A computer-implemented method of identifying sub-circuits in circuit designs includes: receiving a selection of a sub-circuit; specifying a match expression for the sub-circuit, where the match expression characterizes matching properties of components of the sub-circuit; modifying the match expression to change the matching properties of components of the sub-circuit; and producing an information structure in a computer readable medium, where the information structure associates a graph representing a topology of the selected sub-circuit with the modified match expression. Subsequently, the information structure corresponding to the selected sub-circuit can be identified in a given circuit design.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the design of electronic circuits and more particularly to association of constraints with design objects in electronic circuit designs.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools are computer software programs used to design electronic circuits. A suite of EDA tools may be used to convert a circuit design idea to a physical design including logic gates, circuit components and their interconnections. A circuit designer typically uses an EDA tool to create a schematic design of a circuit. The designer may use other FDA tools from the suite to convert the schematic to a physical layout, which specifies the shapes, positions, and dimensions of semiconductor and conductor materials such as silicon and metal. The EDA design tools can be used to in essence, translate a schematic design to a physical layout using layout rules, which specify, for example, that a particular type of transistor is to have particular dimensions and be a particular distance from other transistors in the physical layout. The physical layout can be fabricated to produce a physical implementation, which typically involves a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) chip or printed circuit board (PCB). The integrated circuit may be, for example, an analog circuit such as an amplifier, a digital circuit such as a microprocessor, or a combination analog and digital circuit, such as a cellular telephone radio.
In one approach to circuit design, a designer creates a visual representation of a circuit design on a design canvas. A design canvas typically comprises a computer generated two-dimensional interactive user interface screen display area produced with the help of an EDA tool. The EDA tool encodes a computer system to produce the user interface that allows a designer to create such a schematic diagram by adding representations of design objects, which comprise data code structures encoded in a computer readable medium that correspond to graphical icons that represent physical circuit elements such as, transistors, resistors, digital logic gates, and other devices to the design canvas. The EDA tool user interface also may allow the designer to modify an existing schematic design by modifying existing design objects on the canvas, by adding new design objects to the canvas, and by modifying or adding connections between the design objects on the canvas. Connections between design objects in the schematic generally represent physical electrical connections between circuit elements of a circuit under development.
Design annotations can be used to communicate design intent among designers and between design tools. A design annotation may include one or more data values such as parameter values for layout rules. The data values may be, for example, text in a format that is readable by humans or by machines. A design annotation also may include one or more names associated with data values e.g., to identify specific parameters to which the data values correspond. Design annotations typically are created by a user via an EDA tool user interface or by a programming script, and are typically associated with particular design objects. Design annotations that can be recognized by a design tool or by a fabrication process are called "constraints".
Constraint-driven design is a state-of-the-art technique for productivity enhancement in modern design automation software. A design constraint in the FDA context generally refers to a requirement imposed upon the layout of a circuit or upon the structure of circuit elements corresponding to design objects that cannot be directly captured in design parameters and that may be beyond process design rules. For example, a constraint may be imposed to help reduce second-order effects such as parasitics and to increases the likelihood that a design will meet design specifications in a smaller number of design iterations. Constraints also serve as a mechanism whereby designers can bring their own knowledge to bear to achieve design flow consistency and to achieve viable circuit structures. A constraint can be associated with one or more design objects, typically by a designer who wishes to specify information about a design object for the purpose of, for example, overriding default layout parameters provided by a base EDA tool. Moreover, for example, a constraint can specify a process parameter for use in a fabrication process in the course of fabricating an actual physical circuit based upon the design.
A design tool at one stage of an overall chip design, layout, and manufacturing process can be used to create a constraint that can be used as an input to a design tool at a different later stage of the overall design process. For instance, during an earlier design stage, a user may associate a symmetry constraint with two design objects to specify that devices corresponding to the two design objects are to be positioned with a particular orientation relative to each other. The orientation may be specified by the value of a symmetry constraint. During a layout stage, which ordinarily occurs later in the overall design process, a layout design tool may recognize the symmetry constraint and act on that constraint by laying out the devices with the specified symmetry relationship. Specifically, for example, two symmetrically constrained design objects may be laid out symmetrically (about some axis) with respect to each other within the overall circuit layout. Effectively, two objects in the design are constrained to be physically implemented as mirror images of each other. A symmetrical placement greatly increases the chances of these devices operating more identically in a practical IC manufacturing process, which tends to include variations from one device to the next. Symmetrical placement reduces the variations, and is but one example of a large number of possible constraint relationships that can be designed to achieve high yielding designs.
With the increasing complexity of custom circuit design technology, concepts like constraint-driven, connectivity-driven, and design rule-aware layout have been adopted in both in IC and PCB EDA tool domains. These capabilities generally allow multiple designers to manually encode design constraints at various stages of a design flow. Thus, designers can manually intervene in the automated design process to ensure correct connectivity and to automatically prevent design rule errors, for example. Unfortunately, today's design and manufacturing processes have significantly evolved in complexity, which when coupled with smaller device geometries, the growth in design complexity, ever increasing numbers of design rules, and a huge numbers of constraints, have contributed to a deluge of information—far too much to be entered and managed manually. Correctly creating the large number of constraints and associated them with design objects in the first place remains a significant problem.
In the past, constraints often have been manually associated with design objects representing circuit elements such as circuit instances, wires, pins, and groups of these. This earlier approach often required designers to first manually find/identify those sub-circuits which are to be constrained, to subsequently apply (again, manually) a set of constraints to those, before finally (again, manually) setting the correct values for constraint parameters. By sub-circuits, it is meant circuits that are a part of a larger circuit. All three steps can be error prone, meaning lack of accuracy, speed, and repeatability. In the past, there often was insufficient verification that the correct constraints had been added between the right devices and/or nets, that constraints had been added consistently and uniformly, and that constraint parameters had the correct values. Basically, a manual approach to the assignment of constraints often was fraught with errors. Junior designers in particular are prone to making such mistakes, which can result in non-yielding or non-fictional silicon, with significant re-mask costs incurred to correct the problem.
Recent improvements in this art include the use of a 'constraint assistant' software tool that can automatically identify occurrences of specific sub-circuits, which are then presented to a designer along with a suggestion of specific constraints that he or she may wish to annotate onto those sub-circuits. Unfortunately, that approach is limited. Typically, it can find only instances of a limited set of hard-coded topologies coded into the software by the vendor, and with those, can associate only a given limited set of (again hard-coded) constraints. Such hard-coded induced limitations become a problem for today's rapidly changing processes, and rapidly changing design specifications during a circuit design and implementation. Hard-coding a limited set of constraints and sub-circuits to which they may apply, is an insufficient approach to keep pace with changes and variations in design requirements after a customer has purchased and installed the EDA tool software.
Other earlier approaches have attempted to automatically analyze a circuit topology using algorithms such as signal flow (e.g., identification of the main signal flow paths in a circuit, typically from input to output such as is common for digital circuits) or by circuit equation generation. These approaches attempt to deduce circuit functionality and to automatically infer an appropriate set of constraints to enable such a circuit to be correctly manufactured with high yield. Unfortunately, such automated approaches generally do not scale well to today's complex designs and processes, and such automatically inferred set of constraints often cannot keep pace with the ever evolving process requirements.
In addition, equation based approaches often are insufficient due to attempts to model all circuit behaviors to high order polynomials (first or second order polynomials are insufficient in many cases), including non-essential behaviors, and then to attempt to appropriately constrain those. Other problems often associated with a fully automated approach to constraint assignment include errors resulting in either under or over-constrained designs, and software performance issues, as the algorithms often do not scale well to the vast number of constraints sometimes employed in today's high performance analog circuits for example, limiting the usefulness of such algorithms.
Thus, there has been a need for improvement in the creation and distribution of constraints within a circuit design whether involving an IC or a PCB. More particularly, there has been a need for improvements to both manual and automatic aspects of the creation and distribution of constraints within a design and to the coordination between these aspects. The present invention meets this need.

