A condom that exerts lateral pressure on the penis of a user is disclosed. The lateral pressure is exerted by the geometry of the condom itself upon application or is exerted by means for exerting such lateral pressure located on the condom which means are activated by the user after the condom is applied. User activated lateral pressure is controllable by the user within safe limits. The lateral pressure prevents loss of erection after application of the condom and increases the size, hardness, and duration of the user's erection.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to condoms for use by male persons during sexual intercourse and, more particularly, to condoms that are of variable stiffness.
2. Description of the Related Art
The earliest published description of the condom was by the Italian anatomist Gabriel Fallopius in 1564. Early condoms were generally made from animal intestines or fish membrane and were mostly used to prevent the sexual transmission of disease, a task which they often inefficiently performed. However, by the 17th century, condoms were used as a contraceptive as well.
Most condoms were made of vulcanized rubber from the 1840s to the 1930s after the discovery of the process for vulcanization of rubber by Charles Goodyear in 1839, and condoms have been a popular, efficient, and generally convenient contraceptive method since the second half of the 19th century. Since the 1930s most condoms have been made from latex. (The above historical material is based on information from The New Encylopedia Britannica, Vol. 3, p. 522, Vol. 15, p. 114, 15th Edition, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 1990.)
Recently with the large increase in births out of wedlock in the United States of America and many other western countries and the outbreak of Auto-Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) globally, the use of condoms as a contraceptive method and as a method of preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases has become urgent, both from a medical point of view and a societal point of view.
However, there are certain well known drawbacks to the use of condoms, at least from the point of view of the male user. Some of these drawbacks are the inconvenience and delay occasioned by the necessity of applying a condom immediately prior to intercourse when an erection of the penis is present. The often cumbersome process of applying the condom can result in a loss of erection during the time required for application making the condom useless and resulting in the frustration of the user. Even if application is successful, many male users complain of a loss of sensation and pleasure due to the interposition of the condom between the penis and the vagina during intercourse. These drawbacks cause condoms to be irregularly used and, thus, to fail to fulfill their purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,648 issued to Rogers discloses an inflatable condom with a conventional tubular anterior portion apparently fitting over the base and lower shaft of the penis and an inflatable secondary portion extending from the anterior portion inflated by an air duct extending from the anterior portion to the secondary portion. Rogers purportedly enlarges the size of the penis in order to compensate for maladjustment in the two partners during coition.
However, Rogers seems to produce this enlargement only through the enlargement achieved by the inflatable secondary portion. In particular, there is minimal or no enlargement of the penis itself through lateral pressure since minimum ballooning of inner wall 12, presumably in contact with the penis after application of the condom, is desired when the expandible sheath 5 included in the secondary portion is inflated, (column 3, lines 37-41). Thus, it seems that Rogers increases the apparent size of the user's penis as sensed by the female participant without materially increasing the actual size of the user's penis or improving the user's erection. Moreover, the location of application of whatever pressure is exerted on the user's penis in Rogers seems to be at the end of the shaft of the user's penis and at the glans. Rogers fails to disclose or suggest pressure at the base of the penis, the most advantageous place to apply pressure in order to improve a user's erection and increase the size of the user's erect penis, as will be explained below.
This invention overcomes the drawbacks of Rogers by increasing the size of the user's erect penis, and increasing the duration and hardness of the user's erection through exertion of lateral pressure in locations designed to produce these results, especially including the base of the user's penis.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,357 issued to Pomeranz discloses a condom which has a deformable chamber or chambers filled with a rheopexic fluid. A rheopexic fluid has the characteristic of thickening with increasing shear stress. The movements during intercourse allegedly create such shear stress causing the thickening of the fluid and the stiffening of the condom. This stiffening of the condom simulates an erection, (column 3, lines 32-36). This stiffening also creates pressure around the base end of the penis at least in one embodiment, thereby prolonging a user's erection by prolonging the time required for disengorgement of blood vessels within the penis, according to the disclosure in Pomeranz, (column 5, lines 1-8).
Pomeranz, although purportedly addressing the problem of a loss of pleasure, does not ameliorate the problem of a loss of erection during application since any stiffening effect would normally only occur during intercourse. Moreover, Pomeranz relies on the use of a rather exotic material, namely, the rheopexic fluid to achieve the desired stiffening effect.
This invention eliminates the drawbacks of Pomeranz by preventing a loss of erection during and after application of the condom and achieves its improvement of the user's erection with the use of readily available methods and without resorting to the use of exotic substances.
This invention makes substantial progress in overcoming the problem of a loss of sensation and pleasure during intercourse, thereby encouraging the more widespread use of condoms, particularly as a contraceptive method and as a measure to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Condom exerting lateral pressure on the penis


A semiconductor interference mirror principally comprising a large number of pairs (36) of semiconductor layers (38,40) having different dielectric constants and having optical thicknesses equal to one-quarter of the wavelength of light to be reflected. For example, the two semiconductors are InP and InGaAsP for reflecting 1.55-.mu.m light. However, every 10 to 15 periods in the mirror, the InP layer (44) is grown more slowly to a thickness that is an odd multiple of its usual quarter-wavelength thickness. Because indium is so mobile and binary composition is well defined, the binary InP layer replanarizes the growth, thus assuring a planar mirror. The faster growth rate for the majority of the mirror allows the mirror to be grown in a shorter time, thus reducing process variations.

