A liquid crystal display apparatus which includes an optical compensation layer in addition to a liquid crystal panel and which is capable of preventing degradation of the optical compensation layer, thereby providing high long-term reliability in display characteristics, is provided. The liquid crystal display apparatus includes a liquid crystal panel 1 in which a liquid crystal layer 30 is interposed between a first substrate 10 and a second substrate 20; a protection substrate 3 disposed at least one side of the liquid crystal panel 1 so as to face the liquid crystal panel 1; and an optical compensation layer 5 interposed between the liquid crystal panel 1 and the protection substrate 3. In addition, the liquid crystal display apparatus further includes polarizing plates 110 and 110 disposed at either side of the liquid crystal panel 1 on which the protection substrate 3 is provided; an illumination optical system irradiating the liquid crystal panel 1 with light h through one of the polarizing plates 110 and 110, and a projector lens projecting the light h that passes through the liquid crystal panel 1.

A liquid crystal panel includes a liquid crystal layer interposed between two substrates and is used in combination with polarizing plates as a display for a television set or a personal computer, or as a light valve for a projection-type display apparatus (liquid crystal projector).
Important performances required of these display apparatuses include transmissivity (brightness) and contrast (white/black illumination rate). High transmissivity provides bright images and, for projectors, reduces electric power consumption of a light source, such as an LED, a fluorescent lamp, or an UHP lamp, at the same time. In addition, high contrast provides high-definition images.
However, in the liquid crystal display apparatus using the above-described liquid crystal panel, a phase difference at the liquid crystal layer serves as one of the causes of reduction in contrast. More specifically, although linearly polarized light incident on the liquid crystal layer is ideally emitted as linearly polarized light, elliptically polarized light is emitted in practice because orientations of liquid crystal molecules near substrate interfaces do not change even when a voltage is applied. In addition, incident light with a polar angle is not transmitted along an optical axis of the liquid crystal molecules, and therefore is also emitted as elliptically polarized light. Then, when the elliptically polarized light is emitted from the liquid crystal panel, so-called light leakage occurs in which light passes through the polarizing plate at the emission side during black display. This leads to degradation of contrast.
Accordingly, in the liquid crystal display apparatus, an optical compensation layer for compensating for the optical phase difference generated at the liquid crystal layer is provided, thereby achieving a black level display without light leakage. Such an optical compensation layer includes, for example, a film of liquid crystal material oriented in a predetermined state. In addition, in a liquid crystal panel portion of, for example, a liquid crystal projector, an incident-side polarizing plate, a liquid crystal panel, a single-layer or a double-layer optical compensation layer (optical compensation element), and an emission-side polarizing plate are arranged in that order from a light incident side. In this state, the optical compensation layer may be disposed in a state such that the optical compensation layer is in tight contact with the liquid crystal panel (for the above, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-14345 (paragraphs 29-30 and 46)).
However, in the liquid crystal display apparatus having the above-described structure, the optical compensation layer is disposed in such a state that the optical compensation layer is exposed to the atmosphere. Therefore, there is a problem that the optical compensation layer is easily degraded due to supply of oxygen and moisture. In particular, in the projection-type liquid crystal display apparatus, since the liquid crystal panel is irradiated with strong light, the optical compensation layer made of an organic material, such as the above-described film of liquid crystal material, is severely damaged due to the presence of oxygen and moisture, and is required to have light resistance.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal display apparatus which includes an optical compensation layer in addition to a liquid crystal panel and which is capable of preventing degradation of the optical compensation layer, thereby providing high long-term reliability in display characteristics.

Liquid crystal display apparatus having particular optical compensation layers


The invention relates to a heat radiation member and a cabinet to be installed outdoors in a hermetic state, having a heat radiation function for heat radiation of devices contained therein. The object of the invention is to facilitate maintenance, downsize the cabinet, and prevent occurrence of noise. It includes: a cabinet body containing a heat source; a cover member attached to an aperture of the cabinet and having a guide portion guiding, to an exterior of the cabinet, a heat transfer member for transferring therethrough heat from the heat source by use of a hydraulic fluid; and a heat radiation part being a thermal conductor and in contact with the heat transfer member on a face and covering the heat transfer member from the exterior of the cabinet and having a heat radiation member on a face opposite to the face in contact with the heat transfer member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cabinet installed outdoors in a hermetic state and realizing heat radiation of devices contained therein, and to a heat radiation member.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent years have seen a rapid increase in the number of portable type terminals accessing a mobile communication system, so that a radio base station apparatus forming a wireless zone in such a mobile communication system has been demanded for downsizing as well as increasing transmission power.
The downsizing and the increasing of the transmission power are technically contradictory demands, however, in case of installing the radio base station apparatus in a residential area, severe demands for reduction of noises imposes great restrictions on thermal design and mounting of the radio base station apparatus.
For a prior art technique for heat radiation realizing both of the downsizing of and increasing of the transmission power of the radio base station apparatus, for example, promotion of heat radiation according to a forced air cooling using a heat pipe is disclosed in the following References 1 to 3.
[Reference 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 6-235591 (Abstract)
[Reference 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 7-83582 (Abstract)
[Reference 3] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 7-113588 (Abstract)
All of the abovementioned prior arts, however, entail high costs and do not always achieve sufficiently high total reliability because fans used for forced air cooling generate a lot of noise and need to be exchanged for maintenance. Here, it is not necessary to exchange the fans if the heat radiation is sufficient by a natural air cooling.
However, the natural air cooling is good for radiation of heat of small quantity, and it works only when a radiator has a sufficiently large heat radiation area. Besides, the increase in the heat radiation area leads to prevention of the downsizing of the radio base station apparatus, so that in reality, it is difficult to apply the natural air cooling to the radio base station apparatus whose essential portions are contained inside a hermetic cabinet so as not to be weather-beaten outdoors.

Cabinet having heat radiation function and heat radiation member


A bicycle crankarm provided with an electric/electronic system, including a battery power unit, a processor having a standby mode and a running mode, and a wake unit that emits a wake signal of the processor, wherein the wake unit is completely supported by or in the crankarm.

