A method for releasing a LIPA connection is provided, which includes that a MME executes a LIPA connection releasing check according to received LIPA connection releasing auxiliary information, and judges whether to release a LIPA connection of UE; or, a wireless-side network element executes a LIPA connection releasing check according to received LIPA connection releasing auxiliary information, and judges whether to release the LIPA connection of the UE. A device for releasing a LIPA connection, an MME and a wireless-side network element are also provided. According to the technical solutions of the present disclosure, under the condition that a mobile relay supports LIPA, continuity of the LIPA connection of the UE in an Mobile Relay Node (MRN) handover process is ensured, continuity of a LIPA service of the UE is further ensured, and the quality of service for a user and a user experience are improved.

In a Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-Advanced) standard-based wireless relay technology proposed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard organization, a Relay Node (RN) provides a function and service similar to those of an ordinary Evolved Node B (eNB) for User Equipment (UE) accessing a cell of the RN, and also accesses a serving eNB (also called a Donor eNB (DeNB)) like ordinary UE through a wireless interface. Along with the large-scale construction and operation of high-speed railways, requirements on communication on trains continuously increase. However, it is difficult to meet a communication quality requirement of the high-speed railways under the coverage of an existing network eNB due to influence of Doppler frequency shift, frequent cell handover, great high-speed railway compartment penetration loss and the like on high-speed moving trains. Consequently, the deployment of RNs on high-speed railways is proposed in the industry, and such RNs are usually called mobile relays. FIG. 1 is an architecture diagram of a mobile relay system supporting a LIPA function in a high-speed railway scenario, and as shown in FIG. 1, users (UE1 and UE2) in a high-speed train can communicate with a relatively static MRN by virtue of a mobile relay technology, and in a moving process of the high-speed train, the MRN can be handed over between different DeNBs, thereby avoiding simultaneous handover of a great number of users in the high-speed train and ensuring quality of communication between the UE and the MRN. In addition, enhancing a backbone connection between the MRN and the DeNB may better improve the quality of communication between the users in the high-speed train. There is a LIPA Gateway (GW) arranged in an MRN shown in FIG. 1.
A mobile relay may adopt an architecture shown in FIG. 2 (the architecture the same as a standardized R10 fix relay, usually called architecture 2), and then a Serving Gateway (S-GW), Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW) and relay GW of an MRN are located in the DeNB (called an initial DeNB) to which MRN initially accesses. The relay GW in the DeNB provides a proxy function for data and signaling of an S1 interface and an X2 interface. In such an architecture, when the MRN moves far away from the initial DeNB, data of UE arrives at the initial DeNB and then is routed to the serving DeNB, which causes a longer path and a longer delay. As a consequence, it is necessary to consider about a route optimization scheme, and when the MRN moves far away from the initial DeNB, the GW of the MRN is changed into a built-in GW of a DeNB serving the MRN. As shown in FIG. 3, if before the handover of the MRN, its GW (GW1) is located in DeNB1 while it is DeNB3 currently providing service for the MRN, then the data of the UE arrives at the GW of DeNB1 and then is routed to DeNB3 through DeNB2, which undoubtedly causes the prolonging of a data routing path. The MRN may relocate its GW to a built-in GW (GW4) of DeNB4 in a process of handover, for example, handover from DeNB3 to DeNB4, so that the data of the UE can directly arrive at DeNB4, the path is shortened, and the data delay is reduced.
In addition, in order to better meet a requirement of a user and further improve a user experience, 3GPP takes a LIPA supporting function of a mobile relay into consideration to provide a high-speed local service for UE of an LTE system and save a bandwidth resource of a backhaul link of an air interface. For example, the UE can be connected with a local Packet Data Network (PDN) to acquire a multimedia resource through a Line Gateway (LGW) combined with the MRN, or support a multiuser social network application such as file sharing, chatting and games through a local server. As shown in FIG. 1, an LGW function entity can be arranged in an MRN in a carriage. The LGW is connected with the PDN through a Security Gateway Interface (SGi). For connected-state UE with a LIPA connection, a direct tunnel for LIPA service data exists between the LGW and the MRN, and moreover, an S5 interface core network tunnel is established between the LGW in the MRN and the SGW of the UE for paging of IDLE-state UE and for S5 signaling transmission. After UE with a LIPA PDN connection enters an IDLE state, its direct tunnel is released, and the core network tunnel is reserved.
Under the condition that the mobile relay supports LIPA, the MRN is disconnected from an S-GW network element. Moreover, because the LGW and the MRN are combined into a whole, all data which is sent to the LGW combined with the MRN by a network element of a core network can arrive only after subjected to the routing of an RN P-GW combined with the DeNB. Consequently, the RN P-GW is required to allocate an IP address to the LGW, and the LGW may use an IP address the same as or different from that of the MRN. If handover occurs and the GW serving the MRN is relocated in a movement process of the MRN, a new PGW serving the MRN is required to allocate a new IP address to the LGW, that is, the address of the LGW may be changed.
An existing protocol specification does not support mobility of a LIPA PDN connection. In a Home Evolved Node B (HeNB) application scenario, if UE initiates Tracking Area Update (TAU), a source Mobility management unit (MME) serving the UE needs to check whether a LIPA PDN connection exists or not, and if the LIPA PDN connection exists, an Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer context of the source MME in a TAU process does not contain a LIPA bearer, and a PDN disconnection process requested by the MME is executed to release a core network resource of the LIPA PDN connection. If the UE initiates a service request process and has the LIPA PDN connection, the MME needs to judge whether a cell where the UE is currently located is connected with the LGW with which the UE establishes the LIPA PDN connection according to the address of the LGW. If the cell is not connected with the LGW, the MME does not request for bearer establishment of the LIPA PDN connection, and executes a LIPA PDN releasing process, or the MME denies the service request and detaches the UE.
In a high-speed railway scenario, the MRN supports a LIPA function, and if UE does not move relative to the MRN and is still served by the same MRN and LGW, its LIPA PDN connection is not required to be released in TAU and service request processes of the UE. According to the existing protocol specification, once the UE with a LIPA connection initiates TAU, the MME releases its LIPA PDN connection. Moreover, if the GW is relocated after DeNB handover of the MRN, the address of the LGW combined with the MRN may be changed, and if the address of the LGW has been changed relative to the address in the last connected state when the IDLE-state UE initiates a service request, the LIPA PDN connection of the UE is released, the service request is even denied and the UE is detached. As a consequence, the abovementioned LIPA connection releasing problem needs to be solved in a scenario where the mobile relay supports LIPA.
Unfortunately, there is no related art for reference at present.

Mobility management unit and wireless side network element, and method and device for releasing local IP access connection


A device for processing a supple porous textile piece having at least one first surface and one second surface adjacent to the first surface, the process being carried out on the second surface and not on the first surface The device includes a departure area and an arrival area for placing the textile piece. The departure area is equipped with a non-porous mobile mask with a shape corresponding to the first surface. The device also includes a processing area equipped with processing means, a pick-up head with a suction plate having a shape corresponding to that of the mask. The pick-up head being moveable among the departure area, the processing area, and the arrival area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a device for the handling and processing of textile pieces, in particular but not exclusively, textile pieces of the type used for lingerie, for example for the production of brassieres.
2. Description of Related Art
Since textile fabric is usually supple, especially when delicate and very porous textiles such as those used for lingerie are concerned, it is very complicated to automate the manufacturing processes: it is very difficult for a machine to be able to pick up and arrange textile pieces with precision and reproducibility directly in front of the processing stations, such as those for cutting out or sewing, and to maintain them in position during the processing.
Nonetheless, various methods and devices have been proposed for handling textile pieces: usually the handling lacks precision and is limited to moving and picking up, etc.; in some cases, where the handling provides the possibility of completely automated processing for textile pieces, this concerns relatively small sized pieces, in fairly stiff and not very porous fabric.
The Levi Strauss document, U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,997, describes a procedure for de-stacking pieces of denim fabric from a pile using suction discs that can lift up one end of the top piece on the pile and then carry it onto a conveyor belt. Evidently, such a method would be impossible with the very lightweight and very porous fabrics used for lingerie.
The document, U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,237 describes the maintenance of porous textile pieces on a suction table and then picking them up using a needle device or a pneumatic device with a suction force greater than that of the suction table.
Sara Lee documents U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,165,355 and 5,040,475 describe a complex handling device for textile pieces intended for manufacturing tights, using a pneumatic system to pick up one piece from a pile of pieces and to carry it away for further processing.
The Pacific Dunlop document U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,618 also describes the use of suction means to pick up elastic strips for textile pieces intended for manufacturing panties, in order to place the pieces in various pleating and stretching devices that then carry the piece to the sewing stations. Such a method is very specific and is restricted to a single type of garment only, since it requires the presence of elastic strips that can be picked up by suction and furthermore cannot easily be adapted to different shapes and sizes.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,261 is of greater interest, providing information about setting the textile pieces at a precise orientation, picking them up and carrying them using a robot arm, still maintaining this orientation, until they reach a workstation where they are processed, for example sewn. The robot arm is equipped with a pick-up head with a suction plate that applies a very precise vacuum action (approximately 0.2 atmosphere) through specially adapted holes, to pick up and move the piece. However, as in the case of document U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,997 described hereabove, this is possible because it involves lifting and carrying pieces of "denim" fabric intended for shirt or trouser pockets. It would be impossible to use such a device for very porous textiles such as those used for lingerie.
The same observations are applicable to document U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,404, describing a perforated table connected to negative or positive pressure means, on which textile pieces can be placed, while a handling arm equipped with a suction plate picks up another piece, places it on top of the first piece and then carries the two superposed pieces to a sewing station.
Thus, all the above documents seem to demonstrate that textile piece handling using suction plates is possible as long as the textile is not very porous, as is the case with "denim" cloth, but not for the case of lingerie, manufactured with very lightweight, very supple fabrics, and sometimes lace.
For these fabrics, another research approach has been tried, as shown for example in document FR 2820290, describing how to cut out a piece in very supple fabric, using a temporary stiffening method by attaching it to a support sheet, for example in silicone coated paper, using hot calendering. Other temporary stiffening methods for textile pieces have also been proposed, for example, fixation by passing the fabric through a bath of stiffening product, or freezing, etc. In all these cases, this involves the addition of a supplementary stage that adds to the cost, and which is then doubled because of a stage needed for removing the temporary stiffening. Moreover, these stiffening methods are not without harmful consequences for very delicate fabrics like lace, which may be used for lingerie, and therefore these methods are not really suited to this field.
Therefore, since no really satisfactory methods have been discovered, the manufacture of certain lightweight textile articles such as lingerie remains an essentially manual operation, and is consequently expensive.

