A touchless air cleansing system is provided for the stripper shoe or shoes of a concrete product producing machine comprising an air knife mounted on the feed box and having a nozzle supported in facing spaced relation to the underside surface of the shoe when the shoe is in the raised position. The air knife is operative during movement of the feed box for directing a moving curtain of high pressure air against the underside surface to cleanse it of any latent moldable block material that may have accumulated on its underside surface.

This invention relates to apparatus and methods for molding aggregate blocks.
Apparatus for the mechanized molding of cement blocks are well known, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,340, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Briefly, the molding of standard building blocks involves the introduction of moldable block material into a mold box or sleeve having fixed, straight-sided cavity walls that extend longitudinally between open top and bottom ends of the mold. A pallet is positioned to close the bottom of the cavity and a top plate, or template, overlies the top of the mold, and is formed with an opening aligned with the cavity to receive moldable block material into the cavity. The material is charged into the mold from a feed box which is moved from the side into position over the mold and discharges material through a bottom shoot, after which it is returned clear of the mold. A stripper head is lowered from above into the cavity to close the top of the mold and engage the top of the material. With the cavity closed, the mold box assembly is vibrated which, together with the weight of the stripper head, serves to compact and shape the material into the form of a block. The completed block is vertically stripped through the bottom of the mold by lowering the pallet and stripper head together, and then is conveyed onward on the pallet for further processing. The stripper head is returned and a new pallet positioned against the bottom of the cavity to ready the mold for the next cycle.
It will be appreciated that the laterally immovable cavity walls restrict the type of block that can be produced in the mold to ones having straight-sided walls or side contours that extend in the longitudinal direction of stripping. Lateral undercuts or projections are not permitted, as such would interlock the block and cavity walls in the longitudinal direction, preventing stripping.
FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate a complex block having such lateral undercuts and projections. A mold box whose parts split laterally has been employed to form such blocks, the mold parts having the appropriate projecting and recessed mold surfaces to impart the corresponding shape to the block. The mold parts are initially inwardly displaced to provide a laterally contoured mold cavity open at its longitudinally opposite top and bottom ends. The bottom of the mold is closed by a pallet, and a top plate overlies the top of the mold and has an opening therein aligned with the open top of the mold. A feed box is moved laterally into position over the mold between the top plate and the underside of an upper stripper head to deliver the block material into the mold cavity through a bottom shoot, after which the feed box is returned clear of the mold and stripper head.
As the feed box moves into and out of position, a wire brush carried along the top of the feed box sweeps across the underside of the stripper head to remove any block material that may have accumulated from the previous mold cycle. For this particular block, the underside of the stripper head is heavily contoured. Large depending features extend into the mold and help form the projecting side features of the block as well as shaping the top surface of the block during molding.
Following compaction of the block material within the cavity, the mold parts are laterally split and retracted beneath the top plate sufficiently to disengage the mold surface clear of the block, to permit subsequent longitudinal stripping of the completed block through the bottom of the mold through conjoint downward movement of the platform and stripper head.
Some difficulties have been encountered in forming such blocks having laterally extending side features using split mold tooling of the type described above. The block material tends to accumulate on the upper surfaces of the projecting portions of the mold tooling, particularly in the inside corner regions. The material must be manually swept of blown from these regions between mold cycles, slowing the process and requiring the attendance of an operator.
The block material also tends to accumulate on the underside surface of the stripper head. The traditional wire brush carried on the feed box is unable to reach the deep inside corner features where the material is most prone to accumulate. Further, those bristles that sweep across the large projecting features of the stripper head quickly fatigue and break off.
Apparatus and method for molding blocks comprises a mold having an open top and bottom, a feedbox supported above the mold for movement into and out of position over the mold for selectively delivering a charge of moldable block material into the mold through the open top, a bottom pallet arranged below the mold for selectively closing the bottom of the mold to support the charge of moldable block material within in the mold, and a stripper head including a shoe having an underside molding surface supported for selective movement between an inoperative raised position spaced above the mold and a lowered position into the mold through the open top thereof for engaging and shaping the moldable block material with the mold. According to a characterizing feature of the invention, the feed box mounts an air knife having a nozzle supported in facing spaced relation to the underside surface of the shoe when the shoe is in the raised position. The air knife is operative during the movement of the feed box to direct a flow of high pressure air against the underside surface for cleansing the underside surface an any latent mold block material that may have accumulated between mold cycles.
The provision of the air knife has the advantage of being able to remove accumulated block material from all areas of the underside surface of the stripper shoe, regardless of whether the underside surface is flat, highly contoured, or in between. The touchless air knife cleansing system dispenses with the need for a traditional wire brush and thus avoids the problems of bristle wear and/or damage associated with the sweeping of the bristles across the underside surface of stripper shoes, particularly those which are highly contoured which quickly fatigue and break the bristles.

Apparatus for molding blocks having air knife cleansing system


Methods, systems and apparatuses for dimensionally registering composite laminates are disclosed, wherein readable elements acting as alignment and identification features are incorporated integrally in laminates.

For the manufacture of composites, it is often required to move layments (uncured laminated charges) through various operations and locations. The layments have features, often on the bottom side, and therefore not visible, requiring precise location or registration to produce the finished product. In known processes, maintaining the registration through the laminate processing is complicated by the lack of stable, locatable features present on the layments.
It is important to maintain positional registration of composite layments, especially when the layment is assembled on a temporary surface other than a cure mandrel. As a result, there are several sources of potential error relative to the incorrect positioning of layments. For example, layment edges are often subject to the tolerance of cutting plies "on the fly". Further, layment edges are subject to distortion due to subsequent forming operations, and layment edges may be covered by subsequent layers or splices. If crenulated edges are formed on the layment (such as, for example, when individual tapes are square cut leaving a saw tooth edge), such edges are poor for subsequent accurate orientation.
Known layment-orienting solutions consist of external markings, such as, for example, those applied with an ink jet device. However, such markings are temporary, imprecise and have poor machine readability. Such markings are often further unreadable under bagging material, and are further inaccessible (not readable) from the opposite side of the layment. Tooling holes have sometimes been used to orient or register metal parts, but this technique is of little use with uncured laminates.

Method and apparatus for accurate registration of composite laminates


A magnetron for a microwave oven comprising a spacer having a disc shape fitted between a lower pole piece and a F-seal supporting the lower pole piece. The spacer has a pair of lead holes through which a center lead and a side lead extend, respectively. At the upper surface of the space, a metal coating is formed which defines an attenuation cavity. The provision of the attenuation cavity makes it possible to remove effectively leaked microwaves. Since the spacer is firmly fitted between the lower pole piece and the F-seal, it is also possible to avoid a lateral vibration of the lead assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetron for a microwave oven, and more particularly to a magnetron for a microwave oven wherein a spacer having a disc shape is fitted between a lower pole piece and an F-seal supporting the lower pole piece and provided at its upper surface with a metal coating, thereby removing effectively leaked microwaves and avoiding a lateral vibration of a lead assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a magnetron for a microwave oven comprises a diode for emitting thermions. Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated an example of a conventional magnetron for a microwave oven. As shown in FIG. 1, the magnetron comprises a magnetron body 1, and a filament 2 disposed in the magnetron body 1 and adapted to emit thermions. The magnetron body 1 is disposed in a casing constituted by an upper member 5 of a plate shape and a lower member 6 of a cylindrical shape. The magnetron body 1 also has upper and lower portions protruded beyond upper and lower members 5 and 6, respectively. To seal and support the magnetron body 1, an A-seal member 3 and an F-seal member 4 are provided at the upper and lower portions of the magnetron body 1. The seal members 3 and 4 also function as a magnetic path. Around the filament 2, a vane 7 is placed to receive microwave energy generated when the thermions emitted from the filament 2 are acceleratively rotated in an interaction spacer 9. A strap 16 is also provided for adjusting frequencies of the thermions rotating acceleratively in the interaction space 9. The magnetron also comprises an antenna feeder 8 adapted as a microwave transmission path for guiding microwave energy received by the vane 7 into a cooking chamber. In the casing, upper and lower permanent magnets 10 and 10' are attached to upper and lower members 5 and 6, respectively, to generate a magnetic field. The magnetic field is applied to the interaction space 9, by means of pole pieces 11 and 11'. Around the magnetron body 1, a plurality of cooling fins 12 are disposed which function to release outwardly heat generated at the side of vane 7 and thus cool the interior of magnetron body 1. A center lead 17 and a side lead 18 are connected at their one ends to both ends of the filament 2, respectively, so as to apply electric power to the filament 2. To the other ends of leads 17 and 18, a through type condenser 14 is connected, which functions as a terminal making it possible to apply easily electric power from the outside to the filament 2. A choke coil 15 is also provided to remove conductive noise generated by lead current. The condenser 14 cooperates with the choke coil 15 to enhance a shield effect on conductive noise. Beneath the housing, a filter box 13 is disposed to surround the lower portion of the magnetron body 1. The filter box 13 functions to remove radiation noise emitting through both the center lead 17 and the side lead 18. A spacer 19 is also provided to support both the center lead 17 and the side lead 18. To the lower end of the magnetron body 1, a cathode terminal 20 is mounted. An F-ceramic member 21 is also provided between the F-seal member 4 and the cathode terminal 20.
In this conventional magnetron with the above-mentioned construction, as electric power is applied to the filament 2 via the center lead 17 and the side lead 18, the filament 2 emits thermions which are, in turn, radiated into the interaction space 9. In the interaction space 9, the thermions conduct a cycloidal movement, that is, an accelerated rotation, by axial magnetic fluxes generated from the pole pieces 11 and 11' and an electric field generated between the filament 2 and the vane 7. On the other hand, microwave energy transmitted to the vane 7 is fed into the cooking chamber, via the antenna feeder 8 and a waveguide (not shown) of the oven, thereby heating the food placed in the cooking chamber.
At this time, the magnetron generates microwaves which includes basic frequency of 2.45 GHz and harmful higher harmonics having a frequency corresponding to a multiple of the basic frequency.
Although such microwaves are desired to go to the output part of magnetron, namely, the antenna feeder 8, in actual, a part of the microwaves flows usually toward the inlet part of magnetron, via the center lead 17, the side lead 18 and the cathode terminal 20.
Such a flow of microwaves into the input part of magnetron results in a degradation in efficiency of the magnetron. Furthermore, if excessive microwaves pass through the magnetron, overheating of the magnetron occurs and results in a damage of the choke coil 15 which is of a structure adapted to attenuate the microwaves in its path. Upon being outwardly leaked, this excessive microwaves also may exert a harmful influence on human bodies and cause radio interference for other appliances such as televisions and etc.
In order to avoid such a leakage of microwaves, there has been proposed microwave shielding devices. A typical example of such microwave shielding devices is illustrated in FIG. 2. As shown in the drawing, the microwave shielding device comprises a microwave shielding choke 22 having a certain shape and fixed to the inner wall of F-seal 4.
In this conventional microwave shielding device, the leakage of microwave is effectively prevented by the microwave shielding choke 22. However, the device requires use of a separate jig for fixing the choke 22, which causes a deterioration in workability in the manufacture of magnetrons and an expensive manufacture cost.
On the other hand, since thermions conduct an accelerated rotation in the interaction space 9, a mechanical vibration occurs at the cathode part of magnetron including the filament 2, the center lead 17 and the side lead 18. U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,845 discloses a device for preventing both the center lead and the side lead from vibrating due to such a mechanical vibration and for maintaining a proper space between the center lead and the side lead. In case of the patent, a spacer is mounted to upper portions of the leads.
The spacer serves effectively to hold the leads at their spaced state. If both the leads vibrate laterally at the same time, however, the spacer then vibrates laterally. As a result, a vibration restraining effect is reduced. Moreover, it is required to form a groove for positioning the spacer at a curved portion of the center lead. It is also needed to provide sleeves. These requirements make a deterioration in workability in the manufacture of magnetrons and an increase in manufacture cost.