Bicycles are increasingly equipped with one or more electric/electronic systems. A bicycle electric/electronic system of particular interest here is a torque or power meter. In the present description and in the attached claims, the term "torque meter" is meant to indicate an instrument for detecting the torque delivered by the cyclist; the term "power meter" is meant to indicate an instrument for detecting the pedaling power. A processor external to a torque meter can obtain power measurements by combining the output of a torque meter with the output of an (angular) speed meter.
Torque or power meters can be of the symmetrical type, comprising two sub-systems made at each crankarm of a crankset—wherein the crankset is the component of the transmission of a bicycle that converts the motion applied to the pedals by the cyclist in rotary motion used to move the transmission chain (in other cases, the belt), which in turn moves the rear wheel; alternatively, they can be of the non-symmetrical type, comprising a sub-system at the crankarm on the side of the movement transmission of the bicycle (chain or belt side, typically right side) and the other sub-system at the bottom bracket spindle of the crankset, or comprising a system made at only the crankarm on the transmission side.
In all cases, at least one crankarm of the crankset is provided with electric/electronic components forming, or being part of, the torque or power meter. The battery power units that power the electric/electronic components of the crankarm can be replaceable, rechargeable on-board or rechargeable while detached from the bicycle. In all cases, it is necessary to keep the energy consumption of the electric/electronic components as low as possible, in order to preserve the charge of the battery power unit and therefore the autonomy of the electric/electronic system.
For this purpose, the electric/electronic system can be provided—as well as possibly with an actual on/off switch—with a standby or waiter sleep or low-power mode.
European patent application no. 18165343.7, claiming priority of Italian application no. 102017000038213 and still secret at the date of first filing of the present patent application, discloses a bicycle manual control device for imparting at least one electric-electronic command to at least one bicycle equipment, comprising a support body, configured to be fixed to the bicycle; at least one manual actuation member supported in a movable manner by the support body; and on-board electronics having a standby mode and an operating mode, said manual control device further comprising a detector of movement of the bicycle configured to emit a wake signal to bring said on-board electronics from the standby mode to the operating mode. Preferably, the movement detector comprises a vibration sensor, for example embodied by a piezoelectric accelerometer, which detects the vibrations caused by irregularities in the road surface or in general by the motion of the bicycle transmission system. Alternatively, the movement detector can be embodied by another type of sensor, for example an inclinometer, a gyroscope, etc. Preferably, the movement detector also has a standby mode. The on-board electronics, once it has been brought into operating mode through the wake signal generated by the movement detector, can advantageously send the latter into standby mode. Alternatively, the movement detector can be configured to automatically enter standby mode immediately after the wake signal has been sent to the on-board electronics. In both cases, the on-board electronics is advantageously configured to remain in operating mode until a sleep condition has been reached, the movement detector then entering into operating mode.
The use of an accelerometer to measure the pedaling cadence in a power meter applied to a crankarm is in general known. An accelerometer is usually capable of generating an interrupt signal when it detects an acceleration (along one of its measurement axes) above a predetermined acceleration threshold.
US 2013/0205916 A1 discloses a measurement apparatus of the force applied to a man-powered machine, such as a bicycle, comprising: a strain detecting part that detects strain of a crank of the man-powered machine configured to transmit force being applied from a user through the crank and one gear selected among one or more gears; a sensor that detects the crank passing through a predetermined position; and a control part, wherein: the control part calculates a rotation angle of the crank based on an elapsed time from a time the crank passes through the predetermined position that the sensor has detected; the control part calculates force applied to the crank based on a strain amount of the crank that the strain detecting part has detected; and the control part associates the rotation angle with the force applied to the crank to calculate distribution of the force applied from the user.
The document relates in particular to a cadence meter wherein a magnetic reed sensor applied to the crankarm is activated by a magnet fixed to the frame when the crankarm passes, during its rotation, close to the magnet. This activation is used as "interrupt" signal to start up procedures at every turn of the crankarm or at every fraction of turn of the crankarm, taking the pedaling cadence into account. The control part, when awaiting such an interrupt, is indicated as in "sleep" and the emission of the interrupt signal is indicated as "wake"; however, in all states all of the components of the apparatus are always powered and are always in fully running mode, with normal energy consumption.
US 2016/0311491 A1 discloses a control system for a bicycle, comprising: a movement-information obtaining device configured to obtain movement information indicating a movement of at least part of a first bicycle portion and configured to wirelessly output the movement information; an actuator configured to actuate at least a second bicycle portion; an actuation controller having a wake mode to control the actuator based on an input signal and a sleep mode with electrical power consumption lower than an electrical power consumption in the wake mode; and a mode controller configured to wirelessly receive the movement information and configured to switch the actuation controller from the sleep mode to the wake mode based on the movement information.
The first part of bicycle, the movement of which results in waking, can be a pulley of the rear derailleur, a wheel, the chain, or a crankarm assembly. In the latter case, of interest herein, the movement information obtaining device can comprise a magnetic sensor mounted on the frame and a magnet mounted on the crankarm, or a torque sensor comprising strain gages or a magnetoresistive sensor. The second bicycle portion is a movable body of a derailleur, an adjustable saddle or an adjustable suspension; therefore, the controller that passes into sleep mode is external to the crankarm. Therefore, the possible electronics mounted on the crankarm must necessarily always remain in running mode to detect the movement of the crankarm itself in order to wake another bicycle component, in particular a derailleur.
More in particular, the actuation controller passes into a low-power light sleep mode if for a certain period of time movement is not detected; it passes into a deep sleep mode or off mode if for a longer period of time movement is not detected; it is kept in wake mode as long as movement is detected.
The control system can further comprise a vibration-information obtaining device configured to obtain vibration information indicating a vibration of the bicycle, wherein the mode controller is configured to switch the actuation controller from the sleep mode to the wake mode based on the movement information and the vibration information. In this case, waking from light or deep sleep mode to wake mode takes place when both movement and vibration are detected; on the other hand, the anti-sleep function is only carried out by the movement detector.
US 2010/0263468 A1 discloses a bicycle crankarm including a torque or power meter comprising a battery, a microcomputer and strain bridges stroboscopically powered in synchronism with the reading by a microcomputer. The microcomputer is furthermore provided with a reed switch that, when the crankarm rotates, is activated by a stationary magnet mounted on the frame of the bicycle. Activation of the Reed switch by the magnet serves to signal the microcomputer to remain in running mode and take continuous readings of the strain gages. When the Reed switch is not activated for a predetermined period of time, typically several minutes, the microcomputer program enters a sleep mode and puts the crank electronics into a shutdown phase, reducing the battery power required to a very low level. The microcomputer restarts again when the reed switch is activated. The crankarm can furthermore include a sensor or a magnet for use with determining the cadence. The document also provides for means such as a solid state gyro or an accelerometer, but only in order to measure the rotation angle of the crankarm, which in the basic configuration is measured through a potentiometer.
The technical problem at the basis of the invention is to provide a crankarm provided with an electric/electronic system, in particular a torque or power meter, which is totally autonomous ("self-contained"), not requiring any other element external to the crankarm for its operation, and which at the same time has sufficiently low energy consumption.

Bicycle crankarm provided with electric/electronic system


Methods and apparatus for performing optical signal switching or other optical routing functions in an optical device or system, in which crosstalk induced by modal interference is suppressed by providing appropriate loss, gain and/or refractive index changes in different parts of a switch structure. An exemplary optical signal switch includes first and second branches each having a refraction-controlled section and an absorption-controlled section. An optical signal path over which an optical signal propagates in passing through the switch is selected to include a portion of at least one of the first and second branches, such that one of the first and second branches is a selected branch and the other branch is a non-selected branch. The refraction-controlled section of the selected branch is configured in a high effective refractive index state which allows the optical signal to propagate along at least a portion of the selected branch, while the refraction-controlled section of the non-selected branch is configured in a low effective refractive index state. The absorption-controlled section of the selected branch is configured in a low absorption state, while the absorption-controlled section of the non-selected branch is configured in a high absorption state to reduce crosstalk within the optical switch. An effective refractive index in a given refraction-controlled section may be provided using electro-refractive techniques such as the quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) or the Franz-Keldysh effect, or by carrier-induced effects such as carrier injection or carrier depletion. An absorption change in a given absorption-controlled section may be provided using electro-absorptive techniques or a gain-switching technique. The switch may be configured as a Y-branch switch, a directional coupler, or in other suitable configurations, and may be interconnected with other similar switches to construct 1.times.N, N.times.1, N.times.M and N.times.N switch arrays.

Optical routing in wavelength-division multiplexing optical systems requires a wavelength and polarization insensitive photonic switching fabric which includes a switch array. The switch array may be implemented in InGaAsP/InP optical devices using digital optical switches or laser-amplifier gate switches. An advantage of the digital optical switch approach is the low wavelength and polarization sensitivity of the digital optical switch. InP-based digital optical switches are typically more compact than those implemented in LiNbO.sub.3, and are also more easily integrated with other active devices to form large switch arrays. However, it is very difficult to achieve consistently good polarization-independent crosstalk of about -15 dB or less in a single Y-branch digital optical switch. This difficulty arises from the need to suppress second-order local normal mode excitation along the Y-branch structure. A conventional approach to reducing the local normal mode excitation is to allow for reasonably adiabatic modal evolution by utilizing relatively long devices of about 5 mm or more with small opening angles. Unfortunately, this approach increases propagation and bending losses and therefore leads to excessive switch loss.
Attempts to reduce the switch size and the associated excessive loss in the Y-branch digital optical switch have led to a number of "shaping" designs. Exemplary shaping designs are described in H. Okayama and M. Kawahara, "Reduction of Voltage-Length Product for Y-branch Digital Optical Switch," Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 379-387, February, 1993; W. K. Burns, "Shaping the Digital Switch," IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 4, No. 8, pp. 861-863, August, 1992; and M. N. Khan et al., "Design and Demonstration of Weighted-Coupling Digital Y-branch Optical Switches in InGaAs/InGaAlAs Electron Transfer Waveguides," Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol. 12, No. 11, pp. 2032-2039, November, 1994, all of which are incorporated by reference herein. These and other shaping designs often introduce coupling between the first order local normal mode and the second order mode, thereby substantially increasing the polarization and voltage sensitivity of the crosstalk. Moreover, the switch becomes more sensitive to fabrication tolerances and defects which tend to excite the second order mode, thereby further contributing to crosstalk.
As a result, dilated switching techniques are typically employed in applications requiring crosstalk values of about -25 dB or less. Dilating generally involves adding one or more additional switch stages to a given switch to further isolate the crosstalk. Exemplary dilated switching techniques are described in K. Padmanabhan and A. N. Netravali, "Dilated Networks for Photonic Switching," IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol. COM-35, No. 12, pp. 1357-1365, December, 1987, which is incorporated by reference herein. However, additional switch stages not only increase the overall switch loss but also substantially increase the size of the switch array. Moreover, dilated switch arrays require more complex electronic control than comparable non-dilated switch arrays, in that the decision as to which switch elements of the dilated switching stage should be turned on or off depends on the specific signal path through the switch array.
The above-noted laser-amplifier gate switch approach provides inherently better crosstalk than the digital optical switch approach, typically on the order of -30 dB or less. However, the laser-amplifier gate switch approach leads to an accumulation of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise in the switch array which can contribute to crosstalk. In addition, it is very difficult to achieve uniform performance and low polarization dependent loss (PDL) and crosstalk across a given chip and within the switch array. Moreover, the amplifier performance can be affected by the residual reflectivity at the interface between the active and passive regions, and the uniformity of that interface across the chip. These and other factors make the laser-amplifier gate switch approach difficult to implement in many practical optical switching applications. It would therefore be desirable to improve the crosstalk performance of the digital optical switch approach in a manner which avoids the problems associated with the conventional dilation or shaping approaches.
As is apparent from the above, a need exists for an improved digital optical switch which exhibits reduced crosstalk and can be implemented without the use of dilation or any other significant increase in switch size or switch array control complexity.

Crosstalk-reduced integrated digital optical switch


A belt reinforcing material of at least two layers where one layer is a twined fabric and the other layer is a woven fabric that are attached to each other such as by needle-punching. A toothed power transmission belt with a plurality of teeth spaced along one side of the belt includes the aforementioned fabric disposed at a peripheral surface that includes the belt teeth.