Handling method and device for simultaneous processing of textile pieces


The present invention provides stereoscopically-pure diastereomers of Formula I:

The present stereoisomers are structurally related to some sympathomimetic drugs. Generally, sympathomimetic amines act by binding to α- and β-adrenergic receptors. Such receptor binding can result in vascular constriction, reduced blood flow and/or reduced secretion of fluids into the surrounding tissues, which can decrease the amount of mucous secreted into nasal passages. Sympathomimetic drugs are thus used to treat nasal congestion, allergies and colds. In addition, sympathomimetic amines may affect the cardiovascular, urinary, central nervous and endocrine systems. Johnson et al., 13 Pharmacotherapy 1105 (1993). Sympathomimetic drugs can influence the smooth muscles and the activity of the central nervous system. Thus, sympathomimetic amines are also used as bronchodilators, appetite suppressants and mydriatic agents.
According to the present invention, stereoisomers with particular structural configurations interact more selectively with the receptors involved in sympathomimetic action than do other types of stereoisomers. Compounds with more than one chiral center that differ in the configuration of some but not all of the chiral centers are called diastereomers. Compounds that have the same composition but are mirror images of each other are called enantiomers. A chiral center is an asymmetric carbon atom which can exist in two different, mirror-image configurations. Compounds with such chiral centers have the ability to rotate the plane of plane-polarized light. The prefixes d and l, or (+) and (−) identify the direction in which a stereoisomer rotates light. The d or (+)-stereoisomer is dextrorotatory. In contrast, the l or (−)-stereoisomer is levorotatory. A mixture of (+) and (−)-enantiomers is called a racemic mixture.
An alternative classification system for stereoisomers exists where prefixes (S) and (R) are used, based on the structural configuration of the chiral center, rather than on the optical activity of the compound.
For example, (+)-pseudoephedrine is known to be a sympathomimetic amine which binds to α-adrenergic receptors. The structures of (+)-pseudoephedrine and (−)-pseudoephedrine are provided below.
(+)-Pseudoephedrine is a known decongestant sold under the tradename Sudafed®. However, (+)-pseudoephedrine has undesirable side effects, including central nervous system stimulation, lightheadedness, nervousness, anxiety, paranoia, heart arrhythmia, atrial fibrillations and premature ventricular contractions. 95 AMERICAN HOSPITAL FORMULATORY SERVICE 847–48. Moreover, (+)-pseudoephedrine unfortunately can be converted into the psychoactive drug, methamphetamine, by simply converting the hydroxyl, which is in the S-configuration, to the hydrogen found in methamphetamine. Hence, a need exists for a molecule which binds to an adrenergic receptor, has the beneficial decongestant activities of (+)-pseudoephedrine, and which reduces not only its adverse side effects, but its methamphetamine-conversion problem.
(−)-Ephedrine and the racemic mixture of (−)- and (+)-ephedrine also bind adrenergic receptors and have been used for bronchodilation. (−)-Ephedrine and the racemic mixture of (−) and (+)-ephedrine relax smooth muscle, stimulate metabolism, stimulate the central nervous system, but can have significant cardiovascular effects. 95 AMERICAN HOSPITAL FORMULATORY SERVICE 815. Accordingly, a need exists for molecules which bind adrenergic receptors, without the undesirable side effects of (−)-ephedrine and the racemic mixture of (−)-ephedrine and (+)-ephedrine.
Similarly, the racemic mixture of (+)- and (−)-phenylpropanolamine, is known to bind adrenergic receptors, and has been used as a decongestant or an anoretic. However, the racemic mixture has undesirable side effects—it may be contraindicated in patients having glaucoma and is known to stimulate the central nervous system. 95 AMERICAN HOSPITAL FORMULATORY SERVICE 846. Hence, a need exists for a composition having the beneficial activities of (+)- and (−)-phenylpropanolamine, without their undesirable side effects.

Stereoisomers with high affinity for adrenergic receptors

Abstract: In a preferred embodiment, the stereoisomers of the present invention are of Formula II, depicted below:

Abstract: R2, R3 and R4 are independently H, OH, OCH3, CH2OH, NHCONH2, NH2, halogen or CF3, and R1 is pyridine, or an amine which may be substituted with hydrogen, lower alkyl, lower alkylenearyl, lower alkylenephenyl, lower alkylenehydroxyphenyl, lower alkyleneamine, lower alkyleneaminoaryl, lower alkylaminohydroxyphenyl, or a similar functional group. R5 is hydrogen, hydroxyl or methyl; R6 is hydrogen, lower alkyl, lower alkylenaryl, lower alkylenephenyl, lower alkylenehydroxyphenyl, lower alkyleneamine, lower alkyleneaminoaryl, lower alkylaminohydroxyphenyl, and the like. For both Formula I and Formual II, the first carbon on the side chain progressing from the ring is preferably in the R-configuration. The second carbon atom on the side chain of Formula II, which is attached to R5, may or may not be a chiral center. However, when the second carbon atom is a chiral center, it is preferably in the S-configuration. The present invention contemplates each stereoisomer of Formula I and II in substantially-pure form.

Abstract: The present invention also provides methods of relieving nasal, sinus and bronchial congestion and of treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. The present stereoisomers may also be used to induce pupil dilation. These methods include administering to a mammal a composition containing a therapeutically effective amount of a stereoscopically-pure stereoisomer of Formula I or II with a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient.


A metal mask, a display panel and a display device are proposed. The metal mask comprises an opening region and a peripheral region surrounding the opening region. The peripheral region is provided with a first groove, the first groove may surround the opening region. By arranging a first groove surrounding the opening region in the peripheral region, sagging of the metal mask during the fabrication of the display panel can be decreased effectively, and tension of the metal mask can be reduced, which improves the thickness uniformity of an inorganic encapsulation layer formed by using the metal mask, thereby achieving a higher production yield of the display panel.

A mask is a common component used during a process of fabricating a display product such as a display panel. For example, in the active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) thin film packaging technology, a metal mask may be used to pattern an inorganic encapsulation layer for an AMOLED display panel. However, the existing mask still needs to be improved.

Metal mask having groove within peripheral region thereof, display panel and display device

CHENGDU BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.

BEIJING BOE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD.


A system and method of interfacing a drilling machine with one of a number of different walk-over guidance systems involves receiving an ID signal from a particular walk-over guidance system selected for use with the drilling machine. A protocol library associated with the particular walk-over guidance system is accessed in response to the ID signal. The protocol library is used to effect communication between the particular walk-over guidance system and a control system of the drilling machine during cooperative use of the particular walk-over guidance system and drilling machine. Using the protocol library involves converting, as prescribed by the protocol library, locator signals received from the particular walk-over guidance system from a locator protocol to a common protocol used by the control system of the drilling machine. Locator and drilling machine data of various types can be presented to a drilling machine operator via an on-board display.

