Improved probing is provided using a knee probe where the knee curves away from the probe axis and then curves back to connect to the probe tip, crossing the probe axis on the way to the tip. The resulting lateral offset between the probe tip and the probe axis is a key geometrical parameter for predetermining the scrub motion provided by the probe in response to a predetermined contact force. The scrub motion preferably includes both a sliding motion and a rocking motion, where the sliding motion acts to clean the contact pad and the rocking motion acts to bring a clean part of the probe tip into contact with the freshly cleaned part of the contact pad. In preferred embodiments, the probe tip can include one or more relatively narrow “skates” for making contact to the contact pad. A dual skate configuration is especially appropriate when small dimples are at the centers of the contact pads.

In the field of electronic circuitry testing, scrubbing and contact force is an important factor in establishing a low resistance electrical contact between a probe tip and the test contact. During scrubbing, an eventual insulating oxide layer is removed in the interface between the contact tip and the test contact. Scrubbing is a microscopic shear movement of the probe tip along the test contact surface while a certain pressure is exerted from the probe tip onto the test contact. As size and pitch of test contacts decrease, it becomes increasingly difficult to tune the scrub motion irrespective of friction influences in the tip/contact interface. Also, as the IC manufacturers incorporate designs with I.C. pads and bumps placed over chip's active circuitry it becomes important that the scrub of the probe does not cause damage to the underlying circuitry. The size of the window of acceptable probe operation therefore, is restrained from one side by the contact resistance requirements calling for a sizable scrub, smaller scrub size required by smaller targets that need to be probed as pitches decrease, and smaller scrub (including depth) to avoid damage to the underlying circuitry.
The new generation of I.C. chips has pads that are placed over active circuitry in order to maximize use of the real estate. These types of chips are commonly referred in the industry as chips with "low-K dielectric". The low-K dielectric refers to the fragile polymer-based insulator now placed between the pads and the underlying circuits for electrical purposes. It is not acceptable to damage the low-K dielectric during probing operations either.
In the prior art, well known buckling beam probes have been utilized to provide a combined resilient deflection and scrubbing. In order for a buckling beam probe to operate properly with a well defined scrub motion it needs to be rigidly held on its peripheral shaft and additionally guided close to the contact tip. This makes the buckling beam probe's assembly increasingly challenging with ever decreasing scale. Therefore, there exists a need for a probe that may be easily assembled in large numbers and small scale while providing a well definable scrub motion.
Testing of electrical devices and circuits has been an important component of electronic manufacturing processes for some time. Such testing typically entails probing a circuit with a fixture including multiple flexible probes, each probe making electrical contact to a contact pad on the circuit chip. Various practical issues that have been noticed in this context have been addressed in the prior art.
For example, it is often necessary to probe contact pads which are closely spaced. For closely spaced contact pads, the probes may undesirably make electrical connection to each other, especially when in a deflected condition. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,411,112 and 6,486,689 consider probe configurations for alleviating this problem.
It is well known that making electrical contact between the probe and the contact pad can be hampered by the presence of non-conductive material on the pad and/or the probe (e.g., a thin oxide film). Accordingly, considerable attention has been devoted to details of how the tip of the probe moves relative to the contact pad in order to improve the resulting electrical connection. This relative motion is usually referred to as a scrub motion. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,923,178 considers a probe having a shape which provides a scrub motion which is primarily a rocking motion without appreciable sliding. U.S. Pat. No. 5,952,843 considers a probe having a canted tip portion to facilitate penetration of the passivation layer. U.S. Pat. No. 6,529,021 considers a probe arrangement where the probe tip can be made to move in a reciprocating manner to reduce contact resistance.
The contact resistance issue has also been addressed by probes having separate parts for scrubbing and for making electrical contact. For example, US 2004/0239352 considers dual probes having a contact probe and a separate scrub probe, where the scrub probe moves in such a way as to clean the part of the contact pad that will end up under the contact probe during test. In some cases (e.g., copper deposition manufacturing), circuit fabrication processes provide contact pads which are covered with a protective dielectric film (e.g., a silicon dioxide film). U.S. Pat. No. 6,727,719 considers a probe having an inner contact needle and an outer hard layer, where the hard outer layer is adapted for penetrating such a protective film.
As circuit manufacturing technology continues to evolve to smaller critical dimensions, new practical issues relating to probing tend to arise which are not fully addressed by prior art approaches. For example, the decreasing size of contact pads as critical dimensions are reduced leads to increasingly demanding requirements on the ability to precisely control the probe scrub motion. Excessive scrub motion can cause loss of electrical contact, if the probe moves off the contact pad. Another consequence of device scaling is that features which are irrelevant for large probes making contact to large pads can be much more significant at a smaller scale. An example of such a feature is a dimple typically found at or near the center of a contact pad made by certain fabrication technologies (e.g., Cu contact pads on flip-chip wafers).
An important consequence of decreasing probe and contact pad dimensions is that the current density at the probe-pad contact increases. This increased current density also raises issues which have not come up before in connection with large probes on large pads. More specifically, the current density can be high enough to form micro-welds between the probe and the pad due to local heating. Breaking these micro-welds as the probe is removed from the contact pad can lead to degradation of the probe tip (e.g., by accumulation of non-conductive material), thereby reducing probe reliability and/or lifetime.
Accordingly, it would be an advance in the art to provide probing having more precise control of the scrub motion and/or addressing more specific scaling related issues (e.g., contact pad dimples and probe tip degradation from micro-welds).

Knee probe having increased scrub motion


A device for reproducing a stereoscopic image viewable within an increased observation area, the device including an image display device which displays a plurality of images of an object pixel by pixel from various perspectives, a polarization arrangement for producing a first polarized image associated with a right eye and a second polarized image associated with a left eye of an observer, a lens network spaced directly after the polarization arrangement which directs beams associated with each of the left and right polarized images to the respective left and right eye for representing the object pixel by pixel for observing the stereoscopic image, wherein the lens network and polarization arrangement are arranged such that the stereoscopic image can be perceived in a first region of the observation area without polarized spectacles, and in a second region outside the first region of the observation area, by means of polarized spectacles over the left and right eyes.

It is known to generate a stereoscopic image with the aid of two imaging devices, two image signal processors and a special image signal processor. The special image signal processor constructs a pixel-like image for the right and left eye from two camera images, so that a stereoscopic image effect is produced. In each case, 50% of the pixels from the camera images are used. The special image signal processor is very complex and difficult to design, since the circuit must undertake a switch-over at each pixel in each case for the image of the right and left eye.
The invention is based on the object of producing a simple and inexpensive arrangement which visualizes a stereoscopic image via a pixel-like registration and/or display. This object is achieved by means of the features of the invention specified in claim 1. Advantageous further developments of the invention are specified in the subclaims.

Device for stereoscopic image observation within an increased observation area


Provided is a single-mode optical fiber that propagates an optical signal at a wavelength of 1310 nm, in single-mode operation; has a mode field diameter of 6.6 μm or more at the wavelength of 1310 nm; and a macro bending loss of at most 0.1 dB/10 turns with a bending radius of 7.5 mm at a wavelength of 1650 nm.