The invention relates to a belt reinforcing fabric, but more particularly, the invention relates to a reinforcing fabric particularly useful in reinforcing belt teeth and a toothed power transmission belt made with such fabric.
Toothed power transmission belts have a polymeric body such as of a rubber, thermoplastic, or urethane, with a plurality of teeth formed along at least one side of such belts. A tensile member is typically embedded in a body as a load carrying member. It is preferred to have the belt teeth reinforced with a fibrous material to enhance their shear strength and wear-resistance, or to alter their coefficient of friction for engagement with a toothed pulley. Wear-resistant fabrics for belts are of a woven type such as a canvas, a crimped stretchable nylon, and a leno-weave, etc., and may be of a knit fabric such as a 1.times.1 rib knit. Such fabrics are disposed in the belt at a peripheral surface that includes the belt teeth and may be in the form of single layer fabrics, multiple layers of woven fabrics, bonded layers of fabrics, and fabrics with an outer layering of an impervious thermoplastic film.
Other fabric reinforcements for reinforcing belt teeth may be of the non-woven type and include a web of discontinuous fibers or a web of fibers that are bonded together by thermal or chemical bonding or needle-punching in known fashion to form a non-woven fabric. Such non-woven belt fabrics are typically embedded in a belt body and may be used to help locate a belt's pitch line diameter (PLD) for a spirally wound tensile cord at lands located between spaced belt teeth. The fabrics are sometimes in an expanded form near a middle portion of the belt tooth where they act as a tooth reinforcement. With some non-woven fabrics, it is difficult to control a requisite thickness for maintaining an acceptable PLD. Some non-woven fabrics are difficult to handle and position at a desired location within belt teeth because of processing limitations of belt manufacture. Examples of fabric reinforcements for belts and belts reinforced therewith are disclosed in the following patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,328 (Redmond) discloses a fabric in the preferable form of a stretchable nylon with a thermoplastic layer such as polyethylene bonded to an exterior surface thereof. The fabric is disposed at a peripheral surface of a belt including belt teeth as a wear-resistant fabric and friction modifying reinforcement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,422 (Cicognai et al.) discloses a rubberized fabric. Two layers of the fabric are disposed along a peripheral surface of a belt including belt teeth for wear-resistance and rigidifying the belt teeth.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,119 (Wetzel) discloses a fabric disposed along a peripheral surface of a belt including belt teeth as a wear-resistant fabric. Discontinuous fibers are compounded into a rubber elastomer of a belt body and are located adjacent the fabric and a tensile member for rigidifying the belt teeth.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,389 (Westhoff) discloses a fabric of the type as used in Redmond '328. The fabric is disposed along a peripheral surface of a belt including spaced belt teeth where the belt teeth are configured flank surfaces having a tractrix curve shape.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,555 (Watanabe et al.) discloses a web of non-woven fabric. The non-woven fabric is used as a reinforcement with a cast urethane belt body and is compressed under a tensile member in a land area of a belt and is diffused in belt teeth as a reinforcing fiber for improving the shear strength of the teeth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,281 (Dutton) discloses a double woven fabric with two sets of warp yarns and two sets of weft yarns that are tied together to form a single fabric layer. The fabric is used as a reinforcement and is disposed along a peripheral surface of the belt including belt teeth as a wear-resistant fabric and a reinforcement member. The fabric also operates to help locate tensile members of the belt for controlling PLD.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,842 (Skura et al.) discloses a stretchable fabric reinforcement. The reinforcement is used in two layers of a toothed belt where one layer is disposed at a peripheral surface including the belt teeth and the other layer is embedded as a suspended layer in the belt teeth as a reinforcement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,214 (Akita et al.) discloses a non-woven fabric where in the prefered form, it is needle punched which bonds discontinuous fibers of the fabric together by entangling some fibers. The non-woven fabric is used as an embedded reinforcement in a toothed belt body of cast urethane. The fabric is disposed in the belt body in a land area between belt teeth where it is compressed to help control PLD and in the belt teeth where it is expanded and serves as an embedded reinforcement for the belt teeth.

Belt reinforcing material and belt constructed therewith


A plasma processing apparatus includes a chamber having a sidewall and a plasma processing space surrounded by the sidewall, and a first side gas inlet line and a second side gas inlet line configured to introduce at least one gas from the sidewall into the plasma processing space. The first side gas inlet line includes a plurality of first side gas injectors symmetrically arranged along a circumferential direction on the sidewall and configured to introduce the gas in a first direction into the plasma processing space. Further, the second side gas inlet line includes a plurality of second side gas injectors symmetrically arranged along the circumferential direction on the sidewall and configured to introduce the gas in a second direction different from the first direction into the plasma processing space.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-67503 discloses a plasma processing apparatus including a dielectric window forming an upper portion of a chamber, a gas supply unit for supplying a gas into the chamber from the upper portion of the chamber, an antenna disposed above the chamber to surround the gas supply unit and configured to generate plasma of the gas in the chamber by supplying a radio frequency power into the chamber, and a power supply unit for supplying a radio frequency power to the antenna.
A flow channel through which the gas to be supplied to the chamber circulates is formed in the gas supply unit. A protruding portion, which is a lower portion of the gas supply unit and protrudes into the chamber from a bottom surface of a dielectric window, has a first injection port for injecting the gas in a downward direction and a second injection port for injecting the gas in a horizontal direction or in an obliquely downward direction.

Plasma processing apparatus and gas introducing method


The invention concerns a base part for a medication delivery device, the base part comprising a connection part and a moveable part. The moveable part, which moves relative to the connection part, is capable of guiding fluid paths from a medication delivery port to a first cannula or sensor and a second cannula or sensor. The base part also comprises guiding means which can direct each cannula or sensor to its subcutaneous position.

The document US 2009/0118592 discloses (FIG. 28C, example 4, page 14) a medical drug delivery device comprising a transcutaneous device unit and a reservoir unit in combination with a Blood Glucose Meter (820), a Continuous blood Glucose Meter (816) and a wireless remote control unit (830) comprising an infusion calculator which parts together form a system (802). A transcutaneous sensor (817) can be formed as part of the transcutaneous device unit and the sensor electronics adapted to process and/or transmit the sensor data is formed as part of the reservoir unit. The sensor can be replaced together with the transcutaneous device or independently thereof.
The document US 2008/0200897 discloses an infusion device an integrated infusion device and analyte monitoring system. This document provides several methods and systems for modular combination of medication delivery and physiological condition monitoring.
Neither of the devices allows for subcutaneously positioned units such as cannulas and sensors can be pointed in different directions when positioned on one single patch or mounting surface and neither of the devices allows for retraction of a cannula without removing the base part or patch which the cannula(s) are part of.
US 2004/0162521 discloses a needle device comprising a housing, a base portion having a mounting surface adapted for application to the skin of a patient and a plurality of needles. Each needle comprises a distal pointed end adapted to penetrate the skin of a patient and each needle has a first position in which the distal end is retracted relative to the mounting surface and a second position in which the distal end projects from the mounting surface. A needle device according to this document being mounted on the patients has to have a height at least corresponding to the length of a needle as the needles before and after use are retracted in their full length perpendicular to the mounting surface, also the cannulas according to the shown embodiments have to be hard, self-penetrating cannulas provided with a side inlet opening.
US 2008/0004515 discloses an integrated analyte monitoring system combined with an on-body patch pump provided with multiple cannulas and a sensor combination. In accordance with an embodiment of this document a first cannula can be configured for transcutaneous delivery of a medication at a first infusion site for an initial time period of e.g. three to four days. Thereafter the first cannula is retracted from the infusion site under the control and operation of one or more controller and infusion management units. After retraction of the first cannula, a second cannula can be inserted at a second infusion site. The second cannula may be inserted automatically by using an insertion device such as an insertion gun configured to couple to the second cannula e.g. including a spring bias driven insertion mechanism. The second cannula (290) is mounted on a base part separate from the patch pump (210) in connection with which the first cannula is mounted.