Optical interference mirrors, also referred to as etalons, are well known. In their usual configuration, they consist of a stack of alternating layers of two dielectric materials with differing dielectric constants, i.e., the refractive index differs between the two materials. The dielectric mismatch at the interfaces causes a fraction of the light traversing the stack, usually at a perpendicular angle, to be reflected at each of the successive interfaces. For an interference mirrors, the optical thickness of each of the layers is chosen to be one-quarter of the wavelength of the light to be reflected. The optical thickness equals the product of the physical thickness and the real part of the dielectric constant. Because of the quarter-wavelength thicknesses, the etalon is resonant and the reflected components have coherent phase. A careful study of the mathematics will show that if the resonant conditions are satisfied, no light is transmitted, and, assuming no absorption due to an imaginary part of the dielectric constant, the resonant light is totally reflected.
Of course, the resonant condition is exactly satisfied only for a single wavelength, but in practice the reflective bandwidth is broad enough to reflect a narrow but significant band of wavelength. The remainder of the optical spectrum is incompletely reflected if it is reflected at all.
The reflection at the interface is maximized by a large dielectric mismatch, and absorption is minimized (and hence total reflectivity is maximized) by a purely dielectric material. Therefore, the standard interference mirror consists of a few layers of two dielectrics, such as silica and semi-insulating silicon for the infrared optical band. These materials have real dielectric constants of 3.9 and 11.9 and very small imaginary parts of the dielectric constant.
Nonetheless, recent advances in surface-emitting semiconductor diode lasers have demonstrated the importance of semiconductor interference mirrors. Jewell et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,350 have disclosed a practical vertical-cavity, surface-emitting semiconductor diode laser including, as illustrated in the cross section of FIG. 1, a pillar 10 epitaxially grown upon a singly crystalline substrate 12. Laterally undefined layers are first grown and later laterally defined into the pillar 10.
The laser pillar 10 includes three major parts: a lower n-type semiconductor interference mirror 14; a resonant cavity region 16; and an upper p-type semiconductor interference mirror 18. All parts are III-V semiconductors of the GaAs/AlAs family, with the active quantum wells being of GaInAs. The resonant cavity region 16 has an optical length equal to the desired free-space wavelength, or to half the wavelength dependent upon the phase matching conditions of the mirrors 14 and 18, or to integral multiples thereof. The resonant cavity region 16 includes on its lower half an n-type region and on its upper half an p-type region, between which is located an active layer 20 having one or more quantum-well layers. Two electrical leads 22 and 24 are attached to the substrate 12 and to a metallization layer 26 so that the active layer 20 can be forward biased so as to emit light. The light is predominantly reflected by the mirrors 14 and 18 and by the metallization 26 so that it lases, and a portion of the lasing light is emitted through the bottom of the substrate 12.
In order to obtain a high-quality active region 20, Jewell et al. grew it epitaxially upon the singly crystalline substrate 12. That is, at least the lower interference mirror 14 is a III-V semiconductor structure epitaxially grown on the substrate 12. However, semiconductor interference mirrors have the disadvantage that the difference in refractive index between the layers is relatively small. Therefore, a large number of stacked layers need to be grown in order to provide the required reflectivity of better than 98%. The surface-emitter diode laser of Jewell et al. had 20 pairs of alternating layers in each of its interference layers and was more than 5 .mu.m high. It requires ten hours to grow by molecular beam epitaxy.
The surface-emitting diode laser of Jewell et al. was based on the GaAs/AlAs material family and hence emitted in the optical band around 0.96 .mu.m. That material family is limited to the 0.77 to 1.0 .mu.m band. On the other hand, the telecommunication industry has a great need for low-power lasers in the 1.3 to 1.55 .mu.m band. The longer wavelength requires a different material family, for example, InP/InGaAsP. However, as discussed by Choa et al. in "High reflectivity 1.55 .mu.m InP/InGaAsP Bragg mirror grown by chemical beam epitaxy," Applied Physics Letters, vol. 59, 1991, pp. 2820-2822, the index difference between the two materials in the interference mirrors is relatively small, and more than forty pairs of alternating layers are required to achieve a reflectivity of 99%. Furthermore, the longer wavelength necessitates thicker quarter-wavelength layers. The resulting single interference mirror has a thickness of 11.5 .mu.m. Such thicknesses are difficult to achieve for epitaxial growth, especially for the quaternary InGaAsP which needs to be lattice matched to InP. Particularly the quaternary layers tend to grow unevenly and the hillocks propagate from layer to layer, producing non-planar mirror layers. Also, a lack of precise compositional control produces quaternary layers that are not precisely lattice matched to the binary layer and substrate. As a result, stress accumulates over the very thick interference mirrors to the point that dislocations occur, thus degrading the electrical and optical performance.
Until now, the longer wavelength surface emitting lasers have not been able to continuously lase at room temperature, presumably because of the poor reflectivity of the mirrors. For example, Tadokoro et al. disclose a diode laser in "Room Temperature Pulsed Operation of 1.5 .mu.m GaInAsP/InP Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser," IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 5, 1992, pp. 409-411. Their laser has mirrors with 34 pairs of InP and GaInAsP, resulting in a reflectivity of 97%. Only pulsed lasing at room temperature is reported and the threshold current is relatively large. However, the mirror of Choa et al. has been used in a pulsed photopumped laser. As reported by Tai et al. in "Room temperature photopumped 1.5 .mu.m quantum well surface emitting lasers with InGaAsP/InP distributed Bragg reflectors," Electronics Letters, vol. 27, 1991, pp. 1540-1542, a 1:4000 duty cycle was required because of heating, and the optical pumping lasing threshold was 100 kW/cm.sup.2.


The invention relates to a fibrous material for heat-sealable medical packaging comprising a nonwoven fibrous single-layer substrate or a paper impregnated to the core by at least one polyurethane, at least one tackifier and optionally at least one functional additive. It also relates to the process for manufacturing this fibrous material, to the sizing composition used in the manufacturing process and to the medical packaging comprising such a fibrous packaging material.

The sterilization operation is typically carried out when the medical instruments are still in the packaging, such that said instruments are kept sterile until they are opened. The sterilization means commonly used are gamma-irradiation, or the use of ethylene oxide gas, of steam or of formaldehyde vapor, which pass through the pores of the material so as to sterilize the instruments or prostheses contained in the packaging.
Packaging for medical instruments or prostheses is generally made up of a rigid or pseudo-rigid or flexible part, which can take substantially the shape of the medical object under consideration, on which a heat-sealing substrate is heat-sealed. The rigid or pseudo-rigid or flexible part is, for example, thermoformed. This packaging is usually opened where the sealing is located.
Such packaging, and more particularly the heat-sealable material used to make the seal, must generally meet several criteria with a view to its specific use. Thus, in addition to its heat-sealing properties, the material should advantageously be a breathable material, namely exhibit appropriate permeability for enabling the sterilization operation by allowing the sterilizing agent, for instance ethylene oxide, steam or formaldehyde vapor, to penetrate, while at the same time preventing contamination after sterilization. This packaging material may exhibit the functions required to allow it to be printed.
Moreover, in order to allow aseptic opening, the material must have properties of resistance to delamination when the packaging is opened.
Finally, the strength of the material must be sufficient to protect the objects packaged, and to withstand any perforation that might be caused by the content during transportation phases.
It is known practice to produce heat-sealable papers by coating the papers offline using a heat-sealable agent.
The offline coating multiplies additional labor and storage costs.
WO 98/24970 describes a peelable packaging comprising a heat-sealed reinforced paper coated with a layer of dielectric material formed from polyolefin polymers and copolymers.
Moreover, the publications EP 528 874, US 2007/0107381 or WO 99/32044, for example, describe the use of polyurethanes for their adhesive properties, in particular in laminates, or alternatively WO 03/086877 describes the use of polyurethanes for forming glue lines, including for sterilizable packaging. Polyurethane is also used in medical applications, for instance in U.S. Pat. No. 6,063,498.
There is a need to take advantage of fibrous materials which meet the requirements relating to their use in the medical field, which can be manufactured more economically.

Fibrous material for heat-sealing packaging suitable for medical use


An apparatus for generating a highly energetic plasma employs a low-energy neutral beam injected into a magnetically contained mirror plasma to produce plasma ions boosted in energy to fusion levels by a coordinated radiofrequency field.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for generating high-energy plasmas that can promote nuclear fusion, and in particular, to systems using magnetic mirror confinement and neutral beam injection, with additional radiofrequency power injection.
High-temperature plasmas can be confined away from a physical container and avoiding damage to the container and possible plasma quenching, by a magnetic mirror confinement system. Such confinement systems may provide an axial magnetic field extending between two ends at which the magnetic flux lines converge. Plasma ions moving within this axial magnetic field spiral along the flux lines at the local cyclotron frequency and are "reflected" by an axial component of magnetic force acting on the spiraling ions. This reflecting magnetic force caused by the flux line convergence and concomitant increasing magnetic field strength is in the direction away from the convergence. Moreover, the reflecting force is proportional to the particle kinetic energy component which is perpendicular to the magnetic field. A similar reflecting force acts on the plasma electrons.
Nuclear fusion can be promoted in a magnetic mirror confinement system by generating plasma with sufficiently high energy and density. One method of reaching this high-energy/density state injects electrically neutral particles (a neutral beam) through the magnetic containment field into the plasma where the neutral particles of the neutral beam are ionized, that is, split into plasma ions and electrons. The neutral beam has an initial energy above that necessary for fusion so that the resulting plasma ions maintain an energy suitable for fusion even with an expected collisional loss of energy of the plasma ions after introduction into the plasma. The plasma density and energy are determined by the loss rate of the fast ions injected by neutral beams which decreases with increasing beam energy; hence high energy ions are better confined than low energy ions.
A neutral beam generating a sufficient flux of highly energetic particles at energies sufficient to maintain high fusion output in a magnetic mirror confinement system is difficult and costly from an energy standpoint. Currently, such an approach does not appear to be practical for net fusion energy generation.