System and method enabling circuit topology recognition with auto-interactive constraint application and smart checking


The present invention relates to a subcutaneous needle in which a needle body and an adhesive tape are reliably secured together with a resin material enabling the operation to be correctly executed, and a method of producing the same. The subcutaneous needle is constituted by an adhesive tape, a separate paper, a needle body and a resin material. The adhesive tape has a hole formed in the central portion and has an adhesive surface on one side thereof. The separate paper has a hole in the central portion and is stuck on the adhesive surface of the adhesive tape. The needle body is bent in an L-shape and its top end side protrudes penetrating through the holes of the adhesive tape and of the separate paper. The base end side of the needle body is arranged nearly in parallel with a nonadhesive surface of the adhesive tape. The resin material is injection-molded onto the nonadhesive surface of the adhesive tape so as to cover and secure the base end side of the needle body.

The subcutaneous needle of this kind has been disclosed in Japanese Registered Utility Model No. 2507120 being constituted by a needle body and two pieces of adhesive tapes. This subcutaneous needle is so constituted that the side of the base end of the needle body is formed into a spring shape, and is held being sandwiched between the two pieces of adhesive tapes having adhesive surfaces on the side of the top end of the needle body.
According to the above conventional subcutaneous needle, however, the seat portion of the needle body is formed in a spring shape, resulting in a complex machining step, which is not advantageous even from the standpoint of cost. Besides, the needle body is held at its seat portion being sandwiched by the two pieces of adhesive tapes and is secured by the adhesive force of these tapes, arousing problems in that the securing force is weak, and the seat portion is deviated between the adhesive tapes during the operation, causing pain.
In view of the above-mentioned problems inherent in the prior art, the object of the present invention is to provide a subcutaneous needle which can be produced through a simplified machining step as a result of simplifying the shape of the base end of the needle body and which is reliably secured onto the adhesive tape to alleviate pain at the time of operation as in the prior art, and a method of producing the subcutaneous needle.