1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a single-mode optical fiber that has a core and a cladding.
2) Description of the Related Art
There is a demand for more inexpensive ways to provide communication services, at various speeds, as a social infrastructure supporting the recent advanced information society, which is typified by Internet services. The introduction of optical fiber for offices and homes or apartments (FTTH: Fiber To The Home) is advancing at a rapid speed. With respect to optical fiber used for FTTH, just as with metal cables, ease of handling is required. That is, it is required that surplus cables are storable compactly in closures and cabinets; and that they are not damaged in the case of a momentary bend being added, such as hooking. If such demand is taken into consideration, the conventional single-mode fiber (SMF) specified in International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standard Sector (ITU-T) G.652 is unsuitable, since a large macro bending loss arises.
Generally, in the case of adding a bend to an optical fiber by external stress, the transmission loss of the optical fiber becomes large. This increase of transmission loss, due to a bend, is called a macro bending loss. The smaller the bending radius is, or the longer the wavelength is, the greater the macro bending loss arises. And the increase becomes exponential. In ITU-T, the wavelength region of 1260 nm to 1625 nm is defined as the transmission wavelength region of optical fiber used for Passive Optical Network (PON) systems, and optical communications in the same wavelength region are performed with FTTH. Additionally, if a wavelength band of monitoring light is to be added to this wavelength region, it is desirable that the optical fiber transmits optical signals excellently in a wavelength up to 1650 nm at the longest. In other words, the macro bending loss of an optical fiber used for FTTH needs to be sufficiently low, even when it transmits light signals at a wavelength of 1650 nm.
As an optical fiber that addresses these points, the optical fiber having a trench type refractive index profile in which the cladding area is composed of the cladding and an area with a lower refractive index than the cladding, is known (for example, see Fujikura Ltd., Optics and Electronics Laboratory, Optical process research department, Masashige Ikeda, Shoichiro Matsuo, Kuniharu Himeno, "Reduced Splice Loss Type Low Bending Loss Optical Fiber", The institute of electronics, information and communication engineers, Technical report of the institute of electronics, information and communication engineers, OCS2003-43, OFT2003-25 (2003-8)).
And, when an optical fiber cable is to be laid for users' homes at the introduction of a FTTH system, it is expected that bends will be added to a drop cable, to an extent equivalent to adding 10 turns at a bending radius of 7.5 mm, between a point the drop cable is branched from a main line up to the connection to the ONU (Optical Network Unit).
On the other hand, for example, in a conventional SMF complying with ITU-T G.652, when adding 10 turns of bends of bending radius of 7.5 mm, a macro bending loss arises of about 40 dB at a wavelength of 1550 nm, and approximately 120 dB at a wavelength of 1650 nm. Additionally, with the optical fiber presented in the document cited above, the reduction of a macro bending loss at 1650 nm is still insufficient. Given this situation, reducing the macro bending loss of optical fiber is the basic technology critical for spread of FTTH. If the macro bending loss is 0.1 dB or less, in the case of adding 10 turns of bends of bending radius of 7.5 mm, the macro bending loss is lowenough to apply for FTTH systems.
With a conventional SMF made of silica glass, there is a need to make the effective refractive index of the fundamental mode high to reduce the macro bending loss. The high effective refractive index is realized by making relative refractive difference Δ between the core and the cladding large in a refractive index profile of the optical fiber. The relative refractive index difference Δ is defined by the following equation (1). In the equation (1), ncore, and ncladding are the refractive indexes of the core area and cladding area respectively.Δ={(ncore−ncladding)/ncore}×100%  (1)
FIG. 1 shows the results obtained by simulations of the relations among the relative refractive index difference Δ, the macro bending loss of bending radius of 7.5 mm at the wavelength of 1650 nm, and the mode field diameter (MFD) at the wavelength of 1310 nm, in the case of an optical fiber having a step type refractive index profile. In this simulation, the fiber cutoff wavelength λc was set to 1280 nm. In this case, the cable cutoff wavelength λcc becomes 1260 nm or less.
On this specification, the fiber cutoff wavelength λc and the cable cutoff wavelength λcc are assumed to be the fiber cutoff wavelength λc and the cable cutoff wavelength λcc, which are specified in ITU-T G.650.1. Other terms, which are not specifically defined, are assumed to follow the definition and measuring method on ITU-T G.650.1.
With regard to the relative refractive index difference Δ, when the relative refractive index difference Δ is set high as 0.7% or more, the macro bending loss at the wavelength of 1650 nm becomes low sufficiently as 0.1 dB/10 turns or under, then it is usable for FTTH systems.
On the other hand, the MFD becomes 6.3 μm or under at 1310 nm, i.e., smaller by 3 μm or more than the MFD of conventional SMF. Generally, if the relative refractive index difference Δ becomes larger, the confinement of the guided mode tends to be stronger, and the MFD tends to be smaller.
And, on the introduction of FTTH, at the time of actually laying the optical fibers, there is a need to splice them with the existing laid conventional SMFs. As many fiber installers execute the splicings frequently, it is desirable that the splicing is easy and cost effective, and the splicing loss is low.
The splicing loss T, which arises on splicing optical fiber, is determined by coupling coefficient η. And the splicing loss T is logically calculated by the following equations (2)˜(4):T=−10×log η  (2)η=κ×exp{−κ[(1/w12+1/w22)x02/2]}  (3)κ=4/{(w1/w2+w2/w1)2+(λz/πw1w2)2}  (4)
Here, w1 and w2 are the mode field radiuses of the both optical fibers connected each other, x0 is the lateral misalignment of the fibers, κ is related to the used wavelength, and z represents the separation distance between the optical fiber ends. Here, it is assumed that the fiber axes coincide with each other. A relation between MFD and the splicing loss obtained by the above equations is shown in FIG. 2. In these calculations, providing connecting a conventional SMF having MFD=9.3 μm and a fiber having a various MFDs. The calculation is executed by assuming the separation distance between the ends of the splicing optical fibers z as 0. As can be seen from FIG. 2, when the difference in MFDs between the spliced optical fibers is larger, a larger splicing loss arises
In FIG. 2, it can be seen that such a splicing loss as large as about 0.7 dB arises in splicing of a conventional SMF having MFD of about 9.3 μm at wavelength 1310 nm and an optical fiber having a step type refractive index profile of the relative refractive index difference Δ=0.7% and MFD=6.3 μm. It is desirable for the splicing loss on building of FTTH systems to become 0.5 dB or less. And, on an actual splicing, the fiber axes do not coincide completely because of the dimension of the mechanical splice and the dimensional precision of cladding diameter of optical fiber so it is necessary to take the decrease of the coupling coefficient into consideration for estimating the splicing loss. Considering the worst case, a design of an optical fiber of which the splicing loss with the conventional SMF is sufficiently low under the condition that the lateral misalignment is 0.5 μm is needed. And, the MFD needs to be 6.6 μm or more to make the splicing loss 0.5 dB or less.
As above, in the design of the refractive index profile of optical fiber, if the relative refractive index difference Δ is made larger to reduce a macro bending loss, MFD becomes smaller, and it causes an increase in the splicing loss. A relation between the macro bending loss and the splicing loss is shown in FIG. 3 in the case of changing the relative refractive index difference Δ of an optical fiber having a step type refractive index profile. Here, the horizontal axis represents the splicing loss in the case of splicing a conventional SMF having MFD=9.3 μm at a wavelength of 1310 nm and a fiber having MFD that differs from it. And the vertical axis represents the macro bending loss arising in the case of bending a fiber having various MFD and showing the displayed splicing loss at a bending radius=7.5 mm at a wavelength of 1650 nm. As shown in FIG. 3, a trade-off relation exists between the macro bending loss and the splicing loss.
The result obtained by simulation of the relation between the MFD at the wavelength of 1310 nm and the macro bending loss at the wavelength of 1650 nm is shown in FIG. 4, while setting the fiber cutoff wavelength λc as 1280 nm, and changing the α value represents the shape of refractive index profile with an optical fiber having a step type refractive index profile. The α value is defined by the following equation (5). The center shape of the first layer (core) has a more roundness (shifting triangular shape to quadrangular shape) as the α value becomes larger.n2(r)=ncore2{1−2(Δ/100)×(2r/a)α}  (5)(In this regard, 0<r<a/2)
Here, r represents a position from the center of an optical fiber toward radius, and n(r) represents a refractive index at a position r. As shown in FIG. 4, with a step type refractive index profile, it is found that the relation between the macro bending loss and the MFD is not influenced by the α value, under the above condition, that the fiber cutoff wavelength λc is fixed at 1280 nm and the relative refractive index difference Δ and the α value areadjusted. Then, it is found that the trade-off relation between the macro bending loss and the splicing loss cannot be improved, if the relative refractive index difference Δ and the α value are changed. This means that the step type refractive index profile cannot satisfy the aimed value of the macro bending loss of 0.1 dB/10 turns or less and the splicing loss of 0.5 dB or less.


A carton for a plurality of products comprising a front panel and a rear panel, the front panel and the rear panel connected one to the other by a top panel and a bottom panel, each of the front panel, the top panel and the bottom panel having appended side flaps. Each of the appended side flaps of the top panel and the bottom panel having a recess, the recesses of the top panel flaps being in alignment with the recesses of the bottom panel flaps to form a combined recess. A product separator is located in the carton, the product separator having a separator panel with an appended first panel and a second panel, each of the first panel and the second panel being fitted into a combined recess to thereby secure the product separator in the carton. The front panel is at least partially transparent. Each of the front panel flaps having an appended glue flap, the appended glue flaps having a plurality of glue tabs. The top panel and the rear panel having an appended hanger panel with an aperture and a structure to reclose the carton.

This invention relates to a display carton blank, and display carton for a plurality of products where the contained products are maintained in a set array in the carton. The carton is comprised of a carton and a separator, the separator being maintained in place by recesses in the sidewalls of the carton. The carton front surface can be at least partially transparent. Other surfaces also can be at least partially transparent.
Many products are sold in amounts of two to ten or more. Many of these products are preferably displayed and maintained in a set array in the carton. Being maintained in a set array is useful in cases where the units are to be seen through an at least partially transparent front surface. The units that can be seen through the front surface can be a significant factor in the product being purchased. The products are preferably displayed neatly to convey the proper message about the product to the prospective purchaser. In addition, the carton should be of a low cost, structurally stable, tamper evident and versatile in display. As used herein, versatile in display means that the carton can be displayed both resting on a store shelf and suspended from a peg or similar hardware that extends outwardly from a vertical support. When the product can be displayed sitting on a store shelf it then also can be stored on a shelf at the purchaser's residence. Storability by the purchaser is convenient because the units in the carton may be used over a period of time. The carton should have sufficient structural stability so as not to be damaged during shipping and handling and display at the retail outlet. It also should be sufficiently durable to protect the contained units from any damage. To be tamper evident, it should be discernable from a casual inspection whether the carton has been the subject of any tampering.
The present carton solves the above problems through a unique structure for the carton. The carton has a unique carton structure, a unique product separator structure, and a unique carton/product separator interfitting structure. Low cost is achieved by the use of a design that minimizes the amount of material yet maintains sufficient strength. This results in a display carton for a plurality of products at a low cost, one which is structurally stable, is tamper evident, and is versatile in display.