A process for producing paraxylene by the catalytic alkylation of benzene and/or toluene with methanol, which produces a para-rich mixture of xylene isomers, together with water and some light organic by-products, particularly dimethyl ether and C4− olefins. The off-gas stream, containing the C4− olefins, may be recycled back to the reaction to be co-injected with methanol to reduce the methanol self-decomposition and the reaction of methanol to olefins or to fluidize catalyst particles recovered by a reactor cyclone. By using recycled off-gas rather than water or steam, the deleterious effects of water and/or steam on the catalyst aging and activity rates and the size of downstream equipment necessary to recover olefin by-products may be reduced.

Of the xylene isomers, paraxylene is of particular value since it is useful in the manufacture of terephthalic acid, which is an intermediate in the manufacture of synthetic fibers and resins. Today, paraxylene is commercially produced by hydrotreating of naphtha (catalytic reforming), steam cracking of naphtha or gas oil, and toluene disproportionation.
One problem with most existing processes for producing xylenes is that they produce a thermodynamic equilibrium mixture of ortho-xylene, meta-xylene and para-xylene (referred to herein as OX, MX, and PX, respectively), in which the PX concentration is typically only about 24 wt %. Thus, separation of PX from such mixtures tends to require superfractionation and multistage refrigeration steps. Such processes involve high operating and capital costs and result in only limited yields. Therefore, there is a continuing need to provide processes which are highly selective for the production of PX.
It is well-known to manufacture xylenes by the alkylation of toluene and/or benzene with methanol, and, in particular, to selectively make PX product using zeolite catalyst. See, for instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,002,698; 4,356,338; 4,423,266; 5,675,047; 5,804,690; 5,939,597; 6,028,238; 6,046,372; 6,048,816; 6,156,949; 6,423,879; 6,504,072; 6,506,954; 6,538,167; and 6,642,426. The terms "paraxylene selectivity", "para-selective", and the like, means that PX is produced in amounts greater than is present in a mixture of xylene isomers at thermodynamic equilibrium, which at ordinary processing temperatures is about 24 mol %. PX selectivity is highly sought after because of the economic importance of PX relative to MX and OX. Although each of the xylene isomers have important and well-known end uses, PX is currently the most economically valuable.
In the process, typically toluene and/or benzene are alkylated with methanol, in the presence of a suitable catalyst, to form xylenes in a reactor in a system illustrated schematically in the FIGURE, wherein a feed comprising reactants enter fluid bed reactor 11 via conduit 1 and effluent comprising product exits through conduit 5, and the catalyst circulates between fluid bed reactor 11, apparatus 12, which strips fluid from the catalyst, and catalyst regenerator 13, via conduits 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Water is typically co-fed with toluene and methanol to minimize toluene coking in the feed lines and methanol self-decomposition. Other side reactions include the formation of light olefins, light paraffins, as reactions that convert PX to other xylene isomers or heavier aromatics.
While co-feeding water into the reaction is beneficial in reducing the methanol self-decomposition and the reaction of methanol to olefins, the steam created by the water can negatively impact the aging and activity rate of the catalyst. Additionally, the process inevitably produces significant quantities of light (C4−) gas. These gaseous by-products include olefins, particularly ethylene, propylene and butylenes; alkanes, such as methane, ethane, propane and butanes, which may be recovered and purified to increase their value above fuel value.
Thus, it is desirable to increase the efficiency of the methylation of benzene and/or toluene process and extend the catalyst life.

Use of light gas by-products in the production of paraxylene by the methylation of toluene and or benzene


A two-layered optical recording medium which includes a first substrate, a first information layer, a second information layer, and a second substrate formed in this order as viewed from the light beam irradiation side, the first information layer includes a first lower dielectric layer, a first recording layer, a first upper dielectric layer, a first reflective layer, and an inorganic dielectric layer formed in this order as viewed from the light beam irradiation side; the second information layer includes a second lower dielectric layer, a second recording layer, a second upper dielectric layer, and a second reflective layer formed in this order as viewed from the light beam irradiation side; and the first reflective layer is made of Cu with a content of 99.8% by mass to 95.0% by mass and one or more metals selected from Ta, Nb, Zr, Ni, Cr, Ge, Au, and Mo.