Subcutaneous needle and method of producing the same


In order to measure a characteristics of a light beam which is repetitively deflected by a light scanning device within a first range in a first direction at a first velocity, there is provided a plate formed with at least one slit extending in a direction angled from the first direction and having a constant width. The plate is moved within the first range in the first direction at a second velocity which is sufficiently lower than the first velocity. A peak value of an optical power of light passing through the slit every time is detected when the deflected light beam crosses the slit being moved, thereby obtaining peak values at plural positions in the first direction. The peak values are displayed on a screen collectively in such a manner that positions on the screen correspond to the positions in the first direction.

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for measuring a beam spot of scanning light, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus capable of continuously measuring and displaying properties of the scanning light such as a shape of the beam spot, which change in a primary scanning direction and a light advancing direction.
The followings are well-known techniques for measuring the properties of the scanning light such as the beam spot shape.
It is on sale "Beam Alyzer" manufactured by the Melles Griot Inc., wherein a knife edge is provided on a rotary drum, and a section profile and a spot size of a beam spot are measured on the basis of optical power variation when an incident light beam crosses the knife edge. It is also on sale "Beam Scan" manufactured by Photon Inc., wherein a focal condition of an incident light beam is similarly measured by a narrow slit provided on a rotary drum.
However, these apparatuses can measure only a stationary light beam. Further, in a case where the spot shape is different between the stationary state and the scanned state, accurate results cannot be obtained. For example, in a case where a dynamic pressure bearing motor is used in a light deflector (a light scanning device), the posture of an axis is actually different in a stationary state and a rotating state. Moreover, a mechanism for accurately positioning a beam in the light receiving portion of a sensor is necessary and a time is required for carrying out a positioning operation.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 53-31147A discloses a scanning optical system in which a light beam is incident on a polygon mirror at an angle which is not perpendicular to a secondary scanning direction. In this optical system, the light beam tends to be twisted.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 64-13514A teaches that a spot size in a primary scanning direction and a secondary scanning direction with a vertical slit extending in the secondary scanning direction and an oblique slit inclined to a direction parallel to a scanning line.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-70583B teaches that a major axis diameter, a minor axis diameter and an inclined angle are calculated with three slits including one vertical slit and two oblique slits. It is based on an assumption that the beam spot is elliptical.
Japanese Patent No. 2876650 discloses that an inclined angle and dimensions in a primary scanning direction and a secondary scanning direction of an elliptical beam spot are simultaneously calculated with three slits including a vertical slit extending in the secondary scanning direction and two oblique slits. It is also disclosed that two vertical slits are provided to calculate a scanning velocity which is to be used to calculate the spot size. It is further disclosed a combination of two slits each of which has a vertical edge and an oblique edge.
Japanese Patent No. 3050996 discloses that a spot size in a primary scanning direction and a scanning velocity are measured with a slit extending in a secondary scanning direction. It is also disclosed that a spot size in a secondary scanning direction is measured with two pairs of slits which are slightly inclined from the primary scanning direction. Here, the extending direction of the slits are matched with the scanning direction of the light beam. It is further disclosed that a pair of oblique slits extending in two directions are provided to eliminate effect caused by an error in an angle formed by the scanning line and the slits. The inclined angle of the elliptical spot is out of consideration.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-118329A discloses that irregularity of the pitch of the scanning lines is measured with a one-dimensional linear array CCD sensor.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-292308A discloses that fluctuations of the position of the scanning line in a secondary scanning direction is measured with a triangular slit.
Besides, it is well-known that the optical power is measured with a power meter. However, also in this case, a mechanism for accurately positioning a beam in the light receiving portion of a sensor is necessary and a time is required for carrying out a positioning operation.
In an electrophotography, a change in a density is represented by the size of a halftone dot or the thickness of a line in order to carry out gradation recording. In the former case, the dots are arranged regularly in an oblique direction. In the latter case, oblique lines parallel with neither a primary scanning direction nor a secondary scanning direction are used. In a case where multicolor printing is to be carried out, the directions of the dot arrays or the lines are varied color by color.
In that case, if an almost elliptical focal spot (beam spot) is inclined obliquely, the density tends to be increased when an inclined angle approaches to the angle of the dot arrays or the lines, and the density tends to be reduced when the inclined angle is turned in a different direction. When the inclined angle of the focal spot is varied depending on a position in the primary scanning direction, the density or tone is changed depending on a change in the inclined angle. In case of a halftone image in which two colors overlap each other, one of the colors becomes dark and the other color becomes light depending on an inclination of the major axis of the elliptical spot when the directions of screens of two colors (the direction of the dot arrays or the lines) are different from each other. When the inclination in the direction of the major axis of the elliptical spot is varied depending on a position in the primary scanning direction, the color of the halftone image is changed depending on the position. Human eyes are more sensitive to a change in coloring (tone/hue) than a change in the density of a single color. For this reason, it is necessary to continuously evaluate the inclined angle of the major axis of the elliptical spot in the primary scanning direction.
In the prior art described above, the inclined angle of the spot can be measured in a specific position in the primary scanning direction, but continuous evaluation throughout in the primary scanning direction cannot be executed. Even if a plurality of measuring points are provided, long time is required for the measurement. Even if measuring data are quantitatively obtained, since numeral data are merely enumerated, it is hard to instinctively and visually recognize a problematic situation. Furthermore, it is impossible to measure a large number of measuring items once at a time.

