The present invention provides an intracorporeally injectable non-toxic composition of atelocollagen having an excellent, long-lasting skin swelling effect due to its low viscosity, good fluidity, easy injectability and low antigenicity (without calcification) properties. The composition is prepared by treating an aqueous suspension of atelocollagen with a buffer for physiological conditions. The suspension can have atelocollagen content of 55 to 75 mg/ml, where approximately 20 to 100% by weight of atelocollagen is cross-linked with a polyepoxy compound.

The present invention relates to an aqueous suspension of collagen which is formed by a cross-linking reaction using a cross-linking agent, such as a polyepoxy compound. The cross-linked collagen is intracorporeally injectable and useful as repair material for soft tissue depression deficiency.
Collagen is a protein richly distributed in skin, cornea, vessels, sinew, bones and the like of animals. It is a sticky molecule with a molecular weight of about 0.3 million and has a helical structure consisting of three polypeptide chains with a molecular length of approximately 300 nm and a diameter of approximately 1.5 nm.
A bundle of five collagen molecules is called a microfibril and forms a structure separated by only 67 nm from the adjacent molecule. A microfibril has a thickness of about 4 nm and is the fundamental structural unit of collagen fiber. Many microfibrils comprise a fibril, and a bundle of fibrils comprises a collagen fiber. Sinew or the like is tissue in which the collagen fibers are arranged in an orderly fashion while skin is a tissue made up of entangled collagen fibers.
Fibrous collagen exhibits cross-linking between the molecule, and this cross-linking generally exists in the telopeptide showing no triple helix present at the terminal point of the collagen molecule. Atelocollagen can be obtained by digesting the telopeptide moiety with an enzyme such as pepsin. Since the main antigen determining group of collagen exists in the telopeptide moiety, the atelocollagen in which this telopeptide moiety has been digested hardly shows antigenicity and is therefore useful as medical material.
This atelocollagen is useful for repairing tissue deficient regions of soft tissues like skin by injecting an aqueous suspension of the atelocollagen into the depressed deficient wound, thereby eliminating the need for a surgical operation. The higher the collagen concentration of an aqueous collagen suspension during injection, the more effective the repairing effect is, due to the attendant skin swelling effect. It is preferable from the wound curing and cosmetic point of view to inject a small amount of such an aqueous suspension of atelocollagen at several sites rather than to inject a large amount thereof at one site. Therefore, it is necessary to use a thin needle, such as 27 G or 30 G. As such, a low viscosity is needed for injecting an aqueous suspension of atelocollagen. Thus, the intracorporeally injectable aqueous suspension of atelocollagen should have a high concentration and a low viscosity.
Three types of intracorporeally injectable collagen are proposed. For simplicity, they are referred to below as Collagen A, Collagen B and Collagen C. Collagen A is an aqueous neutral solution of collagen (JP Patent Publication No. Sho 62-37020). Collagen B is an aqueous suspension of collagen fibers, and Collagen C is an aqueous suspension of atelocollagen cross-linked with glutaraldehyde (JP Patent Publication No. Hei 1-36840).
The aqueous neutral solution type Collagen A is viscous at low temperatures. Implantation of this type of collagen into a living body induces the formation of collagen fibers by body temperature, whereby the same collagen structure as living collagen is constituted. Decomposition and absorption of this type of collagen within living bodies occurs slowly and produces a high skin swelling effect. However, it is difficult to inject a highly concentrated solution of Collagen A because of its high viscosity. Injection of a large amount of a highly concentrated solution at one site would form a collagen structure which would tend to prevent the live self-organizing cells from penetrating therein.
An aqueous suspension of collagen fibers (Collagen B) is prepared by subjecting collagen molecules to conditions similar to those of living bodies and dispersing the resulting fibers in water. Since it is difficult to inject the material using a fine needle as is, the fibrous structure must be converted into a very fine structure, in order to allow easy injection. Once the collagen is implanted into a living body, it diffuses below the skin soon after injection, and decomposition and absorption take place quickly. Thus, the skin swelling effect is so low that injection would have to be repeatedly performed to retain the desired result. Certain suspensions of highly concentrated collagen have been developed for overcoming this defect, but the diffusion, decomposition and absorption of such suspensions in a living body occur so rapidly that marked improvement of the skin via the swelling effect has not been observed.
In the case of Collagen B materials, which are not cross-linked, 2 to 3% of persons have been found to be reactive, even though the telopeptide, the main antigenicity-determining group, has been removed. Repeated administration of Collagen B would also likely produce new reactions in 2 to 3% of the previous non-reactive persons. This, of course is a major problem.
Atelocollagen cross-linked with glutaraldehyde (Collagen C) was developed to try to improve the aforesaid problem. Collagen C is an aqueous suspension of a new material prepared by cross-linking atelocollagen with glutaraldehyde, which raises resistance to intracorporeal decomposition and absorption while further lowering antigenicity. However, when atelocollagen is cross-linked with glutaraldehyde, it becomes water-repellent and its fluidity in aqueous suspensions is inferior to that of atelocollagen which is not cross-linked. In particular, the fluidity of a high concentration of Collagen C makes it difficult to inject. As for intracorporeal change of the implanted material with the passage of time, calcification and the like are often observed, together with low identification into self-tissue. This tendency is pronounced at high concentrations. Therefore, it is not appropriate to inject a high concentration of such cross-linked atelocollagen because the skin swelling effect in such a case would only be improved somewhat when compared with that of atelocollagen not cross-linked. The use of glutaraldehyde as a cross-linking agent also poses a problem because of its cytotoxicity.

Intracorporeally injectable composition for implanting highly concentrated cross-linked atelocollagen


A magnetic ore purification system for enriching magnetic ore concentration in a feed material. The system includes an elutriator, an alternating current magnet, and an ultrasonic separator. The elutriator has a feed port for introducing the feed material into the elutriator and an enriched material port for collecting an enriched material having a magnetic ore concentration that is greater than the feed material. The alternating current magnet generates a uniform low strength magnetic field within the elutriator. The ultrasonic transducer introduces ultrasonic energy into the elutriator.

The present invention relates generally to a system for enriching magnetic ore concentration in a feed material. More particularly, the present invention relates to a ultrasonic magnetic separator for enriching magnetite concentration in iron ore.
As steelmaking processes become technologically more advanced, the raw materials used in the steelmaking processes are required to conform with more stringent standards. For example, "commodity grade" iron ore for use in blast furnaces must have a gangue concentration of less than 5 percent by weight. Iron ore used in the production of direct reduced iron pellets must have a gangue concentration of less than 2 percent by weight.
To attain either of the preceding gangue concentrations, it is typically necessary to beneficiate iron ore to reduce the gangue concentration in the iron ore. The required degree of processing and the expense associated with the benefication process depends on the initial gangue level as well as the hardness of the iron ore. For example, the major domestic iron ore, taconite ore, requires a significant degree of processing because the gangue is intimately associated with the magnetite.
An initial step in the iron ore benefication process involves grinding the iron ore. Components in ground iron ore may be classified into three categories: free magnetite, middlings, and free silica. Middlings and free silica are collectively referred to as gangue.
Middlings contain magnetite and silica that are intimately mixed together. Because middlings contain a mixture of magnetite and silica, more finely grinding middlings releases more free magnetite and free silica, which allows a higher percentage of silica to be separated from magnetite.
Conventional iron ore benefication processes typically involve grinding the iron ore to between 80 and 90 percent by weight less than 45 microns, which liberates magnetite from gangue. Gangue may then be separated from magnetite using magnetic separation techniques.
While more finely grinding iron ore theoretically allows the iron ore to be enriched to a greater degree because a higher percentage of middlings are broken down into magnetite and gangue, the efficiency of conventional benefication processes decreases as the iron ore particle size decreases because competing hydrodynamic and inter-particle forces within the magnetic separator cause silica to be entrained with the magnetite and carried into the iron ore concentrate. For example, standard intensity drum-type magnetic separators perform optimally when the iron ore is ground to a particle size of between 10 and 1,000 microns.
Enriched iron ore obtained from prior art benefication processes relying solely on grinding and magnetic separating have gangue concentrations of between about 5 and 6 percent by weight, which makes the iron ore unacceptable for use in many steelmaking processes. To further reduce the gangue concentration, silica floatation processes are typically utilized.
Silica floatation processes require chemical reagents to be mixed with the iron ore. While silica floatation processes enable the gangue concentration to be reduced to approximately 4 percent by weight, the use of chemical reagents significantly increases the cost of the benefication process. The chemical reagents also necessitate that effluent generated from the floatation process be purified before the effluent is disposed of or reused.
Floatation techniques also experience a decrease in efficiency when processing ultrafine particles. For particles smaller than 10 microns, floatation recovery falls steadily. Below 1 micron, separation efficiency using floatation techniques becomes unacceptable.
Subjecting an iron ore slurry to a preliminary ultrasound treatment and then separating the iron ore slurry with a magnetic separator is described by Rychov et al. in Effect of Ultrasonic Treatment of Magnetite Slurry on the Indicators of Magnetic Enrichment. Rychov et al. indicates that this preliminary treatment allows the iron ore level in the iron ore concentrate to be increased by 1.13 percent. The maximum iron concentration produced during Rychov et al.'s studies was 64.84 percent.
In an article entitled Magnetic Separation in Alternating Fields, Goodluck et al. discusses using an alternating current high gradient magnetic separator. Goodluck et el. indicates that the alternating current magnet was operated at 550 volts and 60 hertz so that a field of 600 gauss was generated by the magnet.
Goodluck et al. describes enriching an iron ore slurry by passing the iron ore slurry through a cylindrical canister having an inner diameter of 3.8 centimeters. The cylindrical canister was packed with a stack of wire mesh pieces that were arranged to form a matrix. In one configuration, Goodluck et al. describes that the matrix had a length of 3 centimeters and that the wire mesh had a diamond shaped hole of 4 millimeters by 2 millimeters. Goodluck et al. further indicates that mechanically vibrating the separator increases the enrichment of the iron ore.