Optical discs such as CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable) and CD-RW (Compact Disc-Rewritable) typically has a laminar structure in which signals such as sounds, letters and/or images are recorded circumferentially on a discoidal substrate made of plastic such as polycarbonate or the like or a recording layer formed on the discoidal substrate, and a reflective layer is formed on the surface of the substrate or the recording layer by vapor deposition or sputtering using metal such as aluminum, gold or silver. In this case, signals are recorded or reproduced by irradiating the optical disc with a laser beam from the substrate surface side.
Recently, signal recording capacity of optical discs is significantly increased, and signal information is more highly densified as can be seen in DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, because information volumes handled by use of computer memory, memory for images and sound clips, optical cards, and the like have remarkably increased. Presently, CD has a recording capacity of around 650 MB, and DVD has a recording capacity of around 4.7 GB, however, further high-densification of recording is demanded. As a way to enhance recording density in optical systems, shortening wavelengths of a semiconductor laser beam source for use and increasing numerical aperture (NA) of object lens for use are studied. Further, not only enhancement of recording density in a two-dimensional direction but also a technique of which the number of recording layers is multiplied in a thickness direction of the recording medium to store recorded information are studied.
As a means to obtain a high-capacity optical recording medium, when multiple recording layers are formed in a direction of laser beam irradiation and a laser beam with blue wavelengths is used, it brings about the following problems.
For example, in the case of an optical recording medium having two recording layers, in order to enhance the amount of light incident on a second recording layer disposed at the innermost side as viewed from the light beam irradiation side and in order to enhance the transmittance of the returned beams of light, the transmittance of light beam incident on a first recording layer disposed at the light beam irradiation side needs to be assured. To assure the light transmittance property, it is important to select materials and thicknesses of layers that are subjected to light absorption. Particularly, selecting materials of recording layers becomes an important issue. Patent Literature 1 discloses that when the thicknesses of recording layers are made thin to reduce the light absorption, the crystallization rate tends to be relatively lowered. Patent Literature 2 discloses a means to enhance the crystallization rate and employs a means to enhance the crystallization rate of a recording-layer material itself. The method for enhancing the crystallization rate of a recording-layer material itself is disclosed in Patent Literature 3. When the thickness of a recording layer is made ultrathin, the transmittance of the light beam is increased, however, the power of light beam to be absorbed at the first recording layer is reduced by the amount of transmitted light beam, and differences in recording signals being sufficient enough to read the signals are hardly obtainable. As mentioned above, there are technological difficulties in achievement of multi-layered optical recording medium.
By the way, from the perspective of materials of recording layers, there are two mainstreams of developments in the materials. Namely, one of the mainstreams is developments in GeTe which is a material used for recordable recording layers, inducing phase-changes on recording layers, and recording layer materials made of a ternary alloy of GeSbTe from a solid solution or a eutectic composition of the above-noted two recording layer materials. The other mainstream is developments in alloys of Sb and Te similarly to the above, however, this is a recording layer material made of a eutectic composition of Sb and Sb2Te3, and microelements are added to SbTe with a Sb content of around 70%.
As for the ternary alloy materials, Patent Literature 4 to 8 disclose that an addition of Ge to the main component of Te enabling reversible phase-changes can stabilize amorphous phase of Te, further, mixing Sb2Te3 with the above materials can reduce the optical energy required for recording, and by determining the mixture ratio within an optimum range, information can be recorded, erased, and rewritably recorded at high-linear velocities. Among the above mentioned documents, Patent Literature 5, 6, and 8 respectively disclose an optical recording medium having multiple recording layers.
As for the latter recording layer material of SbTe alloy, Patent Literature 9 discloses an example of a phase-change recording material of which Sb and Te are employed as the main component, and the atomic ratio satisfies the condition of 2.3<Sb/Te≦4.0. The invention describes that since the phase-change recording material has a high-crystallization rate, it enables recording, reproducing, and rewriting at high-transmission rate with stability.
However, with recording materials which are made of a compound existing on an extended line of GeTe and/or Sb2Te3, which are shown in Patent Literature 5, 6, and 8 stated above, each of the elements has a high-melting point and a high-crystallization temperature, and thus the rewriting speed is not sufficiently fast. In order to improve the recording linear velocity, a laminar structure in which a crystallization supporting layer made of a metal alloy is formed on and under a recording layer just like in Patent Literature 10, and a laminar structure in which an interface layer made of GeN or the like have been generally used. Interface layers made of GeN or the like are disclosed in Patent Literature 2 and Non-Patent Literature 1. The layers used for improving recording linear velocity in the documents can be said as a negative factor for first recording layers for which light transmittance property is required, because the layers absorb not a little amount of light. Thus, for materials of a first recording layer, a material that enables recording without a high-power, and forming with a simple laminar structure is desired. Further, since compounds existing on an extended line of GeTe and/or Sb2Te3 respectively have a low C/N ratio (Carrier to Noise Ratio) of 30 dB, it is disadvantageous in that a stable system is hardly structured when rewritable optical disc system which is said to require at least 45 dB is structured.
Next, as reflective layers of optical recording media, metal or alloy is used. For example, as disclosed in Patent Literature 11, Ag or Ag alloy is often used for reflective layers. For the reason, Ag or Ag alloy is excellent in thermal conductivity and in light reflection property. However, Ag monomers have a problem with the storage stability, and there is a need to additionally form a barrier layer or an intermediate layer for preventing Ag from reacting with other substances. Since carbide or metal is used for materials of barrier layers or intermediate layers, absorption of optical energy by a reflective layer, a barrier layer and an intermediate layer disadvantageously affects a laminar structure having multiple recording layers in terms of effective utilization of optical energy.
As for inventive examples relating to materials of Ag reflective layers, there are proposals of improving the trade-off relationship between durability and reflectance of Ag reflective layers by use of additives to assure the durability and reflectance, besides the use of Ag alloy (see Patent Literature 12).
As for examples relating to materials of reflective layers other than Ag or Ag alloy, there are reflective layers using Cu (see Patent Literature 13 to 16), and using Au (see Patent Literature 17).
However, Patent Literature 14 stated above relates to reproducing only ROM (Read Only Memory) media and is unrelated to recordable optical recording media. Patent Literature 15 stated above employs Cu for the reflective layer, however, only AgPdCu alloy is shown in the examples, and there is no specific description on a reflective layer using Cu as the main component. In addition, Patent Literature 16 describes that Cu is used as the main component for the reflective layer, however, in fact, the invention discloses a reflective layer made of Ag as the main component, and there is no specific description on Cu.
In addition, Patent Literature 18 discloses an optical recording medium having multi-layered recording layers and described that Cu is mainly used for the metallic reflective layer, and the metallic reflective layer has a thickness of 2 nm to 10 nm, however, in fact, there are only examples of reflective layers using only Cu in the examples of the invention, and there is no description on employment of other additional components for the metallic reflective layer. In the examples, it is disclosed that the storage reliability can be ensured with only the use of Cu, without the necessity of using other additional components. According to our findings, however, the storage property with a single use of Cu turned out to be degraded. Further, it turned out that even when other additional components are added, it is ineffective in keeping the storage property high depending on the type of components to be added.    Patent Literature 1 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2002-144736    Patent Literature 2 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2002-293025    Patent Literature 3 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2003-16687    Patent Literature 4 Japanese Patent (JP-B) No. 2692654    Patent Literature 5 Japanese Patent (JP-B) No. 3216794    Patent Literature 6 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 10-116441    Patent Literature 7 Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-B) No. 08-032482    Patent Literature 8 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2001-143322    Patent Literature 9 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2002-288876    Patent Literature 10 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2002-123977    Patent Literature 11 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2002-140838    Patent Literature 12 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2004-39146    Patent Literature 13 International Publications No. WO/02/021524    Patent Literature 14 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2003 331381 2003-338081    Patent Literature 15 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2000-215516    Patent Literature 16 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2002-25115    Patent Literature 17 Japanese Patent (JP-B) No. 3087433    Patent Literature 18 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2005-524922    Non-Patent Literature 1 On pp. 85-90, collected lecture papers of The 10th Symposium on Phase Change Optical information Storage (1998)


It is an object of this invention to provide apparatus and methods for electronically evaluating a pair of entities as candidates for co-location. The apparatus and methods may be used to define a group of entities for co-location assessment. A pairing within the group may be quantitatively evaluated based on a variety of criteria to assess suitability for co-location. The evaluations may be combined to generate a co-location score which may be displayed pictorially in a co-location matrix.

Businesses or other entities may benefit from locating near each other within a building or on a floor. In many cases, common infrastructure and equipment may be shared. If the operations of the two entities are similar, workspace as well as employees may be shifted from one entity to another as an enterprise grows, declines or changes focus. This strategy allows a growing business to adapt to changes with minimal effort and expense. For a business that is temporarily declining, it may preserve a cadre of trained employees who may be shifted back as the business recovers.
For any group of entities, some pairs will be better-matched than others for co-location. Conventionally, planners make decisions regarding co-location based on a personal assessment. Typically, only a small set of criteria are considered and the criteria may not be the same in every case.
There is no known approach that evaluates candidates for co-location using an unbiased mathematical framework. An electronic system could quickly reduce a broad set of criteria to mathematical terms for processing to assess suitability for co-location. Moreover, an electronic system could evaluate a group of entities together, assessing each paring in a consistent way and producing quantified results.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide apparatus and methods for electronically evaluating a pair of entities as candidates for co-location.


A socket wrench is provided which performs the functions heretofore carried out by two separate wrenches. To this end, the present invention provides a wrench where each end thereof selectively acts (a) as a receiving end for a nut or other fastener to be rotated by the wrench and of a different size than that to be received by the other end of the wrench and, (b) as the receiving end of a driver member which is to rotate the wrench to turn the nut or other fastener surrounded by the other end of the wrench. Preferably, the same driver member is insertable into either end of the wrench.

The present invention in its broadest form improves upon the prior art by designing the socket wrenches involved so that instead of a wrench with one socket-forming end and one driver-receiving end as in the prior art, each end of the wrench can perform a double function of selectively acting as a fastener-receiving end for a fastener of a different size or as an end to receive preferably the driving end of the same driver or less desirably for a different sized driver. This feature is used both for wrenches in which the opposite ends are fixed ends or ends which can be pivoted with respect to each other, although the pivoted form shown in the drawings is the preferred form.


A device for modifying the layout of a vehicle racing course in a wide track section thereof including an arrangement consisting of individual elements for defining the edge of the track located in the region of the track section, which can be displaced, either individually or in groups, from an initial configuration of the track section into a new configuration for reshaping a bend in the racing course or/and for dividing the racing course.

Vehicle races, especially Formula-1 races, take place on traditional racing courses the construction of which is based on individual designs and which make high demands on the skills of the drivers and the quality of the vehicle. Lately, it has been noticed that races of formula vehicles, racing cars, touring cars, trucks, motorcycles, karts etc. become less and less exciting due to the technical development. A principal reason for this is that the overtaking manoeuvres, which actually are the thrilling thing about races, have become nearly impossible. This is, inter alia, due to the fact that the development in the aerodynamic field requires a larger distance from vehicle to vehicle, because a tailgating vehicle loses road adherence due to turbulences on the vehicle driving in front of it. In addition, an optimization of the tire grip is required for the full output development of the racing cars, for which purpose special tires are used which have an optimum grip only in a narrow region of width of the racing course.
In order to increase the thrill of vehicle races, forced pit stops and refuel stops are provided, which make the individual vehicles move out of the boring successive driving for a short time. More interesting for a spectator, however, is the direct battle of the individual drivers with thrilling overtaking manoeuvres. Thus, there is a need to animate the spectators' interest by thrilling overtaking manoeuvres also in those sections of the racing course in which so far overtaking manoeuvres have been made with difficulties only or not at all.