Display carton for a plurality of products


A system and method depositing metal to form a three-dimensional (3D) part on a substrate. A wire is moved relative to a location on the substrate while a laser heats a proximal end of the wire at the location using a laser beam. The laser causes the wire and substrate to reach a melting point of the wire to fuse the wire at the location on the substrate. The wire can be preheated by passing a current through the wire.

Three-dimensional printing (3D printing) is now a well-known technology, which can be used for rapid prototyping, and for constructing fully functioning parts. 3D printing is also known as "additive manufacturing," because unlike most machine tool operations, undifferentiated feed material is repeatedly added to construct a part using successive layers of a material such as plastic or metal. This is different from traditional machine-shop operations, such as sawing, drilling, turning, and milling, which removes material in successive layers until only the desired material remains.
Most common and inexpensive 3D printers produce the desired parts using a plastic material, by either fused deposition modeling (FDM), i.e., precision extrusion of a thin filament of feed plastic via a nozzle controlled in X, Y, and Z directions, or by stereolithography (SLA), where a feedstock of photopolymerizable plastic is selectively catalyzed with deep blue or ultraviolet light, in successive thin layers.
The limitation of such printers is that the final result is plastic, and as such cannot withstand high stresses or high temperatures. Most of the plastics available for FDM and SLA have both yield strengths (where the material permanently distorts) and ultimate tensile strengths (where the material fails completely) well below 50 Mpa (50 million newtons/square meter), compared to even the weakest steels at 250 Mpa and going upward to as high as 2500 Mpa for maraging steels and other specialty alloys.
Similarly, the operating temperature limitation for most polymers extrudable by FDM printers is typically 20 degC, or more, well below the glass transition temperature of the polymer, to avoid high creep rates. For example, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic, a tough thermoplastic, has a glass transition temperature of roughly 105 degC, which will creep excessively at the boiling point of water (100 degC), and should not be used where boiling water temperatures are encountered.
SLA printers have different material limitations given that the transition of the feed material from liquid to solid is triggered by ultraviolet light, or intense blue light. Only polymers that can be catalyzed by such radiation, including those that use a photoinitiator to achieve this sensitivity to photopolymerization, can be printed at all. Styrene, epoxy, and acrylic can also be used. However, the temperature limitations of these materials remain.
Given the material limitations of both strength and temperature tolerance, polymer 3D printed parts cannot be used in many situations, such as engines, fuel systems, or many biological implant systems. For those applications, the part needs to be made of metal. Metal 3D printers can be categorized as follows: mold-making systems, metal-sinter systems, and full-density systems.
In a mold-making system, an FDM or SLA machine produces a positive example of the desired metal part using plastic. Then, the plastic part is used to produce a negative mold, often destructively, as in lost-wax or lost-plastic methods. The temperature-resisting mold (often ceramic slurry) is heated to successively higher temperatures to melt and vaporize the 3D plastic positive, Finally, molten metal is cast into the now-empty void and allowed to cool, yielding the part. Unfortunately, this process requires significant time and a fully capable foundry facility to produce the parts, which are basically no different than the millenia-old lost wax process, and with the same limitations on molding and precision.
In 3D metal-sintering processes, a high-melting-point metal such as stainless steel is powdered (often in an inert atmosphere such as nitrogen or argon, to minimize oxidation), and then spread in a thin layer over a base plate by a moving "doctor blade." A laser is then used to heat the powder selectively, to sinter the powder and form one layer of the desired final part. Successive additional thin layers of metal powder are spread over the base plate, and again selectively sintered. The resulting layers, sintered together, are termed a "green part", and are quite fragile. The green parts are placed in a crucible, supported in a bed of refractory powder, and placed in contact with bars and risers made of a low-melting-point alloy, such as brass or bronze. The entire crucible is then heated slowly in a reducing atmosphere (to prevent oxidation of any of the metals), and maintained at temperature until the brass or bronze completely infiltrates the interconnected voids in the part, yielding a finished part of near 100% density.
That process is limited to facilities that support a bronze foundry, and to produce parts that are not of one alloy (the parts are partially stainless steel and partially bronze or brass. They are also subject to self-produced electrolytic corrosion.
Full-density 3D metal printers work by starting with the metal feedstock and reducing the stock to a fine powder (again, in an inert atmosphere to minimize oxidation). Like the sintering process, a laser (under an inert gas atmosphere) or an electron beam (in a vacuum chamber) is used to selectively melt the powder and fully fuse it into a solid mass in the desired layer shape. The process repeats; alternately a thin layer of metal powder is spread by the doctor blade, and then fused with the prior layers and lateral sections of powder. These parts are at near (99% solid) and can approach the substantially void free (99.9% solid, or "full density") state and are often called "DMLS" parts (Direct Metal Laser Sintering), even though the metal is fully fused, not merely sintered.
The advantage of full-density processes is that it yields a high quality part directly, with no need for a full foundry-level infrastructure. Some final cleanup, such as precision machining, grinding, or polishing may still be required, as the surface of the part is still the un-fused sides of the partially fused metal powder (thus, spherical powdered metals produced by atomization yield a smoother final part than the angular powdered metals produced by abrasion, flaking, grinding, or crystallization from solution.), and so a metal machining facility may still be appropriate, which is a disadvantage compared to polymer 3D printing systems that usually produce ready-to-use parts.
A second disadvantage of full-density DMLS is cost. The process is quite slow as the energy to melt the powder must be supplied either by the laser or an electron beam, and delivered sufficiently precisely to cause full fusion but not vaporization or over-melting. This lack of speed translates into a long time to print, which translates directly into a high cost per part to amortize the up-front cost of the physical machine and the slow production available.
A third disadvantage of DMLS is that the feed powder is only partially reclaimable. A significant fraction of the powder along the edge of the laser or electron beam path partially fuses, agglomerates, or sinters together with adjacent particles, but does not fuse firmly to the produced final part. These larger lumps must be removed from the remaining feed powder, when the feed powder is to be re-used again by careful sifting, through extremely fine mesh screens (an undependable method). Some DMLS manufacturers simply preclude the re-use of feedstock powder unilaterally because of the risk of a too-large particle being caught by the doctor blade and plowing a line without powder into the thin top layer, causing a void in the part.
Finally, DMLS feed materials are extremely finely divided metal powders, and as such are potentially hazardous (such as inhalation hazard, possible flammability or even pyrophoric hazard), as well as requiring special handling, such as keeping the powder under inert gas such as argon to prevent any oxidation forming during transport and storage.
Another method uses an XYZ translation system and a conventional metal inert gas (MIG) wire-fed arc welding machine to deposit metal. Disadvantages are that because the system uses an arc, a large amount of spatter is present and the surface finish is no better than what one would expect in an arc-welded joint—that is, surface roughness is on the order of a couple of millimeters, not 10-100 microns as with other 3D printing technologies.
Laser powder deposition (LPD—an extension of the well-known laser cladding process—uses similar powder feedstocks, but rather than progressively filling the build volume layer by layer with metal powder that is selectively sintered or melted, the powder is blown onto the substrate or previous deposit by the inert gas stream, while simultaneously a high-powered laser both melts the powder while in the flowing gas stream, and heats the substrate to the melting point. The deposited material is substantially smoother than the MIG welder wire-fed deposition methods but still requires final finishing with conventional machining.
Laser Metal Deposition-Wire (LIVID-w) is yet another process is akin to the well-known laser cladding process, but that uses a metal wire feedstock rather than metal powder. The high-powered laser melts the wire and raises the temperature of the base material to welding heat, causing the material to fuse. Of course, this process must be carried out in a vacuum or an inert gas atmosphere such as argon. A similar alternative is Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing-wire (EBAM-w) where the melting heat is supplied by an electron beam. EBAM-w must be performed in a vacuum chamber due to the electron beam. Both LMD-w and EBAM-w have the property that they use much less expensive and less hazardous wire feedstock, rather than powdered metals.
LMD-w is unfortunately process-limited to relatively large diameter wires (0.028 inch-0.7 mm) due to thermal issues as described below which sets a rather large feature size and relatively coarse printing with rough final surfaces. EBAM-w is limited by the ability of electron beam currents at welding energy. Increasing the electron beam accelerating voltage causes a deeper penetration of the electron beam (a useful property of electron beam weld melt zones is that they can be as much as three to five times deeper than their width), but this is detrimental during additive manufacturing as it will cause a vertical wall to slump downward due to gravitation and to form a blobby surface due to surface tension. The other alternative is to have a low beam voltage but a high beam current; in this case the beam diameter is large because the space charge density of electrons in the beam causes self-repulsion of the electrons with a 1/r{circumflex over ( )}2 intensity. These factors together set a lower bound on the ability of LMD-w or EBAM-w to provide a smooth surface and fine details in the produced part.

System and method for depositing a metal to form a three-dimensional part

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.


Apparatus for winding an induction coil including a base plate formed with a winding aperture and a winding slot leading from an edge of the plate to the aperture, a pivot arm mounted under the base plate for reciprocating movement toward and away from the plate, a foot pedal or other device for reciprocating the pivot arm, a wire pulling hook on the pivot arm aligned with the winding aperture so that the hook moves back and forth through the aperture when the pivot arm is reciprocated, a spring biasing the pivot arm toward the base plate; and a clamp for holding a core in winding position over the aperture. A counter may be connected to the pivot arm to count the windings applied to the coil.