The present invention discloses a system and method to provide memory management for electronic devices having limited and/or finite memory resources. The preferred inventive device packetizes the original digital data stored on the device. A communication controller opportunistically establishes communications between the electronic device and at least one remote transport device. A transceiver singly transmits copies of the packets to the remote device. The transceiver also operates to receive the communication signals from the remote devices. As the copies of the packets are transmitted, a memory controller deletes the digital data corresponding to the transmitted packets, thus freeing space on the electronic device memory.

Portable electronic devices are increasing in numbers and availability at a staggering pace. Personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital recorders, digital cameras, special watches, and the like each provide a high level of convenience to users without the limitations and imperfections sometimes found with older technology recording media, such as analog tapes and film. One problem encountered as the use of such devices increases is the limited digital storage space. For example, in digital cameras, the number of photographs available typically depends on the amount of memory available for the camera. While a user may be able to take 20 or 30 pictures using a low quality resolution, if the user desires a higher quality photo, they may only be able to take three or four pictures before using up the memory. The user would then typically have to transfer the photos to a larger memory, such as on a hard disk or other similar device, and erase the camera's memory before taking more pictures. Similar situations may typically be experienced with digital recorders, PDAs, and the like.
One solution to this problem is for the user to purchase additional memory or a memory with a larger capacity. While this solution generally provides a temporary solution (i.e., the larger memory is still finite and, thus, generally limited to a finite number of pictures, or minutes of record time without erasing its content), it is expensive to buy multiple storage media and/or media with large volumes of space.
A second solution is to routinely empty the storage media into a larger memory resource, such as a hard disk, CD-ROM, printer memory, or the like. Many current electronic devices generally require the user to remove the storage media from the device and then insert the media into a drive suitable for the storage media. Some devices, such as the Sony Mavica (TM) line of digital cameras may use typically standard 3.5 inch floppy diskettes that generally make transporting the stored images onto a larger computer memory more convenient. However, many other devices use media such as Compact Flash (CF) cards, PC cards, SmartMedia (TM), multimedia cards, or proprietary storage media such as Sony's Memory Stick (TM), each tend to require special drives for transporting the media content to a typical desktop, laptop, and/or notebook computer system. Such specialty media drives also add costs to the user. These "non-standard" media make emptying the storage media more inconvenient.
Some portable electronic devices may also be connected directly to another computer system to download the memory's file contents. Some such devices will also generally have removable memory media as described above. However, some may only provide for non-removable, built-in memory, such as with random access memory (RAM), Flash read-only memory (ROM), or the like. The direct connection option generally allows for device memory to be transferred without the necessity of purchasing specialized memory drives. However, the downloading process typically drains the energy resource of the device (e.g., disposable or rechargeable batteries) more quickly, thus reducing the effective length of operation for the device. Downloading from the device also typically is much slower than downloading a removable memory in a memory drive. Therefore, the direct connection method not only typically drains the resources of the device, it generally takes longer to transfer the information as well.
While many current portable electronic devices allow for memory management through removable memory and direct-link connection to a target computer system, in many instances, a user may not have access to an external memory or computer system in order to transfer the stored device data. For example, if a user is conducting an interview using a digital recorder, the user may not have access to a larger memory or computer system during the interview. If the interview lasts longer than expected, the user would generally be forced either to stop the interview, stop recording the interview, or record over portions of the memory. None of these may be practical solutions.

Opportunistic transmission of portably stored digital data

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


To present a thermoplastic resin composition that gives a molded product with a surface to which dust is less likely to adhere. This patent presents a method of improving the appearance of the surface of a thermoplastic molded product.

The invention relates to the thermoplastic resin composition, which is excellent in preventing sticking of dust. It is also related to the method of improving fern marks of molded products.
When a molded product of thermoplastic resin is left attended, it shows fern marks due to the external speck, as shown in FIG. 1. This fern marks often reduces the value of the plastic product.

Thermoplastic resin composition and method of improving appearance


An in-cell touch display panel, a manufacturing method thereof, and a display device. The in-cell touch display panel includes a base substrate, a touch electrode, and a touch driver chip. The touch electrode includes a plurality of sub-electrodes that are independent from each other. The display panel further includes a plurality of touch leads that are in one-to-one correspondence with the sub-electrodes. Each of the sub-electrodes is connected to the touch driver chip through a corresponding touch lead. At least one sub-electrode has at least one non-conductive region, and an orthographic projection of the non-conductive region of the sub-electrode and that of the touch lead corresponding to the sub-electrode on the base substrate at least partially overlap.

With the rapid development of display technologies, the touch display technology has been widely used in various display products such as mobile phones, watches, tablet computers, and the like. Organic light emitting diode (OLED) display products have represented current development trend due to their characteristics such as wide viewing angle, low energy consumption, thinness, etc.
Regarding the touch screen technology, capacitive touch screens have advantages such as long service life, high light transmittance, multi-touch support, and so on, as compared to resistive touch screens. In addition, capacitive touch screens have a good suppression effect on noise and parasitic capacitance to ground. Therefore, capacitive touch screens have become the mainstream in the field of touch screens.
The projection-type capacitive touch screen technology realizes touch function using changes in capacitance generated when a finger touches a touch panel. Projection-type capacitance touch screens can be classified into self-capacitive touch screens and mutual-capacitive touch screens in terms of their operating principles. Self-capacitive touch screens and mutual-capacitive touch screens realize detection of a finger-touched position based on the principles of self-capacitance and mutual capacitance, respectively. In terms of structure of the touch module, the projection-type capacitance touch screens may be classified into out-cell type and built-in type. In-cell capacitance touch screens integrate a touch electrode within the display screen, which have advantages such as simple structure, lightness, thinness, and low cost, and are increasingly becoming the mainstream technology for touch screens. For example, they are more and more widely used in various portable intelligent terminals (such as mobile phones).
Built-in capacitance touch screens can be classified into on-cell touch screens and in-cell touch screens. In-cell touch screens can be further classified into hybrid in-cell (HIC) capacitance touch screens and full in-cell (FIC) capacitance touch screens.

In-cell touch display panel, manufacturing method thereof, display device


A ring mechanism having a housing and at least one ring configurable between a closed position for retaining loose-leaf pages and an open position. A pair of hinge plates, operatively connected to the ring, are pivotable within the housing between first and second position corresponding respectively to the closed and open positions of the ring. Each hinge plate has a free end and a line of weakness formed therein proximate the free end to facilitate bending of the hinge plate. A hinge plate actuator has a bearing surface engageable with the hinge plates proximate the free ends thereof upon movement of the actuator from a first position toward a second position thereof such that the hinge plates bend proximate their free ends to delay pivoting movement of the hinge plates upon initial movement of the actuator from its first position toward its second position.