Method and apparatus for measuring beam spot of scanning light


A direction-turning device for the lens of a camera phone contained in the rear side of the camera phone includes a lens base having a pivot at two sides respectively connected pivotally in an interior wall of the groove, a driving unit able to rotate the pivot for 180 degrees, and a positioning unit having an auxiliary gear fixed with the lens base and an elastic locking wire always stopping the auxiliary gear to keep the lens base positioned stably when moved to a position electronically or manually. The driving unit and the pivot of the lens base are linked by viscous oil, enabling the lens base driven by the driving unit or manually. The invention is totally hidden to keep the camera phone looked normally and able to shift the lens to face forward or backward with a self-shooting function.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a direction-turning device for the lens of a camera phone, particularly to one that is hidden in the rear side of the camera phone under normal condition and able to change its direction for a self-shooting.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a first non-foldable conventional camera phone is provided with a lens 10 fixed immovably in the rear side, so that the lens is to aim forward while a user holds the camera phone and views images seen through the lens on a screen 11 in the front side of the phone, convenient for a user to take a picture. But, if a user wants to take a self-shooting picture, he has to stand in front of a mirror and keep the lens aimed at the portrait in the mirror for shooting, really inconvenient for self-shooting.
Next, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a second non-foldable camera phone is provided with a gap 12 in the top for fitting with a lens base 13, which is provided with a shaft 130 at its two ends respectively for connecting pivotally with an interior wall of the gap 12 so that the lens base 13 can be turned around to enable the lens 10 to face forward for normal shooting or backward for self-shooting. But, the gap 12 extended out of the front top of the phone is aesthetically downgraded tremendously.
This invention has been revised to overcome the defects mentioned above.

Direction-turning device for the lens of a camera phone


A method for detecting or monitoring respiratory or cardiac health of a patient includes measuring any intravascular or intracardiac pressure (IVP) of a patient over a period of time, said IVP including a measured respiratory wave, defining respiratory effort of the patient as a peak-to-peak amplitude of said respiratory wave, and using the respiratory effort to detect or monitor respiratory and cardiac health of the patient by comparing the respiratory effort with a known value of respiratory effort or by monitoring changes in the respiratory effort of the patient over another period of time.

Dyspnea is a cardinal manifestation of heart failure (HF) and a primary reason for HF patients, rehospitalization and emergency department visits. Clinical symptoms and signs of cardiac decompensation, as dyspnea and rales, are related to the development of lung (clinical) congestion. The clinical congestion is preceded by a latent gradual development of hemodynamic congestion. The duration of the hemodynamic congestion, from the development of substantial elevation in the left atrial pressure (LAP) to the occurrence of clinical congestion with HF related events as hospitalization, is few days to several weeks. A gradual increase in the end-diastolic pulmonary artery pressure (ePAD), a surrogate of the LAP, may be a sign for the development of cardiac decompensation. An increase in the LAP leads to a retrograde rise in the pulmonary venous pressure, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) and to the development of pulmonary hypertension (PH). A prior art study investigated the utility of monitoring the pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) in management of HF patients by implanting a miniature device in the pulmonary artery. The study suggested that monitoring the PAP can provide early detection of deteriorating hemodynamic congestion, and can reduce the rate of rehospitalization for cardiac decompensation by 33%. These findings have indicated that a progressive increase in the PAP is an early subclinical hallmark for insidious decompensation that would require inpatient care.
The hemodynamic and clinical congestions increase the respiratory effort required to maintain the ventilation. Fluid congestion turns the lung from an apparent pure elastic tissue into a viscoelastic tissue, leading to an increase in the resistance to air flow. The viscous resistance yields wide hysteresis in the pressure-flow loops, leading to a significant increase in the respiratory effort. Lung congestion is also associated with restrictive ventilatory pattern, considerably before the development of pulmonary edema or pleural effusion. The restrictive decrease in the inspiratory volume capacity is attributed to interstitial edema and congestion of the blood vessels, which further increases the respiratory effort.
The subclinical hemodynamic congestion has detrimental effect on lung compliance. The lung compliance is mainly determined by the alveolar compartment of the respiratory system. Each alveolus is surrounded by a dense capillary network that eventually forms a continuous sheet of blood around the alveolus. Increased pulmonary capillary pressure increases the stiffness of the alveolar walls and decreases the overall lung compliance. The decrease in lung compliance significantly increases the respiratory effort.
Thus, the gradual increase in the pulmonary circulation pressure (hemodynamic congestion) and the development of fluid congestion (clinical congestion) decrease lung compliance, increase lung viscosity and resistance to airflow. These changes in lung mechanical properties demand a significant increase in the respiratory work to maintain the adequate alveolar ventilation, which may be associated with dyspnea.