High-energy plasma generator using radio-frequency and neutral beam power


The invention provides a mobile phone that effectively meets user needs to a high degree. A mobile phone in which a lower substrate on a operation panel side is foldably connected to a upper substrate on a liquid crystal display side, includes: a lower casing removably fitted to the lower substrate; a upper casing separated from the lower casing and removably fitted to the upper substrate; and a slip-off prevention section for fixing the lower casing to the lower substrate in such a manner that the lower casing is removable from the lower substrate, and for fixing the upper casing to the upper substrate in such a manner that the upper casing is removable from the upper substrate. The above constitution allows easily modifying the overall design of the mobile phone, thereby easily meeting the needs of the user to a high degree.

1. Field of the Invention
The preset invention relates to a mobile phone, for instance a foldable, sliding or swivel mobile phone, in which a first substrate and a second substrate are connected relatively movably to each other.
2. Related Background Art
Mobile phones whose design can be chosen by the user are coming into market to meet the needs of users of increasingly diverse mobile phones. In such mobile phones, the needs of the user are met on the basis of a variety of, for instance, colors and patterns. Alternatively, the exterior of the mobile phone may feature a characteristic panel that is mounted on the mobile phone (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 2007-88735 and 2005-94533).
In conventional mobile phones, however, the above approaches involve merely modifying part of the outer shape of the phone, and fail thus to modify the entire appearance of the phone. In particular, it has been difficult hitherto to modify the entire outer shape of, for instance, foldable and slidable mobile phones. The needs of the user have thus been difficult to be widely met.


The invention relates to an annular assembly for a dual-flow turbomachine having a longitudinal axis (A) and comprising a casing (12) with an annular shell (14), one face of which supports a piece of annular equipment, a plurality of means of attachment (18) for attaching the equipment to the annular shell (14) being distributed around the longitudinal axis (A) and allowing the equipment (16) a degree of freedom in the tangential direction relative to the annular shell (14), characterised in that each means of attachment (18) comprises a rail (20) integral with the annular equipment (16) and arranged radially between a first radially internal plate (22) and a second, radially external plate (24) and capable of sliding in the tangential direction between the first plate (22) and the second plate (24), and in that a removable support element (56) is securely connected to the annular shell and to the first plate (22) and second plate (24).

FIG. 1 represents a dual-flow turbomachine 10 comprising moving parts which rub against other moving parts or against fixed parts, this connection being, for example, a bearing. In order not to break due to heating caused by friction, the parts are sprayed with oil which firstly, limits (or contains) their heating and secondly, lubricates them to facilitate the sliding of the parts on top of each other.
The oil circulates in a circuit provided with heat exchangers, in particular oil/air exchangers 12, as shown in FIG. 2, having a matrix, in the form of a sinuous duct shaped so as to carry out an exchange of heat, in which the oil from said parts is introduced, then cooled, before being injected again on said parts. The heat exchanger 12 shown in FIG. 2 is an annular heat exchanger which is mounted on the radially internal or external face (relative to the longitudinal axis 14 of the turbomachine) of an annular shell 14 delimiting radially outwards or inside an annular flow path of a secondary air flow.
The hot oil can thus flow through the heat exchanger 12 and is cooled with the cold air from the annular flow path of the secondary air of the turbomachine. However, when the heat exchanger 12 is not made of the same material as the annular shell to which it is attached, it is noted that differences in expansion between the shell 14 and the material constituting the heat exchanger 12 can weaken the connections of the heat exchanger 12 to the shell. These differential expansions are all the greater the larger the size of the heat exchanger 12, which is generally the case when it is attached to the external annular shell. Differential expansions are also amplified by temperature differences between the annular shell 14 and the heat exchanger 12. These differential expansions lead to high mechanical stresses in the heat exchanger 12. It is therefore essential to take these differences in dilations into account. Furthermore, it is important to guarantee the easy mounting of the exchanger on the shell whilst preventing the elements used to attach the exchanger to the shell 14 from damaging the shell.
It should be noted that the problems set out above may arise with equipment other than a heat exchanger 12.
The invention particularly aims to provide a simple, effective and inexpensive solution to the above problems.


Described are a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) network device and method for distributing routing information to a plurality of BGP peers over a network. The BGP network device dynamically calculates a number of groups and a number of BGP peers in each group based on routing information to be distributed. A time interval is specified within which to generate an update message for each BGP peer in a select one of the groups. An update message is generated for each BGP peer in the select group during the time interval. Routes included in the update message for each BGP peer are based on an outbound routing policy for that BGP peer. The update messages are forwarded for transmission to the BGP peers in the select group after the time interval expires.

The Border Gateway Protocol, or BGP, is an inter-domain routing protocol used to exchange routing information among network devices (i.e., routers) in the same or in different autonomous systems (AS). An AS is one or more networks under control of a common administration entity and having common routing policies. A BGP network device is a computing system that runs the Border Gateway Protocol. Neighbor BGP network devices, also referred to as BGP peers, establish a transport protocol connection with each other, exchange messages to open a BGP session, and then exchange their entire routing information (i.e., routing table). In general, this routing information includes the complete route to each network destination reachable from a BGP network device. Each route comprises a destination address and information that describes the path to the address destination.
Typically, an address prefix represents the destination address in a given route. This address prefix includes a network address combined with a mask that indicates how many bits of the network address serve to identify the network. The remaining bits of the address prefix are available to represent network devices within that network. The path to the address destination (described within a given route) includes an Origin attribute, an AS_Path attribute, and a Next_Hop attribute. The Origin attribute indicates the means by which a BGP network device learned of the route. The AS_Path attribute provides a list of autonomous systems for reaching the address destination. The autonomous systems appear in the AS_Path in the order of their traversal. The Next_Hop attribute provides the address of the next hop (i.e., network device) towards the address destination.
Throughout an established BGP session, BGP peers maintain their routing information by exchanging incremental updates, such as the advertisement of new routes or withdrawals of existing routes. In general, BGP peers use update messages to exchange changes to the routing information. A BGP update message includes a message header, an Unfeasible Routes Length field, a Withdrawn Routes field, a Total Path Attribute Length field, a Path Attributes field, and a Network Layer Reachability Information (NLRI) field. The Unfeasible Routes Length field indicates the length of the Withdrawn Routes field. The Withdrawn Routes field indicates the address prefixes of routes being withdrawn from service. The Total Path Attribute Length field indicates the length of the Path Attributes field. The Path Attributes field provides the attributes, e.g., the Next_Hop attribute, Origin Attribute, and the AS_Path attribute, of each route being advertised in the BGP update message. The NLRI field provides the address field of each feasible route being advertised in the BGP update message.
Each BGP network device maintains the routes within a routing table. When a BGP network device advertises a reachable route or determines that a particular address destination is now unreachable, it sends update messages to its peers so that the peers may update their own routing tables. The time expended for a BGP network device to distribute the contents of its routing table (or updates of its routing table) to its BGP peers is referred to as convergence time. When the BGP network device has a large number of peers (e.g., more than 200) and a large number of routes (e.g., 100,000 or more) in its routing table, convergence can be a relatively slow process (in the order of several minutes). During a slow convergence, the end user can undergo degraded quality of experience because of latency, loss of packets, unreachable destinations, and packets received out of order.
In recognition of this problem, industry has devised different types of mechanisms to reduce convergence time. One type of mechanism, illustrated in FIG. 1, uses peer-groups 14-1, 14-2, 14-n (generally, 14). Currently, there are two forms of peer-groups: static peer-groups and dynamic update peer-groups.
For static peer-groups, each peer-group 14 includes one or more BGP peers 16, up to a defined maximum number. To be in the same peer-group, each member BGP peer 16 must have the same outbound routing policies. For instance, the BGP peers 16-1, 16-2, 16-3, and 16-4 of the peer-group 14-1 have the same outbound routing policies. In general, a routing policy determines how a given BGP network device 16 processes inbound and outbound routes. In many instances, a routing policy operates to filter routes, accept routes, accept and modify routes, and reject routes. Setting a routing policy for a BGP network device generally involves configuration by a network operator (e.g., through a CLI (command line interface)). Known mechanisms for configuring a routing policy for a BGP device include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following mechanisms: access lists, filter lists, prefix lists, prefix trees, and route maps.
Referring to FIG. 1, each static peer-group 14 having more than one BGP peer includes a master device. For example, BGP device 16-1 is the master device of peer-group 14-1, BGP device 16-5 is the master device of peer-group 14-2, and BGP device 16-6 is the master device of peer-group 14-3.
Consider another BGP network device 12, which learns of a new route or withdrawal of an existing route and is in communication with each group master. By sending update messages to group masters only, the BGP network device 12 produces fewer update messages than if it sent such messages to all of its BGP peers 16, thus accelerating convergence. The BGP network device 12 walks through its BGP routing table for each group master only, filters the address prefixes through the outbound policies of the group masters, generates update messages 22, and sends the update messages 22 to the group masters. Each group master replicates its received update messages 22 and sends them to the other peer devices 16 in their respective static peer-group 14.
The requirement that all peers in the same peer-group must have the same outbound routing policy is, however, a limitation that can lead a network operator to configure small BGP peer-groups, which reduces the efficiency of update message generation. Another limitation is that every BGP device 16 in the same peer-group 14 must belong to the same address family.
In recognition of the limitations of static peer-group configurations, industry produced dynamic update-peer groups. Dynamic update peer-groups separate BGP update message generation from peer-group configuration. For instance, BGP peers sharing the same outbound routing policy that are not members of a peer-group can become members of an update peer-group. This mechanism dynamically calculates BGP update group membership based on outbound routing policies, automatically and independently, and, unlike static peer-groups, requires no configuration by the network operator. In addition, outbound routing policies no longer restrict BGP neighbor configuration, and update peer-groups can belong to different address families. A limitation, however, is that the BGP network device must recalculate update-group membership upon every implementation of or change to an outbound routing policy.