The present invention relates to an induction core winding device which can be used to facilitate winding of induction coils.
Induction coils used in a wide variety of electrical and electronic devices comprise a toroidal iron core with a plurality of turns of wire wrapped around the ring, i.e. down through the center and up around the outside. For many applications, such cores are wound by hand. Hand winding is awkward, time consuming and consequently expensive.
Attempts to automate core winding have produced devices which are unduly complex and expensive. In addition to the high initial investment, continuing expenditures of time and funds for maintenance are required.
There remains a need for a simple and comparatively inexpensive device for facilitating winding of cores which can enhance the capabilities of a human operator without requiring a large initial investment or substantial maintenance expenditures.


The invention includes a wear indicator for a radially extensible vane compressor. The indicator is an elongate member having two longitudinal sections with a step inbetween. The step catches on a mating step formed in the compressor rotor when it is good and does not catch on the mating step when it is bad (i.e., worn). A repair person can test the wear of the indicator merely by attempting to withdraw the indicator. If it is removed it is worn, and if it is not removable, it is acceptable.

In the field of radially extensible vane compressors, vane wear is a common concern. Due to the great centrifugal forces acting on the vanes, and the great velocity differences between the vanes and the internal walls of the compressor housing that the vanes contact, vanes wear long before the other components of the compressor. Timing of vane replacement has a significant effect on operating costs of the vane compressor. In a typical chemical plant application, the entire process must be stopped for vanes to be replaced, the compressor must be disassembled, and the vanes checked and replaced as necessary. This results in significant downtime for the chemical processing plant, and typically all such repairs are made as rapidly as possible to allow the equipment to be reassembled and brought back up on line as soon as possible. Measuring vane wear typically requires the use of dial indicators, and other measuring instruments that may be easily misread or broken in the haste of checking and repairing the compressor. Alternatively, vane wear may be measured without significantly disassembling the compressor by removing an inspection port of the vane compressor, "bumping" the rotor until it is in the proper rotational position for each vane, and measuring the distance between the edge of the inspection port and the outermost wearing edge of the vane. As the vane wears, this distance will become greater and greater until it finally indicates the need for repair. This process has the disadvantage of requiring careful positioning of the rotor and manipulation of the depth gauge, and has the further disadvantage of requiring subsequent disassembly if the vanes are found to be in need of repair. What is needed is an improved method and apparatus for checking vane wear in a radially extensible vane compressor that is more accurate, that does not require expensive measuring instruments, and is less likely to be misread.

Stepped wear indicator for a radial compressor


A flapper valve assembly for use in a flow conduit in a subterranean well, the assembly having a valve closure member pivotally connected to a floating hinge assembly that slidably engages a sleeve comprising the valve seat. A strut assembly comprising circumferentially spaced struts pivotally connected to the valve closure member away from the floating hinge member and pivotally connected to a spring guide surrounding the flow conduit is also provided, and is biased to force the valve closure member toward the closed position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to valve and hinge assemblies suitable for use in oil and gas wells, and more particularly, to a valve assembly having a flapper type closure with a "floating" hinge. One aspect of the invention relates to a valve and hinge assembly for use in a tubing retrievable, surface controlled, subsurface safety valve. Another aspect of the invention relates to a valve and hinge assembly for use in controlling the flow of hydrocarbons and drilling fluids upwardly through a well casing whenever the drill string is tripped during drilling.
2. Description of Related Art
Flapper type closures have previously been disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,710,410; 1,871,536; 2,162,578; 2,202,192; 2,354,310; 2,447,842; 3,672,630; 4,531,587; 4,706,933; 4,926,945; 4,977,957; and 5,044,396.
Flapper type closures With flappers that rotate from an open position to a closed position which is substantially perpendicular to the flow direction are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,162,578; 2,202,192; 2,354,310; 2,447,842; 4,531,587; 4,706,933; 4,926,945; and 4,977,957.
Flapper type closures with flappers that rotate from a fully open position to a fully closed position through an included angle of less than about 90 degrees are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,710,410; 1,871,536; 3,672,630; and 5,044,396.
A flapper type closure with a flapper having a cross-section that is a cylindrical sector and having arcuate seating and sealing surfaces generated by the line of intersection of the cylindrical sector with the wall of a cylindrical flow conduit are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,630.
Flapper type closures with struts that are attached to the flappers at a point spaced apart from the hinge point or hinge line are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,871,536; 2,202,192 and 4,706,933. U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,933 discloses a flapper valve having a control link with one end attached to the flapper and the other end attached to a spring-biased, hydraulically operated piston slidably disposed in a valve control cylinder in the valve body.
With the conventional flapper type closures previously disclosed, however, the flapper is pivotally connected at a hinge point or along a hinge line that is integrally formed as part of, or is otherwise fixed in relation to, the valve seat or body. Flapper type closures constructed in this manner experience high stress concentrations at the hinge point(s), especially when the flapper is slammed closed or is forced open against high opposing downhole fluid pressure.
Sealing difficulties are also encountered in using flapper type closures constructed in the conventional manner, especially those with contoured flappers that seal against seats extending obliquely rather than perpendicularly to the flow direction. Lap seals between the sealing and seating surfaces cannot be used because of interference that occurs in the hinge area. Elastomeric seals between the sealing and seating surfaces are therefore needed both to compensate for surface imperfections and to permit slip between interfering portions of the seating and sealing surfaces during opening and closing of the flapper.
The production of valve seats or bodies with a fixed hinge and the installation of elastomeric seals along the sealing or seating surfaces can necessitate special machining or molding procedures that increase part cost and/or undesirably reduce the load bearing area. Additionally, elastomeric seals between the sealing and seating surfaces can suffer compression failures when subjected to loading such as those encountered in downhole applications.

Flapper valve assembly with floating hinge


A laparoscopic jejunostomy instrumentation kit includes components for securing a patient's intestine in apposition to the patient's abdominal wall and for creating a stoma through the patient's abdominal wall and intestinal wall, a jejunostomy tube, and an enclosure for containing the other components of the kit. In preferred embodiments the kit includes T-Fastener assemblies, needles, syringes, a dilator, a peel-away sheath and a gastrostomy tube.

A surgical procedure wherein an opening is formed in the skin, fascia and jejunal wall, and a tube is installed in the opening to allow nutrition to be provided directly into the intestine is known as a jejunostomy. A tube which is inserted through this opening during the surgical procedure to maintain the opening is known as a jejunostomy tube. Examples of individuals who would require such a procedure include patients who are poor candidates for nasoenteric or gastrostomy tube feedings, patients whose daily caloric needs are very high; critically ill, weak or comatose patients who may be unable to chew food, and patients suffering from a diseased or traumatized esophagus, who may be unable to swallow food.
A relatively new method of placing a jejunostomy tube, which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,086 relates to a laparoscopic procedure. Laparoscopic surgery generally requires the use of instruments or equipment which provides a passage through the skin and surrounding tissue to the surgical site. The laparoscopic jejunostomy procedure requires the use of many instruments and supplies including for example, a nasogastric tube, scalpel, needles, syringes, T-Fastener assemblies, a J-Guidewire, a dilator, a peel-away sheath, a jejunostomy tube and water-soluble lubricant.
In view of this, it is required that assistants to the surgical procedure prepare for the operation by making ready these numerous instruments and supplies to aid in the performance of the surgical procedure. To this end, the individual packaging of each of these items leads to the accumulation of packaging material within the sterile environment of the operating room. It is also conceivable that certain necessary pieces of operating equipment and instrumentation will be inadvertently omitted from the operating room, thus delaying the turgical procedure or inconveniencing the surgeon and jeopardizing the safety of the patient.
The novel laparoscopic jejunostomy instrumentation kit of the present invention obviates the disadvantages encountered in the prior art and provides an instrumentation kit which may include all the necessary pieces of equipment required for performing this surgical procedure. The amount of packaging material which must be discarded is significantly reduced, and the possibility of omission of a required piece of equipment is essentially eliminated.

Laparoscopic jejunostomy instrumentation kit


A system and method of transmitting a DDoS, or distributed denial of service, signature from an intra-network to an internet is presented. The method includes identifying a DDoS signature and employing an inter-domain routing protocol configured to enable-operational information to be exchanged between nodes. The DDoS signature is embedded as payload of the standards-compliant inter-domain routing protocol. The step of embedding occurs within a network. The embedded DDoS signature is then sent from the network to an internet node outside of the network. The method further includes applying the DDoS signature to enable the internet nodes to filter packets matching the DDoS signature.