Utility lines for water, electricity, gas, telephone, and cable television are often run underground for reasons of safety and aesthetics. In many situations, the underground utilities can be buried in a trench which is then back-filled. Although useful in areas of new construction, the burial of utilities in a trench has certain disadvantages. In areas supporting existing construction, a trench can cause serious disturbance to structures or roadways. Further, there is a high probability that digging a trench may damage previously buried utilities, and that structures or roadways disturbed by digging the trench are rarely restored to their original condition. Also, an open trench may pose a danger of injury to workers and passersby.
The general technique of boring a horizontal underground hole has recently been developed in order to overcome the disadvantages described above, as well as others unaddressed when employing conventional trenching techniques. In accordance with such a general horizontal boring technique, also known as horizontal directional drilling (HDD) or trenchless underground boring, a boring system is situated on the ground surface and drills a hole into the ground at an oblique angle with respect to the ground surface. A drilling fluid is typically flowed through the drill string, over the boring tool, and back up the borehole in order to remove cuttings and dirt. After the boring tool reaches a desired depth, the tool is then directed along a substantially horizontal path to create a horizontal borehole. After the desired length of borehole has been obtained, the tool is then directed upwards to break through to the earth's surface. A reamer is then attached to the drill string which is pulled back through the borehole, thus reaming out the borehole to a larger diameter. It is common to attach a utility line or other conduit to the reaming tool so that it is dragged through the borehole along with the reamer.
Another technique associated with horizontal directional drilling, often referred to as push reaming, involves attaching a reamer to the drill string at the entry side of a borehole after the boring tool has exited at the exit side of the borehole. The reamer is then pushed through the borehole while the drill rods being advanced out of the exit side of the borehole are individually disconnected at the exit location of the borehole. A push reaming technique is sometimes used because it advantageously provides for the recycling of the drilling fluid. The level of direct operator interaction with the drill string, such as is required to disconnect drill rods at the exit location of the borehole, is much greater than that associated with traditional horizontal directional drilling techniques.
The process of horizontal directional drilling has undergone significant development over the past two decades. These developments have involved the drilling machines and the location detection and directional control components. Several types of location detection and directional control systems have been utilized, with today's walk-over guidance systems becoming the most accepted technology. As the guidance/locator technology is quite different than the mechanical technology utilized in developing the drilling machines, in most instances companies have developed either the drilling machine or the guidance systems, but typically not both. As a result, there are now several suppliers of walk-over guidance systems, each with unique features, that are used with the variety of drilling machines.
Early in the development of horizontal directional drilling technology, it was recognized that there was a potential to incorporate location information, as generated from a remote electronic component and transferred via radio signals or hard wire, into the control of the drilling machines. Examples of this include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,646,277 and 4,881,083, and GB 2175096, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties. These systems were primarily configured as bore-to-target systems where the remote electronic component was placed at a position near a destination point. This remote electronic component then cooperated with the drilling machine, and specifically with an electronic component mounted in the drill head, with each individual component integral to the control system.
These systems provided varying degrees of success in directing a cutting tool to a target point, but did not provide accurate continuous information about the location of the cutting tool. Close monitoring of the cutting tool's location as it passes near to various underground objects at all points of the bore is generally considered critical to the overall process. Thus, the systems that operated in a manner to guide the cutting tool to a target turned out to be less useful than systems wherein cutting tool location was continuously monitored. These systems, referred to today as walk-over guidance systems, have been developed to provide a continuous or quasi-continuous monitoring capability. Several patents have been issued disclosing various aspects of the locating systems of the walk-over guidance systems, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,232,780; 6,008,651; 5,767,678; 5,880,680; 5,703,484; 5,425,179; 5,850,624; 5,711,381; 5,469,155; 5,363,926; and 5,165,490, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties.
Other technologies are capable of providing information about travel of the drill head, including the use of gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnetometers, etc., in various types of dead-reckoning techniques or other techniques including establishing an electromagnetic field to be sensed by the drill head's electronics. In most cases, data from such sensors is typically transferred by what is known as a wire line, where an actual wire conductor extends within the drill pipe from the drilling bit back to the drilling machine. This wire enables transmission of data at higher rates than systems that rely on radio communications.
A major concern with this technology is accuracy, since as a borehole is extended a substantial distance, any small deviation at each reading point can be amplified, and if not corrected, eventually result in significant errors. One patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,726, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses a technique of utilizing both today's walk-over guidance technology and newer guidance technologies in conjunction. A difficulty in incorporating this technique is the variation in manufacturers of the wire line-based guidance packages which, when combined with variations in manufacturers of walk-over guidance systems, creates a situation where it will be difficult to integrate all necessary and/or desired information.
As the technology using walk-over guidance systems continues to evolve, the advantages of coordinating/integrating the information generated by the walk-over guidance systems into the overall control system of the drilling machine are becoming evident. A first step in this evolution has involved the transfer and display of information from the walk-over guidance systems to the drilling rig. Several patents disclosing this transfer of information have been issued, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,469,155; 5,711,381; 6,102,136; and 6,191,585, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties.
Further integration developments include the capability of issuing machine commands to the drilling machine from a remote electronic component. Several patents disclosing such capabilities include U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,079,506; 6,279,668; and 6,408,952, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties.
Another aspect of integrating the controls includes providing an indication of how the current location of the bore compares to the desired location, and providing a correction. Several exemplary patents include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,698,981; 05,764,062; and 5,933,008, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties.
Still further aspects of integration dealing with real time feedback and control are disclosed in various U.S. Patents and U.S. and PCT applications including U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,308,787; 6,315,062; Ser. No. 09/767,107; now U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,491,115; 5,778,991; 5,720,354; 5,819,859; 5,904,210; 6,161,630; Ser. No. 09/676,730, published PCT application WO 01/51760 A2; U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,250,402; 6,095,260; 6,047,783; 6,035,951; 6,191,585; 6,160,401; and 6,014,026, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties.
Integration of the controls is ultimately aimed at enabling the actual boring process to remain on plan. Several patents disclosing various aspects involved with establishing a bore plan and then performing the bore, including location determination and machine control, have been issued, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,389,360 and 6,308,787; which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties. As bore planning becomes more common, there will be a continued desire to provide the maximum flexibility in how the bore plans are developed, how they are displayed to the operators, to allow on-the-fly adjustments of the bore plan, and increase the interactive aspects of bore planning. The interactive aspects should include the capability of the system to provide recommendations of appropriate actions.

Common interface architecture for horizontal directional drilling machines and walk-over guidance systems


A hybrid PCI_Express fabric system allows LPC bus commands and data to be sent across the PCI_Express fabric from a portable computer to its docking station. This permits the portable computer to be coupled to peripheral devices connected to the docking station without additional connectors on the portable computer and the docking station.

Personal computer systems utilize an input/output (I/O) system that connects to peripheral devices which are needed to have an operable system. These peripheral devices are typically a keyboard, a mouse, and printer. These devices have been present from the early days of personal computers and are therefore known as legacy I/O, or XIO and now known by the term as Super I/O. The list of components that are utilized to make a Super I/O unit of a personal computers change with every generation of personal computers. New components have been added to the Super I/O such as SMbus controllers, CPU cooling fan controls and IRDA. The Super I/O unit is connected to the personal computer host by a special low bandwidth bus called the Low Pin Count (LPC) bus.
Portable computers commonly known as notebook or laptop computers, may use a docking station to connect the computer to peripheral devices, a larger monitor and a power source. When the laptop computer is docked, some of the Super I/O components functionality is transferred over to the docking station. If the LPC bus is extended to the docking station, additional connectors will have to be added to both the laptop computer and the docking station. This adds additional cost to both the laptop computer and the docking station and adds to the weight of the laptop computer. If the LPC bus is not extended, the problem is how to exchange data between the laptop computer CPU and the docking station's Super I/O components.
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the current configuration for extending the I/O through the docking connector into the docking station, generally as 100. In FIG. 1, the host computer 102 communicates with the Super I/O chip 106 via the LPC bus 104. Bus 104 is a bi-directional bus. The Super I/O chip breaks out the commands to each of the peripheral devices at outputs 108. Output 108a is for the line printer, outputs 108b and c for the communications port, output 108d and e are for the PC/2 port, output 108f is for the FDD (floppy disk drive) and output 108g is for the fast IR. These lines 108a–108g are extended through the docking connector into the port replicator of the docking station.
PCI_Express is a new architecture utilizing point-to-point transmission having a high speed which is scalable for future improvements and which will become the replacement for current PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) parallel bus architecture in use today. PCI_Express would provide a vehicle for communicating between the CPU of a portable computer and peripheral devices connected to a docking station, except that the command structure and connection type is incompatible with PCI_Express. The LPC bus is bi-directional half duplex bus where as PCI_Express is a unidirectional full duplex point-to-point fabric. The commands on the LPC bus are of varying length which makes it difficult to inject this data into a the data flow of another system.
Accordingly, there is a need for a low cost means of interfacing the CPU of a host computer with peripherals connected to a docking station.