Scalable methods for distributing routing information to border gateway protocol (BGP) devices


A transmit-and-receive module includes a power amplifier, a low-noise amplifier, first and second phase shifter circuits, and a correction circuit. The power amplifier amplifies power of first and second transmit signals. The low-noise amplifier amplifies first and second received signals without increasing noise. The first and second phase shifter circuits adjust impedance for the first received signal and that for the second received signal. The correction circuit supplies a canceling signal to an output node of the second phase shifter circuit. The canceling signal is used for canceling the first transmit signal passing through a receive filter.

The present disclosure relates to a transmit-and-receive module. As a technology for improving the communication speed in a mobile communication terminal, such as a cellular phone, carrier aggregation is known in which signals are simultaneously transmitted and received by using aggregated multiple component carriers having different frequency bands as a single communication line. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2015-204629 discloses, as shown in FIG. 8 therein, a receiving circuit for simultaneously receiving a signal of a first frequency band and a signal of a second frequency band by utilizing carrier aggregation. This receiving circuit includes a first filter which uses the first frequency band as a pass band and a second filter which uses the second frequency band as a pass band. A first path is disposed between the output node of the first filter and the input node of a low-noise amplifier. The first path substantially provides matching impedance to a signal of the first frequency band and substantially provides open-circuit impedance to a signal of the second frequency band. A second path is disposed between the output node of the second filter and the input node of the low-noise amplifier. The second path substantially provides matching impedance to a signal of the second frequency band and substantially provides open-circuit impedance to a signal of the first frequency band. With this circuit configuration, a signal of the first frequency band is input into the low-noise amplifier via the first path, while a signal of the second frequency band is input into the low-noise amplifier via the second path. This makes it possible to simultaneously receive a signal of the first frequency band and a signal of the second frequency band.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A satellite communication charging system is arranged between a parent station apparatus and child stations installed in a plurality of areas. A plurality of pay phone sets are respectively connected to the child stations. The parent station apparatus includes a charging data memory and a parent station control section. Each child station includes a child station control section. The parent station control section includes a unit for specifying a terminating child station from an address number included in a call connection request from an originating child station, obtaining corresponding charging data, and transmitting the charging data and control data to the originating child station and the terminating child station. The child station control section includes a section for storing the charging data from the parent control section, and a section for performing charging on the basis of the stored charging data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charging system for a satellite communication system of a demand assignment multiple access scheme and, more particularly, to a charging system for an SCPC (Single Channel Per Carrier) communication apparatus for transmitting speech and data by using subscriber terminal units in a satellite communication system of the demand assignment multiple access scheme.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional satellite communication charging system.
Conventionally, in satellite communication, an SCPC communication scheme has been used, in which one narrowband carrier is assigned to one speech channel. In addition, satellite communication has been performed by the demand assignment multiple access scheme (to be referred to as the DAMA scheme hereinafter) to effectively use carriers. Referring to FIG. 3, a call connection between two terminals (subsidiary stations 2A and 3A) to be connected by this scheme is performed by one satellite link. That is, while a call connection is maintained, speech channel frequencies (f1v and f2v) are separated from control channel frequencies (f1c and f2c) which are assigned to and used by a parent station apparatus 1A to monitor and control call connections with respect to the whole network. Therefore, the two subsidiary stations 2A and 3A are released from monitoring and control of the parent station apparatus 1A so as to be isolated therefrom.
Assume that a terminal to which a call connection is performed is a device, such as a pay phone set, which requires charging. In this case, charging with respect to the call connection must be performed by the pay phone set by itself because communication between the subsidiary stations is isolated from the parent station, as describe above.
As described above, in a conventional satellite communication charging system, charging must be performed by a pay phone set by itself. For this reason, a ROM (Read Only Memory) in which charging data is stored is incorporated in each pay phone set. In charging, a pay phone set on the originating side discriminates area data on the terminating side on the basis of its telephone number, and coins are received in accordance with a unit time written in the ROM.
The following two problems to be solved, however, are posed in such a conventional satellite charging system.
First, protection against overcharges needs to be enhanced. More specifically, in the conventional scheme, no satellite link quality check result is reflected in charging with respect to the pay phone set on an originating side. Even if, therefore, an abnormality occurs in the satellite link, for some reason, to result in a speech communication failure, charging is continued unless the caller performs an ON-hook operation. This may cause an overcharge.
Second, when the manager of the network tries to change the rate system, the ROM in each pay phone set must be replaced. In general, owing to the communication network based on satellite communication, subsidiary stations to which terminal devices such as pay phone sets are connected tend to be located in a wide range of areas Therefore, difficulty is expected in replacing ROMs. As the network increases in size, it becomes more difficult to change the rate system.


A voltage divider circuit comprises first and second transistor pairs 1 and 2 connected in series between a first standard voltage terminal VD and a second standard voltage terminal VS, and feedback control circuit 3. Each of transistor pairs comprises two NMOS transistors with the same electric characteristics, respectively. A divided ratio is set by a voltage applied to the gate terminals of these NMOS transistors M1-M4. Feedback-control circuit 3 comprises a load transistor pair 4 and an operational amplifier OP1. The circuit 3 performs feedback-control so that a voltage of connection lines L1 and L2 which connects first and second pairs of transistors becomes equal. Therefore, a high accurate divided voltage is outputted from between pairs 1 and 2 of transistors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voltage divider circuit which outputs a voltage between first and second voltages, and a differential amplifier circuit which outputs a voltage converted a voltage level of a differential input voltage. More specifically, the present invention relates to a circuit which can be formed on a semiconductor substrate.
2. Related Background Art
When a plurality of resistors are connected in series, with one end of those resistors being connected to a power supply voltage, and with the other end being grounded, it is possible to produce a divided voltage. Such a circuit is called a divider circuit. The circuit is used for various objects, because the circuit has a simple configuration.
In case of forming a divider circuit on a semiconductor substrate, it is customary to form resistors using poly-silicon. However, it is difficult to form resistors with high resistance using poly-silicon. Further, when the divider circuit is formed by using poly-silicon, it is necessary to change the production process in order to change the divided resistance ratio of the divider circuit. That is, it is not easy to change a voltage level of the divided voltage after the production process had been performed, because it is necessary to change the width and thickness of a poly-silicon layer by revising a photo mask and so on.
On the other hand, it is possible to replace the resistors by MOS transistors. However, even if the resistors are replaced by MOS transistors, it is impossible to obtain high accurate resistance ratio due to distortion of a threshold voltage Vth and so on.