Denial of service attacks are attempts to prevent legitimate users from utilizing or gaining access to computing resources, such as network bandwidth, memory, and CPU bandwidth. Thus, denial of service attacks make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users. Although any shared computer resource could potentially be at risk, typical targets of such attacks include high-profile web servers or other networked servers.
A common method of attack is to saturate a victim machine with external communication requests (e.g., in quantity and time) sufficient to prevent the victim machine from responding to legitimate network traffic. At the very least, such an attack can slow the response time of the victim machine to legitimate traffic. General symptoms of a denial of service attack include unusually slow network performance, unavailability of a web site, a dramatic spike in the number of spam emails received, or inability to access a network device.
One particular type of denial of service attack is a distributed denial of service (or DDoS) attack. In a DDoS attack, multiple compromised systems, also known as hosts or zombies, flood the bandwidth or resources of a targeted system. Generally, the target of a DDoS attack is one or more web servers. Essentially, the greatest point of difference between a denial of service attack and a DDoS attack is the scale. A single perpetrator acting with a single host mounts a denial of service attack, whereas a single attacker utilizing hundreds or thousands of host or zombie systems can simultaneously mount individual denial of service attacks which together amount to a DDoS attack.

Distributed denial-of-service signature transmission

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


In a multicolor printing apparatus in which a laser beam is scanned by a rotary polygon mirror to form an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive medium, multicolor printing is effected by forming images of individual plural colors. When plane mirrors of the rotary polygon mirror which are used for scanning to form the head lines of images of different colors differ from each other, the difference in plane inclination between plane mirrors causes color shift or misregistration and image deformation. In order to prevent this disadvantage, the same mirror plane of the rotary polygon mirror is managed to be used for scanning to form the head lines of images of different colors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multicolor printing apparatus in which electrostatic latent images corresponding to respective multiple colors formed on a photosensitive medium by irradiating laser beams are developed and superimposed to form a multicolor image.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 3 illustrates, in block form, a conventional multicolor printing apparatus. In the Figure, reference numeral 51 designates a photosensitive medium, 52 a start hole for recording formed in the photosensitive medium, 53 a recording start sensor comprised of a photo-sensor and operable to detect the start hole 52, 54 a laser diode, 55 a beam drive for driving the laser diode 54, 56 a rotary polygon mirror comprised of six plane mirrors M1 to M6 and a motor 57, 58 a photo-sensor, 59 a scanning start pulse generator operable to generate a scanning start pulse in synchronism with a signal from the photo-sensor 58, 60 an image signal deliverer responsive to an image signal from a host computer, not shown, an the signal from the scanning start pulse generator 59 to deliver an image signal, 61 an F.theta. lens, 62 a timing pulse operable to generate a timing pulse synchronism in with rotation of the motor 57 of the rotary polygon mirror 56, and 63 a rotary polygon mirror drive adapted to control driving of the motor 57 of the rotary polygon mirror 56. The drive 63 includes an oscillator 64 operable to generate oscillating signals at a constant period, a comparator 65 for comparing phases of a signal from the oscillator 64 and a signal from the timing pulse generator 62 and a drive 66 responsive to a signal from the comparator 65 to drive the motor 57 of the rotary polygon mirror 56.
The scanning unit constructed as above operates as will be described below with reference to a timing chart of FIG. 4.
When a start signal (not shown) is first supplied externally to the drive 66, the motor 57 of the rotary polygon mirror 56 starts rotating and a signal in synchronism with the rotation is supplied from the timing pulse generator 62 to the comparator 65 of the rotary polygon mirror drive 63. The comparator 65 then compares phases of the signals from the timing pulse generator 62 and oscillator 64 and sends a difference signal to the drive 66, causing it to drive rotation of the motor 57 of the rotary polygon mirror 56. Thus, the signal from the timing pulse generator 62 is so controlled as to be synchronous with the oscillation period and consequently the rotary polygon mirror can always be rotated at a uniform speed.
Subsequently, the beam drive 55 drives the laser diode 54 and at the same time a laser beam is irradiated on the plane mirror M1 of the rotary polygon mirror 56 and deflected for scanning in synchronism with the rotation of the rotary polygon mirror 56. At the time that a reflected scanning beam passes through the photo-sensor 58 which is so located as to precede the commencement of scanning the photosensitive medium 51, the scanning start pulse generator 59 generates a scanning start pulse as shown at a in FIG. 4.
On the other hand, as the photosensitive medium 51 rotates and the start hole 52 in the photosensitive medium passes by the recording start position sensor 53, a recording start position signal b1 as shown at b in FIG. 4 is generated.
The scanning start pulse a and recording start position signal b are applied to the image signal deliverer 60. After receiving the recording start position signal b1, the image signal deliverer 60 starts delivering an image signal as shown at c in FIG. 4 to the drive 55 in synchronism with the timing for a scanning start signal al reaching t1 time later. Then, the beam drive 55 drives the laser diode 54 to cause it to emit a beam for recording. The beam is scanned by the rotary polygon mirror 56 and passed through the F.theta. lens 61 to form a record of one line on the photosensitive medium 51.
Since the rotary polygon mirror 56 rotates at the uniform speed, the respective succeeding lines are sequentially recorded on the photosensitive medium by means of the plane mirrors M2 to M6 in a similar way, completing a record of one frame.
For multicolor printing, superimposition of data of different colors is needed and therefore, as the photosensitive medium 51 makes a revolution, the passage of the start hole 52 is detected by the recording start position detecting sensor 53 in a similar manner to the previously described image recording process and a recording start position signal b2 is supplied to the image signal generator 60 which in turn starts delivering an image signal as shown at c in FIG. 4 to the beam drive 55 in synchronism with the timing for a scanning start signal a2 reaching t2 time later, thereby completing one frame of printing of the second color in a similar way.
In this manner, superimposition of frames is carried out by the frequency corresponding to the number of recording colors and thereafter a resulting frame is transferred to paper to complete multicolor printing.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A control method and system that achieves a desired purge flow rate in accordance with operation of a variable valve timing control mechanism. Although pumping loss of an internal combustion engine is varied by a change in the amount of operating the variable valve timing control mechanism, a change in an intake pressure in an intake passage is caused by influence of inertia supercharging, and the purge flow rate is changed. In this case, an opening degree of a purge solenoid valve is set according to the respective amount of operating the variable valve timing control mechanism. The set opening degree is considered by the ECU, and a final opening degree of the purge solenoid valve is set, so that a desired purge flow rate can be controlled regardless of the operation of the variable valve timing control mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air/fuel ratio control device for an internal combustion engine having, for example, a variable valve timing control mechanism capable of freely changing intake valve timing, and capable of executing purge control.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional air/fuel ratio control device for an internal combustion engine is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-83096. The application describes a device in which a purge flow rate is controlled with respect to an intake amount. Also, purge fuel concentration is detected based on an air/fuel ratio feedback value (coefficient) during fuel purge, and the fuel injection amount is corrected.
In the meantime, when the above-described technology is applied to an electronic control type fuel injection system referred to as an "L-Jetronic" system, where a fuel injection amount supplied to an internal combustion engine is controlled by using an air flow meter, it is necessary to calculate an opening degree of a purge valve indirectly from an intake amount, an intake charge efficiency or the like to secure a desired purge flow amount. In this case, according to an internal combustion engine La having a variable valve timing control mechanism, when the valve timing is changed, the intake amount or the intake charge efficiency is changed. Accordingly, the desired purge flow amount cannot be accurately controlled. Thus, the air/fuel ratio control performance is deteriorated, thereby reducing vehicle drivability and vehicle emission performance.

Air/fuel ratio control device for internal combustion engine


A base station performs communication of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme with a mobile station by using any one of equal to or greater than two frequency bands. The base station includes means that transmits a synchronization channel and a control channel using a band that includes a center frequency fA on a raster of a first band (20 MHz) and that has a bandwidth equal to or greater than that of a second band (5 MHz of the end). The control channel includes center frequency information for specifying a center frequency fA′ of the second band. Since the mobile station moves to a desired band after obtaining center frequency information using a band including the center frequency on a raster, the mobile station can connect to the desired band without searching frequencies that are not on the raster.

In existing communication systems related to a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) scheme and a GSM scheme and the like, a center frequency of a band used for communication is defined to agree with a predetermined frequency called a raster or a frequency raster. The frequency raster is arranged on a frequency axis at every 200 kHz, for example. Therefore, a mobile station searches frequency rasters on the frequency axis in series (searches for each 200 kHz) so as to specify the center frequency of the operator so that the mobile station can connect to a downlink. Following non-patent documents 1 and 2 describe downlink cell search.    [non-patent document 1] 3GPP, TS25.101, "User Equipment (UE) radio transmission and reception (FDD)", pp. 12-14    [non-patent document 2] Keiji Tachikawa, "W-CDMA mobile communication scheme", MARUZEN, pp. 35-45


A method is performed to provide a multi-functional user interface on a work machine for displaying suggested corrective action. The process includes receiving status information associated with the work machine and analyzing the status information to determine an abnormal condition. The process also includes displaying a warning message on the display device indicating the abnormal condition and determining one or more corrective actions to handle the abnormal condition. Further, the process includes determining an appropriate corrective action among the one or more corrective actions and displaying a recommendation message on the display device reflecting the appropriate corrective action. The process may also include displaying a list including the remaining one or more corrective actions on the display device to provide alternative actions to an operator.