Thermoformable polyisocyanurate foams are prepared by reacting together under foam-forming conditions an organic polyisocyanate and an isocyanate-reactive compound, especially an aromatic polyester polyol, the equivalent ratio of isocyanate groups to isocyanate reactive groups being at least about 1.2:1. The foams and faced composites thereof can be thermoformed for a wide range of uses, such as in the interior of motor vehicles, aircraft, ships and other transport means, and of both residential and commercial buildings.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to thermoformable polymeric foams and their use in shaped composites. More particularly, the invention is directed to the formation of shaped polyisocyanurate foam parts, especially panels, which have a wide range of uses, such as in the interior of motor vehicles, aircraft, ships and other transport means, and of both residential and commercial buildings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The preparation of cellular polymeric molded parts, such as those involving polyurethane and polyisocyanurate foams, is well known. The resulting shapes may be advantageously used in a broad range of applications, e.g., as interior finishing materials in the railway, automotive, and aircraft industry, and in the building industry.
Both the polyurethanes and polyisocyanurates can be made by reacting a polyhydroxy-compound with a polyisocyanate, with a greater proportion of the polyisocyanate being used in the manufacture of the polyisocyanurates to make the latter highly cross-linked and therefore characterized by high compressive strength and a much greater heat and flame resistance than the polyurethanes. Unfortunately, the wide field of application potentially available to the polyisocyanurate foams by virtue of these improved properties is severely offset by their brittleness, which has impeded their being thermoformed into useful molded parts.
While there have been attempts to reduce the brittleness of polyisocyanurate foams and make them the foams of choice in thermoforming processes (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,697), they are still regarded as unsatisfactory for practical use. For example, the polyisocyanurate foams of U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,697, which are synthesized predominantly from distilled diphenylmethane-4,4'-diisocyanate, are economically disadvantageous because of their high content of this relatively expensive isocyanate component. Accordingly, there is still a need for an economical polyisocyanurate foam whose properties qualify it for use in interior molded parts and which can be formed into such parts in an efficient and inexpensive manner.

Thermoformable polyisocyanurate foam laminates for interior finishing applications


A method detects a moving object in a temporal sequence of images. Images are selected from the temporally ordered sequence of images. A set of functions is applied to the selected images to generate a set of combined images. A linear combination of filters is applied to a detection window in the set of combined images to determine motion and appearance features of the detection window. The motion and appearance features are summed to determine a cumulative score, which enables a classification of the detection window as including the moving object.

For detecting and recognizing objects in images, pattern recognition approaches have achieved measurable success in the domain of computer vision, examples include face, automobile, and pedestrian detection, see e.g., Avidan, "Support vector tracking," IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, 2001, Papageorgiou et al., "A general framework for object detection," International Conference on Computer Vision, 1998, Rowley et al., "Neural network-based face detection," IEEE Patt. Anal. Mach. Intell., Volume 20, pages 22–38, 1998, Schneiderman et al., "A statistical method for 3D object detection applied to faces and cars," International Conference on Computer Vision, 2000, and Viola et al., "Rapid object detection using a boosted cascade of simple features," IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, 2001.
Those approaches generally use machine learning to construct detectors or filters from a large number of training images. The filters are then scanned over an input image in order to find a pattern of features, which is consistent with a target object. Those systems work very well for the detection of faces, but less well for pedestrians, perhaps because the images of pedestrians are more varied, due to changes in body pose and clothing, whereas faces are fairly uniform in texture and structure and with relatively little motion. Therefore, it is desired to provide a method that works on a temporally ordered sequence of images, as well as on a single static image.
The detection of pedestrians is made even more difficult in surveillance applications, where the resolution of the images is relatively low, e.g., the target object may only be a total of about 100–200 pixels, e.g., 5 by 20 or 10 by 20 pixels. Though improvement of pedestrian detection using better functions of image intensity is a valuable pursuit, a new solution is required.
It is well known that patterns of human motion, particularly the pendulum like motion of walking, is distinguishable from other sorts of motion, and that motion can be used to recognize and detect people, see Cutler et al., "Robust real-time periodic motion detection: Analysis and applications," IEEE Patt. Anal. Mach. Intell., Volume 22, pages 781–796, 2000, Lee, "Gait dynamics for recognition and classification," MIT Al Lab., Memo, AIM-2001-019, MIT, 2001, Liu et al., "Finding periodicity in space and time," IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision, pages 376–383, 1998, and Polana et al., "Detecting activities," Journal of Visual Communication and Image Representation, June 1994.
In contrast with the intensity-based approaches, they typically try to track moving objects over many frames, and then analyze the motion to look for periodicity or other cues. Processes that detect motion 'styles' are quite efficient, and it is possible to conduct an exhaustive search over entire images at multiple scales of resolution. When trained with a large data set of images, they can achieve high detection rates and very low false positive rates.
The field of human motion analysis is quite broad and has a history stretching back to the work of Hoffman et al., "The interpretation of biological motion," Biological Cybernetics, pages 195–204, 1982. Most of the prior art systems presume that half the problem has already been solved, i.e., a particular type of moving object, for example, a person, has been detected, and that the only remaining problem is to recognize, categorize, or analyze the long-term pattern of motion of that specific moving object.
Recently, interest in motion-based methods has increased because of the possible application of those methods to problems in surveillance. An excellent overview of related work in this area is described by Cutler et al., above. They describe a system that works directly on images. Their system first performs object segmentation and tracking. The objects are aligned to the object's centroids. A 2D lattice is then constructed, to which period analysis is applied.
The field of object detection is equally broad, although systems that perform direct pedestrians detection, using both intensity and motion information at the same time, are not known. Pedestrians have been detected in a static intensity image by first extracting edges and then matching edges with a set of examples, see Gavrila et al, "Real-time object detection for "smart" vehicles," IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision, pages 87–93, 1999. Their system is a highly optimized, and appears to have been a candidate for inclusion in automobiles. Nevertheless published detection rates were approximately 75%, with a false positive rate of 2 per image. Other related work includes that of Papageorgiou et. al, above. That system detects pedestrians using a support vector machine trained on an overcomplete wavelet basis. Based on the published experimental data, their false positive rate is significantly higher than for the related face detection systems.
Therefore, it is desired to extract directly short term patterns of motion and appearance information, from a temporal sequence of images in order to detect instances of a moving object, such as pedestrians.

Detecting pedestrians using patterns of motion and appearance in videos

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.


Pepper spray canister is mounted in the tubular bore of a cane or walker leg or handle, and is actuable by a trigger mounted adjacent, or in, the handle after release of a safety interlock. Several embodiments are shown, both with the canister in the handle or remote therefrom, and wherein the spray can exit the base (tip) of the cane leg or adjacent the handle. One embodiment comprises a trigger interlock button sleeve mountable at the top of the leg with the canister, actuable by a rod passing down the leg, located adjacent the lower end of the leg. Other embodiments include a straight, T-shaped or L-shaped handle which houses the canister. Several trigger mechanisms are shown: first at the rear juncture of the handle and leg; at the forward juncture thereof; or on the forward top surface of the handle.

A variety of security devices are currently available or have been proposed to ward off human or animal attackers, such as muggers, dogs, and the like. These include a variety of hand-held pepper spray or Mace devices, and such sprays contained within and/or disguised by other equipment, such as training weights, batons, flashlights, and pagers: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,332,119 (training weights plus self-defense spray); 5,373,427 (flashlight plus self defense spray); 5,405,134 (baton handle for self-defense spray attachable to a flashlight); 5,086,377 (baton with spray canister); and 5,429,301 (self-defense spray disguised as a pager). No self-defense sprays are shown with canes, crutches or walkers. Other types of devices include sonic alarms and Taser-type devices which immobilize an attacker with high voltage electricity.
In addition, canes, crutches and walkers have been adapted for a variety of safety and aid devices, such as alarms and lights, including U.S. Patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,392,800 (cane with a trigger actuated claw); 5,197,501 and 4,583,080 (canes with a light and sonic alarm); and 5,339,853 (walker plus light).
There is a particular need for a simple and effective device for older and infirm people who rely on some sort of walking assist device, such as a cane, walker, or the like. Such devices need to be lightweight, simple and easy to manipulate, especially for people who may be older or have arthritis, or are unsteady on their feet. In addition, it is important that delivery of the pepper spray be easily directable, and deliverable at some distance from the user so that they are not themselves incapacitated by the spray.

Security cane with pepper spray dispenser


A developing apparatus which uses a two-component developer consisting of a toner and carrier. The ratio between the amount of the developer M1 which is drawn onto a developing sleeve and refluxes while being regulated by a doctor blade, and the amount of the developer (drawn amount) M2 which passes through the doctor blade is M1/M2<10. The toner is a negatively-charged toner. In a charge amount distribution the number of toners of −1 fc/10 μm or more is 20% or less of the total number of toners.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a developing apparatus for a copier, facsimile apparatus, printer, or other similar image forming apparatus that uses an electrophotographic process, and also to a process cartridge comprising this developing apparatus.
2. Description of the Background Art
In the image forming apparatus, such as a copier, printer, or facsimile apparatus, which uses the electrophotographic process, it is important particularly to supply a developer to a development region between a photosensitive body and a developing sleeve in order to stably obtain, for long periods, a high-quality image with a good graininess of a halftone image, with the satisfied image density, and with no defects such as contamination of the surface. The amount of the developer supplied, i.e., the amount of the developer to be drawn, to the development region is set by a magnetic force of a magnetic roller inside the developing sleeve, as well as by the distance (doctor gap) between the developing sleeve and a developer amount regulating member (doctor blade). However, the amount often fluctuates over time due to change of the developer, which is caused because the developer constantly undergoes a stress generated from the doctor blade by repeated copying. Especially the drawn amount is reduced over time, which causes on an image a problem, such as an insufficient image density or traces of the carrier ear, and consequently the apparatus wears out.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-47489, for example, the magnetic force distribution of a magnetic roller which acts as magnetic field generating means and is in the developing sleeve is optimized in order to stabilize, for long periods, the amount of the developer to be drawn; however, it is not taken into consideration that the condition of the developer changes because of repeated coping, thus it is understood that the effect of the optimization is not enough to stabilize the amount of the developer to be drawn.