Base part for a medication delivery device


A position tracking system includes an infrared-sensitive device, such as an infrared camera that generates signals in response to detected infrared light in a field of view of the infrared-sensitive device. A processor is responsive to the signals generated by the infrared-sensitive device for determining a position of the detected infrared light. The processor also generates tilt and pan signals based on the position of the detected infrared light. A tilt and pan mechanism moves a visible-light video camera in response to the tilt and pan signals from the processor. The active infrared light-emitting device includes a loop having at least two infrared light-emitting elements disposed along the loop, on opposite sides of the loop. A control box is disposed in the loop and is in electrical communication with the infrared light-emitting elements. When the loop is disposed around an object that rotates relative to the infrared-sensitive device, a constantly unimpeded viewing channel is provided between the infrared-sensitive device and at least one of the elements due to the positioning of the elements. The position information obtained from the infrared-sensitive device is used to direct a visible-light camera to track the active infrared light-emitting device in a manner similar to that performed by a human camera operator.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention generally relates to a position tracking system. More specifically, the subject invention relates to a position tracking system that includes an infrared-sensitive device for detecting infrared light, a processor for determining a position of the detected infrared light and for generating tilt and pan signals based on the position, and a tilt and pan mechanism for moving a visible-light video camera in response to the tilt and pan signals from the processor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Position tracking systems are known in the art and function through a number of different mechanisms in order to track a moving object. More specifically, the position tracking systems typically include a camera that detects either visible or infrared light. The camera may function by detecting visible or infrared light reflected from an object, by detecting disturbances in ambient visible or infrared light resulting from movement of the object within a field of view of the camera, or by detecting visible or infrared light emitted from a light-emitting device attached to the object. One such position tracking system is disclosed in United States Patent Publication No. 2005/012291 to Murakami.
The '291 publication discloses a visible light camera and an infrared camera for detecting light depending on the time of day, i.e., whether visible light is available from sunlight or whether only infrared light is available. The cameras generate signals in response to disturbances in detected light in the field of view of the camera, which result from movement of an object such as a person in the field of view. A processor is responsive to the signals generated by the camera. The processor uses an algorithm to determine a position of the object based on the signals from the cameras. The processor generates tilt and pan signals based on the position determined by the processor. The processor communicates the signals to tilt and pan mechanisms attached to the cameras. The tilt and pan mechanisms move the cameras in response to the tilt and pan signals from the processor in order to track the object.
With the tracking system of the '291 publication, other moving objects may be in the field of view of the cameras, thereby skewing the signals generated by the cameras and causing inaccuracies in the tilt and pan signals generated by the processor. Further, if the moving object were to enter an area of direct sunlight or other bright light, the visible light camera may detect a washed image in the area of the direct light, thus causing the tracking system to lose track of the object. The object may move behind other objects within a field of view of the camera, which may obscure the object from view and cause the tracking system to lose track of the object. Different lighting regions may also persist within the field of view of the camera that affect the signals generated by the camera. Each of these factors may affect the performance of the tracking system.
Another position tracking system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,709 to Kita et al. The '709 patent discloses an infrared camera that generates signals in response to detected infrared light in a field of view of the infrared camera. The detected infrared, light originates from a "marker", which may be a strip of reflective tape that reflects infrared light that is applied to it or an infrared radiant that radiates infrared rays when infrared light is applied to it. The marker is affixed to a moving object, such as a person. The infrared light may originate from an infrared irradiation apparatus mounted adjacent to the infrared camera. A processor is responsive to the signals generated by the camera. The processor uses an algorithm to determine a position of the detected light based on the signals from the camera. The processor generates tilt and pan signals based on the position determined by the processor. The processor communicates the signals to tilt and pan mechanisms attached to the cameras. The tilt and pan mechanisms move the cameras in response to the tilt and pan signals from the processor.
With the tracking system of the '709 patent, the object having the mark affixed thereto may move behind other objects within a field of view of the camera, thus obscuring the mark from view and causing the tracking system to lose track of the mark. Further, the mark may be obscured beneath clothing, thereby causing the tracking system to lose track of the mark. Further obstruction may occur simply by the object rotating relative to the infrared camera, thereby obscuring the mark from view behind the rotating object. The infrared light may also reflect off of shiny surfaces, thereby skewing the signals generated by the infrared camera and causing the tracking system to lose track of the object.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,801,637 to Voronka et al. discloses another tracking system. The tracking system of the '637 patent employs a series of active markers that emit infrared light and that are placed at different points on a person's body. The sensors are pulsed such that only one sensor is emitting infrared light at any point in time. A position sensor includes three cameras that separately detect a position of each sensor, and relative movements of different body parts are tracked by compiling the data relative to each of the sensors. However, the cameras have a fixed field of view and cannot follow the sensors if the sensors move from the fixed field of view of the cameras. Further, the sensors are each attached to a control box through a wire. With the sensors being positioned at different points on the body, installation of the sensors is cumbersome and time consuming. With the sensors placed all over the body, the sensors are discrete and distracting. As such, the tracking system of the '637 patent is not suitable for all manner of position tracking applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,421 to Parker et al. and assigned to ParkerVision, Inc. also discloses another tracking system. Details of the tracking system disclosed in the '421 patent are further clarified in the cited product information for the "CameraMan" products from ParkerVision, Inc. The tracking system includes an infrared transmitter that transmits infrared light to an infrared receiver that is placed behind a rotating set of signal blocking blinders whose position at any time defines a view angle with a known position. The infrared receiver scans a field of view and detects a peak signal strength from the infrared transmitter. A processor then determines tilt and pan angles and positions a video camera based on the detected position of the peak signal strength. However, as stated in the "CameraMan: 3 ccd Presenter Camera System" Installation and Operations Manual, the infrared transmitter requires a direct line-of-sight link with the camera, i.e., the infrared receiver. Further, no hair or clothing can cover the sensors. Such features make the tracking system of the '421 patent cumbersome and may distract a person wearing the infrared transmitter. By scanning for a peak signal strength, the sensor of the '421 patent is susceptible to ambient infrared light reflecting off of shiny objects, as well as other sources of infrared light. Finally, as shown in the Installation and Operations Manuals, although the infrared transmitter may include infrared light-emitting elements disposed along a loop, a control box is not part of the loop and must be separately connected to the loop through a cable, thus making the infrared transmitter bulky and distracting.
Due to the deficiencies of the prior art, there remains an opportunity to provide a position tracking system and a method of tracking with the position tracking system that provides a constantly viewable source of infrared light to an infrared camera such that tracking is unimpeded, regardless of whether or not the source of infrared light is covered by clothing, hair, etc. There is also an opportunity to provide a position tracking system that may be set up quickly and that is not distracting to observers of a person being tracked.

The Regents of the University of Michigan


An aerator assembly for diffusing a gas in a liquid, including a gas supply conduit and at least one aerator, wherein the gas supply conduit and the aerator are releasably joined to each other by an attachment. The attachment includes a flexible body and a compressor, wherein the attachment is arranged to be reversibly set in an inactive mode, in which the gas supply conduit and the at least one aerator are in mutually released mode, as well as in an active mode in which the flexible body is compressed in its axial longitudinal direction by the compressor and clamps the at least one aerator and the gas supply conduit against each other.

There are a number of known measures to attach single aerators on a gas supply conduit, but most of known solutions comprise complicated attachment such as a threaded pipe connection piece welded onto the gas supply conduit, pipe clamps complicating and raising the price of the holder and the system of the aerator, etc.
Another known measure to attach an aerator to a gas supply conduit is to glue the holder of the aerator to the pipe wall of the gas supply conduit by means of an adhesive. A disadvantage with these glue joints is that they are hard and brittle and if the aerator is subject to high forces, for instance during installation of the aerator assembly in a basin, the glue joint will be damaged and if the aerator completely or partly loosens it is difficult to reattach the aerator to the gas supply conduit. The difficulty lies in that gluing is suitable for factory gluing, i.e. for obtaining an optimal glue joint, controlled environment and suitable fixtures are required. However, normally neither of these is available during installation of the aerator assembly in a basin of a customer. Moreover, gluing is a more or less permanent joint, rendering it more difficult to exchange or add more aerators to the aerator assembly.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,211 an untapped, alternatively a threaded pop rivet is used for joining the gas supply conduit and the aerator. In other words, a pop rivet extends from the inner chamber of the holder to the gas supply chamber, such that gas or air is allowed to flow through the pop rivet. However, there is a great risk that problems arise due to leakage at the interface, and therefore a number of seals are provided in the interface between the aerator and the pipe wall of the gas supply conduit. For detaching the aerator to exchange the same the pop rivet must be destroyed, for instance by drilling the same. However, there is a risk that the gas supply conduit and/or the aerator are damaged during such a measure. If the stiff pop rivet is partly deformed due to external forces on the aerator during installation of the aerator assembly in a basin, there is a substantial risk that the same will leak despite the seal at the interface between the aerator and the gas supply conduit.

Aerator assembly for diffusing a gas in a liquid


A granular perpendicular magnetic recording medium comprises a non-magnetic substrate and a granular perpendicular magnetic recording layer overlying the substrate, comprising a first granular perpendicular magnetic layer proximal the substrate and having a first saturation magnetization (Ms)1, and a second granular perpendicular magnetic layer distal the substrate and having a second, different saturation magnetization (Ms)2. Also disclosed is a method of fabricating the granular perpendicular magnetic recording medium.