Voltage divider circuit, differential amplifier circuit and semiconductor integrated circuit device


Methods and apparatus for wireless communication in a wireless communication network include determining a transmit data packet size at a transmitting device and computing an early termination scheme associated with a receiving device. Aspects of the methods and apparatus include increasing a transmission length of a Cycle Redundancy Check (CRC) field associated with the transmit data packet before transmission of the transmit data packet, wherein the transmitted length of the CRC field is based on the early decoding scheme. Aspects also include transmitting the transmit data packet with the increased transmission length of the CRC field to the receiving device.

Field
Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for improving wireless communication system capacity and reducing power by improving the strength of the cycle redundancy check.
Background
Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and so on. Such networks, which are usually multiple access networks, support communications for multiple users by sharing the available network resources. One example of such a network is the UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). The UTRAN is the radio access network (RAN) defined as a part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a third generation (3G) mobile phone technology supported by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The UMTS, which is the successor to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technologies, currently supports various air interface standards, such as Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), Time Division-Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), and Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA). The UMTS also supports enhanced 3G data communications protocols, such as High Speed Packet Access (HSDPA), which provides higher data transfer speeds and capacity to associated UMTS networks.
As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, research and development continue to advance the UMTS technologies not only to meet the growing demand for mobile broadband access, but to advance and enhance the user experience with mobile communications.
Generally, R99 packets transmitted over multiple transmission time intervals (TTIs) are often decoded by a receiver prior to reception of the entire packet for each packet TTI. Due to the early decoding of the packet, the receiver subsystems may be able to be powered down from the time of successful early packet decoding leading both to efficient packet transmission for the transmitter and increased power consumption savings for the receiver. Decoding success is typically assessed by the receiver utilizing the cycle redundancy check (CRC) attached to the transmission packet. However, improperly extrapolated bits may accidentally pass the CRC impacting link and system performance.
Thus, aspects of this apparatus and method include improving the strength of the CRC, thereby upgrading the quality of voice traffic and improving system performance in a wireless communication system.

Method and apparatus for mitigation of false packet decodes due to early decoding


A method for constructing a magnetic write head for use in perpendicular magnetic recording, the write head having a write pole with a trailing shield. After forming a magnetic write pole such as by masking and ion milling a magnetic write pole layer, a thin layer of alumina is deposited. This is followed by the deposition of a thin layer of Rh. Then, a thick layer of alumina is deposited, having a thickness that is preferably at least equal to the height of the write pole layer. A chemical mechanical polish is then performed until a portion of the Rh layer over the top (trailing edge) of the write pole is exposed. A material removal process such as ion milling is then performed to remove the exposed Rh layer exposing the thin alumina layer there beneath. Since the Rh trailing gap layer is electrically conductive it can also serve as a seed layer for electroplating the magnetic trailing shield.

The heart of a computer's long term memory is an assembly that is referred to as a magnetic disk drive. The magnetic disk drive includes a rotating magnetic disk, write and read heads that are suspended by a suspension arm adjacent to a surface of the rotating magnetic disk and an actuator that swings the suspension arm to place the read and write heads over selected circular tracks on the rotating disk. The read and write heads are directly located on a slider that has an air bearing surface (ABS). The suspension arm biases the slider toward the surface of the disk, and when the disk rotates, air adjacent to the disk moves along with the surface of the disk. The slider flies over the surface of the disk on a cushion of this moving air. When the slider rides on the air bearing, the write and read heads are employed for writing magnetic transitions to and reading magnetic transitions from the rotating disk. The read and write heads are connected to processing circuitry that operates according to a computer program to implement the writing and reading functions.
The write head traditionally includes a coil layer embedded in first, second and third insulation layers (insulation stack), the insulation stack being sandwiched between first and second pole piece layers. A gap is formed between the first and second pole piece layers by a gap layer at an air bearing surface (ABS) of the write head and the pole piece layers are connected at a back gap. Current conducted to the coil layer induces a magnetic flux in the pole pieces which causes a magnetic field to fringe out at a write gap at the ABS for the purpose of writing the aforementioned magnetic transitions in tracks on the moving media, such as in circular tracks on the aforementioned rotating disk.
In recent read head designs a spin valve sensor, also referred to as a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) sensor, has been employed for sensing magnetic fields from the rotating magnetic disk. The sensor includes a nonmagnetic conductive layer, hereinafter referred to as a spacer layer, sandwiched between first and second ferromagnetic layers, hereinafter referred to as a pinned layer and a free layer. First and second leads are connected to the spin valve sensor for conducting a sense current therethrough. The magnetization of the pinned layer is pinned perpendicular to the air bearing surface (ABS) and the magnetic moment of the free layer is located parallel to the ABS, but free to rotate in response to external magnetic fields. The magnetization of the pinned layer is typically pinned by exchange coupling with an antiferromagnetic layer.
The thickness of the spacer layer is chosen to be less than the mean free path of conduction electrons through the sensor. With this arrangement, a portion of the conduction electrons is scattered by the interfaces of the spacer layer with each of the pinned and free layers. When the magnetizations of the pinned and free layers are parallel with respect to one another, scattering is minimal and when the magnetizations of the pinned and free layer are antiparallel, scattering is maximized. Changes in scattering alter the resistance of the spin valve sensor in proportion to cos ⊖, where ⊖ is the angle between the magnetizations of the pinned and free layers. In a read mode the resistance of the spin valve sensor changes proportionally to the magnitudes of the magnetic fields from the rotating disk. When a sense current is conducted through the spin valve sensor, resistance changes cause potential changes that are detected and processed as playback signals.
When a spin valve sensor employs a single pinned layer it is referred to as a simple spin valve. When a spin valve employs an antiparallel (AP) pinned layer it is referred to as an AP pinned spin valve. An AP spin valve includes first and second magnetic layers separated by a thin non-magnetic coupling layer such as Ru. The thickness of the spacer layer is chosen so as to be antiparallel coupled to the magnetizations of the ferromagnetic layers of the pinned layer. A spin valve is also known as a top or bottom spin valve depending upon whether the pinning layer is at the top (formed after the free layer) or at the bottom (before the free layer).
The spin valve sensor is located between first and second nonmagnetic electrically insulating read gap layers and the first and second read gap layers are located between ferromagnetic first and second shield layers. In a merged magnetic head a single ferromagnetic layer functions as the second shield layer of the read head and as the first pole piece layer of the write head. In a piggyback head the second shield layer and the first pole piece layer are separate layers.
Magnetization of the pinned layer is usually fixed by exchange coupling one of the ferromagnetic layers (AP1) with a layer of antiferromagnetic material such as PtMn. While an antiferromagnetic (AFM) material such as PtMn does not in and of itself have a magnetization, when exchange coupled with a magnetic material, it can strongly pin the magnetization of the ferromagnetic layer.
In order to meet the ever increasing demand for improved data rate and data capacity, researchers have recently been focusing their efforts on the development of perpendicular recording systems. A traditional longitudinal recording system, such as one that incorporates the write head described above, stores data as magnetic bits oriented longitudinally along a track in the plane of the surface of the magnetic disk. This longitudinal data bit is recorded by a fringing field that forms between the pair of magnetic poles separated by a write gap.
A perpendicular recording system, by contrast, records data as magnetizations oriented perpendicular to the plane of the magnetic disk. The magnetic disk has a magnetically soft underlayer covered by a thin magnetically hard top layer. The perpendicular write head has a write pole with a very small cross section and a return pole having a much larger cross section. A strong, highly concentrated magnetic field emits from the write pole in a direction perpendicular to the magnetic disk surface, magnetizing the magnetically hard top layer. The resulting magnetic flux then travels through the soft underlayer, returning to the return pole where it is sufficiently spread out and weak that it will not erase the signal recorded by the write pole when it passes back through the magnetically hard top layer on its way back to the return pole.
One of the features of perpendicular recording systems is that the high coercivity top layer of the magnetic medium has a high switching field. This means that a strong magnetic field is needed to switch the magnetic moment of the medium when writing a magnetic bit of data. In order to decrease the switching field and increase recording speed, attempts have been made to angle or "cant" the write field being emitted from the write pole. Canting the write field at an angle relative to the normal of the medium makes the magnetic moment of the medium easier to switch by reducing the switching field. Modeling has shown that a single pole writer in a perpendicular recording system can exhibit improved transition sharpness (i.e. better field gradient and resolution), achieve better media signal to noise ratio, and permit higher coercive field media for higher areal density magnetic recording if, according to the Stoner-Wohlfarth model for a single particle, the effective flux field is angled. A method that has been investigated to cant the magnetic field has been to provide a trailing magnetic shield adjacent to the write head, to magnetically attract the field from the write pole.
The trailing shield can be a floating design, in that the magnetic trailing shield is not directly, magnetically connected with the other structures of the write head. Magnetic field from the write pole results in a flux in the shield that essentially travels through the magnetic medium back to the return pole of the write head. Alternatively, the shield can be a stitched design, wherein the shield is magnetically connected with the return pole. Various dimensions of the shield are critical for the trailing shield to operate correctly. For instance, effective angling or canting of the effective flux field is optimized when the write pole to trailing shield separation (gap) is about equal to the head to soft underlayer spacing (HUS) and the trailing shield throat height is roughly equal to half the track-width of the write pole. This design improves write field gradient at the expense of effective flux field. To minimize effective flux field lost to the trailing shield and still achieve the desired effect, the gap and shield thickness are adjusted to minimize saturation at the shield and effective flux field lost to the shield respectively. In order for a trailing shield to function optimally, the thickness of the trailing shield gap must be tightly controlled. Therefore, there is a need for a means for accurately controlling such trailing gap thickness during manufacture.
Therefore, there is a need for a method for manufacturing a perpendicular write head that can produce a trailing shield with a well controlled trailing gap thickness. Such a method would also preferably produce a trailing shield with a straight flat leading edge and constant, consistent trailing gap thickness.