Developing apparatus for image forming apparatus


A muzzle-loading firearm loader/unloader device for inserting or extracting a specially designed bullet into or from the firearm's barrel. The device utilizes a spring mechanism, activated by a plunger handle, to selectively capture or release the specially designed bullet. The device permits a user to remove the bullet from the firearm without firing or marring the bullet. The device also permits a user to insert the bullet to a proper depth within the barrel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to muzzle-loading firearms and, more specifically, to a loader/unloader device for inserting and extracting musket balls or bullets into and from a muzzle-loading firearm.
2. Description of the Related Art
A muzzle-loading firearm, as indicated by its name, is a type of firearm which is loaded through its barrel. An adequate amount of powder is first poured down the barrel into the firearm's breech. A bullet or musket ball is then inserted into the barrel and tamped down tightly on the powder. Occasionally the bullet or musket ball may become lodged in the breech of the gun. This can occur because of an inadequate powder charge, or damp powder, or for a variety of firearm malfunctions. At times, the user may simply desire to unload the firearm without firing. In any of the above scenarios the musket ball or bullet must be retrieved from the barrel.
Several devices have been proposed to facilitate the loading and unloading of muzzle-loading firearms.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,983 (Fry), U.S Pat. No. 4,875,303 (DeWeert et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,357 (Jones et al.), U.S Pat. No. 5,097,615 (Kearns), and European Patent 282,438 show plunger type devices for loading but disclose no means for unloading firearms of the muzzle-loading type.
U.S. Pat. No. 17,233 (Read) shows a ramrod having a chamber for holding a specifically designed musket ball. The patentee does not contemplate removing the musket ball without firing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,086 (Hasselmann) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,614 (Harchar) disclose devices attached to ramrods for extracting musket balls from firearm barrels. In both patents a threaded member, attached to the ramrod, is screwed into the musket ball thereby marring the musket ball before the musket ball is withdrawn from the barrel.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a firearm muzzle loader/unloader device solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

Primitive weapon muzzle loader/unloader device


The application relates to a semiconductor switch element, including: a first vertical transistor device formed in a substrate and having a source region formed on a first side of the substrate and a drain region formed on a second side of the substrate vertically opposite to the first side; a second vertical transistor device formed laterally aside the first vertical transistor device in the same substrate and having a source region formed on the first side of the substrate and a drain region formed on the second side of the substrate; a conductive element arranged on the second side of the substrate and electrically connecting the drain regions of the vertical transistor devices; and a trench extending vertically into the substrate at the second side of the substrate, wherein at least a part of the conductive element is arranged in the trench.

In a vertical transistor device, a vertical channel region is formed in the body region of the device. The gate region is arranged laterally aside, it comprises a gate interlayer dielectric and a gate electrode. By applying a voltage to the gate electrode, the channel formation in the channel region can be controlled. The source and the drain region of the device can be arranged at opposite sides of the semiconductor substrate, for instance the source region at a front side and the drain region at a back side of the substrate.

Semiconductor switch element and method of manufacturing the same


The invention provides a universal shotgun shell wad that may be used by manufacturers to assemble a variety of shotgun shells with a wide variety of shot and powder loadings. Shotgun shells of the invention use casings of the type known in the art including a base forming a cavity for a powder primer and an outer wall forming the exterior of the shotgun shell and carrying shotgun shell wad. Such shotgun shells are provided with a shotgun shell wad comprising an outer plug and an inner plug. The outer plug has a bottom shaped to form a powder chamber within the casing of the shotgun shell and a shot-carrying sleeve extending upwardly from the bottom surface and has an inner surface portion with a plurality of engagement surfaces spaced along its length. The inner plug has a closed bottom with at least one engagement surface on its outer periphery shaped for mating with the plurality of engagement surfaces on the inner portion of the outer plug. The variable engagement of the inner plug within the outer plug permit a location of the inner shot plug at variable locations spaced along the inner surface of the outer plug and provide a variable volume for shot within the shotgun shell with the outer plug providing a variable volume for powder within the shell.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,178 discloses a universal shotgun wad including an outer sleeve and a reversible inner sleeve, in which the inner sleeve can provide shotgun shells with two different shot loads. A variety of other shotgun wads have been disclosed in the art, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,368,489; 3,614,929; 3,673,965; 3,688,699; 4,004,522 and 5,347,932, and French Patent No. 1,045,395 and Italian Patent Nos. 353,153 and 593,153.


A semiconductor package includes a die having a first surface including a plurality of bond pads disposed thereon and a second surface. Inner lead portions of a TAB leadframe are coupled to the bond pads and outer lead portions electrically coupled to the inner lead portions extend therefrom. An encapsulation is disposed on the first surface of the die including the bond pads having the inner lead portions of the TAB leadframe bonded thereto. Encapsulation is also disposed about the sides of the die. The second surface of the die remains exposed. This allows for a relatively thin package having superior thermal dissipation properties.

TAB bonding is well known in the semiconductor arts. A semiconductor die for TAB bonding includes metal bond pads disposed on a surface thereof. A TAB lead tape includes a flexible insulating film such as a polyimide having a metal conductive pattern formed on the insulating material. The metal conductive pattern includes lead portions which are coupled directly to the metal bond pads disposed on the surface of the semiconductor die. In employing TAB bonding, no wire bonding is necessary.
It is also well known in the semiconductor arts to encapsulate semiconductor devices. Encapsulation is typically performed with a polymer, plastic or similar material. The encapsulation most often surrounds the entire semiconductor die. The encapsulation protects the die from moisture and contaminants as well as providing physical protection.
Encapsulating semiconductor devices in plastic and similar materials has various disadvantages. Since the encapsulating material completely encapsulates the semiconductor device, plastic encapsulated packages are often relatively thick. The thickness of these packages includes the sum of the thicknesses of the semiconductor die, the encapsulation disposed on top of the semiconductor die and the encapsulation disposed beneath the semiconductor die. In wire bonded packages, this thickness also includes the height of the wire bonds. In TAB bonded packages where the bond pads are of a significantly lower height than wire bonds, this is not a significant problem.
Encapsulated semiconductor devices generally have poor thermal dissipation properties. When heat is given off by the semiconductor die, it typically must then dissipate through the encapsulation. Well known encapsulation materials do not dissipate heat adequately. The heat dissipation problem is somewhat improved by the addition of heatsinks to encapsulated packages. However, when heatsinks are encapsulated as is well known in the art, the heat must still dissipate through the encapsulation. Packages having an exposed heatsink are also well known in the art. The exposed heatsink dissipates heat adequately in some applications although it is not optimum. A semiconductor die is typically attached to a heatsink using glass filled die attach material. Whenever a semiconductor die is attached to a heatsink, a certain amount of thermal conductivity is lost between the die and the heatsink and thermal dissipation suffers.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to have an encapsulated semiconductor package that is relatively thin, has excellent thermal dissipation properties, adequately protects the semiconductor die from moisture and contaminants and is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Semiconductor package having an exposed die surface


An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display including a display substrate; a sealing member facing the display substrate; a sealant between the display substrate and the sealing member, the sealant cohering the display substrate and the sealing member; a plurality of conductive wires on the display substrate and overlapping the sealant; and a heat blocking film between the conductive wire and the sealant, the heat blocking film including a plurality of sub-heat blocking films.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display includes a display substrate that has an organic light emitting diode, a sealing member that is disposed so as to face the display substrate, thereby protecting the organic light emitting diode of the display, and a sealant that coheres or adheres the display substrate and the sealing member and seals them. The sealant may adhere and seal the display substrate and the sealing member by irradiating a laser thereon to cure the sealant.
In the organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, a plurality of conductive wires may overlap the sealant on the display substrate. When the sealant is cured by irradiating with the laser, the conductive wire may be melted by the laser and a short circuit may occur between the conductive wires. In order to prevent this, the conductive wire may include a heat blocking film including a material that is resistant to heat, e.g. silver (Ag) between the conductive wire and the sealant.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the described technology and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.


An embodiment for object integrity service in a storage system includes generating a list of objects stored in a storage system, wherein the list of objects may list an unchecked object, and wherein the unchecked object is an object that has not been checked within a set time period, walking through the list of objects to identify the unchecked object, adding a task to a queue to check the unchecked object, and clearing the task from the queue by checking the unchecked object.