Magnetic media are widely used in various applications, particularly in the computer industry for data/information storage and retrieval applications, typically in disk form, and efforts are continually made with the aim of increasing the areal recording density, i.e., bit density of the magnetic media. Conventional thin film thin-film type magnetic media, wherein a fine-grained polycrystalline magnetic alloy layer serves as the active recording layer, are generally classified as "longitudinal" or "perpendicular", depending upon the orientation of the magnetic domains of the grains of magnetic material.
Perpendicular recording media have been found to be superior to longitudinal media in achieving very high bit densities without experiencing the thermal stability limit associated with the latter. In perpendicular magnetic recording media, residual magnetization is formed in a direction ("easy axis") perpendicular to the surface of the magnetic medium, typically a layer of a magnetic material on a suitable substrate. Very high to ultra-high linear recording densities are obtainable by utilizing a "single-pole" magnetic transducer or "head" with such perpendicular magnetic media.
Efficient, high bit density recording utilizing a perpendicular magnetic medium requires interposition of a relatively thick (as compared with the magnetic recording layer), magnetically "soft" underlayer ("SUL"), i.e., a magnetic layer having a relatively low coercivity below about 1 kOe, such as of a NiFe alloy (Permalloy), between a non-magnetic substrate, e.g., of glass, aluminum (Al) or an Al-based alloy, and a magnetically "hard" recording layer having relatively high coercivity, typically about 3-8 kOe, e.g., of a cobalt-based alloy (e.g., a Co—Cr alloy such as CoCrPtB) having perpendicular anisotropy. The magnetically soft underlayer serves to guide magnetic flux emanating from the head through the magnetically hard perpendicular recording layer.
A typical conventional perpendicular recording system 20 utilizing a vertically oriented magnetic medium 21 with a relatively thick soft magnetic underlayer, a relatively thin hard magnetic recording layer, and a magnetic transducer head 16, is illustrated in FIG. 1, wherein reference numerals 10, 11, 4, 5, and 6, respectively, indicate a non-magnetic substrate, an optional adhesion layer, a soft magnetic underlayer, at least one non-magnetic seed layer (sometimes referred to as an "intermediate" layer or as an "interlayer"), and at least one magnetically hard perpendicular recording layer with its magnetic easy axis perpendicular to the film plane.
Still referring to FIG. 1, reference numerals 7 and 8, respectively, indicate the main (writing) and auxiliary poles of the magnetic transducer head 16. The relatively thin interlayer 5, comprised of one or more layers of non-magnetic materials, serves to (1) prevent magnetic interaction between the soft underlayer 4 and the at least one hard recording layer 6; and (2) promote desired microstructural and magnetic properties of the at least one magnetically hard recording layer
As shown by the arrows in the figure indicating the path of the magnetic flux φ, flux φ is seen as emanating from the main writing pole 7 of magnetic transducer head 16, entering and passing through the at least one vertically oriented, magnetically hard recording layer 5 in the region below main pole 7, entering and traveling within soft magnetic underlayer (SUL) 3 for a distance, and then exiting therefrom and passing through the at least one perpendicular hard magnetic recording layer 6 in the region below auxiliary pole 8 of transducer head 16. The direction of movement of perpendicular magnetic medium 21 past transducer head 16 is indicated in the figure by the arrow above medium 21.
With continued reference to FIG. 1, vertical lines 9 indicate grain boundaries of polycrystalline layers 5 and 6 of the layer stack constituting medium 21. Magnetically hard main recording layer 6 is formed on interlayer 5, and while the grains of each polycrystalline layer may be of differing widths (as measured in a horizontal direction) represented by a grain size distribution, they are generally in vertical registry (i.e., vertically "correlated" or aligned).
Completing the layer stack is a protective overcoat layer 14, such as of a diamond-like carbon (DLC), formed over hard magnetic layer 6, and a lubricant topcoat layer 15, such as of a perfluoropolyether (PFPE) material, formed over the protective overcoat layer.
Substrate 10 is typically disk-shaped and comprised of a non-magnetic metal or alloy, e.g., Al or an Al-based alloy, such as Al—Mg having a Ni—P plating layer on the deposition surface thereof, or alternatively substrate 10 is comprised of a suitable glass, ceramic, glass-ceramic, polymeric material, or a composite or laminate of these materials. Optional adhesion layer 11, if present, may comprise an up to about 200 Å thick layer of a material such as Ti, a Ti-based alloy, Cr, or a Cr-based alloy. Soft magnetic underlayer 4 is typically comprised of an about 500 to about 4,000 Å thick layer of a soft magnetic material selected from the group consisting of Ni, NiFe (Permalloy), Co, CoZr, CoZrCr, CoZrNb, CoFeZrNb, CoFe, Fe, FeN, FeSiAl, FeSiAlN, FeCoB, FeCoC, etc. Interlayer 5 typically comprises an up to about 300 Å thick layer or layers of non-magnetic material(s), such as Ru, TiCr, Ru/CoCr37Pt6, RuCr/CoCrPt, etc.; and the at least one magnetically hard perpendicular recording layer 6 is typically comprised of an about 50 to about 250 Å thick layer(s) of Co-based alloy(s) including one or more elements selected from the group consisting of Cr, Fe, Ta, Ni, Mo, Pt, V, Nb, Ge, B, and Pd.
A currently employed way of classifying magnetic recording media is on the basis by which the magnetic grains of the recording layer are mutually separated, i.e., segregated, in order to physically and magnetically de-couple the grains and provide improved media performance characteristics. According to this classification scheme, magnetic media with Co-based alloy magnetic recording layers (e.g., CoCr alloys) are classified into two distinct types: (1) a first type, wherein segregation of the grains occurs by diffusion of Cr atoms of the magnetic layer to the grain boundaries of the layer to form Cr-rich grain boundaries, which diffusion process requires heating of the media substrate during formation (deposition) of the magnetic layer; and (2) a second type, wherein segregation of the grains occurs by formation of oxides, nitrides, and/or carbides at the boundaries between adjacent magnetic grains to form so-called "granular" media, which oxides, nitrides, and/or carbides may be formed by introducing a minor amount of at least one reactive gas containing oxygen, nitrogen, and/or carbon atoms (e.g. O2, N2, CO2, etc.) to the inert gas (e.g., Ar) atmosphere during sputter deposition of the Co alloy-based magnetic layer. The latter process does not require heating of the substrate to an elevated temperature.
Magnetic recording media with granular magnetic recording layers possess great potential for achieving very high and ultra-high areal recording densities. An advantage afforded by granular recording layers is significant suppression of media noise due to great reduction in the exchange coupling between adjacent magnetic grains, resulting from the presence of non-magnetic material, typically an oxide material, at the grain boundaries. As indicated above, current methodology for manufacturing granular-type magnetic recording media involves reactive sputtering of a target comprised of the ferromagnetic material for the magnetic recording layer (typically a Co-based alloy) in a reactive gas-containing atmosphere, e.g., an atmosphere comprising oxygen or a compound of oxygen, in order to incorporate oxides in the deposited film or layer and achieve smaller and more isolated magnetic grains. Granular magnetic layers formed in this manner have a reduced saturation magnetization (Ms) due to the oxide formation and consumption of a certain amount of the Co component of the ferromagnetic alloy. Alternatively, a target comprised of the ferromagnetic material (typically a Co-based alloy) and the oxide material may be directly sputtered in an inert atmosphere or an atmosphere comprising oxygen or a compound of oxygen. However, the oxide material sputtered from the target is subject to decomposition in the environment of the sputtering gas plasma, and, as a consequence, a certain amount of the Co component of the ferromagnetic alloy is again consumed.
Disadvantageously, however, neither of the above-described fabrication techniques or approaches is suitable for fabricating granular perpendicular magnetic recording media with ideal properties for high areal density recording. More specifically, granular perpendicular magnetic recording media fabricated according to either of the foregoing approaches do not take full advantage of the writing field provided by the transducer head during the writing process and do not facilitate use of minimized head-media spacings.
In view of the foregoing, there exists a clear need for high and ultra-high areal recording density, high performance granular-type perpendicular magnetic recording media, and related fabrication methodology, which: (1) take full advantage of the writing field provided by the transducer head; (2) facilitate use of minimized head-media spacings; (3) reduce the effect of demagnetization during the recording process; (4) provide a steeper magnetization curve for a given level or amount of intergranular exchange, thereby reducing the amount of exchange coupling without degradation of thermal stability; and (5) provide increased signal-to-noise ratios (SNR).
The present invention addresses and solves the above-described problems, drawbacks, and disadvantages associated with the above-described conventional methodology for the manufacture of high performance perpendicular-type magnetic recording media comprising granular-type magnetic recording layers, while maintaining full compatibility with all aspects of automated manufacture of such media.

Granular perpendicular magnetic recording media with dual recording layer and method of fabricating same


According to one embodiment, an electronic device includes a housing, a first substrate having rigidity and including a slit, contained in the housing, a part mount portion provided on the first substrate and adjacent to the slit, an electronic part mounted on the part mount portion and a second substrate having flexibility. The second substrate is stacked on an inside of the first substrate and an inside of the part mount portion, and it crosses the slit, thereby supporting the part mount portion to be displaceable with respect to the first substrate.

1. Field
One embodiment of the present invention relates to an electronic device, for example, comprising a circuit module in which a flexible printed circuit board is arranged around a rigid printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inside an electronic device such as a portable computer, a circuit module is housed and the module contains a rigid printed circuit board and various types of electronic parts mounted on the rigid printed circuit board. Portable electronic devices of this type may be exposed to percussive impact from outside while being carried in, for example, a bag.
When an electronic is exposed to percussive impact, the impact propagates to the circuit module inside the device. When the circuit module is exposed to percussive impact, the circuit module may be warped or distorted in form. For example, due to this, a defect may occur in the connection between a rigid printed circuit board and an electronic part, which was made by soldering.
In order to prevent such a defect, there have been provided such a technique in which an adhesive is supplied to be across between a side edge of the electronic part and the rigid printed circuit board, and thus the connection between the electronic part and the rigid printed circuit board is reinforced. There is another technique such as disclosed in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-332743, in which the flexible printed circuit board (to be called as FPC hereinafter) is exposed to a portion of the rigid printed circuit board, and electronic parts are mounted on the FPC.
Even in the case where the connection between an electronic part and a rigid printed circuit board is reinforced with use of an adhesive, a large portion of the percussive impact applied to the electronic device is propagated to the circuit module. For this reason, some defect may occur in the connection due to the percussive impact even if an adhesive is employed.
In the technique of mounting electronic parts on an FPC, the electronic parts may not be firmly mounted since the FPC has flexibility. For this reason, even in the case where electronic parts are mounted on an FPC, some defect may occur in the connection due to the percussive impact.


