to the superior characteristics in view of operating speed and/or power consumption and/or cost efficiency. During the fabrication of complex integrated circuits using, for instance, MOS technology, millions of transistors, e.g., N-channel transistors and/or P-channel transistors, are formed on a substrate including a crystalline semiconductor layer. A field effect transistor, irrespective of whether an N-channel transistor is considered, typically comprises so-called PN junctions that are formed by an interface of highly doped regions, referred to as drain and source regions, with a slightly doped or non-doped region, such as a channel region, disposed adjacent to the highly doped regions.
In a field effect transistor, the conductivity of the channel region, i.e., the drive current capability of the conductive channel, is controlled by a gate electrode formed adjacent to the channel region and separated therefrom by a thin insulating layer. The conductivity of the channel region, upon formation of a conductive channel due to the application of an appropriate control voltage to the gate electrode, depends on the dopant concentration, the mobility of the charge carriers and, for a given extension of the channel region in the transistor width direction, on the distance between the source and drain regions, which is also referred to as channel length. Hence, in combination with the capability of rapidly creating a conductive channel below the insulating layer upon application of the control voltage to the gate electrode, the conductivity of the channel region substantially affects the performance of MOS transistors. Thus, as the speed of creating the channel, which depends on the conductivity of the gate electrode, and the channel resistivity substantially determine the transistor characteristics, the scaling of the channel length, and associated therewith the reduction of channel resistivity and increase of gate resistivity, is a dominant design criterion for accomplishing an increase in the operating speed of the integrated circuits.
Presently, the vast majority of integrated circuits are based on silicon due to substantially unlimited availability, the well-understood characteristics of silicon and related materials and processes and the experience gathered during the last 50 years. Therefore, silicon will likely remain the material of choice for future circuit generations designed for mass products. One reason for the dominant importance of silicon in fabricating semiconductor devices has been the superior characteristics of a silicon/silicon dioxide interface that allows reliable electrical insulation of different regions from each other. The silicon/silicon dioxide interface is stable at high temperatures and, thus, allows the performance of subsequent high temperature processes, as are required, for example, for anneal cycles to activate dopants and to cure crystal damage without sacrificing the electrical characteristics of the interface.
For the reasons pointed out above, silicon dioxide is preferably used as a gate insulation layer in field effect transistors that separates the gate electrode, frequently comprised of polysilicon or other metal-containing materials, from the silicon channel region. In steadily improving device performance of field effect transistors, the length of the channel region has continuously been decreased to improve switching speed and drive current capability. Since the transistor performance is controlled by the voltage supplied to the gate electrode to invert the surface of the channel region to a sufficiently high charge density for providing the desired drive current for a given supply voltage, a certain degree of capacitive coupling, provided by the capacitor formed by the gate electrode, the channel region and the silicon dioxide disposed therebetween, has to be maintained. It turns out that decreasing the channel length requires an increased capacitive coupling to avoid the so-called short channel behavior during transistor operation. The short channel behavior may lead to an increased leakage current and to a dependence of the threshold voltage on the channel length. Aggressively scaled transistor devices with a relatively low supply voltage and thus reduced threshold voltage may suffer from an exponential increase of the leakage current while also requiring enhanced capacitive coupling of the gate electrode to the channel region. Thus, the thickness of the silicon dioxide layer has to be correspondingly decreased to provide the required capacitance between the gate and the channel region. For example, a channel length of approximately 0.08 μm may require a gate dielectric made of silicon dioxide as thin as approximately 1.2 nm. Although generally high speed transistor elements having an extremely short channel may preferably be used for high speed applications, whereas transistor elements with a longer channel may be used for less critical applications, such as storage transistor elements, the relatively high leakage current caused by direct tunneling of charge carriers through an ultra-thin silicon dioxide gate insulation layer may reach values for an oxide thickness in the range or 1-2 nm that may not be compatible with requirements for performance driven circuits.
Therefore, replacing silicon dioxide as the material for gate insulation layers has been considered, particularly for extremely thin silicon dioxide gate layers. Possible alternative materials include materials that exhibit a significantly higher permittivity so that a physically greater thickness of a correspondingly formed gate insulation layer provides a capacitive coupling that would be obtained by an extremely thin silicon dioxide layer. Commonly, a thickness required for achieving a specified capacitive coupling with silicon dioxide is referred to as capacitance equivalent thickness (CET). Thus, at a first glance, it appears that simply replacing the silicon dioxide with high-k materials is a straightforward way to obtain a capacitance equivalent thickness in the range of 1 nm and less.
It has thus been suggested to replace silicon dioxide with high permittivity materials, such as tantalum oxide (Ta2O5) with a k of approximately 25, strontium titanium oxide (SrTiO3) having a k of approximately 150, hafnium oxide (HfO2), HfSiO, zirconium oxide (ZrO2) and the like.
Additionally, transistor performance may be increased by providing an appropriate conductive material for the gate electrode to replace the usually used polysilicon material, since polysilicon may suffer from charge carrier depletion at the vicinity of the interface to the gate dielectric, thereby reducing the effective capacitance between the channel region and the gate electrode. Thus, a gate stack has been suggested in which a high-k dielectric material provides enhanced capacitance based on the same thickness as a silicon dioxide layer, while additionally maintaining leakage currents at an acceptable level. On the other hand, the non-polysilicon material, such as titanium nitride and the like, may be formed to connect to the high-k dielectric material, thereby substantially avoiding the presence of a depletion zone. Since typically a low threshold voltage of the transistor, which represents the voltage at which a conductive channel forms in the channel region, is desired to obtain the high drive currents, commonly the controllability of the respective channel requires pronounced lateral dopant profiles and dopant gradients, at least in the vicinity of the PN junctions. Therefore, so-called halo regions are usually formed by ion implantation in order to introduce a dopant species whose conductivity type corresponds to the conductivity type of the remaining channel and semiconductor region so as to "reinforce" the resulting PN junction dopant gradient after the formation of respective extension and deep drain and source regions. In this way, the threshold voltage of the transistor significantly determines the controllability of the channel, wherein a significant variance of the threshold voltage may be observed for reduced gate lengths. Hence, by providing an appropriate halo implantation region, the controllability of the channel may be enhanced, thereby also reducing the variance of the threshold voltage, which is also referred to as threshold roll-off, and also reducing significant variations of transistor performance with a variation in gate length. Since the threshold voltage of the transistors is significantly determined by the work function of the metal-containing gate material, an appropriate adjustment of the effective work function with respect to the conductivity type of the transistor under consideration has to be guaranteed.
After forming sophisticated gate structures including a high-k dielectric and a metal-based gate material, however, high temperature treatments may be required, which may result in a reduction of the permittivity of the gate dielectric caused by an increase of the oxygen contents in the high-k material, thereby also resulting in an increase of layer thickness. Furthermore, a shift of the work function may be observed which is believed to be associated with the enhanced oxygen affinity of many high-k dielectric materials, resulting in a re-distributing of oxygen from trench isolation structure via the high-k dielectric material of shared gate line structures, in particular at the moderately high temperatures required for completing the transistors after forming the high-k metal gate structure. Due to this Fermi level shift in the metal-containing gate materials, the resulting threshold voltage may become too high to enable the use of halo implantation techniques for adjusting the transistor characteristics with respect to controlling threshold voltage roll-off to allow high drive current values at moderately low threshold voltages.
The moderate and high temperatures during the transistor fabrication process may be avoided by using an integration scheme, in which the gate electrode structure is formed according to conventional techniques and is finally replaced by a sophisticated high-k metal gate structure, wherein the respective metals are appropriately selected so as to have suitable work functions for N-channel transistors and P-channel transistors, respectively. Thus, in this integration scheme, the conventional polysilicon/oxide gate structure is removed and replaced by the high-k metal stack after the final high temperature anneal processes and the silicidation of the drain and source regions. Hence, the high-k metal gate electrode structure may only experience low temperatures used in the back-end processing, that is, temperatures of approximately 400° C., thereby substantially avoiding the above-described problems with respect to altering the characteristics of the high-k material and shifting the work functions of the metals in the gate electrodes.
As previously explained, the N-channel transistors and P-channel transistors require very different metal-containing materials for appropriately adjusting the work function and thus the threshold voltage of the different transistor types. Therefore, respective integration schemes may be highly complex and may also be difficult to be combined with well-established dual overlayer stressor approaches, which are typically used for providing a highly stressed dielectric material with different intrinsic stress above the N-channel transistors and the P-channel transistors, respectively. In addition, in many cases, transistors in different device regions, such as CPU cores, peripheral regions for input/output, memory regions and the like, may be operated at different supply voltages, thereby requiring an appropriately adjusted layer thickness of the gate insulation layers, which in conventional integration strategies is accomplished by growing an increased oxide thickness as required for the highest operating voltage and selectively reducing the oxide thickness to a desired low level at high performance regions operated at low supply voltages. The integration of gate dielectrics adapted to different operating voltages may be difficult to be combined with an approach for forming the high-k metal gates after completing the transistor structures, since a plurality of complex masking regimes may be required.
The present disclosure is directed to various methods and devices that may avoid, or at least reduce, the effects of one or more of the problems identified above.