Generally, massive storage systems are used to store large quantities of objects in a network environment These storage systems are typically designed to handle many billions of objects and tens to hundreds of petabytes of data. These storage systems may be implemented in datacenters, storage pools or storage clusters. As time passes and storage hardware degrades, the quality of the stored objects may degrade, and the objects may become corrupted.
In order to combat this data corruption, a storage system may store redundant copies of an object in the same or redundant datacenters. When the storage system detects a corrupted object, it may repair the object by, for example, replacing the corrupted object with an uncorrupted copy. As redundancy goes up, the data durability promise of a database/datacenter increases.
In storage systems, corrupted objects may be detected by reading and validating the objects. Attempting to read a corrupted object may result in an error, such as read error or parity/checksum/signature mismatch, and an error handler associated with the read activity can react as needed. For objects that are frequently accessed (read), the storage system may easily be kept apprised of that object's quality. However, many objects stored in the storage system may go unread for extended periods of time leaving these unread objects susceptible to silent data corruption. If silent data corruption is left undetected or unattended for extended periods of time, the corruption issues may become too numerous or too extensive to repair. For example, all the redundant copies of an object may become corrupted over a period time. Additionally, the build-up of undetected silent data corruption cases may cause the storage system to fail a service level agreement (SLA) between a client and a data storage service provider. Therefore, storage systems may include mechanisms to scan, check, and preserve the integrity of stored objects.

System and method for object integrity service


Program instructions in the form of Java bytecodes may be subject to fixed mappings to processing operations or programmable mappings to processing operations. A system is provided with a fixed mapping hardware interpreter, a programmable mapping hardware interpreter and a software interpreter. The fixed mapping hardware interpreter is able to provide high speed interpretation of the common and simple bytecodes. The programmable mapping hardware interpreter is able to provide high speed interpretation of the simple and performance critical programmable bytecodes with the remaining bytecodes and more complicated bytecodes being handled by the software interpreter.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of data processing systems. More particularly, this invention relates to mechanisms for interpreting program instructions into data processing operations within data processing systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to provide data processing systems using interpreted program instructions. An example of program instructions that may require interpretation are Java bytecodes. These Java bytecodes typically require interpretation into one or more native instructions of a target processor core. The interpretation may generate the native instructions or control signals equivalent to the native instructions.
A problem that arises is that different Java Virtual Machines may choose differing mappings between at least some of the bytecodes that form program instructions and the data processing operations being represented. This is allowed for in the Java architecture in that a block of configurable bytecodes is provided, such as for use to represent resolved quick forms of desired instructions. There is an inherent difficulty between a desire to provide hardware mechanisms for interpreting such bytecodes and the variability of the bytecode mappings that may need representing for different Java Virtual Machines. In particular, it is strongly undesirable to need to provide different hardware for each different Java Virtual Machine.
One way of dealing with the above problem might be to use a software interpreter for any Java bytecode that does not have a fixed mapping. Whilst this does provide a working solution, it introduces a significant performance degradation since software interpretation of the programmable quick form program instructions introduces a significant slowing of what are performance critical instructions.


An imaging system includes a pulsed laser, a pre-compensator for chromatic dispersion, a transmission optical fiber, and a GRIN lens. The pre-compensator chirps optical pulses received from the laser. The transmission optical fiber transports the chirped optical pulses from the pre-compensator. The GRIN lens receives the transported optical pulses from the transmission optical fiber. The GRIN lens has a wider optical core than the transmission optical fiber and substantially narrows the transported optical pulses received from the transmission optical fiber.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to multi-photon imaging systems.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In multi-photon imaging, molecules are excited via absorptions of two or more photons and imaged via light emitted during molecular de-excitations. The imaging light has a different wavelength than the exciting light and is emitted by selected molecular species, e.g., dye molecules. For these reasons, multi-photon imaging can produce tissue-selective images, e.g., of blood or neural tissue. In medical diagnostics, tissue-selective images are useful for in vivo analysis. Unfortunately, rates for multi-photon absorptions are low unless illumination has a high peak intensity. For example, rates for two-photon absorption events grow as a square of the illumination intensity.
For imaging applications, acceptable multi-photon absorption rates usually require intense illumination. Some imaging systems use very short optical pulses to produce the required intense illumination. One such imaging system is a scanning endoscopic microscope 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.
Referring to FIG. 1, the scanning endoscopic microscope 10 includes a laser 12, a pre-compensator 14, a transmission optical fiber 16, a remote endoscopic probe 18, and a processor 20. The laser 12 emits short optical pulses with high peak intensities. The peak intensities are high enough to generate acceptable rates of molecular multi-photon absorptions in sample 22. The pre-compensator 14 chirps optical pulses to pre-compensate for the subsequent effects of the chromatic dispersion in the transmission optical fiber 16. The transmission optical fiber 16 delivers the optical pulses to the remote endoscopic probe 18. The remote endoscopic probe 18 scans the sample 22 with the optical pulses and measures intensities of light emitted by molecules that undergo absorptions of two or more photons during the scanning. The processor 20 constructs an image of the sample 22 from measured intensities received via line 24 and electrical data indicative received via line 26. The electrical data is indicative of scanning positions in the sample 22.
Referring to FIG. 2, the probe 18 includes a mechanical oscillator 28, a segment of optical fiber 30, a lens system 32, and a light detector 34. The mechanical oscillator 28 drives the segment of optical fiber 30 so that the fiber end 36 performs an oscillatory 2-dimensional motion. The lens 32 focuses light emitted from the fiber end 36, i.e., optical pulses received from transmission fiber 16, to an illumination spot 38 in the sample 22. The illumination spot 38 makes a scanning motion in the sample 22 that corresponds to the oscillatory 2-dimensional motion of the fiber end 36. The light detector 34 measures intensities of light emitted in response to molecular multi-photon absorptions in the sample 22. The processor 22 uses the measured light intensities and electrical data indicative of the position of the fiber end 36 to construct a scanned image of the sample 22.
Molecular multi-photon absorptions have rates that are acceptably high for imaging if illumination optical pulses have high peak-intensities. Unfortunately, transmission through optical fibers often broadens optical pulses thereby lowering peak intensities. In ordinary optical fibers, both chromatic dispersion and nonlinear optical effects such as self-phase modulation can broaden optical pulses.
Referring to FIG. 1, to inhibit broadening by chromatic dispersion, pre-compensator 14 pre-chirps illumination optical pulses prior to their insertion into transmission optical fiber 16. The chirping places longer wavelength components behind shorter wavelength components in the optical pulses. During propagation through the transmission optical fiber 16, the longer wavelength components propagate faster than the shorter wavelength due to chromatic dispersion. The faster propagation of the longer wavelength components produces temporal narrowing of the pre-chirped optical pulses thereby counteracting the broadening effect chromatic dispersion would otherwise produce in the absence of chirping.
Referring to FIG. 1, to inhibit broadening of pre-chirped optical pulses by nonlinear optical effects, imaging system 10 maintains light intensities in transmission optical fiber 16 at low values. This reduces nonlinear optical interactions, because such interactions have low rates at low light intensities. The light intensities may be maintained at the low values by lowering initial peak intensities of the optical pulses produced by laser 12. The light intensities may also be maintained at low values by using a multi-mode fiber for transmission optical fiber 16. In the multi-mode fiber, light intensities are lower than in a single mode fiber (SMF) especially when a device inserts the optical pulses in a manner that causes the opiical pulses to laterally spread out thereby filling the larger core of multi-mode optical fiber. Unfortunately, a multi-modal fiber can also introduce pulse broadening due to modal dispersion.
It is desirable to have improved systems for producing multi-photon images in-vivo.


A safety intravenous catheter including a housing, a metal needle, a plastic needle and a sheath. The metal needle is slidably fitted in the housing. The metal needle can be extended out of the housing or entirely retracted into the housing. In both the extended and retracted positions, the metal needle can be locked by means of pressing and pulling a depression block of an upper resilient plate formed on top face of the metal needle. A projecting block of a lower resilient plate of the metal needle is engaged in an engaging aperture of the housing, whereby the metal needle is prevented from extending out of the housing so as to ensure safety of medical personnel.

The present invention relates to a safety intravenous catheter, and more particularly to an intravenous catheter which is able to avoid impalement of medical personnel or cleaner by the metal needle.
FIG. 6 shows an existing intravenous catheter in which a flexible plastic needle 82 fitted around a metal needle 81. After the metal needle 81 together with the plastic needle 82 is inserted into the vein, the metal needle 81 is extracted and then the plastic needle 82 is connected with a catheter for infusion of liquid medicine. However, after the metal needle 81 is extracted, a sheath 83 must be fitted onto the metal needle 81 so as to avoid contamination or impalement of other people, which will lead to affection with B type hepatitis, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (briefly called as AIDS), etc. After the metal needle 81 is extracted out, the metal needle 81 must be immediately fitted into the sheath 83. Otherwise, the blood in the vein will quickly flow out from the plastic needle 82. Under such emergent circumstance, it often takes place that the metal needle 81 impales the finger of the medical personnel to threaten the life of the medical personnel.
In addition, it often takes place that the sheath 83 is detached from the metal needle 81 due to collision and compression during transporting. This will expose the metal needle 81 which is seriously dangerous to the cleaner for transporting the medical waste.