Quantification of the respiratory effort from hemodynamic measurements

TECHNION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION LTD.


An apparatus for forming a cup-shaped cage, including a cup-shaped workpiece, an outer die having a center axis and a cavity about the center axis, an inner die coaxially disposed within the cavity of the outer die, and a mandrel adapted to move axially and radially the inner die relative to the outer die. The outer and inner dies have first and second control surfaces which are engaged with outer and inner surfaces of the workpiece, respectively, when the outer and inner dies are in the cooperative press position. The outer die includes a part allowed to be out of contact with the outer surface of the workpiece to permit the movement of the inner die relative to the outer die into the cooperative press position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for forming a cup-shaped cage as an outer member of a universal joint such as a ball joint.
2. Description of the Related Art
One kind of such apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application First Publication No. 59-24545. The apparatus includes an outer die retaining a cup-shaped workpiece for a cup-shaped cage and a plurality of inner die segments moveable relative to the outer die. The cup-shaped workpiece includes a shaft portion and a cup-shaped body portion connected with the shaft portion. The outer die retains the shaft portion of the cup-shaped workpiece and a bottom part of the cup-shaped body portion thereof which is disposed adjacent the shaft portion. A plurality of press-forming members are circumferentially arranged on the outer die. The press-forming members are adapted to be moved relative to a radially expanding part connected with the bottom part of the cup-shaped workpiece. The press-forming members each have surfaces of a predetermined shape and come into engagement with an outer circumferential surface of the radially expanding part. The inner die segments include pivotal portions each rotatable about a pin and formed with outer surfaces configured to a predetermined shape. A mandrel forces the inner die segments to move into an inside space of the cup-shaped cage and urges the pivotal portions to rotationally move into a press position in which the outer surfaces of the pivotal portions are brought into engagement with an inner surface of the cup-shaped workpiece.
In the above-described kind of apparatus, the outer die retains the bottom part of the cup-shaped body portion of the cup-shaped workpiece without a clearance therebetween. With this arrangement, in a case where the bottom part of the cup-shaped body portion of the workpiece has an uneven inner surface with a projection, the pivotal portions of the inner die segments are likely to be prevented from moving into the press position by abutting on the projection so that the inner surface of the cup-shaped workpiece cannot be formed into a configuration conformed to the predetermined shape of the outer surfaces of the pivotal portions. This tends to cause failure of forming the outer surface of the cup-shaped workpiece into a shape conformed to the predetermined shape of the surface of the press-forming members of the outer die.


An objective lens for reproducing/recording information from/onto discs having different thicknesses and an optical pickup device adopting the same. The objective lens device includes an objective lens provided along a light path facing a plane of a disc and having a predetermined effective diameter, and a light controller provided along the light path for controlling the light of an incident light beam between near and far axes of the objective lens, wherein the central portion of the objective lens corresponding to the near-axis region of the incident light beam has the optimum curvature and aspherical coefficient for both thick and thin discs. Therefore, the objective lens device is simplified and inexpensive. Also, the objective lens device can be used for discs of different thicknesses in a single disc drive, by reducing the spherical aberration effect.