Substrates including conductive pads for coupling the substrates to a microelectronic device and/or package are described herein. Embodiments of the present invention provide substrates comprising one or more conductive pads including a base portion and a pillar portion, the pillar portion being configured to couple with a microelectronic device. According to various embodiments of the present invention, the substrate may be a printed circuit board and/or may be a carrier substrate incorporated into an electronic package. The pillar portion may facilitate interconnection between the substrate and a microelectronic device or package by effectively raising the height of the conductive pad. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

In the current state of integrated circuit technology, a microelectronic device (e.g., an integrated circuit device) will often be in the form of a die. Such a die, or in some cases, more than one die, may be mounted onto an underlying substrate such as, for example, a carrier substrate to form a package. The package may then be physically and electrically coupled to another substrate such as, for example, a printed circuit board.
Interconnecting a die with a substrate, or a package with a substrate, may involve interconnecting the die or package to a bond pad of the substrate. The substrate may include many bond pads, which may be interconnected via traces, and a solder mask may cover at least some portion of the substrate. It has been discovered that the solder mask, and/or various other features of the substrate, may physically inhibit adequate electrical coupling between the bond pad and an interconnect material (e.g., a solder bump) coupled to the die or package.


A random signal generator outputs a random noise signal to a band pass filter which selectively passes frequency components in the frequency range of a desired brain wave from a subject. The output of the band pass filter is supplied to an automatic level controller. The automatic level controller sets the output of band pass filter to a predetermined amplitude. Then, the output of the automatic level controller is fed to a stimulating light generator, which converts the output of the automatic level controller into a light signal for stimulating the subject in order to induce the desired brain wave from the subject. The light signal is then emitted into the subject's eyes.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a brain wave inducing apparatus for inducing brain waves such as .alpha., .beta., and .theta. waves from a human body through optical stimulation.
2. Related Art
It is well known that there is a close relationship between the brain waves of a person and his or her biological, psychological conditions. For example, .alpha. waves (about 8-13 Hz) are dominantly developed when a person is relaxed, .beta. waves (about 14-30 Hz) are dominant when mentally and physically active, and .theta. waves (about 4-7 Hz) are dominant when the person is sleepy.
Conversely, if a specific brain wave is induced dominantly, then the person will enter the corresponding physical and psychological condition. Therefore, the use of the relationship between these brain waves and their corresponding physical, psychological conditions may be useful in controlling physical and psychological conditions in human beings.
Laid Open Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-87165 discloses a "relaxing apparatus." With this apparatus, a white noise outputted from a random signal generator is directed to a filter having a 1/f characteristic that produces a fluctuation signal of 1/f characteristic. A reference frequency set within the .alpha. frequency range (about 8-13 Hz) is frequency-modulated by the fluctuation signal. This frequency-modulated signal Vp drives a light emitting device to cycle on and off so as to produce a stimulating light whose time interval fluctuates with 1/f characteristic. Thereby, this stimulating signal is used to induce .alpha. waves in a patient. The frequency modulated signal Vp has a constant amplitude and a regular waveform.
.alpha. waves as well as other brain waves, are usually not uniform in waveform and amplitude. It is known that brain waves have a so-called "pull-in phenomenon" where a specific brain wave is "pulled in" or induced in response to an optical stimulation. When effectively inducing a specific brain wave by using the pull-in phenomenon, an optically stimulating signal should have a waveform as close to an actual brain wave as possible. From this point of view, the waveform of the frequency-modulated signal Vp of the relax apparatus disclosed by Laid Open Japanese Patent No. 62-87165 is too simple and not satisfactory. Thus, the use of the brain wave of a patient is the most efficient way of inducing a desired brain wave from that patient. However, picking up the brain waves from the patient will usually require electrodes and cords as well as many accessory circuits such as signal processing circuits, which makes the apparatus complex, large and burdensome.


The cis-isomer and trans-isomers of the plant-derived compound gnetin H are shown have anticancer properties, anti-inflammatory properties, and low toxicity. Therapeutic and prophylactic compositions that contain cis-gnetin H, trans-gnetin H, and derivatives thereof, as well as methods of making and using said compositions, are provided. cis-gnetin H and/or trans-gnetin H can be used in purified form or as a plant extract.

Resveratrol (3,5,4′-trihydroxystilbene) is a naturally occurring phenylpropanoid produced in a number of plant species, such as grapevines, berries, peanuts, and Japanese knotweeds (Aggarwal et al., Anticancer Res., 2004; 24:2783-2840). Resveratrol has been intensively studied over the past decade and shown to possess anti-tumor potential in a wide variety of human tumor cells and various animal models (Bishayee, Cancer Prev. Res. 2009; 2:409-418). Resveratrol has potential anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects (Aggarwal et al., 2004, Anticancer Res., 24:2783-840; Aggarwal et al., 2004, Anticancer Res., 24:2783-840; Manna et al., 2000, J. Immunol., 164:6509-19).
cis-gnetin H and trans-gnetin H are trimers of resveratrol, differing from each other in the olefinic moiety between C-7′/C-8′ (FIGS. 1A and 1B; He et al., Chem. Pharm. Bull. 2010; 58:843-847). These oligostilbenes as well as other resveratrol derivatives can be obtained from the seeds of Paeonia suffruticosa (He et al., Chem. Pharm. Bull. 2010; 58:843-847). Paeonia suffruticosa has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine as an analgesic, anti-anaphylactic, anti-oxidative, and anti-inflammatory agent (He et al., Chem. Pharm. Bull. 2010; 58:843-847; Hu et al., J. Ethnopharmacol., 2010, 128:100-6; Oh et al., J. Ethnopharmacol., 2003, 84:85-9). The seeds of the plant contain multiple stilbenes that showed potential cytotoxic, anti-mutagenic, ecdysteroid antagonist, anti-oxidant, hyperpigmentation, antitumor, and anti-inflammatory activity, and have been used in traditional medicine throughout East Asia to treat conditions and diseases such as atherosclerosis, inflammation, infection, and cutaneous diseases (Choi et al., J. Biomed. Sci., 2012, 19:82; Gao et al., J. Ethnopharmacol., 2015, 169:24-33; He et al., Chem. Pharm. Bull. 2010; 58:843-847).
While there are numerous studies on the bioactivities of resveratrol, little is known about the biological role of cis-gnetin H or trans-gnetin H. In vitro studies using HL-60 (human leukemia), C6 (mouse glioma), Hela (human cervicse), MCF-7 (human breast) and L1210 (mouse leukemia) cell lines suggested that trans-gnetin H has anti-tumor activity (Kim et al., Arch. Pharm. Res. 2002; 25:293-299; Ha et al., Arch. Pharm. Res. 2009; 32:177-83) but trans-gnetin H's potential as a cancer chemopreventive has not been clearly elucidated. Additionally, the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of Paeonia suffruticosa have not been fully characterized.

Cis-gnetin H and trans-gnetin H as therapeutic agents


There is disclosed an ink cartridge including a cylindrical member having an ink port at one axial end thereof, a piston, a piston rod, and a thrusting portion. The piston rod is fitted in the cylindrical member air-tightly and slidably, and partially defines an ink chamber within the cylindrical member. The ink chamber is in communication with the ink port. The piston rod is connected to the piston on the side opposite to the ink chamber, and extends in the cylindrical member along an axial direction of the cylindrical member. The thrusting portion is at least partially positioned in the cylindrical member and configured to apply a thrust force to the piston rod and thereby move the piston along the axial direction. The thrusting portion comprises a driven portion drivable from the exterior of the cylindrical member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink cartridge and an ink filling apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
As a kind of ink cartridge, an ink container for an inkjet printhead is disclosed in JP-A-5-338198, for instance. The ink container includes a cylindrical member as a mainbody, and an ink outflow port is formed in a wall of the cylindrical member at an axial end thereof. The ink container further includes a piston that is air-tightly and slidably fitted in the cylindrical member.
It can be considered that the ink container is filled with an ink such that the ink is fed into the cylindrical member through the ink outflow port, with the piston being slid in a direction away from the wall in which the ink outflow port is formed.
Meanwhile, JP-U-5-44801 discloses an adjusting apparatus for a packaging machine which adjusts an amount of a filling material supplied into a container or a package. The adjusting apparatus includes a filling cylinder, a piston slidably or reciprocably fitted in the cylinder, an L-shaped lever or a bell crank having a slot extending in and along one of two arms thereof and a screw shaft disposed in the slot parallel to a longitudinal direction of the slot. A slider is slidably fitted in the slot and threadably engaged with the screw shaft, and the piston is connected to the slider via a piston rod extending downward from the piston out of the filling cylinder, and a connecting rod. The arm of the bell crank in which the slot extends is disposed under the filling cylinder to be swingable or turnable around a pivot shaft.
When the filling cylinder is to be filled with a liquid as the filling material the arm of the bell crank is swung or turned around the pivot shaft away from the filling cylinder in order to lower the piston in the filling cylinder to introduce the liquid into the filling cylinder from a port formed in an upper wall of the filling cylinder.
The adjusting apparatus has a drawback that the piston rod and the connecting rod are connected to each other such that each of the piston rod and the connecting rod is pivotable about an axis that corresponds to a connecting point between the piston rod and the connecting rod, and thus an amount of movement of the piston is not simply or linearly proportional to an angle of swinging or turning of the bell crank.
Accordingly, an amount of the liquid poured out from the filling cylinder toward a nozzle from which the liquid is ejected into the package, is not simply or linearly proportional to the angle of the swinging or turning of the bell crank. Thus, controlling the adjusting apparatus is difficult, resulting in lower accuracy and precision of the adjustment of the amount of the filling material.
The adjusting apparatus is disadvantageous also in the complex connecting structure between the piston and the bell crank. That is, the piston is connected to the piston rod that is connected to the connecting rod. that is in turn connected to the slider fitted in the slot of the bell crank.