This invention relates generally to ring binder mechanisms (broadly referred to herein as a ring mechanism) for retaining loose-leaf pages, and in particular to such a ring mechanism capable of opening and closing mating ring members and locking the ring members when closed.
A ring mechanism is typically used to retain loose-leaf pages, such as hole-punched pages, in a file or notebook. Ring mechanisms commonly have mating ring members that may be selectively opened to add or remove pages, or closed together to retain pages while allowing the pages to be moved along the ring members. The ring members mount on two adjacent (e.g., side-by-side) hinge plates that join together along a hinge line to form a pivot axis about which the plates may pivot. An elongate, resilient housing loosely supports the hinge plates within the housing and holds the hinge plates together so they may pivot relative to the housing.
The housing is slightly narrower than the joined hinge plates when the hinge plates are in a coplanar position (180°). In this manner, as the hinge plates pivot through their coplanar position, they deform the resilient housing and cause a spring force in the housing that urges the hinge plates to pivot away from the coplanar position, either opening or closing the ring members. Thus, when the ring members are closed the spring force resists hinge plate movement and clamps the ring members together. Similarly, when the ring members are open, the spring force holds them apart. An operator may typically overcome this force by manually pulling the ring members apart or pushing them together. Levers or other actuating systems may also be provided on one or both ends of the housing for moving the ring members between the open and closed positions. In some ring mechanisms, however, when the ring members are closed they do not positively lock in their closed position. As a result, if the mechanism is accidentally dropped, the ring members may unintentionally open.
To this end, some ring mechanisms have been modified to include locking structure to block the hinge plates from pivoting when the ring members are closed. The locking structure positively locks the closed ring members together, preventing them from unintentionally opening if the ring mechanism is accidentally dropped. The locking structure also allows the housing spring force to be reduced because the strong spring force is not required to clamp the closed ring members together. Thus, less operator force is required to open and close the ring members than in traditional ring mechanisms.
Some of these ring mechanisms incorporate the locking structure onto a control slide connected to the lever. The lever moves the control slide (and its locking structure) to either block the pivoting movement of the hinge plates or allow it. However, an operator must positively move the lever after closing the ring members to position the locking structure to block the hinge plates and lock the ring members closed. Failure to do this could allow the hinge plates to inadvertently pivot and open the ring members, especially if the mechanisms are accidentally dropped.
Other locking ring mechanisms use springs to move the locking structure into position blocking the hinge plates when the ring members close. Examples are shown in co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/870,801 (Cheng et al.), Ser. No. 10/905,606 (Cheng), and Ser. No. 11/027,550 (Cheng). These mechanisms employ separate springs to help lock the mechanisms.
Accordingly, there is a need for a simple ring binder mechanism that readily locks ring members together when the mechanism is closed without requiring additional spring components to do so.
Moreover, the configuration of some locking ring binder mechanisms is such that the control slide can bind when the mechanism is being operated, which makes it difficult to open the rings of the mechanism. Accordingly, there is also a need for ring binder mechanisms in which such binding of the control slide is avoided.


The present invention provides methods and compositions for enhanced transduction of an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector comprising a heterologous nucleic acid of interest wherein the AAV vector genome is oversized relative to a wild type AAV genome by employing a proteasome inhibitor.

It is known that parvoviruses, such as adeno-associated viruses (AAV), disfavor genomes that differ substantially in size from the wild-type genome (e.g., less than about 80 to 85% and greater than about 105 to 107% of wild-type size). This observation also holds true for recombinant parvovirus vectors, where it can limit the size of the transgene and/or regulatory sequences (such as promoters) that can be packaged and efficiently delivered by the vector to target cells.
The present invention overcomes previous shortcomings in the art by providing adenovirus vectors that contain an oversized AAV genome comprising a heterologous nucleotide sequence, and methods of their use

Compositions and methods for enhanced parvovirus transduction

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


A laser light generating apparatus comprises a light source for generating an exciting light beam, a condenser lens for converging the exciting light beam from the light source, a laser medium for generating a laser light of first wavelength by the radiation of the exciting light beam supplied thereto through the condenser lens, a nonlinear optical crystal element for generating a second laser light by the radiation of the first laser light generated from the laser medium, a pair of reflecting means for constituting a laser resonator together with at least the laser medium and the nonlinear optical crystal element, a deflecting element for deflecting an optical axis of the second laser light emitted from reflecting means provided at the emitting side of the pair of reflecting means, detecting means for detecting a part of a light beam output from reflecting means disposed at the output side of the pair of reflecting means, control means for controlling the light source on the basis of a detected output from the detecting means, a base on which there are disposed at least the light source, the condenser lens, the laser medium, the nonlinear optical crystal element, the deflecting element and the detecting means and a housing for housing therein at least the light source, the condenser lens, the laser medium, the nonlinear optical crystal element, the deflecting element, the detecting means and the base.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to laser apparatus and, more particularly to a laser light generating apparatus suitable for generating a second harmonic laser light by a nonlinear optical crystal element.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings shows an arrangement of an example of a laser light generating apparatus according to the prior art.
As shown in FIG. 1, a laser diode 1 is driven by a laser diode driver 8 to generate a pumping laser light and the pumping laser light becomes incident on a convex lens 2. The pumping laser light is converged by the convex lens 2 and travels through a concave surface mirror 3 and a quarter wave plate 4 to a laser medium 5 such as an Nd:YAG laser or the like. The concave surface mirror 3 passes the pumping laser light from the laser diode 1 and reflects a fundamental wave laser light generated by the laser medium 5 which will be described later. When irradiated with the pumping laser light, the laser medium 5 generates a fundamental wave laser light within a resonator composed of mirrors 3 and 7. At that time, a heat lens 5a is formed in the laser medium 5. The fundamental wave laser light is introduced through a nonlinear optical crystal element 6 such as KTP (KTiOPO.sub.4) or the like into the plane mirror 7. The reflection mirror 7 is designed to reflect the fundamental wave laser light generated by the laser medium 5 and to pass a second harmonic laser light which will be described later. The fundamental wave laser light reflected on the reflection mirror 7 becomes incident on the laser medium 5 one more time through the nonlinear optical crystal element 6.
The fundamental wave laser light emitted from the laser medium 5 in the lefthand direction of FIG. 1 is introduced through the quarter wave plate 4 to the concave surface mirror 3 and thereby reflected. The fundamental wave laser light thus reflected is introduced again into the laser medium 5 through the quarter wave plate 4. In this way, the fundamental wave laser light travels between the concave surface mirror 3 and the plane mirror 7. That is, the concave surface mirror 3, the quarter wave plate 4, the laser medium 5, the nonlinear optical crystal element 6 and the plane mirror 7 constitute a laser light resonator 9.
The positions in which the fundamental wave laser light travels are concentrated due to the action of the concave surface mirror 3 and the heat lens 5a, thereby the energy being increased. Thus, the KTP such as the nonlinear optical crystal element 6 generates a second harmonic laser light of frequency as high as twice the frequency of the fundamental wave laser light on the basis of type II phase matching. The plane mirror 7 reflects almost all of the fundamental wave laser light but allows almost all of the second harmonic laser light with the result that the second harmonic laser light is output from the resonator 9. An optical axis of the quarter wave plate 4 in the extraordinary ray direction is adjusted so as to become 45 degrees relative to the optical axis of the nonlinear optical crystal element 6 in the extraordinary ray direction. If an azimuth angle .theta. of the quarter wave plate 4 is set to 45 degrees, then it is possible to avoid a coupling phenomenon from taking place between two polarizing modes of the fundamental wave laser light. If a phase delay amount by the KTP provided as the nonlinear optical crystal element 6 falls within .+-..pi./2, then a space hole burning within the laser medium 5 can be alleviated and a longitudinal mode having a single polarizing light can be presented. As a consequence, the second harmonic laser light can be stabilized (see U.S. Pat. No. 4910740, for example).
It is proposed that this laser light generating apparatus is miniaturized more as, for example, shown in FIG. 2. According to the example shown in FIG. 2, the quarter wave plate 4, the laser medium 5 and the nonlinear optical crystal element 6 are unitarily formed. The concave surface mirror 3 is convexed at its lefhand surface in the quarter wave plate 4 (i.e., concaved to the laser medium 5 side) and deposited on the surface of the quarter wave plate 4. Similarly, the plane mirror 7 is deposited on the righthand end face of the nonlinear optical crystal element 6.
The laser light resonator 9 thus arranged, the lens 2 and the laser diode 1 are mounted on a base 12 and housed within a housing 11. A second haromic laser light is emitted from an opening portion 11a formed through the housing 11.
When the laser medium 5 is excited by the pumping laser light emitted from the laser diode 1, a reflected-back light such as a laser light, which results from reflecting the pumping laser light on the surfaces of the lens 2, the surface of the concave surface mirror 3 or the like, the fundamental wave laser light leaked from the concave surface mirror 3 or the like occurs in the laser diode 1. When supplied with the reflected-back light, the laser diode 1 is increased in noise level. If a noise occurs in the laser diode 1, when the noise produced in the laser diode 1 appears in the second harmonic laser light.
FIG. 4 of the accompanying drawings shows frequency characteristics of noise when the laser medium 5 of the laser diode 1 is not excited (no reflected-back light is produced). In FIG. 4, an upper line represents a noise of the laser diode 1 and a lower line represents a noise generated from a measuring equipment. This is also true in FIGS. 5 and 6. Whereas, FIG. 5 shows frequency characteristics of noise when the laser light resonator 9 is excited by the laser diode 1 to emit the second harmonic laser light (i.e., when the reflected-back light is produced). Having compared FIGS. 4 and 5, it is to be understood that a noise is increased by 10 dB to 15dB in the case of FIG. 5 It is considered that this increase of noise is caused by the reflected-back light.
FIG. 6 of the accompanying drawings shows a frequency characteristic of noise in the second harmonic laser light. Study of FIG. 6 teaches that a noise of a relatively large level appears in the frequency band less than about 1 MHz. This noise may be considered such that the noise produced in the laser diode as shown in FIG. 5 occurs in response to the frequency characteristic (see FIG. 3) of the laser light resonator 9.
As shown in FIG. 3, a ratio (in ordinate) of an output (P2) of the second harmonic laser light relative to an output (P1) of the pumping laser light output from the laser diode 1 is substantially constant in a range of a relatively low frequency in which the frequency (in abscissa) of the second harmonic laser light reaches a transition oscillation frequency fr. However, the above-mentioned ratio is attenuated in proportion to the square off the frequency in a range of frequency higher than the transition oscillation frequency fr. In other words, since the second harmonic laser light never responds to the fluctuation of the pumping laser light in the range of frequency higher than the transition oscillation frequency fr, there is then substantially no risk that the noise of the pumping laser light appears in the second harmonic laser light.
However, the noise of the laser diode 1 appears in the second harmonic laser light in the vicinity of the transition oscillation frequency fr or in the frequency lower than the transition oscillation frequency fr. As a consequence, if this conventional laser light generating apparatus is used to play back an optical disc, a signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio is deteriorated in the vicinity of the transition oscillation frequency fr or in the frequency lower than the transition oscillation frequency fr.