The present invention relates to an objective lens device, an optical pickup adopting the same and a method for manufacturing an objective lens.
An optical pickup records and reproduces information such as video or audio data onto/from optical recording media, e.g., discs. The structure of a disc is such that a recorded surface is formed on a substrate made of plastic or glass. To read or write information from a high-density disc, the diameter of the optical spot must be very small. To this end, the numerical aperture (NA) of an objective lens is generally made large and a light source having a shorter wavelength is used. Using the shorter wavelength light source and large numerical aperture (NA), however, reduces a tilt allowance of the disc with respect to an optical axis of the objective lens. The thus-reduced disc tilt allowance can be increased by reducing the thickness of the disc.
Assuming that the tilt angle of the disc is .theta., the magnitude of a coma aberration coefficient W.sub.31 can be obtained from: ##EQU1## where d and n represent the thickness and refractive index of the disc, respectively. As understood from the above relationship, the coma aberration coefficient is proportional to the cube of the numerical aperture. Therefore, considering that the numerical aperture of the objective lens required for a conventional compact disc is 0.45 and that for a digital video disc is 0.6, a digital video disc has a coma aberration coefficient of about 2.34 times that of a compact disc. The maximum tilt allowance of the digital video disc is therefore controlled to be reduced to about half that of the conventional compact disc. Accordingly, to assimilate the maximum tilt allowance of the digital video disc to that of the compact disc, the thickness of the digital video disc should be reduced.
However, such a thickness-reduced disc adopting a shorter wavelength (high density) light source, e.g., a digital video disc, cannot be used in a conventional recording/reproducing apparatus, e.g., a disc drive for the compact disc adopting a longer wavelength light source, because a disc having a nonstandard thickness results in a spherical aberration corresponding to the difference in disc thickness from that of a normal disc. If the spherical aberration is greatly increased, the spot formed on the disc cannot have the light intensity necessary for recording, which prevents accurate recording of the information. Also, during reproduction, the signal-to-noise ratio is too low to reproduce the information accurately.
Therefore, an optical pickup adopting a light source having a short wavelength, e.g., 650 nm, which is compatible for discs having different thicknesses, such as a compact disc and a digital video disc, is necessary.
For this purpose, research into apparatuses which can reproduce and record information from/into two kinds of discs having different thicknesses with a single optical pickup device adopting a shorter wavelength light source are underway. Lens devices respectively adopting a hologram lens and refractive lens have been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Hei 7-98431).
FIGS. 1 and 2 show the focusing of zero-order and first-order-diffracted light onto discs 3a and 3b having different thicknesses, respectively. A hologram lens 1, having a lattice pattern 11, and a refractive objective lens 2 are provided along the light path in front of disc 3a (in FIG. 1) and 3b (in FIG. 2). The lattice pattern 11 diffracts light beams 4 from a light source (not shown) passing through the hologram lens 1, to thereby separate the passing light into first-order-diffracted light 41 and zero-order light 40, each of which is focused with a different intensity by objective lens 2 for the appropriate focus point on the thicker disc 3b or the thinner disc 3a, and thus enable data read/write operations with respect to discs having different thicknesses.
However, in using such a lens device, the separation of the light into two beams (i.e., the zero-order and first-order light) by hologram lens 1 lowers the utilizing efficiency of the actually regenerated light to about 15%. Also, during a read operation, the information is included in only one of the two beams, and the beam carrying no information is likely to be detected as noise. Moreover, the fabrication of such a hologram lens requires a high-precision process for etching a fine hologram pattern, which increases manufacturing costs.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a conventional optical pickup device (U.S. Pat. No. 5,281,797) which, in lieu of using a hologram lens as above, includes an aperture diaphragm 1a for changing the aperture diameter, so that data can be recorded onto a longer wavelength disc as well as a shorter wavelength disc and so that information can be reproduced therefrom. The aperture diaphragm 1a is installed between the objective lens 2 and a collimating lens 5 and controls a light beam 4 emitted from a light source 9 and transmitted through a beam splitter 6, by appropriately adjusting the area of the light beam passing region, i.e., the numerical aperture. The diametrical aperture of aperture diaphragm 1a is adjusted in accordance with the focused spot size on the disc being employed and always passes the light beam 4a of the central region but selectively passes or blocks the light beam 4b of the peripheral region. In FIG. 3, a reference numeral 7 denotes a focusing lens and reference numeral 8 denotes a photodetector.
In the optical device having the above configuration, if the variable diaphragm is a mechanical diaphragm, its structural resonance characteristics change depending on the diaphragm's effective aperture, and thus installation onto an actuator for driving the objective lens becomes difficult in practice. To solve this problem, liquid crystal may be used for forming the diaphragm. This, however, greatly impedes the miniaturization of the system, deteriorates heat-resistance and endurance, and increases manufacturing costs.
Alternatively, a separate objective lens for each disc may be provided so that a specific objective lens is used for a specific disc. In this case, however, since a driving apparatus is needed for replacing lenses, the configuration becomes complex and manufacturing cost increases accordingly.

Objective lens device, optical pickup adopting the same and method for manufacturing an objective lens


There is disclosed a system and method of controlling the timing in a system having a number of different elements, each requiring individual timing signals. The system utilizes a RAM memory divided into a number of groups or cycle types, each cycle type having a number of addressable words. The individual bits of each word serve to control the individual system elements. The memory is programmed to allow each group of words to control the system timing in a different manner. Provision is made for the memory to skip certain words in a particular group under control of externally provided signals.