An important feature in modern work machines (e.g., fixed and mobile commercial machines, such as construction machines, fixed engine systems, marine-based machines, etc.) is the operator display. Work machines may have a variety of optional work tools that can be attached to and controlled by the work machine. These optional work tools can be relatively complicated and difficult to operate. Each work tool may have different operator interfaces with numerous controls for position, orientation, and other associated features and functions. Operator displays often provide user friendly interfaces that can help operators understand what actions or steps should be taken when operating a certain type of work tool or when warning conditions occur.
One example of an operator display is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,343,237 to Rossow et al. (the '237 patent), which includes a display device for displaying the status of a number of vital functions associated with a power machine. The '237 patent describes a user interface that allows an operator to view active warning conditions and help screens designed to assist the operator in deciphering the active warnings. Although the '237 patent provides assistance in the form of user interfaces, these interfaces cannot recommend corrective actions to the operator. Moreover, when new technologies such as fuel cell systems are implemented on these work machines, the help information presented in these user interfaces is often too difficult to understand by untrained operators.
The disclosed multi-functional user interface is directed to solving one or more of the problems set forth above.

Method and system for providing work machine multi-functional user interface


The invention relates to a length measuring device having a measuring slide, a linear guide in the form of a hollow profile, on which the measuring slide is mounted so it is externally displaceable, an inner slide, which is mounted so it is displaceable in the interior of the hollow profile, a magnet assembly, which magnetically couples measuring slide and inner slide, so that the inner slide follows every movement of the measuring slide along the hollow profile, a measuring unit for measuring the position of the inner slide, and a display, which is visible in the exterior of the hollow profile, of the length ascertained by the measuring unit in accordance with the measured position of the inner slide. The measuring unit has a sound source, a sound receiver, and a control and analysis unit connected thereto.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a length measuring device having a measuring slide, a linear guide in the form of a hollow profile, on which the measuring slide is mounted so it is externally displaceable, to be able to bring it into contact with an object to be measured with respect to its length, an inner slide, which is mounted so it is displaceable in the interior of the hollow profile, a magnet assembly, which magnetically couples the measuring slide and the inner slide so that the inner slide follows every movement of the measuring slide along the hollow profile, a measuring unit for measuring the position of the inner slide along the hollow profile, and a display, which is visible in the exterior of the hollow profile, of the length ascertained by the measuring unit in accordance with the measured position of the inner slide.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
The invention is directed in particular to length measuring devices for measuring the physical height of persons. Such length measuring devices are also referred to as stadiometers. A typical such length measuring device has a measuring rod, which is implemented as a vertical linear guide for a measuring slide (head slide). The measuring rod is aligned vertically and is installed on a wall or fastened on a platform. To measure the physical height, the person steps in front of the measuring rod, after which the head slide is pushed down on the measuring rod until it comes into contact on the head of the person to be measured. A measuring scale having scale graduation lines is provided on the measuring rod. A read unit is in turn provided in the measuring slide, which registers the scale graduation lines during the displacement of the measuring slide on the measuring rod and therefore detects the incremental change of the position of the measuring slide. The absolute height of a scale graduation line can also be coded in the scale graduation lines, so that the height of the head slide can be determined using the read unit, which is then displayed on a display on the measuring slide.
Another type of a length measuring device for the physical height has an angled part, which is held by a person carrying out the measurement of the physical length. A leg of the angled part is held in contact on the head of the person to be measured. A second leg protrudes perpendicularly from this leg in contact on the head, wherein the angled part is held so that the second leg extends directed vertically towards the floor. A distance measuring unit having an ultrasonic transducer is provided in the second leg, which, from the runtime of an emitted ultrasound signal, which is reflected on the floor and returns to the ultrasonic transducer, determines the height of the first leg located in contact on the head of the person to be measured above the floor and therefore the physical height and displays it. A disadvantage of this type of length measuring device is that measurement inaccuracies can occur because the person carrying out the measurement does not hold the angled part exactly aligned so that the second leg is oriented precisely vertically on the floor. Furthermore, it is disadvantageous that changing environmental conditions (for example, dust or other contaminants in the air) or objects lying on the floor could corrupt the measurement.
A further type of a length measuring device has a platform, onto which the person to be measured steps, and a horizontal support fixedly suspended vertically above the person to be measured. A distance measuring unit based on ultrasound wave runtime is attached to the support, which is directed towards the head of the person to be measured, who is standing on the platform. The person to be measured wears a cap to ensure a well-defined reflection of the ultrasound waves from the upper side of the head. The physical length of the person to be measured may be derived from the distance of the upper side of the head of the person to the distance measuring unit, which is permanently installed horizontally above the person to be measured, from the difference of the suspension height of the distance measuring unit and the measured distance to the upper side of the head. This length measuring device is also susceptible to error, since the measurement can be corrupted by changing environmental conditions and interfering influences in the open measuring section between the ultrasonic transducer and the upper side of the head of the person to be measured.
A length measuring device is disclosed by WO 98/17974 A1. This length measuring device is not implemented as a length measuring device for persons. Rather, the position of a measuring slide is to be tracked. The length measuring device has a linear guide in the form of a hollow housing, on which the measuring slide is mounted so it is externally displaceable. In the interior of the housing, an inner slide is mounted so it is displaceable therein. A magnet assembly couples the measuring slide and the inner slide magnetically, so that the inner slide follows every movement of the measuring slide along the guide. The inner slide is in slip contact with a linear potentiometer to provide a voltage signal, which is proportional to a position of the inner slide. The position of the inner slide and therefore that of the measuring slide coupled thereto along the linear guide is derived from the potentiometer signal. Certain interfering factors such as smoke or dust, which do not penetrate into the interior of the housing, are reduced in their influence on the measurement precision by the measurement of the position of the inner slide in the interior of the housing. The potentiometer has slip contacts, which create abrasion and thus wear over time. To counteract this, high-quality materials must be used, which increases the production costs, of course. However, the wear can result in worsening of the measurement precision even under these conditions.


The invention provides multisegmented, multifunctional magnetic nanowires for the probing and manipulation of molecules at the cellular and subcellular level. The different segments of the nanowire may have differing properties, including a variety of magnetic, non-magnetic, and luminescent behavior. Differences in surface chemistry allow different segments of a single nanowire to be functionalized with different multiple functional groups and/or ligands, giving the wire chemical multifunctionality.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to magnetic nanowires. In particular, the invention provides multisegmented, multifunctional magnetic nanowires for the probing and manipulation of molecules at the cellular and subcellular level.
2. Background of the Invention
The ability to selectively probe and manipulate molecules at the cellular and subcellular level is critical in both basic research and the development of biotechnology applications. One powerful method to do this is to use small particles that interact with specific molecules or individual cells, and which respond to a magnetic field. This approach has found widespread application in cell sorting, biosensing, and studies of mechanical properties of cells using magnetic particles or beads.
For example, particles or beads having magnetic properties have previously been used in separation support systems (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,834,121; 5,395,688; 5,356,713; 4,774,265; and 4,554,088, incorporated by reference herein). In particular, magnetically separable support systems have been suggested for the detection of biomolecules by attaching a ligand to a magnetizable bead, attaching a detection molecule to the ligand, permitting the detection molecule to bind to a target molecule, and retrieving the resulting product by use of a magnetic field or other means.
However, a significant limitation of these magnetic carriers is that they have only a single chemical functionality per particle. Further, such magnetic beads or particles have a relatively uniform structure and therefore display relatively uniform magnetic properties.
It would be of benefit to have available magnetic entities which could be used to selectively manipulate and probe molecules at the cellular and subcellular level which contained multiple chemical functionalities per entity. Further, it would be of benefit if the multiple chemical functionalities were spatially resolved from each other. In addition, it would be of benefit if the magnetic properties of such entities could be manipulated and tailored to give the entities a variety of responses to an applied magnetic field.


A chassis system and firearm including a chassis having a forward end terminating in a barrel support member, a rearward end, and a cavity defined by the chassis intermediate the forward end and the rearward end. A receiver with attached barrel is received in the cavity, and the barrel is received in the barrel support member. A handguard including a rearward end having a split therein and movable between a normally expanded configuration and a contracted configuration is carried over and encircling the barrel. The rearward end is slidably received over the barrel support member in the expanded configuration and securely engaged to the barrel support member in the contracted configuration.

In the field component attachment systems for firearms, typically rails are employed. Rail systems are small pieces of metal put on any given surface of a firearm to allow attachment of some sort of component. Rails were originally used to attach telescopic sights to rifles. However, their use has been expanded to include attachment of laser aiming modules, tactical lights, night vision devices, reflex sights, foregrips, bipods, bayonets and the like. Rails facilitate the mounting and dismounting of these components. Rail systems usually are based on the handguard of a weapon or the Upper receiver. Two types of rail systems for firearms are the Picatinny rail and the Weaver rail. For firearms that do not have a rail formed on or attachable to the receiver, the answer is typically to employ a handguard having rails. While effective for most applications, a handguard can be difficult to mount on some firearms, particularly those that do not employ an enlarged barrel nut.
Additionally, with the advent of the rail systems, iron sights have often been replaced with rails. Multiple types of sighting systems can then be attached to the rails. However, it may be beneficial to have iron or open sights available at all time if their use becomes desirable. Currently, these sights cannot be used with a rail system because they will block the rail and prevent attachment of additional components. A rail typically includes a series of ridges with a T-shaped cross-section interspersed with flat spacing slots. Components are often mounted by sliding them on from one end or the other of the rail. Fixed sights can block the attachment of components and interfere with their proper use if installation is possible. It would be highly advantageous, therefore, to remedy the foregoing and other deficiencies inherent in the prior art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a chassis to permit attachment of a handguard to a firearm.
Another object of the present invention is to provide sights on the rail of the handguard that do not block use of the rail.