An LED lamp module includes a heat sink element having one-piece form; a circuit substrate affixed onto the heat sink element, wherein the substrate has at least an opening exposing the heat sink element, and has an area smaller than that of the heat sink element; a plurality of LED chips mounted on the exposed portion of the heat sink element and electrically connected to the circuit substrate; and a light transparent package material, encapsulating the plurality of LED chips, wherein the heat sink element includes a uniform temperature plate or a plate including at least a vacuum cavity, and an extension part extending laterally from the plate and turned to surround the plurality of LED chips, forming a secondary optical structure. A fabrication method for the LED lamp module is also disclosed. Existing fabrication process is simplified and the cost is lowered with increased heat dissipation effect.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to LED packaging technology, and more particularly to an LED lamp module and the fabrication method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Light-emitting diodes (LED) are long-lasting, energy-saving and durable, and therefore, high brightness LED illumination devices are green energy environmental products and may be widely applied in the future. Generally speaking, a high brightness LED lamp is obtained by soldering a light emitting module, usually including a plurality of LED light bulbs, onto a circuit board or an aluminum substrate. In order to improve heat dissipation, an extra heat sink element is added to a design, such as affixing heat sink fins to the bottom of the substrate. However, aside from the heat dissipation problem of a high brightness LED illumination device, how to reduce cost and simplify the fabrication method to solve the high unit price problem is also very important.

LED lamp module and fabrication method thereof


An apparatus pulls a single crystal of semiconductor material by the Czochralski (CZ) method from a melt. The apparatus includes: a crucible that accommodates the melt; a resistance heater around the crucible; a camera system for observing a phase boundary between the melt and a growing single crystal, the camera system having an optical axis; a heat shield in frustoconical form with a narrowing diameter in a region at its lower end and arranged above the crucible and surrounding the growing single crystal; and an annular element, which is configured to capture particles, that projects inward from an inner side face of the heat shield and has an arrestor edge directed upward at an inner end of the annular element. The optical axis of the camera system runs between the arrestor edge and the growing single crystal. The annular element is releasably connected to the heat shield.

EP 2 031 100 A1 describes an apparatus and a method of producing a single crystal by the CZ method.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,303 describes a method of recharging silicon, wherein the crucible is recharged with polycrystalline silicon in the form of granules.
JP2001-3978 A discloses a heat shield additionally having an inner cylinder to stop particles of silicon oxide (SiO) from falling into the melt. If such particles get into the growing single crystal, they can cause dislocations and make the single crystal unusable for the intended use. A disadvantage of this heat shield is that it hinders a clear view to the phase boundary between the melt and the growing single crystal.

Device for pulling a single crystal of semiconductor material out of a melt using the CZ method, and method using the device


An integrated hermetically sealed feedthrough capacitor filter assembly is provided for the shielding and decoupling of a conductive terminal pin or lead of the type used, for example, in an implantable medical device such as a cardiac pacemaker or cardioverter defibrillator against passage of external interference signals, such as caused by digital cellular phones. The simplified feedthrough assembly described herein eliminates the traditional terminal pin subassembly. In this novel approach, the ceramic feedthrough capacitor itself forms a hermetic seal with a conductive pacemaker housing to which it is mounted by welding or brazing. The feedthrough capacitor is configured such that its internal electrodes are not exposed to body fluids, with capacitor electrode plate sets coupled respectively to a conductive ferrule, pin or housing (which may be grounded) and to the non-grounded, or active, terminal pin(s) by conductive adhesive, soldering, brazing, welding or the like. In one preferred form, multiple feedthrough filter capacitors are provided in a substantially coplanar array within a common base structure, with each capacitor in association with a respective terminal pin.

This invention relates generally to simplified feedthrough capacitor terminal pin subassemblies and related methods of construction, particularly of the type used in implantable medical devices such as cardiac pacemakers and the like, to decouple and shield undesirable electromagnetic interference (EMI) signals from the device. More specifically, this invention relates to a simplified and reduced cost ceramic feedthrough capacitor assembly and related installation method, including one or more filter capacitors which also form the hermetic seal. This eliminates the need for a separate and costly hermetic terminal subassembly which is common in the prior art. In the present invention, the ceramic feedthrough capacitor itself forms the hermetic seal and is adapted particularly for use in connecting a lead wire or electrode through a hermetically sealed housing to internal electronic components of a medical device while decoupling EMI against entry into the sealed housing. This invention is particularly designed for use in cardiac pacemakers (bradycardia devices), cardioverter defibrillators (tachycardia), neurostimulators, internal drug pumps, cochlear implants and other medical implant applications. This invention is also applicable to a wide range of other EMI filter applications, such as military or space electronic modules, where it is desirable to preclude the entry of EMI into a hermetically sealed housing containing sensitive electronic circuitry.
Feedthrough terminal pin assemblies are generally well known in the art for connecting electrical signals through the housing or case of an electronic instrument. For example, in implantable medical devices such as cardiac pacemakers, defibrillators or the like, the terminal pin assembly comprises one or more conductive terminal pins supported by an insulator structure for feedthrough passage from the exterior to the interior of the medical device. Many different insulator structures and related mounting methods are known in the art for use in medical devices wherein the insulator structure provides a hermetic seal to prevent entry of body fluids into the housing of the medical device. However, the feedthrough terminal pins are typically connected to one or more lead wires which effectively act as an antenna and thus tend to collect stray EMI signals for transmission into the interior of the medical device. In the prior art devices, the hermetic terminal pin subassembly has been combined in various ways with a ceramic feedthrough filter capacitor to decouple interference signals to the housing of the medical device. A primary feature of the simplified feedthrough terminal pin subassembly described herein is cost reduction which is accomplished by elimination of the separate hermetic terminal subassembly.
In a typical prior art unipolar construction (as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,095), a round/discoidal (or rectangular) ceramic feedthrough filter capacitor is combined with a hermetic terminal pin assembly to suppress and decouple undesired interference or noise transmission along a terminal pin. The feedthrough capacitor is coaxial having two sets of electrode plates embedded in spaced relation within an insulative dielectric substrate or base, formed typically as a ceramic monolithic structure. One set of the electrode plates is electrically connected at an inner diameter cylindrical surface of the coaxial capacitor structure to the conductive terminal pin utilized to pass the desired electrical signal or signals. The other or second set of electrode plates is coupled at an outer diameter surface of the discoidal capacitor to a cylindrical ferrule of conductive material, wherein the ferrule is electrically connected in turn to the conductive housing of the electronic device. The number and dielectric thickness spacing of the electrode plate sets varies in accordance with the capacitance value and the voltage rating of the coaxial capacitor. The outer feedthrough capacitor electrode plate sets (or "ground" plates) are coupled in parallel together by a metallized layer which is either fired, sputtered or plated onto the ceramic capacitor. This metallized band, in turn, is coupled to the ferrule by conductive adhesive, soldering, brazing, welding, or the like. The inner feedthrough capacitor electrode plate sets (or "active" plates) are coupled in parallel together by a metallized layer which is either glass frit fired or plated onto the ceramic capacitor. This metallized band, in turn, is mechanically and electrically coupled to the lead wire (s) by conductive adhesive or soldering, or the like. In operation, the coaxial capacitor permits passage of relatively low frequency electrical signals along the terminal pin, while shielding and decoupling/attenuating undesired interference signals of typically high frequency to the conductive housing. Feedthrough capacitors of this general type are available in unipolar (one), bipolar (two), tripolar (three), quadpolar (four), pentapolar (five), hexpolar (6) and additional lead configurations. The feedthrough capacitors (in both discoidal and rectangular configurations) of this general type are commonly employed in implantable cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators and the like, wherein the pacemaker housing is constructed from a biocompatible metal such as titanium alloy, which is electrically and mechanically coupled to the hermetic terminal pin assembly which is in turn electrically coupled to the coaxial feedthrough filter capacitor. As a result, the filter capacitor and terminal pin assembly prevents entrance of interference signals to the interior of the pacemaker housing, wherein such interference signals could otherwise adversely affect the desired cardiac pacing or defibrillation function.
In the past, feedthrough filter capacitors for cardiac pacemakers and the like, have typically been constructed by preassembly of the coaxial capacitor onto or within a cylindrical or rectangular hermetically sealed terminal pin subassembly which includes the conductive pin and ferrule. More specifically, the terminal pin subassembly is prefabricated to include one or more conductive terminal pins supported within the conductive ferrule by means of a hermetically sealed insulator ring or bead. One type of hermetic terminal pin subassembly which is widely used in implantable medical devices employs an alumina ceramic insulator which, after complicated sputtering/metallization procedures, is gold brazed into a titanium ferrule. In addition, there are platinum lead wires which are also gold brazed to the alumina ceramic insulator to complete the hermetic seal. See for example, the subassemblies disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,920,888; 4,152,540; 4,421,947; and 4,424,551. An improved design in the prior art which has substantially improved the volumetric efficiency is based upon surface mounting of a ceramic feedthrough capacitor planar array structure to one outer surface of a hermetic terminal with similar connection to the conductive pins (see the subassemblies disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,095). In all of the prior art described above, the feedthrough capacitor is mounted to a separate and relatively costly hermetic terminal pin subassembly.
Although feedthrough filter capacitor assemblies of the type described above have performed in a generally satisfactory manner, the associated manufacturing and assembly costs are unacceptably high. For example, the manufacture of the separate hermetic terminal subassembly is very costly (in most instances the hermetic terminal pin subassembly costs more than the ceramic feedthrough capacitor). In addition, the subsequent installation of the ceramic feedthrough capacitor is time consuming and therefore costly. More particularly, as shown in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,551, installation of the coaxial capacitor into the small annular space between the terminal pin and ferrule can be a difficult and complex multi-step procedure to ensure formation of reliable, high quality electrical connections. The method taught by the 4,424,551 patent teaches the injection of fluidic thermosetting conductive particles into first and second annular cavities (usually by centrifuge operations). This is, however, a time consuming and relatively expensive process.
Accordingly, there is a need for a novel feedthrough filter capacitor assembly that addresses the drawbacks noted above in connection with the prior art. In particular, a novel capacitor assembly is needed which eliminates the fabrication of a separate hermetic terminal pin subassembly and yet may be utilized in many of the same applications, where such subassemblies are now found. Additionally, the improved feedthrough filter capacitor assembly should lend itself to standard manufacturing processes such that cost reductions can be realized immediately. Of course, the new design must be capable of effectively filtering out undesirable electromagnetic interference (EMI) signals from the target device. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.