Provided according to an exemplary embodiment is a heater for an aerosol generation device, the heater comprising a plurality of segments combined together to form an insertion portion into which an object-to-be-heated is inserted; one or more electrically conductive tracks printed on one surface of each of the plurality of segments and disposed toward the object-to-be-heated; and an elastic member configured to surround at least a part of the plurality of segments.

Recently, the demand for alternative methods to overcome the shortcomings of general cigarettes has increased. For example, there is an increasing demand for a method of generating aerosol by heating an aerosol generating material in cigarettes, rather than by burning cigarettes. Accordingly, studies on a heating-type cigarette and a heating-type aerosol generating device have been actively conducted.
An aerosol generation device according to the related art includes an internal insertion-type heater inserted into a cigarette, but there is a problem in that when the internal insertion-type heater is inserted into the cigarette, foreign substances are discharged from the cigarette as one end of the cigarette penetrates. In order to solve such a problem, a cylindrical heater for heating the cigarette from the outside has been developed, but in the case of a cylindrical heater, there is a problem in that heat transfer to the cigarette is reduced as compared to the internal insertion-type heater directly inserted into the cigarette. Therefore, there may be a need for a technique for maximizing the efficiency of heat transfer to cigarettes in an aerosol generation device including a cylindrical heater.

Aerosol generation device and heater for aerosol generation device


A capacitor, inductor, and power line are arranged in a series parallel combination tank circuit that operates over four quarters of a complete cycle. During the first quarter cycle: power is applied to the tank circuit, current flows through the inductor to the capacitor, current is stored in the inductor, and the capacitor is charged. During the second quarter cycle; current is released from the inductor as the capacitor discharges current to another parallel inductor or resistive load. During a third quarter cycle: current flows in the capacitor from the opposite direction, the capacitor is charged, current pushes out from the capacitor to the incoming power line, and current is stored in the inductor. During the fourth quarter cycle: the capacitor discharges in the opposite direction, current parallel to another inductor or resistive load flows in the opposite direction, and the inductor releases current to incoming power line.

a) Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to an apparatus, system and method for conserving energy in electromagnetic circuits that may include an inductor, motor, generator, and capacitor or condenser.
b) Background Art
The presently described invention has a variety of applications including the ability to reduce reliance on gasoline and diesel fuel. As will be described, an energy-efficient electromagnetic circuit can be utilized to power electric motors, generators, and other power related applications. Because of the uncertainty surrounding the cost and availability of gasoline and diesel fuel, the presently described features have the potential to reduce the use of petrochemical fuel by conserving electrical energy.
Electric motor efficiency is the measure of the ability of an electric motor to convert electrical energy to mechanical energy. An energy-efficient motor is a motor that gives the same mechanical output strength but uses less electrical energy input. To increase electric motor efficiency, the electric power consumption and motor losses must be reduced. Energy-efficient motors conserve electrical energy and may be used for a variety of uses, including within hybrid cars, to increase fuel-efficiency. Electrical motor power consumption efficiency (Efficiency) can be calculated by the following equation:Efficiency=(100%)×(Mechanical power output)/(Electrical power input).
The present disclosure has evaluated numerous conventional motor-related circuits and identified new methods that realize power conservation that is approximately 150% to around 200% better than conventionally available motors.
APPENDIX 1 is a graphical illustration of the test setup for comparing a conventional single-phase motor to a re-wound single-phase motor.
APPENDIX 2 is a detailed description of the test configuration and resulting data from comparative tests for the conventional single-phase motor and the re-wound single-phase motor of APPENDIX 1.

Conservation of electrical energy and electro-magnetic power in motor, generator, and product components


Disclosed is a method for simplifying a signal processing process of a base station that receives signals through four branches using two two-branch polarized antennas for each sector. The base station receives signals through first and second branches of the first polarized antenna and third and fourth branches of the second polarized antenna, time-delays the signals received at the second and fourth branches so as to distinguish an offset thereof from an offset of the signals received at the first and third branches, adds the signal received at the first branch and the signal received at the second branch and time-delayed, and adds the signal received at the third branch and the signal received at the fourth branch and time delayed. A modem processor separates an offset distinguishable signal from the added signals.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for receiving signals in a mobile communication network, and a base station thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for reducing complexity of a base station when the base station uses two two-branch polarization antennas to receive signals through four branches.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In general, signals transmitted from a mobile station antenna are reflected or refracted depending on environmental factors such as the ground or buildings, and they are received to a base station antenna through multiple paths. As described, when various signals are received through different paths, the signals undergo different amplitude attenuations and phase changes. When the signals are combined, signal intensities change according to time variation differing from the signal intensities of transmission signals, which is referred to as fading. To solve the problem of fading, diversity methods for receiving various independently-faded signals and appropriately combining them have been proposed.
The diversity methods include a space diversity method which is a method of transmission by the simultaneous use of two or more physically separated vertical antennas, and a polarization diversity method for separately receiving vertical polarization and horizontal polarization signals. The polarization diversity method uses a polarized antenna to detect polarized signal components and uses them as branches of diversity.
Base stations based on the mobile communication systems such as IS-95, CDMA2000, and WCDMA generally use the space diversity method by using two vertical antennas spatially separated for each sector to receive signals. In this instance, the reason for using less than three antennas is that less merits are achieved compared to an increase of complexity. The above-noted mobile communication systems usually adopt the three-sector method of using three sectors α, β, and γ. Referring to FIG. 5, a conventional configuration of a base station and a method for receiving signals at the base station will be described.
FIG. 5 shows a conventional base station.
As shown, the conventional base station (e.g., a base station using the three-sector method) includes RF/IF (radio frequency/intermediate frequency) processors RF/IF1 through RF/IF6 for each antenna path. The signals received through the six vertical antennas are passed through the RF/IF processors to be converted into baseband signals, and are input to a modem processor 20.
The modem processor 20 searches multipath signals for the six antenna reception paths to allocate a valid multipath signal component to a finger, and detects a phase of the corresponding multipath signal component to execute MRC (maximal ratio combining) on the signal components allocated to the finger.
In detail, the two antennas in each sector are spatially separated to receive signals with independent fading and phase, but they are not so far from each other that spreading sequence offsets of the signals received at the two antennas differ. Therefore, the signals that have the same spreading sequence offset and different phase and fading are received through the two antennas, and the modem processor 20 performs phase detection and phase correction on these signals, and executes MRC to obtain a diversity effect. So as to achieve the diversity effect, it is required for the respective antenna components to maintain independent signal paths without being added until MRC is executed on them after the phase detection and phase correction.
Recently, a method using two sets of two branch X-pole antennas for enabling usage of both space diversity and polarization diversity has been proposed. That is, when two sets of X-pole polarized antennas are provided for each sector, the polarization diversity characteristics can be obtained through the X-pole antennas, and since the two sets of X-pole antennas are spatially separated, space diversity characteristics can be obtained.
As shown in FIG. 6, in the two sets of two-branch X-pole antennas 41 and 42, 43 and 44, and 45 and 46, each sector has four branches 41a, 41b, 42a, and 42b; 43a, 43b, 44a, and 44b; and 45a, 45b, 46a, and 46b. Accordingly, twelve RF/IF processors RF/IF1 through RF/IF12 coupled to each branch are to be formed in the base station (e.g., a three-sector base station), and a modem processor 50 having twelve receivers for receiving signals from the twelve RF/IF processors is to be used.
Hence, the number of the RF/IF processors and signal paths increase to increase hardware complexity, and the conventional modem processor is to be modified.