Device and method for modifying the layout of a vehicle racing course


A video coder generates a list of merging candidates for coding a video block of the 3D video. A maximum number of merging candidates in the list of merging candidates may be equal to 6. As part of generating the list of merging candidates, the video coder determines whether a number of merging candidates in the list of merging candidates is less than 5. If so, the video coder derives one or more combined bi-predictive merging candidates. The video coder includes the one or more combined bi-predictive merging candidates in the list of merging candidates.

Digital video capabilities can be incorporated into a wide range of devices, including digital televisions, digital direct broadcast systems, wireless broadcast systems, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptop or desktop computers, digital cameras, digital recording devices, digital media players, video gaming devices, video game consoles, cellular or satellite radio telephones, video teleconferencing devices, and the like. Digital video devices implement video compression techniques, such as those described in the standards defined by MPEG-2, MPEG-4, ITU-T H.263, ITU-T H.264/MPEG-4, Part 10, Advanced Video Coding (AVC), the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard, and extensions of such standards, to transmit, receive and store digital video information more efficiently.
Video compression techniques perform spatial (intra-picture) prediction and/or temporal (inter-picture) prediction to reduce or remove redundancy inherent in video sequences. For block-based video coding, a video slice may be partitioned into video blocks, which may also be referred to as treeblocks, coding units (CUs) and/or coding nodes. Video blocks in an intra-coded (I) slice of a picture are encoded using spatial prediction with respect to reference samples in neighboring blocks in the same picture. Video blocks in an inter-coded (P or B) slice of a picture may use spatial prediction with respect to reference samples in neighboring blocks in the same picture or temporal prediction with respect to reference samples in other reference pictures. Pictures may be referred to as frames, and reference pictures may be referred to as reference frames.
A multi-view coding bitstream may be generated by encoding views, e.g., from multiple perspectives. Multi-view coding may allow a decoder to choose between different views, or possibly render multiple views. Moreover, some three-dimensional (3D) video techniques and standards that have been developed, or are under development, make use of multi-view coding aspects. Three dimensional video is also referred to as "3DV."
For example, different views may transmit left and right eye views to support 3D video. Alternatively, some 3D video coding processes may apply so-called multi-view plus depth coding. In multi-view plus depth coding, a 3D video bitstream may contain not only texture view components, but also depth view components. For example, each view may comprise one texture view component and one depth view component.
Currently, a Joint Collaboration Team on 3D Video Coding (JCT-3C) of VCEG and MPEG is developing a 3D video standard based on the emerging standard referred to as "high efficiency video coding (HEVC)," for which part of the standardization efforts includes the standardization of the multi-view video codec based on HEVC (MV-HEVC) and another part for 3D Video coding based on HEVC (3D-HEVC). 3D-HEVC may include and support new coding tools, including those in coding unit/prediction unit level, for both texture and depth views.

Combined bi-predictive merging candidates for 3D video coding


The present invention relates to CLN5 nucleic acid and protein variants and functional derivatives, homologues and analogues thereof, together with cellular expression systems, and uses for same. The present invention also provides genetically modified mammalian animals and methods of use thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to mammalian animals modified to express a mutation in the CLN5 gene, the expression of which variant CLN5 gene induces or otherwise facilitates the onset or progression of a disease condition, and to methods of use thereof. The animals and variant molecules and cells of the present invention are useful in a wide range of applications including, but not limited to, providing a means of diagnosis and means of screening for proteinaceous and non-proteinaceous molecular modulators for use in therapeutic and/or prophylactic applications.

Bibliographic details of the publications referred to by author in this specification are collected alphabetically at the end of the description.
The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that that prior art forms part of the common general knowledge.
Pedigree dog breeds are isolated and inbred populations each of which contain genetic diseases specific to the breed. While these diseases can often be a problem for breeders, they also serve as a valuable resource as models for genetic diseases in humans and other animals. In Australian Border Collies an autosomal recessive mutation resulting in a fatal neurodegenerative disease is wide spread in the population due to the common use of some champion carrier dogs. The condition is a lysosomal storage disorder known as neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL), in which subunit c of mitochondrial ATP synthase accumulates (Jolly et al. 1994, J Small Anim Pract 35:299-306).
The neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses are collectively recognized as the most common neurodegenerative disorder in children. Mutations have been identified in six different genes (CLNs 1,2,3,5,6,8) that each result in a unique form of the disease that is distinguishable by the age of onset and clinical course (Mole 1999, Lancet 354:443-445). The condition results in the lysosomal accumulation of an autofluorescent lipopigment that is mainly composed of subunit c of mitochondrial ATP synthase (Mole 1999, supra), except for the CLN1 mutation that results in the lipopigment containing high levels of saponins A and D (Tyynela et al. 1993, FEBS Letters 330:8-12). The ultrastructural patterns of these aggregates are variable and dependent on the gene mutated.
The CLN5 protein encodes a soluble lysosomal glycoprotein (Isosomppi et al. 2002, Hum Mol Genet 11:885-891) and it is suggested that it interacts directly with the proteins of CLN2 and CLN3 (Vesa et al. 2002, Mol Biol Cell 13:2410-2420). The protein displays no significant homology to any of the other NCL genes (Savukoski et al. 1998, Nature Genet 19:286-288) and is highly conserved between humans and mice, with the exception of the first exon (Isosomppi et al. 2002, supra; Holmberg et al. 2004, Neurobiology of Disease 16:29-40). Four disease causing mutations within the gene have been recorded in humans to date (Savukoski et al. 1998, supra; Holmberg et al. 2000, Neurology 55:579-581).
NCL has been identified in a range of animals including cow (Harper et al. 1988, Acta Neuropathol 75:632-636), dog (Koppang 1973, Mechanisms of Ageing and Development 2:421-445), horse (Url et al. 2001, Acta Neuropathol 101:410-414), and sheep (Jolly 1977, Med J 86:304-304; Tyynela et al.), although only in a few cases have the genetic mutations been identified. Naturally occurring NCL mouse models exist for CLN6 (Bronson et al. 1998, Am J Med Genet 77:289-297) and CLN8 (Bronson et al. 1993, Ann Neurol 33:381-385; Ranta et al. 1999, Am J Hum Genet 65:A5-A5), while knockout and targeted disruption models exist for the other identified NCL genes (Mitchison et al. 1999, Neurobiology of Disease 6:321-334; Gupta et al. 2001, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:13566-13571; Sleat et al. 2003; Kopra et al. 2004, Hum Mol Genet 13:2893-2906). A mutation in CLN6 has been identified as the cause of a late-onset form of NCL in sheep (Broom et al. 1999, Molecular Genetics and Metabolism 66:373-375). The first large animal model of CLN5 has been identified recently in Devon cattle in Australia (Houweling et al. 2004).
Animals with NCL have revealed four additional genes as candidates for Border Collie NCL, although no mutations in the human homologues have been identified. Cathepsin D was first detected as a congenital form of the disease in sheep (Tyynela et al. 2000, Embo J 19:2786-2792), and further studied using knockout mouse models (Koike et al. 2000, J Neurosci 20:6898-6906). Additional mouse models have shown that mutations within PPT2 and CLC-3 also produce NCL (Gupta et al. 2001, supra; Yoshikawa et al. 2002, Genes Cells 7:597-605). Additionally, radiation hybrid mapping (Breen et al. 2001, Genome Res 11:1784-1795) of the microsatellite markers linked to the English setter NCL gene (Lingaas et al. 1998, Anim Genet 29:371-376) indicated the gene is located to a region that does not contain any homologues of any of the identified NCL genes.
Although onset of NCL in Border Collies may be observable to owners as early as 16 months (Studdert and Mitten 1991, Aust Vet J 68:137-140), the age of onset and severity can vary greatly between siblings. As the extent of neurodegeneration increases, all affected dogs develop psychological abnormalities and ataxia. The clinical course includes increasing levels of nervousness and possible outbursts of aggression, hallucinations (displayed as fly biting), hyperactivity and epileptic fits. Most animals lose their ability to coordinate everyday muscular activities, such as house training, walking and eating (Studdert and Mitten 1991, supra; Jolly et al. 1994, supra). Complete blindness only occurs in some cases, with changes in the eye only observable through ultrastructural examination of the retina where fingerprint and curvilinear patterns predominated within lysosomal aggregates (Taylor and Farrow 1988, Acta Neuropathol 75:627-631). Due to the debilitating nature of the disease, Border Collies suffering from NCL rarely survive beyond 28 months (Studdert and Mitten 1991, supra).
Accordingly, there is an ongoing need to identify the mutations which cause NCL in mammals, and in particular border collies. In work leading up to the present invention, a variant form of CLN5 has been identified, the expression of this variant being associated with the onset of NCL in dogs, in particular in border collies. These findings now provide highly specific genetic and protein based diagnostic means. Since it has been determined that NCL is associated with the expression of this variant form of CLN5, there is also enabled the development and/or use of animal models expressing this CLN5 variant for the development or analysis of, inter alia, therapeutic or prophylactic treatments. Still further, there is also provided means for the in vitro screening for modulatory agents which may be useful for therapeutic or prophylactic application, such as agents which block the expression or functioning of the mutated form of CLN5 thereby enable normalisation of CLN5 levels via administration of the non-mutated protein expression product.