2F, No. 2, Alley 1, Lane 177, Ching-Hsing Road


Disclosed is a drilling and/or striking hammer that includes a lubricating device having a lubricant reservoir and a volume of lubricant contained therein. The lubricating device conveys lubricant to at least one a transmission system within the hammer's housing, a percussion system, and/or a tool holder at a variable dosing or flow rate. The dosing or flow rate varies as a function of tool stress which can include use intensity and/or temperature. A flexible tube extends between the reservoir and the lubricated component(s). At lease part of the flexible tube vibrates with the lubricated components during use and modifies a viscosity of the lubricant therein, based on tool use intensity. A pressure generating device can pressurize the lubricant, helping convey the lubricant to a targeted area for lubricating movable parts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to drilling and/or striking hammers having lubricating devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
In drilling and/or striking hammers, designated as hammers below, it is known that various moving parts of the hammers require lubrication. For example, hammers have a transmission that transmits power from a drive motor to a percussion system and that has numerous bearings and toothed gears that require lubrication. Components of the hammer's percussion system also require lubrication. As an example, the typical hammer has a tool shank that is housed in a tool holder that is impacted by a reciprocating striker in use. The upper of the tool shank requires lubrication during use.
It is also known that housings of such lubrication-requiring components are typically not fully sealed units that can hold and maintain a volume of lubricant indefinitely. Instead, the hammer consumes lubricant during use as small quantities of lubricant leak from the transmission, percussion system, and/or the tool holder. The lubricant must be periodically replenished to maintain adequate lubrication of system components.
At any given time, the amount of lubricant in a hammer is not readily visually or otherwise discernable. Accordingly, lubricant replenishing is usually performed according to a maintenance schedule that provides recommended service intervals as functions of tool use periods. As an example of a recommended service interval, lubricant replenishing or refilling is typically performed after each twenty operational hour interval. Such twenty hour operational interval is an average time, following a lubricant refill, that a hammer will consume enough lubricant to leave only a minimum volume of lubricant to suitably lubricate the hammer.
Rates of lubricant consumption can vary dramatically as functions of, for example, temperatures of the transmission system, percussion system, and/or tool holder. This is because many lubricants, particularly grease, become progressively less viscous as their temperatures rise and leak from the hammer at a higher rate. Transmission system, percussion system, and/or tool holder temperatures can be influenced by both tool use intensity and ambient temperature. Hence, low intensity tool use and/or low ambient temperatures can lead to relatively low rates of lubricant consumption, while high intensity tool use alone or in combination with high ambient temperatures can lead to particularly high rates of lubricant consumption. The recommended maintenance schedule for refilling the lubricant of most hammers is based on average consumption rates. A user therefore may refill the lubricant more frequently than is actually required if a hammer consumes lubricant at a particular low consumption rate. Stopping use of a hammer to refill lubricant more frequently than is required can lead to lower production efficiency of the tool. Conversely, if a hammer consumes lubricant at a particular high rate, then a user may refill the lubricant less frequently than is actually required. This can lead to rapid wear of hammer components and premature failure.
In addition to running out of lubricant, a lubricant starved condition can be momentarily imposed on a hammer due to its lubrication system's configuration. This can occur, for example, if lubricant dispensing takes place randomly and/or if dispensing is position dependent or influenced. Exemplary of a drilling and/or striking hammer of this sort can be seen in a German Patent No. DE 39 36 849 A1. There, in a cover a depression is formed in which a high-viscosity grease is contained that can gradually flow through a dosing opening into a glide bearing between a crank bolt and a connecting rod. The dispensing of the lubricant takes place randomly, and is possible only when the hammer is in a suitable position, because gravitational support is required.
In European Patent Application No. EP 0 861 997 B1, a hand tool having a lubricated angular gear is described. There, a reservoir of lubricant is provided in the form of a pot that is open at the top, through which there passes a rotating spindle shaft. In the pot, a metal ball can move in such a way that due to the housing vibrations it tumbles through the lubricant, which is likewise located in the pot. In the base of the pot, a dosing opening is provided through which lubricant is occasionally pressed downwards due to the random motion of the metal ball; in this way, the lubricant reaches a ball gear for lubrication. Here as well, the lubrication takes place randomly and cannot take place independent of position.

Drilling and/or striking hammer with a lubricating device


An apparatus and method for providing an x-ray shield means in an x-ray detection system. An x-ray inhibiting container for use in a computed tomography system is provided, the container comprising: a peripheral wall; and a bottom, wherein the peripheral wall and bottom define a receiving area, and a forward portion and a rearward portion of the peripheral wall comprise an x-ray inhibiting material. The system comprising: a computed tomography scanner, configured to produce x-ray projection data as an object is passed through the computed tomography scanner, the computed tomography scanner comprising: a gantry having an opening; and an x-ray source configured to project a fan beam of x-rays towards a detector array disposed on an opposite side of the gantry opening, the x-ray source and detector array being mounted to the gantry about the opening; a structure defining an internal volume being configured to receive at least the gantry of the computed tomography scanner therein, the structure having an input opening and an outlet opening, the structure comprising an x-ray shielding material; and a motorized conveyor for passing a plurality of tubs through the input opening to the outlet opening, wherein each of the tubs comprises a peripheral wall and a bottom to define a tub volume and a forward portion and a rearward portion of the peripheral wall is configured to substantially cover the input opening or the outlet opening as the plurality of tubs are passed through the structure, wherein the forward portion and the rearward portion each comprise an x-ray shielding material.

This present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for scanning and inspecting baggage. More particularly, the present invention relates to security screening systems for use at airports.
Carry-on baggage inspection systems generally utilize a scan projection (SP) image for presentation to the operator. In most baggage inspection systems, scan projection images are created by moving an object under a fan beam of x-rays from a stationary x-ray source.
In some computed tomography (CT) imaging system configurations, an x-ray source projects a fan-shaped beam which is collimated to lie within an X-Y plane of a Cartesian coordinate system and generally referred to as an "imaging plane". The x-ray beam passes through an object being imaged. The beam, after being attenuated by the object, impinges upon an array of radiation detectors. The intensity of the attenuated radiation beam received at the detector array is dependent upon the attenuation of the x-ray beam by the object. Each detector element of the array produces a separate electrical signal that is a measurement of the beam intensity at each detector location. The intensity measurements from all the detectors are acquired separately to produce a transmission profile.
In third generation CT systems, the x-ray source and the detector array are rotated with a gantry within the imaging plane and around the object to be imaged such that the angle at which the x-ray beam intersects the object constantly changes. A group of x-ray attenuation measurements (e.g., projection data), from the detector array at one gantry angle is referred to as a "view". A "scan" of the object comprises a set of views made at different gantry angles, or view angles, during one revolution of the x-ray source and detector about the object or patient being imaged.
To perform a "helical" scan, the object is continually moved via a conveyor belt while the projection data for the prescribed number of slices is acquired. The helix mapped out by the fan beam yields projection data from which images in each prescribed slice may be reconstructed. Orthographic and scan projection SP-like images can be created from helical scan data by reconstruction of the entire volume, and projecting digitally through the reconstructed volume.
During the scanning of the object, potentially harmful X-ray beams are shielded by the structure of apparatus surrounding the conveyor belt and shielding means disposed at the apparatus entry and exit points (e.g., curtains disposed on the entry and exit points). In order to provide the necessary shielding an x-ray blocking material (e.g., lead, aluminum, carbon fibers or any other material that inhibits X-rays) is disposed in the apparatus structure and the curtains disposed at the entry and exit points.
However, these curtains may obstruct the flow of baggage on the conveyor as they may cause lighter objects (e.g., smaller bags, purses, carry on luggage, etc.) to tumble or even stop on the conveyor. This is exacerbated if such a device were to be used as an initial security screening measure at airport check in as typically smaller objects, purses, coats, shoes, laptops must be placed on the conveyor for x-ray screening.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an apparatus and method for providing an x-ray shielding means that does not interfere with the throughput of objects through the scanning system.