Hermetically sealed EMI feedthrough filter capacitor for human implant and other applications


A method for securely generating a PIN comprises generating a number of random binary bits; determining the least significant bits of the number of bits; converting the least significant bits to a decimal integer; shifting the value of the integer by a predetermined constant to produce a shifted integer; and encoding the shifted integer as bits in a PIN block in accordance with a standard. A method for managing security of a PIN used to provide access to a secure device comprising choosing the PIN; storing an encrypted version of the PIN in the device; and communicating the PIN to a user of the device via a communication channel separate and apart from a channel reset to provide the device to the user. A method for resetting a PIN in a secure device comprising sending a message to a data center having an original PIN for the device, the message including authorization data indicative of at least one of the device and an authorized user of the device, and securely communicating the original PIN to the location of the device.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the generation and management of Personal Identification Numbers (PIN's). More particularly, it relates to the generation and management of PIN's for use in various applications; and more specifically still, in postage franking devices.
2. Background Art
There are many business and personal financial transactions that must be conducted securely. It is very common for a Personal Identification Number, or PIN to be used to enhance the security of these transactions.
While the use of PIN's generally proceeds smoothly, there are occasional problems. If a PIN holder or customer writes down a PIN, it is subject to discovery by unauthorized users. If it is not written down, the customer may forget the PIN. This requires contacting the financial institution or company having the PIN in its database, and utilizing a PIN reset procedure. It is often necessary for the customer to travel to the location of the company, present identification which must be verified, and then select a new PIN.

Generation and management of customer pin's


A swimming pool safety system, and method, uses a preservation mechanism that lifts a human-sized object from within a swimming pool to a top surface of the swimming pool. An underwater detection array detects the human-sized object within the swimming pool and generates a detection data. A preservation controller actuates the preservation mechanism in response to an automatic actuation signal that was generated based on the detection data so as to actuate the preservation mechanism to lift the human-sized object above the top surface of the swimming pool.

1. Field of the Disclosure
Embodiments described herein relate generally to a swimming pool safety system and method. More particularly, the embodiments described herein relate generally to a preservation mechanism for lifting a human-sized object to the top of a swimming pool, an underwater detection array that senses and detects a human-sized object within a swimming pool, and a preservation controller that actuates the preservation mechanism based on an analysis of inputs from both the underwater detection array an a user.
2. Description of the Related Art
The "background" description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.
The common enjoyment of the recreational facilities associated with outdoor or in-ground swimming is well recognized. One serious problem associated with the increased availability of domestic swimming pools, however, is an attendant danger for infants and small children as well as other individuals that are not proficient at swimming. The danger of inadvertent drowning is increased, at least to some extent, by the fact that most domestic swimming pools are easily accessible even when the property or area at which the pool is located is protected by some type of fence or like barrier.
As a result, various types of increased protection have been proposed. Such increased protection can take the form of a pool bottom platform or device that lifts a swimmer out of the water. The disadvantages, as recognized by the present inventor, of the current pool bottom platforms and safety devices lie in the means in which they are actuated. Many require manual activation while others only provide rudimentary detection mechanisms outside of the pool in order to actuate the pool bottom platform or safety device. There are limited pool safety devices that provide a useful amount of underwater safety detection within the swimming pool itself.
There exists a need, as recognized by the present inventor, to have a pool safety system that not only lifts an object out of the water but also be able to provide advanced detection capability that can recognize different situations or scenarios of underwater events and take distinct and appropriate actions based on the parameters of those underwater scenarios.

Swimming pool safety apparatus and method


A trim retarder for a liquid crystal display based projection system including a light source, a polarizer/analyzer, a liquid crystal display panel, and a projection lens, is clocked to an optimal azimuthal angle that provides a system contrast level substantially unaffected by the orientation of the slow axis of the liquid crystal display panel.

Liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) are widely used in projection displays for large screen televisions and monitors. In these LCD-based projection systems, a high power beam of light is passed through a polarizer before being incident on a LCD panel. The LCD panel controls the polarization of the incident light pixel-by-pixel and redirects it towards the corresponding polarizer/analyzer, which then redirects light having the proper polarization to a projection lens that projects an image onto a screen.
One particularly successful LCD-based projection system is a WGP-based LCoS microdisplay system, which uses both wire grid polarizers (WGPs) and liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) panels. This microdisplay system, which has been proven to exhibit both high resolution and high image contrast when compared to other microdisplay technologies such as transmissive liquid crystal (xLCD), digital light processor (DLP), and direct-view LCD, typically uses three or more microdisplay panels (e.g., one for each primary color band) to improve on-screen brightness.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional 3-panel WGP-based LCoS microdisplay system is shown. The microdisplay system includes a light source 5, which for example is a high-pressure discharge lamp, and a light rod 7. The light rod 7 homogenizes the cone of light produced by the light source 5 to ensure a spatially uniform light distribution. Optionally, the light rod 7 is a polarization conversion light pipe (PCLP) for producing linearly polarized light. A first lens 8a passes the light from the light pipe 7 to a first folding mirror 9, which directs the light to a first dichroic filter 10. The dichroic filter 10 separates out the blue light from the remaining light, and directs the blue light via second 8b and third 8c lenses, and second 17 and third 16 folding mirrors to a first LCoS display panel 20a. The remaining light, which is transmitted through the dichroic filter 10, is directed via fourth and fifth lenses 8d and 8e and a fourth folding mirror 11 to a second dichroic filter 12. The second dichroic filter 12 separates the remaining light into green and red light, the former of which is directed to a second LCoS display panel 20b and the latter of which passes to a third LCoS display panel 20c.
Prior to reaching each LCoS display panel 20a, 20b, and 20c, the incident light first passes through a WGP 15, 14, and 13 and a trim retarder compensator 21a, 21b, and 21c, respectively. Each WGP 15, 14, and 13 is a polarizer/analyser formed from a plurality of parallel micro-wires that transmits light having a polarization orthogonal to the direction of the parallel micro-wires and reflects light having a polarization parallel to the direction of the wires (e.g., if the polarizers are designed to pass horizontal or P—polarized light, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the micro-wires will be perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1). Each LCoS panel 20a, 20b, and 20c alters the polarization of the linearly polarized incident light pixel-by-pixel and reflects the modulated light back to the corresponding WGP 15, 14, and 13. Since each WGP 15, 14, and 13 is orientated at approximately ±45° with respect to the principal direction of light propagation, in addition to serving as a polarizer/analyzer, each WGP 15, 13 and 14 also serves as a beamsplitter for separating the incoming light from the outgoing light by steering or deflecting the light reflected from the each LCoS panel along an output optical path orthogonal to the incoming optical path. More specifically, each WGP 15, 14, and 13 reflects S-polarized light (e.g., polarized light rotated by 90° by pixels in an ON state) to the X-cube 19. The X-cube 19 aggregates (i.e., converges) the image from each of the three color channels and, via the projection lens 18, projects the final image onto a large screen (not shown). Optionally, each color channel further includes a pre-polarizer (not shown) and/or a clean-up analyzer (not shown), which for example, may include one or more WGPs and/or dichroic sheet polarizers.
The trim retarder compensators 21a, 21b, and 21c (herein simply referred to as trim retarders), are compensating elements used to improve the contrast performance level of the microdisplay system, which is otherwise limited by the residual birefringence of the LCoS panels in the dark (e.g., off) state. In particular, each trim retarder 21a, 21 b, and 21c introduces a phase retardance that cancels the retardance resulting from the inherent birefringence of the corresponding LCoS panel. The term 'retardance' or 'retardation', as used herein, refers to linear retardance magnitude as opposed to circular retardance magnitude, unless stated otherwise. Linear retardance is the difference between two orthogonal indices of refraction times the thickness of the optical element. Linear retardance causes a phase difference between two orthogonal linear polarizations, where one polarization is aligned parallel to the extra-ordinary axis of the linear retarder and the other polarization is aligned parallel to the ordinary axis of the linear retarder. In contrast, circular retardance causes a relative phase difference between right- and left-handed circular polarized light.
Linear retardance may be described as either in-plane or out-of-plane retardance. In-plane retardance, expressed as optical path length difference, refers to the difference between two orthogonal in-plane indices of refraction times the physical thickness of the optical element. Out-of-plane retardance refers to the difference of the index of refraction along the thickness direction (z direction) of the optical element and one in-plane index of refraction (or an average of in-plane indices of refraction), times the physical thickness of the optical element. Normal incidence rays in a cone bundle see only in-plane retardance, whereas off-axis rays including oblique rays (i.e. non-normal but along the principal S- and P-planes) and skew rays (i.e. non-normal and incident away from the principal S- and P-planes) experience both out-of-plane retardance and in-plane retardance. Notably, in-plane retardance is not observed for the trivial case of 90° ray angle in the birefringent medium.
In the absence of trim retarders 21a-c, the P-polarized polarized light that illuminates each microdisplay panel in the dark (off) state is slightly elliptically polarized upon reflection due to the residual birefringence of the LCoS panels 20a-c. When the elliptically polarized light, which contains both a P- and an S-component, is transmitted to the corresponding WGP 15, 14, 13, the S component is reflected to the X-cube thus allowing dark state light leakage onto the large screen and limiting the contrast of the projection system.
The use of trim retarders 21a-c improves the contrast level by providing in-plane retardance that compensates for the retardance resulting from the residual birefringence in the LCoS panels 20a-c. More specifically, the trim retarders 21a-c are oriented such that their slow axes are configured at orthogonal azimuthal alignment to the slow axes of the LCoS panels 20a-c (termed "crossed axes"), while their fast axes are configured at orthogonal azimuthal alignment to the fast axes of the LCoS panels 20a-c. The terms slow axis (SA) and fast axis (FA), as used herein, refer to the two orthogonal birefringent axes when the linear retardance is measured at normal incidence. Notably, the SA and FA locations change with off-axis illumination as well as reversing the SA/FA roles for a negative out-of-plane retardance component at a large angle of incidence.
Since the slow axes of the trim retarders 21a-c and LCoS panels 20a-c are configured at orthogonal azimuthal orientations, the role of the fast/slow axes switches from the trim retarder 21a-c to the LCoS panel 20a-c for normal incidence light. In other words, light having a specific polarization is alternately delayed more then less, or vice-versa, in the trim retarder 21a-c and the LCoS panel 20a-c , respectively. The net effect is zero relative delay for the incoming polarization, and as a result, an unchanged polarization (i.e., the output light is not elliptically polarized). The corresponding WGP 15, 14, 13 and/or optional clean-up polarizer then rejects the output light so that the dark-state light leakage does not appear on the screen. Since the trim retarders 21a-c do not alter significantly the throughput of the panel on-state, the resulting sequential contrast (full on/full off) is excellent.
In addition to providing in-plane retardance, it is common for trim retarders 21a-c to also provide out-of-plane retardance to increase the field of view. More specifically, it is common for trim retarders to include both an A-plate compensation component for compensating the in-plane retardance and a—C-plate compensation component for compensating for out-of plane retardance. Optionally, trim retarders 21a-c also include an O-plate component. An A-plate is an optical retarder formed from a uniaxially birefringent material having its extraordinary axis oriented parallel to the plane of the plate. A C-plate is an optical retarder formed from a uniaxially birefringent material having its extraordinary axis oriented perpendicular to the plane of the plate (i.e. parallel to the direction of normally incident light). A —C-plate exhibits negative birefringence. An O-plate is an optical retarder formed from a uniaxial birefringent element having its extraordinary axis (i.e., its optic axis or c-axis) oriented at an oblique angle with respect to the plane of the plate.
As discussed above, each trim retarder 21a-c ideally provides an A-plate retardance that matches the in-plane retardance of the corresponding LCoS panel 20a-c in the off-state. In practice, however, the A-plate retardance of both the LCoS panels 20a-c and the trim retarders 21a-c tends to vary within each component due to manufacturing tolerances in device thickness and material birefringence control, as well as operational drifts (temperature, mechanical stress etc). As a result, to ensure adequate compensation it is common to provide a higher A-plate retardance in the trim retarders 21a-c than that exhibited by the LCoS panels 20a-c. For example, a trim retarder with an A-plate retardance of 5 nm (at λ=550 nm) is often provided to compensate for a vertical aligned nematic (VAN) LCoS exhibiting a 2 nm A-plate retardance (at λ=550 nm).
As is known to those of skill in the art, this mismatch in A-plate value requires offsetting of the optic axis of the trim retarder 21a-c, relative to the nominal crossed axes configuration described above. In other words, the trim retarder is 'clocked-in' by rotating its azimuth orientation away from the crossed-axes configuration.
For example, consider a VAN-LCoS, where the slow axis of the panel is typically oriented to be substantially parallel to the bisector of the S- and P-planes (i.e., slow axis at ±45° and ±135°, when P-polarization is parallel to 0°/180° and S-polarization is parallel to ±90°). Notably, orienting the slow axis of the VAN-LCoS at ±45° is important if the VAN-LCoS panel is to be used as an efficient electrically-controlled birefringence (ECB) device, the crossed polarization conversion of which is given by:
      I          (              output                                                  crossed                                                  polarization            )        =            I              (                  input                                                              linear                                                              polarization                )              ×                  [                              sin                                      (                                                                    2                                        Δ                                                                                nd                                    λ                                                π                            )                                                      sin                                      (                              2                                ϕ                            )                                      ]            2      where Δnd is the single-pass retardance of the VAN-LCoS panel, λ is the illumination wavelength, and φ is the orientation of the slow-axis relative to the P-polarization. In this configuration, the VAN-LCoS functions approximately as a quarter-waveplate retarder in single pass when the panel is in an on-state.
When the slow and fast axes of the VAN-LCoS panel bisect the S- and P-polarization planes, as discussed above, the over-clocking angle of a higher value trim retarder is calculated from the following equation:
      Over              -            clocking                          azimuthal                          angle    ≈                    cos                  -          1                                  (                  [                                                    Γ                a                                                          (                LC                )                                      /                                          Γ                a                                                          (                TR                )                                              ]                )              2  where Γa(TR) is the trim retarder A-plate retardance and Γa(LC) is the LCoS A-plate retardance.
Referring to Table 1, the calculated over-clocking angles for trim retarders providing 2 to 10 nm A-plate retardance for compensating an LCoS panel exhibiting 2 nm A-plate retardance are shown. Both positive and negative azimuthal offsets are given. In addition, two more azimuthal locations are found in the opposite quadrant (i.e., the listed over-clocking angles ±180°).
TABLE 1Approximate over-clocking angles of the trim retardercompensator/VAN-LCoS pair from thenominal crossed-axes configuration.Over-clocked angle from nominalΓa(TR)crossed axes203±24.14±30.05±33.26±35.37±36.78±37.89±38.610±39.2
In general, it has been commonly believed by those skilled in the art that all four over-clocking azimuthal angles of a given trim retarder will produce nearly identical overall system contrast performance. With the assumption that each of the four over-clocking azimuthal angles produces a local contrast maximum, which does not vary between over-clocking azimuthal angles, it is possible to rotate arbitrarily the trim retarder/VAN-LCoS pair to any quadrant (i.e., as long as the slow and fast axes of the VAN-LCos still meets the requirement of bisecting the S- and P-polarizations). Accordingly, in practice, it is common to arbitrarily select one of the four over-clocking angles for any given LCoS orientation and/or for any given WGP orientation, which then serves as a starting position for a subsequent experimental fine-tuning.
Recently, it has been predicted that different over-clocking angles produce different system contrast levels for TN-LCoS projection systems using a MacNeille polarization beamsplitter (PBS), including a small difference for TN-LCoS projection systems using a WGP (e.g., see J. Chen, M. G. Robinson and G. D. Sharp, "General Methodology for LCoS Panel Compensation," SID 04, Digest, pp. 990-993, 2004).
More recently, the effect of LCoS orientation on system contrast has been studied for LCoS projection systems using a MacNeille PBS (e.g., see J. Chen, M. G. Robinson, D. A. Coleman, and G. D. Sharp, "Impact of the Orientation of Panel Pretilt Directional and Quarter-wave Plate on LCoS Projection System Contrast," SID 06, Digest, pp. 1606-1609, 2006).
In these studies, however, only two of the four over-clocking angles were examined (i.e., the over-clocking angles with additional rotation ±180° were neglected). Moreover, while the results indicate that the LCoS pretilt direction has a large impact on system contrast (i.e., the system contrast is different for different orientations of the LCoS panel for a given PBS coating surface inclination and/or for different PBS coating surface inclinations for a given LCoS orientation), they do not provide a solution to the contrast inequality. Unfortunately, this means that LCoS engines having different panel orientations and/or different PBS orientations will exhibit different system contrasts. This is a serious concern for manufacturers which require all products to have a same contrast ratio.