Method of screening for neuronal ceroid lipfuscinosis in canine by detecting a mutation in ceroid lipofuscinosis neuornal 5 (CLN5) gene


A method for communication includes allocating, in a multiple-access communication system (20) that uses multiple subcarriers, first subcarriers to a first communication terminal for transmitting first data, and second subcarriers to a second communication terminal for transmitting second data. The first communication terminal is assigned to modulate the first data onto at least some of the first subcarriers using a first multi-carrier modulation scheme, to produce a first signal. The second communication terminal is assigned to modulate the second data onto at least some of the second subcarriers using a second multi-carrier modulation scheme, which has a reduced peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) relative to the first multi-carrier modulation scheme, to produce a second signal. Simultaneous communication is carried out with the first and second communication terminals by simultaneously receiving the first and second signals over the first and second subcarriers.

Several communication systems and applications use frequency division multiple access (FDMA) schemes for allocating frequency resources to multiple communication terminals. One type of FDMA is orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), which is used, for example, in communication systems based on the IEEE 802.16 family of standards, commonly referred to as WiMAX. Information regarding these standards is available at www.ieee802.org/16 and at www.wimaxforum.org.
Mobile WiMAX applications often conform to the IEEE 802.16e standard, entitled "Amendment to IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks—Part 16: Air Interface for Fixed Broadband Wireless Access Systems—Physical and Medium Access Control Layers for Combined Fixed and Mobile Operation in Licensed Bands," which is incorporated herein by reference. Sections 8.4.1, 8.4.2, 8.4.3, 8.4.4, 220.127.116.11, 188.8.131.52 of the standard describe uplink signal generation and transmission.
OFDMA signals comprise multiple subcarriers and, as such, often have large peak-to-average power ratios (PAPR). Some methods and systems have been proposed for transmitting signals having single-carrier characteristics and lower PAPR within the framework of OFDMA. Such methods and systems include, for example, interleaved OFDM, also referred to as I-FDMA and single-channel FDMA (SC-FDMA). These methods and signals are described, for example, by Klang et al. (editors), in "Identification of Radio-Link Technologies," Deliverable D2.1 of the Wireless World Initiative—New Radio (WINNER), IST-2003-507581, version 1.0, Jul. 16, 2004, which is incorporated herein by reference. I-FDMA, also referred to as Frequency Domain Orthogonal Signature Sequences (FDOSS), is described in section 3.2.15, pages 91-92 of this reference. SC-FDMA is described in section 3.2.16, on page 93.

Low peak-to-average power ratio transmission in frequency-division multiple access systems


A method of selective etching of native oxide on a substrate is disclosed in which hydrogen halide vapor and water vapor are exposed to the substrate surface under appropriate conditions and long enough to remove native oxide but not long enough to remove any significant amount of other oxides. Treating conditions are maintained to prevent water vapor from condensing on the substrate until sufficient native oxide is etched so that substantially all the native oxide will be etched before appreciable other oxides are etched.

In semiconductor device processing so-called "native" oxide films form on freshly etched silicon due to exposure in air, water or the etching chemicals themselves. Typically, this "native" or "chemical" oxide is 5-15 .ANG. thick and contains all sorts of species in addition to SiO.sub.2, such as C, H, F, S, N, and other metals.
In typical deposition processes, a thermal oxide is formed in a pattern on the silicon substrate for masking the covered substrate portions to permit treatment such as metal deposition in the remaining exposed surface. In removing the mask material after the thermal oxide is formed a native oxide has been formed. It is desirable to remove this native oxide prior to metal deposition without removing any or removing as little as possible of the adjacent thermal oxide. Since it has not been possible in the past to control oxide etching at levels such as 5-15 .ANG. absolutely, it is generally the practice to over-etch. Thus, as much as 50 .ANG. to 100 .ANG. of the thermal oxide is etched, and often this amount of thermal oxide removal cannot be tolerated.
Most of the cleaning processes used today in the fabrication of semiconductors involve wet cleaning which leave or even cause native oxides which tend to degrade subsequent device properties.
P. J. Holmes and J. P. Snell "A Vapor Etching Technique for the Photolithography of Silicon Oxide", MicroElectronics and Reliability, Vol. 5, pp. 337-341, 1966, describe the use of vapor from a HF and H.sub.2 O solution as the etchant for the photolithographic stage of planar silicon device technology. Similar vapor etching using HF from an aqueous solution is described by K. D. Beyer by himself or with others in the IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, "Etching SiO.sub.2 in Gaseous HF/H.sub.2 O", Vol. 19, No. 7, p. 2513, December 1976, "Silicon Surface Cleaning Process", Vol. 20, No. 5, pp. 1746-1747, Oct. 1977, and "Removal of Native Oxide Layer on a Semiconductor Surface", Vol. 22, No. 7, p. 2839, Dec. 1979, and also reported in U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,734.
Two recent articles describe work in Japan on selective etching of native oxide using anhydrous HF. These are N. Miki, H. Kikuyama, M. Maeno, J. Murota, and T. Ohmi "Selective Etching of Native Oxide by Dry Processing Using Ultra Clean Anhydrous Hydrogen Fluoride," Tech. Dig. of International Electron Devices Meeting, pp. 730-733, San Francisco, DEC, 1988, and N. Miki, H. Kikuyama, I. Kawanabe, M. Miyashita and T. Ohmi "Gas-Phase Selective Etching of Native Oxide", IEEE Transaction on Electron Devices, Vol. 37, p. 107, 1990. These articles set forth that thermal oxide does not react with HF gas below the critical level of HF concentrations less than 4.7 vol. % in N.sub.2 flow and native oxide is selectively etched away in HF concentrations in the range of 0.06 to 4.7%. The authors maintain that mixtures of HF and water vapor are too corrosive to gas supply systems and process chambers to be practical for cleaning. No differences are noted with respect to the time delay between initiation of etching native oxide and initiation of etching of thermal oxide.
Several dry etching techniques of thermal oxides have been described in the literature using hydrogen fluoride vapor. The article "The Dry Process for Etching Silicon Dioxide" by R. L. Bersin and R. F. Reichelderfer, Solid State Technology, Vol. 20, pp. 78-80, April 1970, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,125,437 by the same authors describe the use of ahhydrous hydrogen fluoride for etching silicon dioxide without damaging the underlying layer of silicon. In the article "HF Vapor Phase Etching: Production Viability for Semiconductor Manufacturing and Reaction Model" by D. F. Weston and R. J. Mattox, J. Vac. Sci. Technol., Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 466-469, Jan./Feb. 1980, a non-plasma silicon dioxide etch process using anhydrous hydrogen fluoride at reduced pressures is described involving the interaction of HF vapor with negative photoresist which catalyses subsequent etching beneath the photoresist. Ma Jun-Ru et al. in "A New Conformal Dry-Etch Technique for Submicrometer Structures", J. Vac. Sci. Technol., Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 1385-1389 describe a technique involving diffusion of gaseous HF and water vapor through an exposed resist for selective etching of the underlying SiO.sub.2.
Use of anhydrous HF etching of native SiO.sub.2 has been described in work by FSI International, Inc. Publications include R. E. Novak, "Anhydrous HF Etching of Native SiO.sub.2 : Applications to Device Fabrication", Solid State Technology, pp. 39-41, March 1988 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,440.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,327 describes the method of treating a semiconductor wafer by a solvent introduced into a chamber until its pressure is close to but below the vapor pressure of the liquid solvent at the temperature in question so that a plurality of molecular layers of solvent are absorbed in microrecesses and thereafter increasing the vapor pressure until the solvent condenses and wets the microrecesses. This patent suggests the use of hydrogen fluoride gas to remove the native oxide on a semiconductor surface and the use of a mixture of gaseous hydrogen chloride, gaseous water and gaseous hydrogen peroxide to remove metals that can be complexed and solvated from hydrophobic semiconductor materials.

Method of selective etching native oxide


An anti-UCE system comprises a certificate issuance module configured to issue certificates to e-mail users and to maintain a registry of issued certificates with an indication of validity for each issued certificate. There is a plurality of possible certificates, each having a class with associated terms of service defining e-mail transmission limitations for the class. A certificate status module determines whether e-mail signed using the certificate violates the terms of service for the class. A filter module receives e-mails intended for e-mail users, and is configured to determine if a received e-mail is signed with a certificate from the plurality of certificates and, if signed, to determine from the certificate status module if the certificate is valid based on an identity of the sender and a class indicated in the certificate, and to forward the e-mail to an intended e-mail user if the certificate is valid.