A projection lens is disclosed. The projection lens includes, in sequence from an object side to an image side: an object surface, a first lens having positive refractive power, a second lens having negative refractive power, and a third lens having positive refractive power, where a focal length of the entire projection lens is f, a total optical length of the projection lens is TTL, a refractive index of the second lens is n2, a refractive index of the third lens is n3, and the following conditions are satisfied: 1.7≤n2≤2.2; 1.7≤n3≤2.2; and 1.25≤f/TTL≤2.20. The projection lens can effectively reduce the system length, and has good performance stability at different temperatures.

With the rapid development of smart phones, innovative technologies for the camera functions of mobile phones are constantly emerging. For example, 3D imaging technology, which is an optical sensing technology based on 3D structured light, can be used for face and gesture recognition, enhancing camera functions, bringing new AR applications and transforming optical images from the past two-dimensional space to three-dimensional space, thereby bringing a more realistic and clear visual experience.
3D structured light refers to that after particular laser information is projected onto a surface of an object, the information is collected by a camera, and information about the position and depth of the object is calculated according to the change in optical information caused by the object, thereby restoring the entire three-dimensional space. Particular laser information is a very important indicator in the 3D structured light technology, and therefore high requirements are imposed on a projection lens for projecting laser information onto the surface of the object to be measured. Such a projection lens for projecting an array point light source emitted through a particular solid angle on the surface of a Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) laser onto the surface of the object to be measured is a key factor for ensuring 3D imaging quality.
In existing projection lens products, the focal length f of the lens changes greatly as the ambient temperature changes, leading to a significant change in the angle at which light is projected from the lens. Consequently, the original optical information is changed, resulting in an error in the calculation of the entire system, and affecting the contour restoration precision of the three-dimensional object. In addition, the projected image point becomes larger as the ambient temperature changes, further leading to a decrease in the definition of the three-dimensional object restored by the system. A projection lens is provided in the present disclosure to effectively reduce the system length and improve the stability of the projection lens against ambient temperature changes.


A method of forming 4-amino-2-buten-1-ol using 3,4-epoxy-1-butene is disclosed. A nitrogen nucleophile (e.g., an amine) is reacted with 3,4-epoxy-1-butene in the presence of a polymer-bound complex of palladium having up to four phosphine ligands.

A variety of 4-aminobutenols are known to have use themselves or as intermediates for the preparation of other chemical substances. For example, 4-dimethylamino-2-buten-1-ol could be used in the preparation of 4-dimethylaminobutyraldehyde diethyl acetal, an intermediate for a pharmaceutical compound, as disclosed in German Pat. No. 3,700,408.
3,4-Epoxy-1-butene (butadiene monoepoxide) is one potential substrate for the production of 4-aminobutenols. However, the reaction of nitrogen nucleophiles (e.g., amines) with 3,4-epoxy-1-butene typically yields a mixture of the 1,2 addition product (1,2 adduct) and the 2,1 addition product (2,1 adduct), and little or none of the 1,4 addition product (1,4 adduct). The reaction is illustrated below: ##STR1## See, e.g., M.G. Ettlinger, "Synthesis of the Natural Antithyroid Factor 1-5-Vinyl-2-Thiooxazolidone", 72 J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 4792-4795 (1950); U.S. Pat. No. 2,533,085 to Blicke; W.B. Wheatley, et al., "o-Benzylphenyl Derivatives. IV. beta-Chloro-ethylamines", 72 J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 1655-1659 (1950); M.P. Crozet and W. Kassar, "Synthesis and Radical Cyclization of Benzazepinoethane Thiols", 99 Compte Rendu Acad. Sci. Paris 99-101 (1985); U.S. Pat. No. 2,497,553 to Long, Jr.; A.A. Petrov and V.M. Albitskaya, "The Reaction of Divinyloxide with Amines", 26 Zhur. Obshchei Khim. 2125-2127 (1956); and F.F. Blicke and J.H. Biel, "Aminolysis Products of 1-Chloro-2-Hydroxy-3-butene, 1-Hydroxy-2-Chloro-3-butene and 1,2-Epoxy-3-butene", 79 J. Am. Chem. Soc'y 5508-12 (1957).
The regioselective addition of nitrogen nucleophiles to substrates to form 4-aminobutenols (the 1,4 adduct product) is extremely unpredictable in both result and yield. For example, in Tsuji, et al., "Regioselective 1,4 -Addition of Nucleophiles to 1,3-Diene Monoepoxides Catalyzed by Palladium Complex", 22 Tetrahedron Letters 2575-78 (1981) the formation of the 1,4 adduct from the palladium catalyzed reaction of 3,4-epoxy-1-dodecene and pyrrolidine is disclosed. Also, Trost, et al., "A Synthesis of Substituted Pyrrolidines via a Palladium(2+) Catalyzed Cyclization. An Unusual Approach to a Carbapenem", 108 J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 6053-54 (1986) discloses the formation of the 1,4 adduct from the addition of a nitrogen nucleophile to 3,4-epoxy-1-butene. On the other hand, Tsuda, et al., "Palladium(0)-Catalyzed (Reaction of Methyl-.gamma., .delta.-epoxy-sorbate with Nitrogen Nucleophiles", 54 Journal of Organic Chemistry 977-979 (1989) discloses that the palladium-catalyzed reaction of methyl-.gamma., .delta.-epoxysorbate with nitrogen nucleophiles is not regioselective for the 1,4 adduct.
It is widely recognized that the control of regiochemistry in the addition of nucleophiles to an intermediate unsymmetrical allyl-palladium substrate is an extremely complex problem. Many factors enter into the determination of which terminus of the electrophilic allyl ligand the nucleophile will preferentially attack. These factors include the steric nature of the nucleophile (see B.M. Trost, et al., "Allylic Alkylation: Nucleophilic Attack on pi-Allyl palladium Complexes", 100 J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 3416 (1978)) and the allyl substrate (see E. Keinen, et al. "Regioselectivity in Organo-transition-metal Chemistry. A Remarkable Steric Effect in pi-Allyl Palladium Chemistry", J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 648 (1984)); the electronic nature of the allyl substrate on the palladium (see J. Tsuji, et al., "Palladium-Catalyzed Regioselective Reactions of alpha-Acetoxy-beta, gamma,-Unsaturated Nitriles and gamma-Acetoxy-alpha, beta-Unsaturated Ester with Nucleophiles, "22 Tetrahedron Letters 2573 (1981)); the electronic nature of the other ligands on the palladium (see B. Akermark, et al., "Reactivity and syn-anti Isomerization of eta-3-geranyl and eta-3-neryl Palladium Complexes. Evidence for Electronic Control of the Regiochemistry of Nucleophilic Addition", 4 Organometallics 1275 (1985)); and the mechanism of the addition of the nucleophile (see Godleski, et al., "(pi-Allyl)Palladium Complexes of Norcamphene. Structure and Reactivity", 3 Organometallics 21 (1984)).
B. Trost and E. Keinan, "Steric Steering with Supported Palladium Catalysts", 100 J. Amer. Chem. Soc. at 7779 (1978) ("Keinan") discloses that using a polymer-bound catalyst may have some effect on the stereoselectivity of primary amine addition to cis-3-acetoxy-5-carbomethoxy-1-cyclohexene. However, the relationship of stereochemistry and regiochemistry is very complex and unpredictable. See, e.g., B.M. Trost, 4 Comprehensive Organic Synthesis 585-662 (1991) ("Trost") (discussing nucleophiles with allyl metal complexes). In addition, regiochemical control of the amination of allyl-palladium complexes is known to be particularly unpredictable. See, e.g., B. Akermark, et al., "Amination of pi-Allylpalladium Chloride Complexes. A Mechanistic Study", 103 J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 3037-3040 (1981).
Keinan also discloses that the use of a polymer-bound catalyst may have some effect on the regioselectivity of the addition of carbon nucleophiles to sorbyl acetate. However, amine nucleophiles often behave quite differently than carbon nucleophiles, as discussed in Trost. This fact, as well as the chemical disparity between sorbyl acetate and 3,4 epoxybutene, leave in doubt what effect a polymer-bound catalyst might have on the addition of amines to 3,4-epoxybutene.
Therefore, in light of the usefulness of 4-amino-substituted-2-buten-1-ols derived from 3,4-epoxy-1-butene and the inherent unpredictability of the result (relative to both the product and the yield) of attempted regioselective amine additions to 3,4-epoxy-1-butene, there continues to be a need for predictable, efficient synthetic processes for deriving 4-amino-substituted-2-buten-1-ols from 3,4-epoxy-1-butene. Even small relative increases in the yield of the 1,4 adduct from amine addition to 3,4-epoxy-1-butene can translate into large cost savings when the increase is extrapolated out to production scale.