Method for manufacturing a magnetic write head having a trailing shield with an accurately controlled trailing shield gap thickness

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


An improved blower of the squirrel cage type having an end seal ring that substantially encloses the inlet ends of the blower blades so to prevent air accelerated by the impeller from recirculating into the air inlet and onto the blower blades. The invention also includes the following: a cylinder that extends from the end seal ring and beyond the air inlet to prevent escaping air from recirculating into the air inlet; an axial ring disposed between the housing and the end seal to impede the flow of air that recirculates into the air inlet; and an end seal blade disposed between the end seal ring and the housing that creates a counter pressure to force leakage air away from the air inlet and toward the air outlet. The aforementioned are practiced in combination with good blade angle design where the entry angle of the blade is such that air flows smoothly onto the blade at a specific design flow rate.

The present invention relates to air circulation devices and, more particularly, air circulation devices of the squirrel cage type. Centrifugal fans or blowers, also commonly referred to as squirrel cage blowers, are ubiquitous. They are used in such things as home appliances, office equipment, and automobile heater/AC units. The operating principal is the same for all centrifugal blowers. The air is drawn in at the inlet by a rotating impeller which is driven by a motor and contains a number of blower blades spaced apart and arranged in a circular pattern. On flowing through passages between the blower blades, the air is given an acceleration and emerges at an outlet under pressure from the blower housing.
Although such blowers have many desirable features, they suffer from several common problems. Air often flows around the end of the impeller and back into air inlet of the blower and onto the blower blades. Because there is little or nor seal to prevent air from flowing back into the blower, significant amounts of air recirculates into the blower's air inlet, which in turn causes chaotic air flow at the inlet side of the blades. Consequently, there is an inordinate amount of vibration and noise created because the air cannot flow onto the blower blades in a smooth and orderly manner. Thus, there is a need in the art for an improved blower of the squirrel cage type that effectively reduces or eliminates the back flow and recirculation of air into the air inlet.
Prior art squirrel cage blowers are also often characterized by highly forward curved blower blades that have nearly radial entry angles (see FIG. 5). This is particularly problematic and can cause air flow instability when the blower is attached to a volume with a restricted outlet area. The restricted flow outlet and the forward curved blower blades can generate a negative damping that causes a Helmholtz resonator-type of oscillation to occur in the system and produce unwanted noise. As such, there is also a need in the art for improved blower blade design that reduces unwanted noise and vibration and improves the efficiency of the blower.
It can therefore be seen that there is a real and continuing need for the development of an improved squirrel cage type blower that reduces noise and vibration and improves efficiency.
The primary objective of the present invention is the provision of an improved squirrel cage type blower that reduces or eliminates the back flow or recirculation of air through the air inlet.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of an improved squirrel cage type blower that minimizes the vibration and noise and improves efficiency through a more effective blower blade design.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of a method of reducing the noise and vibration and improving the efficiency of a squirrel cage type blower.
Still another objective of the present invention is the provision of an improved squirrel cage type blower that is efficient in operation, economical to manufacture, and durable in use.
These and other features, objectives, and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art with reference to the accompanying specification.

Iowa State University Research Foundation, Inc.