Some studies have shown that unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE) or "SPAM," i.e., unsolicited e-mail typically of a commercial nature that is sent out in bulk, accounts for about 75% of all e-mail. The pernicious nature of UCE is well known, as are its costs to individuals, companies, and society. It has also become apparent that current and even most proposed methods of control will largely fail to control the problem.
Current technology relies mostly on "fingerprinting" and "Bayesian filtering" to detect UCE. The problem with such technologies is that it is relatively easy for spammers to adopt counter-measures to get around even the best filtering systems. And worse, filtering systems always have some false positives, which can result in lost e-mail that has been improperly marked as UCE.
Human Interactive Proof (HIP) approaches and other challenge-response methods are more effective, but annoy senders and run into problems with newsletters and other opt-in bulk e-mail. Furthermore, proving yourself, as a sender, to one recipient via answering a challenge does nothing to authenticate you to another recipient. Hence, you have to go through this process with all recipients.
Current and proposed methods for controlling UCE fail uniquely identify the sender of the e-mail. Consequently, control is applied to the e-mail being sent rather than to the sender, who in any case can usually not be identified. This makes it possible for "serial spammers" to send round after round of e-mail using the latest in UCE detection evasion techniques.
There are other suggestions for controlling UCE that require changes to current Internet Standards and work with e-mail servers rather than clients. But apparently none of them call for unambiguous authentication of the sender. Also it takes a considerable time for a consensus to be achieved and Internet standards to be changed.
Laws that make UCE illegal are ineffective, as spammers almost always use false address information, "hijacking" a domain name as a return address. Not only does this make it difficult to trace the spammer, but often results in some completely innocent domain name holder being flooded with rejected e-mail.

Anti-UCE system and method using class-based certificates


A unique identifier is created for each article (clothing, accessories, jewels, fragrances, manufactures, etc.) for which the provider of the article desires to authenticate its Brand source to the party acquiring the article to substantiate to that acquiring party that they are receiving a genuine article. The unique identifier is so provided from a secure third party that also stores the unique identifier, possibly with other historical information, in a secure data base accessible only by authorized parties. The unique identifier may be provided on tags to be carried by the respective article or it may be applied directly to the article as by direct part marking from the material of the article and when so provided it includes a brand source identifier of the party providing the unique identifier as an additional protective measure.

1. Field of Application
This invention relates primarily to authentication of the "source" of Branded goods and services, as well as other aspects of such Branded goods and services; and, more particularly, to providing such Branded goods and services with a readily observable and authenticateable identifier of at least Brand "source" authenticity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many parties (corporations, partnerships, individuals, associations, etc.) spend considerable amounts, possibly millions, in advertising and other marketing efforts to create Brand names and generate good will. In some cases, further amounts (here again possibly millions) are often spent in developing products to be marketed under these Brand names. Successful Brand names represent a valuable asset of a party, and are often the focus of great efforts undertaken to police the proper and authorized use of such Brand names. Despite these efforts, successful Brand names have been wrongfully exploited for years by unscrupulous parties such as manufacturers and resellers of counterfeit and/or stolen and diverted products. High price luxury type goods in particular have been, and continue to be, subjected to widespread counterfeiting, theft and diversion.
A Brand (or trademark, or service mark, as they are often referred to), as referred to herein, is any word, name, phrase, symbol, design or device or any combination of words, names, phrases, symbols, designs or devices which identifies and distinguishes the "source" (such as the manufacturer, retailer, provider, etc.) of the goods or services of one party from those of another party. Brands are used by a party, in connection with a product or products, or service or services, to help consumers (purchasers) identify that product, or service, and distinguish that product, or service, from the products, or services, of competitors. Brands indicate to consumers that a product, or service, comes from a "source", even if the name of the "source" is unknown to the consumer. Brands also function to indicate quality and reputation, thus creating good will in the proprietor (owner, "source") of the Brand.
The use of Brands (trademarks and service marks) benefits the consuming public as well as the merchant or manufacturer of a product, or service . . . . For the merchant or manufacturer, a Brand serves as an advertising tool, facilitating repeat sales and the successful marketing of new products and services. Individual consumers rely on Brands to distinguish among competing products and services and to represent a certain level of quality they have come to expect when purchasing products or services with which a particular Brand is used. By protecting Brands, several broader goals are furthered as well. Brands foster competition and the maintenance of quality by securing to the producer (the "source") the benefits of good reputation. Protecting Brands also serves to guard the public from inadvertent or intentional use of confusing or misleading Brands.
The actual lost sales and profits attributed to wrongful activities (counterfeiting, theft, diversion, knock-offs, etc.) is but one aspect of the problem. An often more serious result is the damage done to the good name and reputation of the Brand owner ("source") especially when inferior counterfeited merchandise is sold as genuine. In an effort to counteract the problem, Brand name owners often aggressively pursue counterfeiters, and introduce programs intended to eliminate or at least reduce such illegal activities. While some programs have met rather limited short term success, the end rewards to the wrongdoers are often so large that the programs themselves have been copied.
According to one such program, Brand-authenticating holographs are incorporated into either the product packaging or a swing tag, or placed on the packaging or product in the form of a self-adhesive decal. While once considered a novel and innovative approach, holograph technology is now well known, and the cost of entry into the holograph manufacturing industry is low. In today's market, counterfeit holographs are commonplace. Thus the use of holograms has not proved effective to stem the problem, especially for the consumer at the time and point of sale,
In another anti-counterfeiting program, a hidden authenticating device (such as one that incorporates RFID technology, or special threads or a chemical) is incorporated into the product. This approach is problematic, as it is generally difficult to control and lacks standardization with regard to where to place the device. While the hidden device is detectable by field inspectors checking a reseller's inventory, consumers are generally unaware of the device, and whether or not the Brand "source" of the merchandise is genuine and authenticated as such. A still further approach uses moving image labels (including 3D) typically manufactured with a paper printing image including PVC reflectors. This method, however, is often unsuitable for the intended goods or services. Furthermore, the technology is well known, thus leading to the same problems realized from holographs.
Many programs utilize a multi-layer approach to product security with both overt and covert types of identifiers incorporated into the product and/or its packaging. However not only does this add unacceptably to the product cost but it does not seem to provide a consumer with Brand "source" authentication, especially at the time and point of sale.
The use of serial numbers to track, and hopefully control, product security has proved helpful for vehicles as VIN (Vehicle Identification) Numbers, and also for product warranty purposes. But, serial numbering alone does not seem to be an effective Brand "source" authenticator for the consumer as they do not currently have ready access to the identifying data base, or any indicator that authentication is available to them, at the time and point of sale. Systems, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,521,815 for "Uniform System For Verifying and tracking Articles of Value" and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,064 for "Uniform System For Verifying And Tracking The Title of Articles or Objects of Value" are further examples of complex and expensive product security systems that require access to data bases, through computer terminals, to verify product security and would prove cumbersome to a consumer at the time and place of sale and, as such unacceptable.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,930 for "Methods and Marking Digital Compact Discs As A Means To Determine it's Authenticity" utilizes near infrared fluorophores; but, requires a protective cover layer which would not only be unacceptably detrimental to the aesthetics of the product but might, as well, be unusable for items of jewelry and the like. U.S. Pat. No. 6,533,180 for "Security Label and Method of Use" also only provides an obtrusive and unacceptable label that must be attached to the product; while U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,112 requires special buttons with a complex and relatively expensive sewing machine to attach the buttons with a relatively complex stitch.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Authentication of source, plus, for goods and services system, method, and components


A signal processing method for a touch panel is provided. The touch panel includes several capacitor electrodes. The method includes the following steps. Detection values are provided according to self-capacitance changes of the capacitor electrodes. The detection values are then low-pass filtered by a filter structure to generate several filtered values. A position where a touch event occurs on the touch panel is determined according to the filtered values.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a signal processing method for a touch panel, and more particularly, to a signal processing method for preventing or alleviating disturbances caused by panel deformation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Touch panels are human-machine interfaces. By touching different positions with different gestures on a touch panel, one is allowed to enter a desired command easily to a machine, such as a computer, a cell phone and a camera. Current touch panels are generally categorized into resistive and capacitive types. A capacitive touch panel is more durable and power-saving, and thus prevails in portable products including tablet PCs and cell phones.
Lowering production costs has always been a dominant method for manufacturers to increase product competitiveness. Therefore, reducing production costs of capacitive touch panels is a goal of manufacturers. For example, a conventional capacitive touch panel needs at least two patterned conductive layers to construct a required capacitor electrode array. In considerations of cost and yield rate, a capacitive touch panel with merely a single conductive layer has been developed. However, the touch panel with a single conductive layer brings about many control issues. For example, finger presses cause panel deformations, which possibly lead to a capacitance change on capacitive electrodes on the single conductive layer, and further result in undesirably inaccuracy in touch position sensing.

Signal processing method for touch panel and touch panel system


The invention provides stable, aqueous capsaicin injectable formulations, a unit dose containing such injectable formulations, medical kits, and methods for using such injectable formulations and unit doses to treat patients suffering from pain, such as osteoarthritic knee pain. The stable, aqueous capsaicin injectable formulations may contain, for example, capsaicin, a solubilizing agent (e.g., a polyethylene glycol ester of a (C15-C25) hydroxyalkanoic acid), an antioxidant, and water.