The rapid change in technology, especially memory and processing technology, is at times overwhelming. For leading edge systems, such as, for example, imaging systems, it is mandatory that the latest technology be used if a competitive product is to be marketed and maintained. As technology changes, the speed of operation changes and this change affects every aspect of a system, from memory access control to data processing.
The backbone of any complex system is the system clock and the timing pulses derived therefrom which control the various system elements. These pulses are akin to a conductor keeping all the parts in line and all the data moving in synchronization with each other. Thus, when it is desired to add a new faster memory, or CPU or adder, a different set of clock pulses may be required giving rise to a different set of timing patterns for control purposes.
Under this situation, the system designer would have to establish a new clock, or run new wires, or in some manner change the system to accommodate the new device. This is cumbersome at best and time consuming. In addition, because of the integrated nature of circuit boards, the process is expensive to implement. Changing older versions to newer versions is also difficult.
Thus, a need exists in the art for a system which allows for timing changes to be made in a system easily and without requiring extensive wiring or other mechanical manipulations to the system hardware.

Memory controller flexible timing control system and method


A method and apparatus is provided for forming clear shrinkable film material for use as labels on containers. A blend of general purpose polystryene and styrene-butadiene or styrene butyl acrylate is extruded from an annular extruder die orifice to form a frustoconical tube which is stretched before cooling air is applied to form a clear film that has machine direction orientation and cross direction orientation that can be used as a shrinkable label on containers. As the tube is extruded, it is shielded from cooling air which is applied downstream from the extruder die orifice. The apparatus shields the hot annular extruded material adjacent the die orifice. The air is supplied downstream from an annular air orifice which is designed with a taper that allows ambient air to be freely drawn in and eliminates what would be a negative pressure zone immediately downstream of the air orifice while eliminating air turbulence and improving cooling.

Clear non-cellular films produced from blends of general purpose (crystal) polystyrene and styrene-butadiene block copolymers or styrene butyl acrylate copolymers have in the past been processed by flat die casting onto polished chilled rollers. Such films have good clarity but are typically low in machine direction orientation with little or no cross direction orientation unless stretching action is induced downstream.
Machine and cross direction orientation can be imparted to film without a secondary process by stretching by extrusion through an annular die, forming a frustoconical tubular web and drawing the frustoconical web over an internal cooling mandrel. The formed tubular web is slit on two sides at the end of the mandrel resulting in two continuous webs which are wound simultaneously onto two rolls.
While with this method desired improvements are realized in cross and machine direction orientation, a significant degree of clarity is lost as can be measured by haze transmission.
The selection of the grade of crystal polystyrene to blend with the styrene-butadiene or styrene butyl acrylate copolymers is a factor in the degree of clarity achieved. However, the optimum selection from the commercial grades available fails to deliver the degree of clarity achievable with the flat die casting extrusion technique.
Among the objectives of the present invention are to provide a method and apparatus for extruding clear film utilizing an annular die which produces clear film with crystal clear clarity equal to or better than that heretofore produced in flat die casting onto polished chilled rollers; which film is oriented; which maintains the improvement in machine direction (MD) and cross direction (CD) orientation and reduces the importance of the selection in grade of crystal polystyrene; and which method and apparatus can be readily applied to conventional annular dies.
In accordance with the invention, a method and apparatus is provided for forming clear shrinkable film material from an annular die for use as labels on containers. A blend of general purpose polystryene and styrene-butadiene or styrene butyl acrylate is extruded from an annular extruder die orifice to form a frustoconical tube which is stretched before cooling air is applied to form a clear film that has machine direction orientation and cross direction orientation that can be used as a shrinkable label on containers. As the tube is extruded, it is shielded from cooling air which is applied downstream from the extruder die orifice. The apparatus shields the hot annular extruded material adjacent the die orifice. The air is supplied downstream from an annular air orifice which is designed with a taper that allows ambient air to be freely drawn in and eliminates what would be a negative pressure zone immediately downstream of the air orifice while eliminating air turbulence and improving cooling.

Clear film extrusion from an annular die


A liner hanger test packer assembly includes an axially translated liner top dressing mill having a calibrated shear mechanism for securing the mill at a first, top dressing position. Tool string load on the mill bearing upon the liner top in excess of the calibrated shear mechanism allows the mill to shift to a second axial position where abutment edges around the Mill base engage a tripping mechanism to drive slips against the casing wall above the liner hanger. The tripping mechanism also expands the packer seal against the casing I.D. above the liner hanger. No additional load may be imposed on the liner hanger after the anchor slips have engaged.