Apparatus and method for providing a shielding means for an X-ray detection system


A suspension liner is adapted to provide an interface between a residual limb and a prosthetic socket. The liner includes an elongate, generally conical body portion, and a volume control pad located along the body portion. The volume control pad is arranged to distend outwardly from the body portion. A resilient seal element is connected to the body portion and protrudes radially from the body portion, and is located in correspondence with the volume control pad.

a. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to suspension liners adapted to provide an interface between a residual limb and a prosthetic socket.
b. Discussion of Related Art
The use of suspension liners adapted to provide a soft, flexible interface between a residual limb of an amputee and a hard socket to which a prosthetic device is secured is known in the art generally, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,474. Such suspension liners are typically made of an air impermeable elastomer material such as silicone and may include a reinforcement layer intermediate the inner and outer surfaces of the suspension liner body portion or externally thereof to provide resistance against axial elongation of the elastomer constituting the suspension liner body. Such reinforcement typically does not restrict radial distension or stretching of the suspension liner body.
In accordance with prior art teachings, these suspension liners may function to secure the residual limb within the prosthetic socket member once the residual limb and sleeve are inserted into the socket in a close-fitting relationship by isolating the distal end area of the hard socket from the atmosphere. Upon application of a pulling force on the suspension liner relative to the socket, suction is created in the distal end of the socket tending to retain the suspension liner within the socket. Appropriate devices are usually provided to enable expulsion of air between the distal end of the suspension liner and the hard socket, and to isolate the distal end of the hard socket member from the atmosphere after the suspension liner with a residual limb has been fully inserted within the socket member.
In some applications, the suspension liner is provided with an umbrella at its distal end and a threaded socket for receiving a prosthetic securing pin member which then extends through an axial opening in the distal end of the hard socket member for securing the socket member relative to a prosthetic device mounted to the distal end of the socket member.
In other applications, the prosthetic device is secured to the exterior of the distal end of the hard socket member and the sleeve member is fully contained within the hard socket member.
The elastomer constituting the suspension liner member frictionally engages and remains attached to the skin of a residual limb so that the limb is retained within the hard socket member in a comfortable, non-irritating manner. The suspension liner may be thickened to provide cushioning effect between the residual limb and the hard socket, which is typically custom made to closely fit the residual limb. Suspension liners of this kind are used for both trans-tibial (TT) amputees as well as trans-femoral (TF) amputees. That is, the suspension liners may be utilized for applications above the knee or below the knee of the amputee.
In other applications, it may be desired to more positively secure the suspension liner within the socket by creating a hypobaric (vacuum) pressure within the distal end of the hard socket between such distal end and the distal end of a suspension liner inserted into the socket with a residual limb contained within the suspension liner. The hypobaric pressure may be maintained at the distal end of the hard socket and the interior of the socket at its distal end will be isolated from atmosphere during normal retention of the sleeve liner within the socket. Opening the distal end of the socket to atmosphere releases the vacuum or hypobaric pressure within the socket to enable simple withdrawal of a residual limb with a suspension liner thereon from the socket.
A pump or other device may be utilized to evacuate the distal end of the socket between the distal end of a suspension liner and the distal end of a socket. A valve or other appropriate device typically is used to open and close the distal end of a socket to surrounding atmosphere.
Various arrangements are known in the prior art for providing an appropriate seal between the exterior of the suspension liner and the interior of the hard socket including external air impermeable sleeves covering the interface area between the proximal end of the hard socket and the adjacent suspension liner body.
In trans-femoral applications, the sealing between a suspension liner and a socket is generally simpler and easier to execute than sealing a trans-tibial suspension liner against the inner surface of a socket because in the latter situation, the residual limb contains more bony protuberances and irregular shapes that are difficult to effectively seal, particularly if it is desired to simply use the material of the elastomeric suspension liner as the sealing element.
While many of these known suspension sleeves having seal have been effective, it has been found that there are variations in the hard sockets including open spaces that minimize the effectiveness of the seal elements. Moreover, the residual limbs have a tendency to undergo volume fluctuations that may impair the success of the sealing interface between the seal element and the hard socket.

Suspension liner system with distensible seal


A quick fastener with a torsion spring, wherein a pressure piece has a wedge-shaped ramp contour which engages in a housing having a wedge-shaped ramp contour, and wherein the torsion spring is arranged between the pressure piece and the housing so that it holds both parts closed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a quick fastener with a torsion spring for actuating pulls, and particularly to actuating pulls in motor vehicles.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Quick fasteners are used in mechanical cables of Bowden pulls in which fastening to a fixing point between the cable and a part of a motor vehicle must be carried out quickly.
European reference EP 0 790 418 A1 discloses a quick fastener in which a spiral spring with a plurality of turns located one behind the other is arranged between a pressure piece and a housing, wherein the pressure piece and housing can be connected with one another by a screw thread. Apart from the costly manufacture for the thread, which requires exact threading of the parts one inside the other, there is also an increased space requirement for accommodating the spring and for unscrewing the thread.
European reference EP 0 703 395 A2 discloses a quick fastener system in which a spring with turns located one behind the other likewise requires a large amount of space and two toothings mesh with one another in the desired position of the pressure piece and closure piece. Although the manner in which the teeth engage with one another results in a space-saving device, there is an increased space requirement due to the presence of a spring with spring turns located one behind the other. When disassembling the device, problems result due to the arrangement of the spring on the side opposite the thread. Further, there are two threads which must be operated. Therefore, in addition to a large space requirement, handling during installation and removal is disadvantageous.
WO 98/329 78 A1 discloses a quick fastener in which a spring which is formed by a housing part provides for the required contact pressing pressure and guide projections engage on two sides in recesses of a closing part. The guide projections are wedge-shaped and accordingly enable a locking of the connection parts. This locking cannot be carried out automatically by a spring. Further, the construction of this part is complicated and handling is not easy, especially in devices or motor vehicles having little available space, because installation and locking cannot be carried out in one work step. Further, this quick fastener is not suitable for connections with a small space requirement.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a quick fastener in which it is possible to fasten actuating pulls, possibly only from one side, quickly and securely without preorientation of the torsion piece and closure piece in an economical manner with respect to installation and space.
Fasteners of the present invention can be applied wherever quick fasteners with a small space requirement, simple manufacture and handling and small overall height are required, and wherein these quick fasteners are to be installed and removed only from one side.
The quick fastener according to the invention comprises a damping rubber which encloses and connects an injection molding with a longitudinal or elongated wire and a cable sleeve with a guide tube. The damping rubber may be constructed in various ways and made from various materials. According to the invention, it is surrounded by a housing and a closure piece and held together in such a way that the guide tube and cable sleeve cannot be detached.
A movable pressure piece is arranged on the housing. This movable pressure piece engages in a wedge-shaped ramp contour of the housing and can accordingly be fixedly connected with the housing, which is effected by means of torsion springs between the housing and the pressure piece. The side remote of the torsion spring and ramp contour of the pressure piece presses by spring force against the abutment to which the quick fastener is fastened.
At the other side of the abutment, a closure piece is arranged at the quick fastener and acts against the abutment by its collar, holds the damping rubber securely in its interior and locks into a recess in the housing by its snap-in projections and is accordingly securely connected with it. To fasten the quick fastener to the abutment, the pressure piece need only be turned against the spring force and pulled back proceeding from one side. In order to facilitate this process for the user, a spacer can be inserted between the closure piece and the pressure piece in place of the abutment prior to mounting, wherein the spacer falls out by pressing on the abutment.
The quick fastener according to the invention can be mounted quickly, simply and in a space-saving manner from one side with little effort.
It is important to the invention that at least two ramp contours are arranged on the pressure piece and the housing. Of course, it is also possible to arrange only one ramp contour or more than two ramp contours. A torsion spring is arranged between the pressure piece and the housing in such a way that the pressure piece is pretensioned such that it is supported at the ramp contour or at the housing and an axial movement can therefore be carried out. Accordingly, the parts can be disengaged by means of a simple rotating movement of the closure piece or housing relative to the pressure piece, so that the spring is tensioned. A quick, secure and user-friendly pretensioning of the parts relative to one another, wherein a fastening to the abutment is carried out, is effected by means of the force of the tensioned spring which screws tight the parts relative to one another to the extent allowed by the ramp-shaped contour at the end sides which limit these movements.
In a further embodiment of the invention the pressure piece has a rough contour on its surface. This can be carried out by means of a surface coating, for example, with rubber or plastic, or by means of a simple roughening of the surface. A more reliable and simple handing is made possible for the user by means of this rough contour.
In still another embodiment of the invention the pressure piece, closure piece, housing, guide tube and/or guide bushing are made of plastic. This achieves a reduction in weight and simplifies manufacture.
In yet a further embodiment the cable sleeve is injection-molded directly and the elongated wires are bent for the positive engagement.
The guide tube can also be injection-molded directly on the cable sleeve.
Another embodiment of the invention provides the damping rubber constructed in two parts.
In still another embodiment of the invention the guide tube is joined in the front damping rubber and a guide bushing is arranged between the guide tube and injection molding.
Further, it is advantageous that the injection molding and guide tube are injection-molded in one work step.
Still further, it is advantageous that the damping rubber is injection-molded on the injection molding, cable sleeve and guide tube.
The system is arranged so as to ensure accessibility from the cable side and so as to facilitate disassembly in case of servicing.
The ends of the torsion spring engage in the pressure piece on the one hand and in the housing on the other hand. In this way, the torsion spring has a minimum space requirement. Also, there is only a small space requirement for the wedge-shaped toothings. This results in a device in which there is no need for preorientation of the pressure piece and housing, so that assembly is facilitated.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of the disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages, and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the drawing and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the invention.