Pain can function as a protective mechanism that allows healthy human beings and animals to avoid tissue damage and/or prevent further damage to injured tissue. However, there are many instances in which pain persists beyond its usefulness. Such unnecessary suffering from pain can impair a subject's physical mobility, mental performance, and even contribute to depression.
Substantial resources have been devoted over the years to researching the causes of various types of pain and to the development of medicine to attenuate pain experienced by a patient. Exemplary classes of common pain-relief medications include opioids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, corticosteroids, and centrally acting agents such as anti-depressants, anti-epileptics, pregabalin, and gabapentin. Capsaicin has been described for use in treating pain. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,962,532; 8,420,600; 8,367,733; and 8,158,682. Certain commercial products containing capsaicin for pain relief formulate the capsaicin as a cream (e.g., Capzasin) or in a patch (e.g., a capsaicin-containing transdermal patch marketed under the trade name QUTENZA®) for topical application to the skin of a patient.
Because capsaicin is soluble in organic solvents, but poorly soluble in water, new formulations are needed for achieving a desirable amount of capsaicin dissolved in an aqueous formulation that is suitable for injection into a patient, and which has suitable stability for use in typical distribution routes for delivering pharmaceutical agents to medical facilities which typically involve storage of the formulation for certain lengths of time. The present invention addresses the foregoing need and provides other related advantages.

Stable aqueous capsaicin injectable formulations and medical uses thereof


A method and system for compensating for density loss in an imaging apparatus while sequentially developing a plurality of photothermographic elements. In one embodiment, the present invention compensates for thermal energy dissipated while developing each of a plurality of photothermographic element. In another embodiment, the present invention compensates for thermal energy transferred from a heated member to indirectly heated components, such as the pressure rollers, between development cycles. The present invention achieves a more accurate characterization of the thermal energy stored by the imaging apparatus throughout the imaging sequence. In this manner, a more uniform density is achieved for all of the photothermographic elements of the imaging sequence.

An imaging system typically includes an input imaging device that generates image information, and an output imaging device that forms a visible representation of the image on an imaging element based on the image information. In a medical imaging system, for example, the input imaging device may include a diagnostic device, such as a magnetic resonance (MR), computed tomography (CT), conventional radiography (X-ray), or ultrasound device. The output imaging device in a medical imaging system typically includes a digital laser imager. The laser imager exposes the imaging element in response to the image information to form the visible representation of the image.
The image information generated by the input imaging device includes image data containing digital image values representative of the image, and imaging commands specifying operations to be performed by the laser imager. Each of the digital image values corresponds to one of a plurality of pixels in the original image, and represents an optical density associated with the respective pixel. In response to an imaging command, the laser imager converts the digital image values to generate laser drive values used to modulate the intensity of a scanning laser. The laser drive values are calculated to produce exposure levels, on the imaging element, necessary to reproduce the optical densities associated with the pixels of the original image when the element is developed.

Compensation method and system for density loss in an imaging apparatus


A method, apparatus and system for a secondary system registering in a database, the method includes: a database receiving a registration request sent by a secondary system; and the database processing the registration of the secondary system. A database device includes: a receiving module, a registration processing module and a sending module; the secondary system includes: a network element device, a reconfiguration management node and a registration requesting module.

With the constant progress of radio technology, various radio services emerge in large numbers, but the spectrum resources on which the radio services rely are limited, and the spectrum resources appear to be very short facing the increasing demands for bandwidth, and on the other hand, the spectrum resource utilization is not high in the traditional mode of fixed spectrum allocation. In a sense, this spectrum allocation system in which the spectrum resources are fixedly allocated to the authorized systems results in the extreme shortage of the spectrum resources. The cognitive radio (CR) technology breaks the system of fixed spectrum allocation in the traditional sense, and dynamically allocates the spectrums between systems, and improves the efficiency of spectrum utilization. Typically, for example, with the continuous increasing of people's daily communication needs, it is not satisfied with simple voice data communications any more, and the proportion of video streaming services in people's communications in their lives keeps increasing, which requires support of more bandwidth, the International Mobile Telecommunications (briefly called IMT) system shows an unprecedented shortage of spectrums. But for the broadcast and television system, the spectrum resources has available room to a large extent, for example, some spectrums in the broadcast and television system have not been used in some areas; although some spectrums in the broadcast and television system have coverage in some areas, they are not used in some moments, the overall utilization is relatively low. The mode of fixed spectrum allocation makes the abovementioned unused spectrum resources cannot be reused, for example, the unused spectrum resources cannot be used by the International Mobile Telecom (IMT) system. The cognitive radio technology solves this problem, that is, the IMT system opportunistically occupies the TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum resources according to obtained information of the broadcast and television system with the cognitive radio technology, thereby improving the utilization of spectrums in the broadcast and television system and releasing the shortage of spectrums in the IMT system. A system that opportunistically occupies the spectrums authorized to other systems is called a secondary system, and a system authorized with the spectrums is called a master system. In the above scenario, the broadcast and television system is a master system, and the IMT system is a secondary system.
At the same time of the secondary system opportunistically borrowing the spectrum resources of the master system to improve the overall network performance, it also needs to secure the quality of service of the master system. Wherein, the Geo-location Database is a recognized entity which needs to be newly added in the cognitive radio system in the TVWS frequency band and is provided by a third party, and its main role is to provide available TVWS spectrum resources for the secondary system. The secondary system uses the TVWS spectrum resources in accordance with the information provided by the database and can ensure that the secondary system does not disturb the master system. The regulatory domain makes appropriate provisions on the services provided by the database as well as the access of the secondary system to the database, typically for example, in order to facilitate the authorization of the secondary system and to timely and accurately find out the source of interference when the master system is interfered, the regulatory domain requires that a Master White Space Device (Master WSD)/Fixed Device with the control capability must register in the database before working in the TVWS spectrum, and the available spectrum list in the database can only be obtained through the registered secondary system. But there is no implementable process provided for the process of a secondary system registering in a database according to the CR (Cognition Radio) technology in the TVWS frequency band.
Due to the lack of the procedure, once the secondary system causes interference to the master system, the source of interference cannot be tracked. For example, after two operators use the same segment of TVWS in adjacent areas, the cumulative signals creates interference to the master system, and due to the lack of a registration mechanism, the master system cannot confirm the source of interference, thereby reducing the reception performance of the master system. Meanwhile, due to the lack of the procedure, it is not possible to effectively and coordinately use the TVWS among a plurality of secondary systems, and there is interference between the secondary systems. For example, the IMT systems of two operators cover the same area, and due to the lack of the procedure of database registration and authorization, the two operators do not have a channel to coordinate and they seize with each other, resulting in interference with each other and ultimately the TVWS being unable to be used.

Method, apparatus and system for secondary system registering in database


An insensitive pellet ignitor utilizes a slapper type detonator to initiate an insensitive explosive material. The insensitive explosive material is retained in a high strength housing which confines and dissipates the explosion. The insensitive explosive material is retained in a collar placed in a chamber having an orifice leading to propellant. The orifice does not allow the shockwave from the insensitive explosive to prematurely expel the propellant so that the propellant is ignited from the hot gases and particles resulting from the explosion which are ported through the orifice to the propellant.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an explosively insensitive ignitor apparatus and method for igniting a propellant.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Propellants have been ignited with primary explosives which are sensitive explosives, that is, a small amount of the primary explosive charge will easily detonate when subjected to a spark, flame, friction or a heated wire which will cause the explosive to reach its ignition temperature. The use of sensitive explosives in an ignitor causes several problems in that it is easily initiated by fires, heat, fragment impact and sympathetic detonation. This is a major safety concern particularly for military weapons.
Ignitors may also be of the two-stage variety wherein a primary explosive is used to ignite a secondary explosive which may then be used to ignite the propellant. The shockwave from the primary explosive and/or secondary explosive must be controlled so that the secondary explosive and the propellant itself are not expelled. Although the amount of primary sensitive explosive is reduced with this method, thereby reducing the resultant shockwave from an explosion of the sensitive explosive, this arrangement still has problems since there is ignition of the secondary insensitive explosive by a sensitive explosive. The safety problems are still present as the sensitive explosive could ignite from a slow cook off, fast cook off, sympathetic detonation, bullet impact, or fragment impact, thereby igniting the insensitive explosive.
Safety would be increased if the ignition of a propellant is accomplished using only insensitive explosives for detonation. However, problems arise when attempting to ignite the insensitive explosive and in confining and controlling the shockwave resulting therefrom. Insensitive explosives require a higher kinetic or thermal ignition energy, so that a typical bridge wire detonator may not have sufficient energy to cause the insensitive secondary explosive to detonate. In addition, if the resulting shockwave from the insensitive secondary explosive is too great, the propellant will be expelled without ignition as the shockwave passes through it. The energy from the shockwave must therefore be confined and dissipated to allow thermal or flame ignition of the propellant.
It can be seen then, that an initiator is required which does not utilize an explosively-sensitive material and which is ignited simply and safely. It can also be seen that an initiator is needed wherein the resulting shockwave from ignition of the insensitive secondary explosive is confined so that propellant is not expelled prematurely.


Provided is a robot including: a wrist unit that has a tool attached to a distal end face thereof and that changes the orientation of the tool, the tool performing work on a work target device secured to an installation surface; and a movable unit that changes the three-dimensional position of the wrist unit. The movable unit includes an arm that has a longitudinal axis and the wrist unit is attached to the distal end thereof, and a visual sensor that has a field of view oriented in a direction intersecting the longitudinal axis of the arm is attached to the a position closer to the base end than the distal end face of the wrist unit is.

In a known robot system in the related art in which workpieces are supplied to and extracted from a machining apparatus by a robot, even if the robot is moved, and, as a result, the relative positional relationship between the machining apparatus and the robot changes, the relative positional relationship is measured by capturing an image of a visual target provided on the outer surface of the machining apparatus with a camera provided on the distal end of a robot arm, and the operating position of the robot is compensated on the basis of the measured relative positional relationship (for example, see Patent Literature Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. Hei 11-58273 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. Sho 62-54115).