A wound closure apparatus having a housing that contains a vacuum pump and a chamber for holding a disposable wound fluid collection canister. The canister resides within the chamber and connects at an outlet with the vacuum pump at an inlet with a porous wound pad. The pad is placed over or within a wound and adhesively secured thereto. When the vacuum pump activates, it evacuates air from the canister resulting in wound fluids flowing from the wound into the canister. Due to the negative effect that a vacuum can impose on tissue when granulation tissue is pulled into the pad, the pad contains multiple pore sizes to prevent granulation tissue from migrating into the pad. The pad has an outer surface adjacent the wound with pore sizes of a diameter of approximately 100 microns or less to prevent tissue from growing into the pad and is treated for biocompatibility.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the healing of wounds and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an apparatus for closing wounds that is compact, self-contained, and includes a disposable wound fluids canister and a porous pad, which is biocompatible with the wound tissue to facilitate the healing of wounds, but does not adhere to the healing tissue.
2. Background Information
Wound closure involves epithelial and subcutaneous tissue adjacent to the wound migrating towards the center of the wound until it closes. Unfortunately, closure is difficult with large wounds or wounds that have become infected. In such wounds, a zone of stasis (i.e. an area in which localized swelling of tissue restricts the flow of blood to the tissues) forms near the surface of the wound. Without sufficient blood flow, the epithelial and subcutaneous tissues surrounding the wound not only receive diminished oxygen and nutrients, but are also less able to successfully fight bacterial infection and, thus are less able to close the wound naturally. Such wounds have presented difficulties to medical personnel for many years.
The most common technique for closing open wounds has been the use of sutures or staples. Although such mechanical closure techniques are widely practiced and often effective, they suffer a major disadvantage by providing tension on the skin tissue adjacent the wound. That is, the tensile force required to achieve closure using sutures or staples causes very high localized stresses at the suture or staple insertion point. Such stresses commonly result in the rupture of the tissue at those points, which can eventually cause dehiscence in wounds, providing additional tissue loss.
Moreover, some wounds harden and inflame to such a degree due to infection that closure by stapling or suturing is not feasible. Wounds not reparable by suturing or stapling generally require prolonged hospitalization with its attendant high cost, and major surgical procedures, such as grafts of surrounding tissues. Examples of wounds not readily treatable with staples or sutures include large, deep, open wounds; decubitus ulcers; ulcers resulting from chronic osteomyelitis; graft site wounds; and partial thickness burns that subsequently develop into full thickness burns. The use of skin grafts in these situations can result in the encapsulation of bacteria and other impurities.
The above problem is discussed in WO 93/09727 which proposes as a solution a procedure for draining the wound by applying a continuous negative pressure to the wound over an area sufficient to promote migration of epithelial and subcutaneous tissue toward the wound. Although WO 93/09727 deals in some detail with the clinical considerations of this kind of treatment, the apparatus described has certain practical shortcomings.
One problem with the apparatus described in the above prior document is that no means are disclosed for avoiding spread of infection from one patient to another or re-infection of the patient being treated. The pad in the wound drainage device can be modified with an antimicrobial agent, such as Neosporin, to limit the migration of bacteria through the pad and into the vacuum tubes and canister while negative air flow is engaged as well as into the patient when the air flow has been disengaged.
An objective is to have a pad that (a) is made from biocompatible material and (b) has sufficiently small pore size that granulation tissue does not migrate into the pad. Granulation tissue is a matrix of collagen, fibronectin and hyaluronic acid carrying microphages, fibroblasts and neovasculature that aids in healing. This objective may be accomplished by using a pad that (a) has a tissue compatible lubricious surface, (b) has a growth factor impregnated surface, (c) has a molecular graft on the pad surface, and/or (d) is antimicrobial.
The pad utilized in the wound drainage device can be formed by several different means with the ultimate goal of providing a vacuum compatible portion and a healing tissue compatible portion. It is known in the prior art that foam can be blown to form porous materials; however, it is not disclosed in the prior art that foam can be blown into a wound cavity to form a biocompatible porous pad which is both compatible with the healing tissue and compatible with the vacuum and negative air flow as in the present invention. It is known in the prior art that surgical dressings, such as teflon or rayon, are useful because they are compatible with healing tissue, but it is not disclosed in the prior art the use of porous surgical dressings in conjunction with a porous pad as in the present invention. It is known in the prior art that biocompatible substances such as Hydromers can be used as a coating material to increase lubricity and/or reduce pore size of pads; however, the prior art does not disclose the use of such substances to coat pads as used in the present invention. It is known in the prior art that antimicrobial agents can be used to deter bacterial growth; however, the prior art does not disclose the use of such agents in conjunction with the pad of the present invention.


In a transmission gear for transmitting two rotary motions from a driving mechanism to a working mechanism, the transmission gear comprises a cylindrical support member, a flexible cylindrical member fixedly supported by the cylindrical support member, first and second input shaft members, and first and second output shaft members. The first and second input shaft members have non-circular peripheral portions, respectively. The first and second output shaft members have internal circular portions radially opposite to and spaced apart from the non-circular peripheral portions of the first and second input shaft members, respectively. The flexible cylindrical member interposes between the non-circular peripheral portions of the first and second input shaft members and the internal circular portions of the first and second output shaft members. The flexible cylindrical member further having a buffer portion between the first and second transformable intervening portions for allowing the first and second transformable intervening portions to transform independently of each other without interference, thereby transmitting the rotary motions from the first and second input shaft members to the first and second output shaft members, respectively, in independent relationship to each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission gear, and more particularly to a transmission gear for transmitting two independent rotary motions from a driving mechanism to a working mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have so far been proposed a wide variety of transmission gears for transmitting a mechanical motion from certain devices to other devices. The transmission gears are generally utilized as change speed gears or speed reduction gears for converting a high speed rotary motion to a low speed rotary motion of large torque. The gears of these types include a so-called harmonic drive gear comprising input and output shaft members, and a flexible metal member intervening between the input and output shaft members. Such a gear mechanism is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 1-216141 as comprising an input shaft member eccentrically formed with a cam portion and receiving the rotary motion from a power source such as an electric motor, and an output shaft member coaxially aligned with the input shaft member and connected to a working mechanism. The gear mechanism further comprises an externally toothed ring member rotatably supported by the cam portion of the input shaft member, an internally toothed ring member held at a standstill and in mesh with the externally toothed ring member, and a flexible member connected at one end thereof to the externally toothed ring member and at the other end thereof to the output shaft member. Since the internally toothed ring member is held at a standstill, the rotation of the cam portion of the input shaft member causes the externally toothed ring member to revolve slowly around the input shaft member in accordance with a difference in tooth number between the internally toothed ring member and the externally toothed ring member. The revolution of the externally toothed ring member is transmitted to the output shaft member through the flexible member. At this time, the flexible member functions as means for canceling the eccentric rotation between the externally toothed ring member and the output shaft member.
In the transmission gear thus constructed, if the driving mechanism side and the working mechanism side of the transmission gear are desired to be disconnected in spatial communication from each other, there is a necessity for the transmission gear to be equipped with spatial sealing means for disconnecting the driving mechanism side and the working mechanism side of the transmission gear from each other. The transmission gear is provided with the sealing means by adopting a magnetic fluid sealing system, a direct drive system, a magnetic coupling system or the like. If the transmission gear partially forms an apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor devices, the working mechanism side of the transmission gear is frequently required to be pumped out to make a vacuum. At the same time, the working mechanism side of the transmission gear is required to be prevented from discharging gas for the purpose of obtaining a complete vacuum. For the this reason, the transmission gear is previously baked at high temperature so as to discharge the gas. The foregoing sealing means, however, cannot be baked at fully high temperature and, as a result, the complete vacuum cannot be obtained.
In order to eliminate the drawback, there has been proposed another transmission gear comprising a cup-shaped flexible member and disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2-186151. The flexible member serves as both of the externally toothed ring member and the flexible member disclosed in the former Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 1-216141. In the transmission gear disclosed in the latter Publication, the cup-shaped flexible member is fixedly supported by a support member held at a standstill, while the internally toothed gear is rotatable with respect to the support member and connected to the output shaft member.
If, however, a plurality of rotary motions are desired to be transmitted from the driving mechanism to the working mechanism, a drawback is encountered in prior-art transmission gears of the above described nature in that it is necessary for the transmission gear to include a plurality of flexible members respectively intervening between the input shaft members and the output shaft members and accordingly that the transmission gear increases in cost, complexity of construction and occupation space.


This invention relates to controlling the power states in a multimedia system comprising a multimedia connector box including a multimedia source interconnected to a transmitter module, and a multimedia device including a receiver module interconnected to a multimedia sink, wherein the transmitter and the receiver modules interface the multimedia connector box and the multimedia device via multimedia interfacing means. A signal detector detects the signal activity between the power sources of the multimedia system for determining the current power state of the power sources, and a power switching mechanism adapts the power states of the transmitter and receiving modules to the power states of the power sources.

Many multimedia systems are interfaced using High-Definition-Multimedia-Interface (HDMI), which provides an interface between any compatible digital audio/video source, such as a set-top box, DVD player, and A/V receiver and a compatible digital audio and/or video monitor, such as a digital television (DTV). Many prior art systems implement HDMI cable to interconnect these devices, e.g. the set-top box and Flat TV. The part that sends the Video/Audio data comprised in the set-top box is often referred to as source and the part that receives the data comprised in the A/V receiver (e.g. the TV) is often referred as the sink. Controlling the sink via the source, or vice verse, is done through the Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) channel, which is an option in the HDMI standard.
The power state of each individual device cannot be monitored in such prior art systems, only the power state of the whole system. Therefore, the power states can only partially be monitored, using the +5V and HPD mechanism. No distinction between ON and STB state is obtained, since in STB the +5V and HPD signal are still communicated.
In the newest/next generation of such multimedia systems where transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) modules are required as intermediate objects to provide a connection between the source and the sink, where the modules are interfaced via HDMI, the power is much more complicated than in prior art systems. As an example, if the connection between the TX and RX is based on optical or wireless link, special precautions need to be taken since the link might not be transparent for all signals as available in the HDMI cable. Also, since the bandwidth required for the forward links for passing audio/video data from the source to the sink is much higher than the bandwidth required for the backward link from the sink to the source, the power behavior of the system becomes more complicated since the modules most likely have their own power states and may not have a complete transparent view on the peer device, as would be the case when a standard HDMI cable would be used. This puts some requirement on the TX and RX modules in order to implement a consistent power behavior. Also, the power state control via CEC command coupled to RC reception is not defined in any standard.