Creep control is performed, in response to an accelerator-off operation, to control a second motor to cause a predetermined creep torque Tcr to be output from the second motor to a driveshaft. First creep cut-off control is performed, in response to a brake-on operation during the creep control, to control the second motor to cause a torque reduced from the creep torque Tcr at a high rate by a predetermined high variation ΔThi to be output from the second motor to the driveshaft. Subsequent to the first creep cut-off control, second creep cut-off control is performed to control the second motor to cause a torque reduced at a low rate by a predetermined low variation ΔTlow smaller than the predetermined high variation ΔThi to be output from the second motor to the driveshaft.

A proposed configuration of such a vehicle includes: a motor that outputs a vehicle driving force to a driveshaft connected with drive wheels; a battery that supplies electric power to this motor; and a hydraulic or another brake mechanism provided on wheels. This proposed vehicle sets a creep torque as the vehicle driving force according to the vehicle speed in an accelerator-off state and performs creep cut-off that reduces the creep torque in response to a brake operation (for example, PTL 1). This vehicle sets a greater rate of change (time rate of change) for reduction of the creep torque with a more abrupt depression of a brake pedal in the accelerator-off state, i.e., performs the creep cut-off more quickly, in order to improve the drivability of the vehicle and improve fuel consumption.


A vacuum infusion laminate adhesive that holds the laminate layers together as the catalyzed resin is sucked into a laminate structure. The adhesive includes properties that cross-link with polyester present in the laminate structure as it cures. Generally, the laminate layers include the assembly of polyester or vinyl ester resins that are reinforced with fiberglass.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field vacuum infusion and more particularly to a vacuum infusion laminate adhesive.
II. Description of the Related Art
Vacuum infusion is a process in which fiberglass and foam core laminates are prepared and enclosed in a vacuum bag. Catalyzed resin is then infused into the vacuum. This process has the advantage of reducing material loss and eliminating a large source of air pollution. Many spray adhesives that are used to hold the laminates together during this process form an interface that is generally weaker than the rest of the structure, which can result in premature failure of the structure where the adhesive was used. In general, currently, spray adhesives are used to hold the layers of dry materials together during the curing process of the resins. As mentioned above, this method is problematic because it compromises the integrity of the materials, weakening the structure as a whole.


Provided is a stereoscopic image display device comprising a display panel displaying a multi-view image in a three-dimensional (3D) mode, a switchable barrier forming a barrier in the 3D mode, a user position detecting unit outputting a user position data including a user position information, a switchable barrier controlling unit calculating an average picture level of the multi-view image in the 3D mode and controlling an aperture ratio of the switchable barrier according to the average picture level and the user position information, a switchable barrier driving unit supplying driving voltages to divided electrodes of the switchable barrier and supplying a common voltage to a barrier common electrode, and a display panel driving unit converting the multi-view image into data voltages to supply the data voltages to data lines of the display panel and sequentially supplying gate pulses to gate lines of the display panel.

Field
The present invention relates to a stereoscopic image display device and a method for driving the same.
Related Art
The stereoscopic image display device is classified as either a stereoscopic technique or an autostereoscopic technique. The stereoscopic technique uses a binocular parallax image between the left and right eyes of a viewer to establish the perception of three-dimensional (3D) depth. Techniques for implementing the binocular parallax image include glasses types and non-glasses types. The glasses type includes a patterned retarder type that displays the left and right parallax images to be displayed on a display panel in different polarization direction and implements a 3D image using a polarized glasses and a shutter glass type that displays the left and right parallax images on the display panel in a time sharing manner and implements the 3D image using a liquid crystal shutter glass. In the non-glasses type, the 3D images may be implemented by separating the left and right parallax images using an optical plate such as a parallax barrier, lenticular lens, or the like.
The parallax barrier is for separating the left and right parallax images using a barrier plate blocking light, such that the 3D image may be implemented. However, in the parallax barrier, a two-dimensional (2D) luminance of the stereoscopic image display device using the parallax barrier is low because of parallax barrier. Recently, in order to supplement the 2D luminance of the stereoscopic image display device due to the parallax barrier, a switchable barrier which is formed only in a 3D mode without the barrier being formed in a 2D mode has been proposed. The switchable barrier may control a region where the barrier is formed using liquid crystal. As a result, after detecting a position of a user, a user tracking technology changing a forming position of the barrier for the switchable barrier according to the position of the user has been proposed.
The user tracking technology allows the user to watch optimal 3D images regardless of the position of the user by changing the forming position of the barrier according to the position of the user. However, since the user tracking technology changes the forming position of the barrier by analyzing the position of the user after a movement of the user is completed, a predetermined time interval is present from the time when the movement of the user is completed to the time when the forming position of the barrier is changed. For example, when the user moves from orthoscopic viewing region to a barrier viewing region during the predetermined time interval, since watching 3D images is blocked, the user may feel a flicker. The orthoscopic viewing region indicates a region where the left-eye of the user watches the left parallax image and the right-eye of the user watches the right parallax image, the barrier viewing region indicates a region where a black pattern corresponding to the barrier rather than the 3D image shown, and the flicker means flickering. Consequently, the user may feel inconvenience in the watching the 3D images during the predetermined time interval.

Stereoscopic image display device and method for driving the same


A surgical instrument and a method for treating female urinary incontinence. The instrument comprises a shank having a handle at one end thereof, and two curved needle-like elements which are connected at one end thereof each with one end of a tape intended to be implanted into the body. These elements can be connected one at a time with the shank at the other end thereof to form a curved end portion of the shank and are intended to be passed into the body via the vagina, each element being dimensioned to extend from the inside of the vaginal wall over the back of the pubic bone to the outside of the abdominal wall. When practicing the method the tape is passed into the body via the vagina first at one end and then at the other end at one side and the other, respectively, of the urethra to form a loop around the urethra, located between urethra and the vaginal wall. The tape is extended over the pubis and through the abdominal wall and is tightened. Then, the tape ends are cut at the abdominal wall, and the tape is left implanted in the body.

Urinary incontinence may be caused by a defect function in the tissue or ligaments connecting the vaginal wall with the pelvic muscles and pubic bone.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,344 describes a method for treating female urinary incontinence without the necessity of opening the abdomen, which would require hospital care for may be four days. In this method a tape is looped around the muscle tissue of the abdomen to either side of urethra to be implanted into the soft tissue between the vaginal wall and the abdominal wall extending over pubis and with the ends of the tape extending into vagina. The tape is left in the body in order that fibrous tissue shall develop around the tape, said scar tissue functioning as a supporting ligament in the soft tissue. The tape is removed from the body when such scar tissue has developed, which takes about two months.
A surgical instrument of special construction is also proposed for use with this method, comprising a shank having a handle at one end thereof and a curved portion at the other end thereof said portion being intended to be passed into the body via the vagina.
The result obtained by such surgery is not always satisfactory due to the fact that fibrous tissue will not develop sufficiently since the soft tissue between the vaginal wall and the abdominal wall is in bad condition.

Surgical instrument for treating female urinary incontinence


Provided is a case for a portable electronic device, including: a body in which the portable electronic device is accommodated; and a non-insertion type interface including an insertion type connector that is formed on an inner side of the body and that is inserted into an open type port formed at the portable electronic device and a non-insertion type port that is formed on an outer side of the body opposite to the side on which the insertion type connector is formed so as to be electrically connected to the insertion type connector and that causes a non-insertion type connector of a peripheral device to come into surface contact with the non-insertion type port using magnetism.