Base station and method for receiving and processing signal in the base station


A method, system and/or computer program product for information browsing comprises: obtaining screen partition information of an electronic device; obtaining a position of a user's current input on the screen; obtaining file segmentation information describing a mapping relationship between file segments and screen partitions; determining a file segment corresponding to the user's current input based on the screen partition information, the position of the user's current input on the screen, and the file segmentation information; and displaying a preview of the determined file segment that corresponds to the user's current input.

The present invention relates to information processing, more particularly, to a method and system for information browsing.
As mobile electronic devices become popular, people increasingly use mobile electronic devices to browse information. Scrollbar is a manner of information browsing frequently used in prior art. However, due to the small size of screen of the mobile electronic devices, when there is a large amount of content (e.g., a 200 pages document), efficient content browsing can not be realized with a traditional scrollbar.

Information browsing on an electronic device

International Business Machines Corporation


A device may have a plurality of displays, such as a high-power display and a low-power display. The low-power display may be used to display various types of information. Some examples of information that may be displayed on the low-power display include personal customizations of the device (e.g., skins, tattoos, text or graphics, etc.), a battery meter, a signal strength meter, the date and time, or any other type of information. In one example, the device has a separate processor that drives the low-power display, so that the low-power display can be used while the device is in sleep mode or off. In another example, an application that runs on the device's regular processor uses the high- and low-power displays cooperatively to display output from an application. The low-power display can be wrapped around the edges and/or corners of the device, to make effective use of the device's surface area.

Mobile phones, and other small computing devices, are being built with increasingly large display surfaces. While the devices themselves, in general, are smaller than they were several years ago, modern devices devote a relatively larger percentage of the device's surface to the display. Early devices typically had a mechanical keypad for input and a screen to display output. Since the keypad and screen coexisted on the same side of the device, there was a limit as to how large the display could be. While some phones continue to use mechanical keypads (which are favored by some users), advances in touch-screen technology have allowed other devices to omit the keypad entirely in favor of a touch-screen interface that acts as both an input device and a display. This design allows a larger portion of the surface area to be used as a display.
Some devices include more than one display area. For example, some phones with a "flip" or "slide out" design include plural displays—e.g., one large display as the main viewing area, and another smaller display to show a clock, a "message waiting" indicator, etc. In some cases, one of the displays may use less power per viewing area than the other display—e.g., one display may be color and the other may be monochrome (where a monochrome display generally uses less power than a color display).
Despite these designs, phones and other devices generally include less display real estate than they could. There is often a considerable amount of surface area on the device that could accommodate a display, but that is not being used as a display.


A high frequency bipolar transistor (30, 60) having reduced capacitance and inductance is formed over a substrate (61). The substrate (61) is heavily doped to form a low resistance current path. A lightly doped epitaxial layer (62) isolates the substrate (61) from layers which form the transistor. The epitaxial layer (62) is the same conductivity type as the substrate (61). A topside substrate contact (73) couples an emitter of the transistor (60) to the substrate (61). The backside of the substrate (61) is metalized and conductively attached to a leaded flag of a leadframe (51) thereby eliminating wirebond inductance in the emitter of the transistor.

The present invention relates, in general, to transistors and, more particularly, to high frequency bipolar transistors.
Transistors having a bandwidth greater that two gigaHertz (gHz) are commonly used for communication circuits such as cellular phones and pagers. In general, communications circuits include a discrete input stage, often referred to as a "front end", coupled to integrated circuitry. The input stage receives a transmitted radio frequency or microwave frequency signal and reduces the frequency of the received signal to a level that can processed by the integrated circuitry. To improve performance and lower the cost of the communications circuits, semiconductor manufacturers would prefer to build these circuits in a single chip, thereby eliminating the need for discrete devices. However, economical solutions for manufacturing monolithically integrated communications circuits have not been realized because of the cost and complexity of a high performance integrated circuit processes.
FIG. 1 is a top view of a portion of a prior art leadframe 10 having a high frequency bipolar transistor die 12 mounted thereon. High frequency bipolar transistor die 12 has a topside collector contact 13, a topside base contact 14 and a plurality of topside emitter contacts 15. Transistor die 12 is attached to a leaded flag 11 via a thermally conductive die attach material (not shown). Methods for attaching semiconductor die to leaded flags are well known to those skilled in the art.
Collector contact 13 is coupled to leadframe lead 16 via a wirebond 17 and base contact 14 is coupled to leadframe lead 18 via a wirebond 19. Similarly, the plurality of emitter contacts 15 are coupled to leaded flag 11 via wirebonds 20.
FIG. 2 is a simplified model of a prior art high frequency bipolar transistor 21 having a collector electrode 13A, a base electrode 14A, and an emitter electrode 15A. It should be understood that transistor 21 is formed in high frequency bipolar transistor die 12 shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, collector electrode 13A is coupled to collector contact 13, base electrode 14A is coupled to base contact 14, and emitter electrode 15A is coupled to emitter contact 15. Further, inductor 17A represents the parasitic inductance of wirebond 17, inductor 19A represents the parasitic inductance of wirebond 19, and inductor 20A represents the parasitic inductance of wirebonds 20. The parasitic inductors 17A, 19A, and 20A reduce the performance of transistor 21.
The parasitic wirebond inductances coupled to the collector, base, and emitter of transistor 21 have impedances Z.sub.c, Z.sub.b, and Z.sub.e, respectively, that vary with frequency. A typical value for a wirebond inductance is approximately 0.7 nanoHenries. The inductance of the emitter wirebond affects the voltage gain (A.sub.v) of a high frequency bipolar transistor as shown by equation 1: EQU A.sub.v =gm*(1+gm*Z.sub.e).sup.-1 (1)
where gm is the transconductance of transistor 21.
The noise figure corresponds to the input impedance of transistor 21. In general, the emitter resistance and the emitter inductance dominates the input impedance. In the hybrid-.pi. model, an emitter resistance corresponding to a transistor thermal voltage and a wirebond inductance are reflected back through the base of the bipolar transistor to its input. An approximation of the input resistance (R.sub.in) is shown in equation 2: EQU R.sub.in =.beta.*(r.sub.e +1/Ze) (2)
where r.sub.e is the emitter resistance multiplied by the transistor current gain, beta (.beta.).
The impedance Z.sub.e increases the input resistance, R.sub.in, with increasing frequency, thereby producing a lower signal-to-noise ratio at higher frequencies.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a transistor capable of operating in the radio and microwave frequency ranges, have an increased gain, and have an improved noise figure. It would be of further advantage to be able to manufacture the transistor using processes capable of manufacturing high performance integrated circuits. In addition, it is desirable to lower the cost of manufacturing the transistor and packaging the transistor.

High frequency bipolar transistor and method of forming the same


A package includes an internal package stacked upon a primary die. The package includes interconnection balls to allow the package to be electrically and physically connected to a mother board. The package is mounted to the mother board in a single operation thus minimizing labor and the associated manufacturing cost. Further, the package is tested and verified to be non-defective prior to mounting to the mother board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the packaging of electronic components.
2. Description of the Related Art
To decrease the area required for mounting of electronic component packages to printed circuit boards, e.g., mother boards, electronic component packages are frequently stacked one upon another. However, stacking electronic component packages individually one upon another on the mother board is labor-intensive and thus significantly adds to the manufacturing cost. Further, after stacking of the electronic component packages, the stack of electronic component packages must be tested, e.g., for failure of the electrical connection, e.g., solder, between the stacked electronic component packages. In the event a failure is detected, the stack of electronic component packages must be reworked or the assembly discarded thus further adding to the manufacturing cost.


The description concerns a unit for the preparation of a drink from a soluble mix contained in a disposable capsule, of the type comprising a collecting device with housing designed to contain the capsule, in which at least one choking arrangement is provided to ensure laminar flow of the drink as it comes out of the capsule.

In known types of machines, the units for preparation and delivery of the beverage generally comprise a collecting device with a seat for receiving the disposable cartridge. Once the cartridge has been inserted in the collecting device seat, pressurised water is introduced into the cartridge, via an inlet port, to form a beverage consisting of a solution or a dispersion in water of the soluble product which is delivered via an outlet port on the cartridge.
As the disposable cartridges are originally sealed to prevent outflow of the soluble product during handling, the collecting device is generally provided with a piercing member which opens one or more outlet ports on a wall of the cartridge, for example on the bottom of it, along a number of pre-formed breaking lines.
In known types of machines, the particular shape of the cartridge promotes the formation of a turbulent flow inside the cartridge, thus permitting mixing of the soluble product in the water. The beverage thus formed is released via the outlet ports defined by the above-mentioned breaking lines and/or by outlet ports in the piercing member.
A unit for the preparation of beverages of this type has a number of disadvantages. It has been observed that the turbulence mixing which takes place in the cartridge is not equally efficient and complete for different granulometries of soluble products, for example soluble products for coffee, cappuccino, tea and the like.
In fact, the outlet ports that form on the bottom of the cartridge due to the piercing are too large and can cause the delivery of non-dissolved product and clots of it from the cartridge, for example at the beginning of delivery.
The outflow of particles of non-dissolved soluble product not only lowers the quality of the beverage produced but can cause partial or total obstruction of the beverage outlet ports due to deposit of said particles on the walls of the outlet ports or channels downstream of the outlet ports with respect to the dispersion flow.

Unit for preparing beverages from soluble products