Palladium catalyzed addition of amines to 3,4-epoxy-1-butene


A general purpose computer system is used to run a color selection application which operates to facilitate the selection of colors and the automatic generation of palettes of harmonious colors. The application is implemented in three pages, a color selection page, a results manager page, and a color composition page. The color selection page is used to select a plurality of colors that the results manager page can operate on to generate palettes of harmoniously related colors. The color composition page is used to experiment with the colors selected and palettes generated in order to arrive at a pleasing arrangement of colors. The results manager page contains functions and palette characteristics that an artist can specify in order to automatically generate palettes that contain groups of colors that have very specific contrast relationships to previously selected colors.

Prior to the adoption of computers for the purpose of selecting colors to be used in the creation of color images, artists employed a physical palette upon which to place and mix colors used in the image creation process. The individual skill and aptitude of the artist dictated how quickly they would be able to select colors for their palette. Specifically, the degree to which an artist possessed a practical and theoretical knowledge of how colors work together usually dictated how quickly they would be able to select colors for their palette and how quickly and accurately they would be able to mix these selected colors in a manner that ensured they harmonized together when applied to the creation of an image.
An improvement to the manual operation of selecting and mixing colors on a physical palette came with the availability of accurate color charts, such as the charts developed and sold by Pantone, Inc. Unfortunately, these color charts contained hundreds or thousands of colors from which the artist could select to create their palette. Selecting and harmonizing colors from such a large assortment of colors takes quite a bit of time.
With the advent of computers, artists realized that software could be designed that would automatically apply color theory to the color selection process thereby making the process of color selection and harmonization much more efficient as well as accurate. One such application of computer software to the color selection process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,382 entitled, "Image Retouching". This patent discusses a two-step method for arriving at an accurate choice of tint that can be used to modify or retouch an existing color in a color image. The first step of the method involves identifying and displaying a coarse range of colors and the second step of the method involves selecting one of the colors in the coarse range and displaying a fine range of colors, centered on the selected color. The coarse range represents a group of colors with adjacent colors differing from each other by more than a predetermined amount. The fine range represents a group of colors with adjacent colors differing from each other by less than the predetermined amount. The color ranges are displayed on a computer monitor as a continuous line of individual colors. The manner that these color ranges are selected is described with reference to FIG. 1. Further, the patent discloses that the characteristics of the color in each of the ranges can be changed. So, for instance, the intensity of the colors can be changed. One of the deficiencies with this method is that the color space that is available from which to select colors is a non-perceptual color space. Non-perceptual color spaces are designed to accommodate the needs of display devices, such as a computer monitor or printer, and as such are not good tools for artists to use when selecting colors for their palette.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,212 entitled, "Functional Color Selection System" discloses a system for automatically generating a palette of coordinated, harmonious, and aesthetically pleasing colors by symmetrically manipulating colorimetrically specified colors in a perceptually uniform color space. Specifically, a user selects a single "key color" which the color selection system then uses to generate one or more "analogous harmony" colors all of which reside on a single plane in the color space. The method used to select harmonizing colors is described with reference to FIG. 5. In addition to the system selecting harmonizing colors, it is also able to generate contrasting harmonies, as described with reference to FIG. 6, and lightness and chroma variation colors as described with reference to FIG. 8. Also, the user may vary the hue of the entire palette by a fixed amount to view the harmonious palette in different hues. The method described in this patent improves upon the method of the U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,382 patent in that a perceptually uniform color space from which colors are selected is employed. While existing perceptually uniform color spaces have been designed to exhibit colors that are related to each other in an organized and logical manner, from the perspective of the human eye, the relationships between the colors in existing perceptual color spaces, such as the Munsell or CIELAB color spaces, are not as consistent as they need to be in order for computer software to accurately measure contrast between colors which is a requirement for generating accurate color palettes. Another limitation of the method disclosed by the -212 patent is that all of the colors on any of the individual palettes created by this color selection system reside in a single plane in the color space, therefore only providing the artist with a two-dimensional solution which artificially limits the color selection process.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,253 entitled, "Method for Generating Numerous Harmonious Color Palettes from Two Colors" discloses method for the creation of color palettes based on the initial selection by the artist of two colors from a perceptual color space, such as CIELAB. The patent describes how to derive equations that define planes that pass through an axis formed by the two selected colors. The planes defined by the derived equations will always contain harmonious color groups since the natural, perceptual relationship between the colors on a plane is preserved.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,010 entitled, "Color Selection Tool" discloses a method for generating a blend of colors between two initially selected colors. Essentially, an artist selects an initial color and then selects another color at some distance from the initial color. The tool then generates the intermediate or blend colors that represents all of the colors in a straight line, assuming CIELAB color space, between the initially selected color and the first selected color. The artist can continue to select a second, third, etc. color at some distance from the initial color and create a palette of colors that is displayed in circular fashion as FIG. 1 illustrates.
Both of the methods for selecting colors for a color palette disclosed by the U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,081,253 and 6,226,010 patents suffer from the same limitations as the method of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,212, namely the inaccuracy injected into the process by the perceptual color spaces used and the limitation on the artist imposed by a two-dimensional color palette. The manner in which colors are selected for a palette in the prior art is further limited to a straight line between two colors or to a straight line of color with the selected color in the middle, or to a surface of color that cuts through the plane of a line described by two selected colors. The color harmonies generated for color palettes by these processes tend to be somewhat sparse and creatively confining therefore limiting the efficiency of the artist in the color selection process to the extent that they have to create a number of palettes in gain a full appreciation of the colors available to them. So, for instance, none of the prior art methods for color selection provide the artist with a tool to generate a palette of colors that are only some specified distance in tri-axial color space from a selected color. Still further, nowhere in the prior art is there a tool that provides the artist with a comprehensive and accurate means to automatically generate contrast relationships between a plurality of colors. More specifically, order and visual synchrony or harmony can be brought to any collection of colors by precisely controlling the range or proportional distances between those colors.
Therefore, it would greatly facilitate the process of selecting harmonically related colors if a color selection tool was available to artists that utilized a specially constructed, perceptually ordered color space that facilitates the automatic generation of a palette of colors with very precise contrast relationships. Further, a tool that permits the artist to precisely control contrast relationships between colors would be very useful during the creation of color palettes.

Method and system of improved color selection


A gauge for indicating the setting and linear stroke movement of a brake rod of a brake assembly. Reference indicators are provided on both the brake-rod's yoke or clevis and on the arm of the brake's slack adjuster member; and the indicators cooperate, by their relative movement, showing brake rod travel and adjustment as a visual indication by the relative movement by the reference indicator of the linearly-moving clevis with respect to the angular rotation of the reference indicator on the rotating-slack adjuster arm.

The present invention relates to brake apparatus, air actuated, as used in large vehicles including, e.g., trucks, trailers, buses, tractors, and some larger recreational vehicles.
More particularly, the present invention relates to the brake adjustment apparatus which is an integral part of the braking mechanism, as exists between the air chamber cylinder of the brake apparatus and the brake drum and the brake shoe whose forceful engagement achieves the desired stopping effect of the vehicle.
For decades it has been known that air brakes inherently become out of adjustment, because of wear, looseness, and other factors; and the out-of-adjustment condition presents a danger to the driver and the public, as well as of course to the vehicle.
The problem is compounded by the fact that larger vehicles have a plurality of brake mechanisms (because of the plurality of wheels), and when the brake mechanisms of the plurality of brake systems come into conditions of differing adjustment, the situation becomes not merely that of poor vehicle-stopping effect, and brake wear, but also of poor vehicle control due to the braking effect being different at different portions of the overall vehicle.
A further and long known problem of air-brake adjustment is that drivers, mechanics and other maintenance people will over-adjust the air brakes in order to compensate for the movement and keep the brakes in adjustment for a longer period of time. This over-adjustment results in excessive brake wear, which in itself is expensive and eventually dangerous.
In order to adjust the brakes with or without automatic slack adjusters, a person has had to crawl under the vehicle, mark the brake rod, come out from under and apply the brakes from the cab, then get back under and measure the distance the mark has moved, a procedure that discourages proper maintenance.
Automatic slack adjusters were introduced to adjust the brakes automatically when they became out of adjustment. This does partially solve the problem; however, they are not entirely accurate, and become dirty, and being mechanical are subject to wear. They often are improperly installed. Many will over-adjust when brakes get out of adjustment, resulting in premature brake wear.
To confront the out-of-adjustment situation, automatic slack adjusters, along with visual brake stroke indicators to show if brakes are being properly adjusted, are being used and are becoming mandatory; and the present invention and its concepts advantageously provide brakes-adjustment indication both with and without the use of automatic slack adjusters, and will provide a determination of brake rod adjustment within both minimum and maximum limits.
As shown herein, the prior art has attempted, with varying amounts of success, brake adjuster indicator mechanisms; and such prior art has shown a long recognization of problems of brake stroke indicators, such as (a) a desirability of relatively easy visibility of the indicator without having to get under the vehicle; (b) the indication of brake adjustment as being under-adjusted, over-adjusted, or within legal limits; (c) preferably indicate how much travel remains before exceeding the legal limits; (d) allow a visual inspection to determine if all brakes were displaying balanced braking action; and (e) help indicate proper brake balance when brakes are replaced: etc.; and by novel means and novel concepts, the present invention achieves all of those criteria, advantageously, and with a novel cooperation of components,. and also provides other advantages as explained herein.

Air brake stroke length adjustment gauge