Method of controlling power states in a multimedia system


Methods of preparing titanated silica catalysts, and titanated silica catalysts. The titanated silica catalysts may include a silica support, which may include spherical beads. Methods of olefin epoxidation, which may include contacting an olefin with a titanated silica catalyst in the presence of an oxidant.

Titanated silica systems are catalysts for propylene epoxidation processes that rely on hydroperoxides, such as t-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP), 1-ethylbutyl hydroperoxide (EBHP), or cumene hydroperoxide (CHP). These processes include the treatment of silica supports with titanium chloride or one or more titanium alkoxides. Titanium alkoxides and titanium halides, however, may be moisture sensitive, pyrophoric, or a combination thereof. Although relatively inexpensive to purchase, titanium chloride may be moisture sensitive, corrosive, and toxic, thereby making it expensive to handle.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/01822959, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a process for preparing a titanium catalyst system for epoxidation reactions that includes (i) impregnating a silica carrier with a liquid solution of a titanium compound in an inorganic solvent system, (ii) drying the carrier, (iii) calcinating (i.e., "calcining") the dried product, and (iv) silylating the calcinated (i.e., "calcined") product.
There remains a need for improved processes for preparing the foregoing catalysts, especially high-volume commercial catalysts, that are efficient, safer, cheaper, more environmentally friendly, or a combination thereof.
Many fixed bed epoxidation catalysts include titanated silica supports. The supports may have a weight average particle size of 0.2 mm to 3 mm, and may include unevenly shaped particles. An example of supports is disclosed at WO 2017/080962, which is incorporated herein by reference. The supports of WO 2017/080962 have a surface area of 330 m2/g to 450 m2/g. These supports, however, may suffer from one or more disadvantages, such as a large delta pressure that may be associated with their use in fixed bed reactors.
There remains a need for catalyst supports, including titanated silica supports, that overcome one or more of these disadvantages, and/or perform better in fixed bed reactors.

Titanated catalysts, methods of preparing titanated catalysts, and methods of epoxidation


A system, apparatus, method, and computer readable media for calibration of one or more extrinsic image sensor parameters. A system may calibrate a multi-camera surround view system, for example as may be employed in a vehicle, based on image data comprising one or more ground plane landmarks. The system may determine a ground plane projection of the image data, for example through a Radon transformation. A signal associated with at least one of the one or more ground plane landmarks in the ground plane projection(s) may be determined, for example through application of the projection-slice theorem. The landmark signal may be utilized as a response in an automated calibration loop to optimize one or more extrinsic parameter values associated with the sensors.

Machine vision continues to make rapid advances. Many current machine vision systems utilize a surround view system where image data captured by different image sensors (e.g., different cameras) are combined with each other. To properly couple multiple image sensors, calibration may be performed to establish extrinsic and intrinsic parameters associated with each sensor. Extrinsic parameters include orientations and positions of a sensor relative to the other sensors. Intrinsic parameters include those used in correcting image distortion resulting from the sensor optical path, such as but not limited to, non-linear distortions associated with wide-angle light collection (e.g., commonly known as fisheye distortions). Together, these sensor parameters facilitate mapping an image data frame position to a world position relevant to the platform hosting the machine vision system.
Image sensor calibration is important in the initial installation of a machine vision system into a platform (e.g., during vehicle manufacture). Subsequent calibration (i.e., re-calibration) is also important to maintain machine vision performance throughout the life of the platform. For example, extrinsic sensor parameters are susceptible to drift as a result of platform vibrations, and are also susceptible to large step function changes as a result of platform impacts and/or sensor replacement. Therefore, robust machine vision sensor calibration systems and techniques that do not require extensive manual measurement and/or very controlled calibration environments are advantageous.


A light weight low depth nestable tray for containers comprising an open lattice floor structure and a wall structure that is contoured to reduce the amount of material used for the tray. The wall structure comprises a plurality of columns interconnecting the floor to a band that is generally spaced above the floor and extends around the periphery. The band is contoured at a number of points along the periphery of the tray to reduce the number of columns as compared to the prior art trays which generally have columns at each of the corners and along the end walls and side walls. The reduction in the number of columns reduces the weight of the tray and therefore is more economical. The contour is V-shaped and the band actually connects directly to the floor at those points. The contoured wall structure provides a lighter tray that can be stacked, nested and handled in the same way as prior trays and while maintaining the structural integrity of the bulkier, heavier trays.

The present invention relates to a low depth, nestable tray for transporting and storing beverage containers having substantially equal diameters, such as twelve-ounce aluminum beverage cans. Cans for soft drinks, beer and other beverages are often stored and transported during the distribution stages thereof in trays or boxes. These trays or boxes are also used in the retail setting to display the cans, typically in a stack of loaded trays or boxes. Can trays made of plastic are frequently used since they are reusable and recyclable and do not contribute to the solid waste problem of cardboard or paperboard boxes.
Plastic trays wherein the side walls are lower than the height of the stored containers are referred to as low depth trays. Since containers placed in the cases would extend above the side walls, the containers in a lower case support the weight of the other cases stacked on top of them. Metal cans generally have the structural integrity to bear the compressive loads of loaded and stacked trays.
Many prior can trays are configured to be nestable with one another when they are empty to reduce the amount of space they take up during transport back to a wholesaler or bottler. Examples of returnable and reusable can trays are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,932,532; 4,823,955; 5,031,774 and 5,445,273. These prior patents are assigned to the same assignee as the present application, and their disclosures are hereby incorporated by reference. The trays disclosed in these prior patents comprise a floor, a band spaced from the floor and a plurality of columns interconnecting the floor and band. In general, the columns are arranged at the corners and along the end walls and side walls of the trays.
Previous can trays have vertical columns or pillars provided between every two container rest areas. It has been found that the column and band construction of prior trays interfere with handling of cans that are bundled together with a secondary packaging such as an overwrap or paperboard wrap. The corners and the longer side walls present the most critical areas in which interference with secondary packaging has been experienced. There is a need for a tray that is structurally sound but whose construction does not interfere with secondary packaging.
Can trays must also have sufficient structural integrity and strength so that the wall structure can resist spreading or fraying of side wall structures when a large number of empty trays are nested. The side walls of trays near the bottom of a nested stack bear more of the weight of the nested stack, and have a tendency to spread or splay outward. This damage has a cumulative effect and results in a shorter service life for the trays, and thus additional expense for replacement.
Another aspect of can tray construction is the provision of structural supports for the cans on the floor of the tray to retain the cans in spaced relation to one another and the wall structure. Excessive jostling of loaded cans can cause damage to the cans ranging from slight scratches to more severe dents and even ruptures. Simply the operating vibration of a truck containing the loaded trays can cause damage to the cans if there is excessive contact and rubbing between the tray walls and the cans.
Since can trays that are loaded with cans are stacked on top of one another, can trays include downwardly extending elements on the bottom of the floor surface to aid in stable stacking and movement of stacks. These downward elements are arranged so that some are placed within the top rims of cans in a loaded tray there beneath, and others are placed between top rims of adjacent cans in the lower loaded tray.
While prior art trays for beverage cans have addressed some of the problems of can handling and stack stability, typically the results have been trays that are relatively bulky and heavy which adds to transportation costs and increases the handling burden of handling stacks of loaded trays. There has been a need for a lighter tray which provides all of the structural features and advantages.

Nestable can tray with contoured wall structure