Method of forming CMOS device having gate insulation layers of different type and thickness


A system, method and computer readable medium for targeting messages delivered by wireless communication comprising determining at least one target space within at least one wireless communications network, determining a notification list comprising at least one recipient in said at least one target space, determining at least one notification message, and transmitting said at least one notification message through said at least one wireless communications network to at least one recipient on said notification list.

Wireless communications devices have become a preferred communications device for many users. A wireless communications device allows a user to be in communication with relevant information sources regardless of the recipient's location. Methods and systems exist for allowing a recipient to subscribe to a notification service to receive desired information such as sporting scores, stock market reports and the like. These notifications are broadcast to all subscribed recipients without the notification being targeted specifically to the recipient.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for location-based targeted notifications using wireless communication devices


A dispersion compensation apparatus employing an arrayed-waveguide-grating (AWG) which exhibits a dispersion slope.

In long-distance transmission of optical signals, the accumulation of signal dispersion presents serious problems. These problems intensify with an increase in bit rate and the distance traveled by the optical signals. To date, efforts that compensate for dispersion have mainly involved the use of dispersion compensating fibers, filter-type dispersion compensating devices or a combination of both.
Colorless TODCs have proven quite useful for compensating optical fiber chromatic dispersion. Optical fiber however, imparts not only chromatic dispersion but slope dispersion (change of dispersion from channel to channel of a wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) optical signal) to optical signals as well. Conventional TODCs exhibit nearly zero dispersion slope, hence they do not provide any significant dispersion slope compensation.