A shopping basket is comprised of an arrangement of plural lazytongs frames movable from folded to extended position in which they constitute an erected structure having a floor provided by support bars, these support bars including long bars and short bars connected to the lower part of the enclosure. By selectively adjusting the effective lengths of the long support bars, the envelope and hence capacity of the erect structure can be changed. The structure can embody wheels and a handle thereon so that the basket serves as a readily movable shopping cart.

The present invention relates to a collapsible basket structure and, more particularly, to a collapsible structure readily erected from collapsed condition to a fully erected condition which optionally can be made to be any one of a number of erect basket sizes or capacities set at the selection of the user, the structure being lockable in a selected such erect condition.
Various constructions of readily collapsible readily erectable structures are known, these constructions commonly employing articulated arm arrangements, lazytongs frames or like foldable expandable elements which are movable in a certain manner to form the structure. Most such constructions involve plural and sometimes complicated manipulations of the structure to effect erection or folding. Another drawback with these known structures is that in some instances a single size capacity of, e.g., a collapsible type shopping cart, can be too large of too small for the user's need or convenience. On the one hand, the cart cannot hold all the user wants to purchase, while on the other hand, the erect size of the cart is unnecessary in relation to the small volume of what is to be carried with the added disadvantage of being cumbersome to handle in terms of the then present use need. Further, shape and bulk of certain objects to be carried suggests that capability of changing a basket size and capacity can be advantageous.


An ergonomic hand grip is provided for use with a wide variety of devices and equipment such as ski poles and bicycle handlebars. In a basic illustrated form, the grip has an elongated base that is contoured so that, when gripped, the thumb is bent and the hand and wrist are in a neutral position. In the neutral position, the hand is not cocked or hyper-extended, but rather is generally aligned with the forearm. In particular, a thumb support is provided adjacent to one end of the base to position and support the thumb in the bent position. The base is also provided with suitable depressions and/or recessed areas to receive enlarged portions of the gripping hand to cause the knuckles to be in generally linear alignment. Further, the end of the base opposite the thumb support is reduced in size to allow disproportionately more contraction of the lowermost two fingers, and primarily the lowermost or little finger. When used in certain applications such as for ski poles where the base is generally upright, the base is desirable tilted slightly forwardly. The grip tends to promote improved alignment and stabilization of the parts of the user's body and in particular stabilize the user's shoulders, and in turn his/her hips, legs, etc. for greater stability and efficiency of movement. The grip also facilitates the users ability to resist stress applied to the grip.

The human body is inter-active on a cellular and on a structural level. The present invention directed toward is the structural level, which means that the physical actions in one part of the body can affect the rest of the body.
A simple example is that of a lever. If downward force is applied to one end of the lever the other end will rise. Further, the fulcrum itself is affected by the increase in pressure exerted upon it or the fulcrum point may become unstable. The musculature of the human body operates utilizing the principles of mechanical levers. A determining factor of muscular efficiency is the stability of the connecting points of the muscles. If the muscles do not have stable connecting points, muscle action will displace the body rather than create the desired limb movement. Another major factor is muscular and structural alignment. The vast majority of the muscles in the human body are designed to function in a linear direction and not in a spiral direction. If the skeletal frame is misaligned when muscular action occurs, the body will be displaced. This reduces muscular efficiently and increases the probability of injury. It is also important to note that the shoulders and the hips are inter-active: if one is displaced the other will follow suit.
An illustration of this is presented in the forward reaching motion. With the thumb extended, upon full-extension of the arm the shoulder is displaced to an unstable position. Pulling the hand back from an unstable shoulder position will displace the shoulder even further, which disallows the proper use of the chest, arm and abdominal muscles. Try the same reaching action with the thumb bent. The shoulder displaces very little and remains stable. During this pulling action the muscles of primary use are the biceps, triceps, pectorals, and the abdominal.
Conventional hand grips have not taken these considerations sufficiently into account.

Ergonomic hand grip and method of gripping


A lens driving device includes a substrate which generates surface acoustic waves on its surface and a movable unit which is coupled to an optical lens and executes translation above the substrate using the surface acoustic waves. The lens driving device can implement translation of the lens without a separate mechanism, unlike the conventional driving devices using motors and screws, thereby satisfying the recent trend towards miniaturization and lightness to be used in a variety of industrial fields that use optical lenses.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to lens driving devices and, more particularly, to a lens driving device which is able to increase displacement without restriction, does not require a complex structure despite having a low power consumption, solves problems of friction and noise occurring in a gear mechanism, and realizes miniaturization and lightness, thus being easily applied to a variety of industrial fields that use optical lenses.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with the development of communication technology and digital data processing technology, technology relating to portable terminals having various functions, such as data processing and calculation, communications, picture data input and output, etc., is gaining popularity. As examples, there are a PDA (portable digital assistant) which has a digital camera and a communication function, and a cellular phone which has a digital camera and a PDA function. According to the development of the digital camera technology and the data storage capacity, the installation of high performance digital camera modules is gathering strength.
Furthermore, according to the use of megapixel image sensors in digital camera modules which are installed in portable terminals, the importance of additional functions, such as auto focus and optical zoom functions, is further emphasized. In such a small digital camera module, to implement the auto focus and optical zoom functions, an actuator that occupies a relatively small volume and realizes a rapid actuating speed, low power consumption and large displacement is indispensable. In the case of a conventional magnetic actuator such as a VCM (voice coil motor), there is a technical limit in the increase in displacement, and there is a disadvantage in that power is continuously consumed while conducting a zoom function. In addition, in the case of an actuator such as a stepping motor, which rotates a lead screw in order to linearly move a movable unit, there are disadvantages of a complex mechanism and friction and noise due to a gear mechanism. Furthermore, in the case of the conventional actuators, which use the VCM motor and the stepping motor, it is difficult to manufacture the actuator at low cost and, as well, there is a limit to miniaturization.


A two-sided pocketed hand shield (10, 12, or 16) for protecting a hand from germs includes a sheet (18) of flexible material and a piece (28 or 48) of flexible material. The piece (28 or 48) of flexible material is shorter than the sheet (18) and attached to the front surface of the sheet (18) in a manner to form a pocket adapted to fit a hand and in a manner that (a) leaves an opening (60, 64, or 72) for the insertion of a hand and (b) allows the sheet (18) to extend beyond the opening (60, 64, or 72). The opening (60, 64, or 72) has two ends and is preferably angled from one end to the other end. The sheet (18) may be rectangular and the piece (28 or 48) may be mitten-shaped or trapezoidal, and either may be formed of absorbent material or plastic. The piece (28 or 48) is preferably attached to the sheet in a way which renders the pocket in the shape of a mitten. Another embodiment is an array (80) of pocketed sanitary hand shields (81). The array (80) of hand shields (81) includes a continuous sheet (82) of a flexible material having evenly-spaced weakened connections (85) dividing the sheet (82) into sections (86) and a piece (83) of a flexible material attached to the front surface of each section (86). Each piece (83) is attached to the continuous sheet (82) in a manner that forms a pocket adapted to fit a hand.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to sanitary hand shields and, more particularly, to disposable hand shields useful for protecting one's hand from germs.
2. Description of the Related Art
In today's society, people have become more aware and educated about the presence of germs. Germs that are present on certain surfaces, such as door knobs, are very susceptible to spreading from one person to another. Areas such as bathrooms, hospital rooms, doctors' exam rooms, and kitchens typically have an abundance of unwanted germs present. Washing one's hands is a good defense against germs, but does not protect the hand from germs when subsequently opening a door, etc. It is, therefore, desirable to have available a device for protecting one's hand or hands from germs when contacting surfaces such as doors and door knobs.
The present invention, therefore, seeks to provide a device for protecting one's hand from germs.
Another advantage being sought by the present invention is a disposable device for protecting one's hand from germs which is easy to make, easy to use, and is comfortable to wear.

2
FSC D 2
FSC 150
FSC 15
FSC 602
FSC 132


An exemplary lens actuator includes a movable unit, and a fixed unit. The movable unit includes a hollow body, and a plurality of first guiding members formed on the hollow body. The fixed unit includes a hollow cubic main body, and a plate body disposed on the top end of the hollow cubic main body. The hollow cubic main body and the plate body cooperatively define a receiving cavity for receiving the movable unit therein. The plate body faces the movable unit, and includes a through hole defined in the center of the plate body for allowing light to pass therethrough, and a plurality of second guiding members formed on the plate body. The second guiding members are coupled to the respective first guiding members for constraining the movable unit to move along the central axis of the through hole.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to lens actuators, and particularly to voice coil motor type lens actuators.
2. Description of Related Art
Variable focal length lenses are widely used in optical systems. Optical systems incorporating such lenses can, for example, provide focused images of objects at varying distances without adjusting the distance between the lens and the image plane. Variable focal length lenses can also be used in optical systems that provide varying magnification without changing lenses.
Generally, an optical system includes an actuator, such as a step motor, to drive the lenses. However, the step motor is relatively large in volume. Use of the step motor requires a significant amount of space, which makes the optical system bulky.
Therefore, what is needed is a lens actuator adapted for driving the lenses with more compact structure.