In general, portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones, smartphones, or tablet personal computers (PCs), have been necessarily used for communication in a modern society. Various units for protecting these portable electronic devices have been researched and developed due to their high prices and outer surface special processing thereof. In particular, various types of cases, whereby a crack or scratch can be prevented from occurring due to contact between sides, rear surfaces, and edges of the portable electronic devices and other objects when the portable electronic devices are carried, or partial abrasion can be prevented from occurring due to user's hand grasp, the portable electronic devices are accommodated so as to protect various manipulation buttons or keys and exteriors of the portable electronic devices are protected, have been suggested.
Meanwhile, the portable electronic devices each include an open type port that enables connection of a connector of a peripheral device, such as a charging unit, to sides of the portable electronic device and charging of the portable electronic devices. Since the case has a through hole formed therein so that an insertion type connector of the peripheral device can be connected to the open type port through the through hole, a contact point terminal of the insertion type connector of the peripheral device physically comes into contact with a contact point terminal of the open type port such that the use, i.e., charging of the peripheral device can be performed.
However, since the open type port of the portable electronic device generally has a structure of a concave groove shape and the insertion type connector of the peripheral device generally has a structure of a convex protrusion shape, damage or breakage in which physical contact point states of connectors become loose with reciprocal repeated combination and separation, a contact state of the contact point terminals becomes bad, or contact point terminals of the connectors may be bent or crooked according to a separation direction when the connectors are separated from each other.
Also, when the open type port and the insertion type connector are coupled to each other in a reverse direction or an unreasonable force is applied to the open type port and the insertion type connector with a wrong using method, a printed circuit board (PCB) connected to the contact point terminal may be damaged with damage of the contact point terminal, and in this case, an economical loss in which the PCB needs to be replaced with a new one, may occur.
Furthermore, since the open type port has always an open state, when foreign substances, such as dust and water, are introduced into the open type port, an unstable connection state may be established, and esthetic appeal of the portable electronic device may be lowered.

Case for a portable electronic device having a non-insertion type interface


A method of route distribution for implementing multi-service optimization in Synchronous Digital Hierarchy Transmit Network comprises the following steps: A. dividing the SDH transmit network into subnets in term of rings to form a plurality of ring subnets, calculating initial routes of all services demand in the SDH transmit network; B. judging whether there are link resource overload between subnets and inside subnets respectively, if yes, recalculating the route; C. judging whether the load balance index is satisfied by ring subnet, if yes, performing route adjustment; D. after dividing the subnets into edge subnets and core subnets, judging whether the aggregative indicator of each link in the core subnets satisfies convergence condition, if no, checking whether the route calculation times exceeds the threshold, if yes, ending; otherwise, recalculating the corresponding routes.

The route distribution problem of multi-service optimization in Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) Transmit Network can be qualitatively described as: in case of network topology, i.e. structure of nodes and links, and service matrix table are provided, it is required that resource of services carried by each link do not exceed the total amount of the network resource, the network resource is occupied to be the least, and network load is balanced, while distributing route for each service. Up to the present, there is no method to solve this problem. However, the most approximate applied scheme is the route distribution method in a Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) optical network. In this scheme, in order to implement route distribution, heuristic algorithm is often adopted. The principle of heuristic algorithm is: in term of a certain routing strategy, such as shortest route method, calculating the initial solution of service route; then according to whole network resource such as utilized state of wavelength, recalculating the route of a partial services until the service indicator reaches expectation value, or until the calculated result reaches convergence, or until the calculation is repeated for certain times, then obtaining an acceptable solution.
In addition, genetic algorithm or neural network algorithm are adopted in a DWDM network sometimes for routing solution. However, a DWDM network belongs to general Mesh Network, which is a grid network with simple structure and only has interconnection between nodes rather than such structure as rings. Therefore, the heuristic algorithm applied in DWDM network based on such Mesh Network only considers simple connection between nodes, without considers specific network topology feature such as cross connection etc. Therefore, there is great uncertainty of the heuristic algorithm for network multi-service optimization effect. Furthermore, the genetic algorithm and the neural network algorithm are only applicable under the condition of small-scale network and simple constraint. With the network scale growing, especially when number of network nodes exceeds 50, these methods not only need a pretty long time for a solution, but also can not satisfy the time efficiency requirement of service network, and can not obtains the optimum solution under most circumstance.

Method for route distribution in multi-service optimization of SDH transmission network


Embodiments that relate to positioning a target indicator via a display system are disclosed. For example, one disclosed embodiment provides a method for positioning a target indicator using gaze tracking data having a coarse accuracy from a gaze tracking system of a computing device. Head pose data having a fine accuracy greater than the coarse accuracy is received from a head tracking system. Using the gaze tracking data, an approximate user gaze region within a display region is determined, and the target indicator is displayed at an initial location within the approximate user gaze region. A reposition input from the user is received. In response, subsequently received head pose data is used to calculate an adjusted location for the target indicator. The target indicator is then displayed at the adjusted location.

Navigating electronic content to find and select relevant portions of the content is an often-performed task. In some examples, a gaze tracking system and associated eye-gaze interface may enable a user to navigate among content items that are displayed to the user via a display device. Some of the content items may be selectable by the user via an input device, such as a mouse, keyboard or other mechanism.
Such gaze tracking systems, however, may have limited accuracy and resolution. These limitations may negatively impact a user experience with an eye-gaze interface. For example, where selectable content items are displayed in a smaller size, effective interaction via an eye-gaze interface with limited accuracy may prove challenging. In some cases, where two or more selectable content items are displayed close together and in a small size, navigating to and selecting a desired item with an eye-gaze interface may be difficult or practically impossible. To address this concern, some eye-gaze interfaces may provide display zoom modes and input controls that momentarily enlarge a portion of the displayed content items to facilitate selection.
However, using such special modes to enlarge content items entails additional steps and corresponding user input to ready the display and the desired item for selection. It follows that using such modes undesirably increases the delay between the user forming an intention to select an item and the actual selection of the item.


Using a reference pattern of the invention, discontinuous images caused by inadequate memory can be merged precisely. The reference pattern can be applied to both the flat bed scanner and the Automatic Document Feed (ADF) scanner.

This application incorporates by reference Taiwanese application Serial No. 90102298, Filed Feb. 2, 2001.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a scanner and a method for merging images, and in particular, to a scanner with a reference pattern for merging images and a method for the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As it is well known in the art, optical scanners produce machine-readable data which are representative of the scanned object, e.g. a page of printed text. Most optical scanners employ line-focus systems in which light from an illuminated scan line on the object is imaged by a lens onto a linear photosensor array or detector positioned remotely from the object. The linear photosensor array is typically a single dimension array of photoelements that correspond to small area locations along the illuminated scan line. These small area locations are commonly referred to as "picture elements" or "pixels." Each photoelement produces a data signal that is representative of the intensity of the light from the corresponding pixel. The data signals from the photoelements are received and processed by an appropriate data processing system which may subsequently store the data on a suitable medium or generate a display signal, from which an image of the object is reproduced using a display device such as a CRT or a printer.
Scanners with high resolution need to be accompanied with high-capacity memories because images with higher resolution require more memory space. However, when the issue of cost is considered, increasing the memory is not a cost effective solution. Instead, multi-step scanning is used to solve the problem of inadequate memory. That is, a whole image can be divided into smaller pieces and each partial image is scanned at one time. In multi-step scanning, the issue of precisely merging each partial image soon arises.
Conventionally, if the memory is inadequate, the carriage slows down until it stops completely, and where the carriage is located is called the image scan line. The carriage is driven to move back to the image merging scan line, and then continues the scanning process. The carriage is driven by a step motor, and the slow-down and speed-up motion of the carriage is usually unstable and even shakes seriously. As a result, the images captured as the carriage slows down and speeds up are not clear.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional flat bed scanner 100 with a multi-step scanning function. The scanner 100 includes a carriage 102, which scans a document 106 lying on the scan area 104. If the memory (not shown) of the scanner 100 is inadequate to store the image data, the carriage 102 is positioned at one of the scan lines, which is called the image merging scan line L1. The process of driving the carriage 102 back to the image merging scan line L1 is described as follows. First, the carriage 102 slows down from the image merging scan line L1 and moves along the scan direction for a distance W, from left to right as the arrow shown in FIG.1. Eventually, the carriage 102 stops at a stopping scan line L2. The distance W is controlled by a step motor (not shown) and thus can be transformed into Y steps. Please note that the slow-down motion of the carriage 102 is unstable and can even shake. Next, the carriage 102 is driven for Y steps from the stopping scan line L2 to the image merging scan line L1 along the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 1 from right to left. During the motion of returning to the image merging scan line Li, the carriage may also shake.
Furthermore, the tension of the transmission belt used for driving the carriage 102 during forward and backward motion is not equal. As a result, the carriage still cannot reach the image merging scan line L1 precisely, thus producing an unclear image, even though the step motor drives the carriage 102 back for Y steps.
A method is proposed to overcome the aforementioned error. By comparing the image similarity, it is ensured that the carriage 102 returns back precisely to the image merging scan line L1, which is described as follows. The image of the document 106, which the carriage 102 captures at the image merging scan line, is defined as a standard image. The carriage 102 will not continue to capture images until an image with high similarity as the standard image is found during its forward motion after the backward motion. However, images with high similarity can occur in several parts in a single document, such as a blank space. This could result in mis-recognition of the standard image and further problems such as image overlapping and gaps.

Scanner with a reference pattern for merging images and method of merging images