Typically, the borehole wall of an oil or gas well is lined with a heavy-weight steel pipe that is secured in place by cement. The cement is injected into the annulus between the pipe O.D. and the raw-cut wall of the bore-hole. The first string of such cement-set pipe extending down from the surface or rig floor is generally characterized as surface casing. For many reasons, such as an extremely deep well, one or more smaller diameter casings may be suspended from the bottom end of the surface casing. Often, the smaller, internal casing is characterized as a casing liner or simply, a liner.
The mechanism for suspending a liner from within the substantially smooth, internal bore wall of an up-hole support casing, for example, is a plurality of pipe slips around the perimeter of the liner pipe near the liner pipe upper end. These slips have rows of hardened teeth, points or edges that penetrate the inside wall of the support casing as the teeth are forced radially out from the liner by cooperative wedge faces. Once set, the slip teeth (wickers) penetrate the support casing wall as a function of the suspended weight. When extremely long and/or heavy liners are suspended, attention is given to the capacity of the upper support casing for supporting the weight suspended from it.
The liner hanger usually includes means for pressure sealing the hanger joint whereby the interior bore of the casing/liner is hydrodynamically isolated from the casing/liner exterior. Testing the integrity of the hanger seal is a brief but important step in the well completion sequence.
Traditionally, the integrity of a liner hanger is tested by plugging the liner mouth with an elastomer plug seal (packer) around the annulus between the workstring tubing and the internal bore wall of the liner. Subsequently, the upper well annulus is pressurized to monitor the reverse flow response to the hydrostatic pressure head within the workstring bore. The risks attendant with this traditional procedure, however, include, first, the loading forces on the elastomer plug to seal it in the liner bore. These forces are entirely carried by the liner hanger. Secondly, the hydraulic test pressure differentials are carried by the liner sectional area. These pressure differentials may be considerable and are also carried directly by the liner hanger. Accordingly, when added to the load of a heavy liner, loads imposed as an incident of testing a liner hanger may exceed the support capacity of the hanger and/or the support casing.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide the art with a tool and procedure for limiting the pressure load on a liner hanger when testing the integrity of the hanger pressure seal.
Also an object of the invention is a liner top test packer that seals the annulus between the workstring and the casing that supports the liner hanger.
Another object of the invention is a liner top test packer that is set against the support casing bore in conjunction with workstring anchor slips.


Embodiments for the present disclosure include a semiconductor device, an ultra-high voltage (UHV) laterally-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor (LDMOS) transistor, and methods of forming the same. An embodiment includes a first well region of a first conductivity type in a top surface of a substrate, and a second well region of a second conductivity type in the top surface of the substrate. The second well region laterally separated from the first well region by a portion of the substrate. The embodiment further includes a third region of the second conductivity type in the first well region, and a first field oxide region in the first well region, a second field oxide region in the second well region, the second field oxide region having a second bottom surface, and the first field oxide region having a first bottom surface lower than the second bottom surface and on and directly contacting the third region.

High voltage MOS transistors are semiconductor devices that can operate with high terminal voltages. High-voltage integrated circuits (ICs) that include high voltage MOS transistors are widely used in applications for the automobile industry, display drivers, portable telecommunication devices, medical equipment, and other areas. As an example, high voltage (e.g., greater than 20 volts) MOS transistors are integrated into a gate driver IC to deliver display signals to a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel. However, with the continuous process shrinking in advanced technology, breakdown voltages of these high voltage MOS transistors are also reduced.
The breakdown phenomena generally escalate as the space between the source and drain regions continues to narrow in MOS transistors made by advanced processing technology, stemming from increased electric fields in the channel region. Known breakdown mechanisms in an MOS transistor include junction breakdown, punch through breakdown, and snapback breakdown. As an example, snapback breakdown occurs near the drain region in an NMOS transistor during saturated operation (e.g., the transistor is turned on). When a voltage is applied on the drain, a lateral electric field is presented in the channel region of the transistor and a peak electric field occurs near the drain region. The high electric field accelerates the electrons in the channel region and causes the electrons to gain enough kinetic energy to become "hot" near the edge of the N+ drain region. The "hot" electrons cause impact ionization of materials near the drain edge and create electron-hole pairs. Electrons will inject into the gate oxide, and some of the injected electrons may become trapped in the gate oxide layer. This so-called hot carrier effect may cause various problems in a MOS transistor. The trapped electrons may cause the threshold voltage (Vt) of an NMOS transistor to undergo an undesirable shift to the positive side. The hot carrier effect may also lead to long term device degradation and reduced reliability. Under extreme circumstances, snapback breakdown may even cause permanent physical damage in the gate oxide.

Ultra-high voltage laterally-diffused MOS devices and methods of forming the same

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


Attacks are simulated to a user, by performing the steps of the attacks without actually performing any malicious activity. Educational security information is displayed to the user, based on the user's response to simulated attacks. If the user responds to a simulated attack in a manner indicating that the user is vulnerable, educational security information can be displayed that educates the user as to how to avoid being victimized. One or more security settings for protecting the user's computer from malware can be adjusted, based on the user's response to the simulating of attacks. Additionally, other factors can be adjusted based on the user's response to the simulating of attacks, such as a security hygiene rating and/or a level of monitoring activity concerning the user.

Often, the weakest link in a computer security system is the user. Whereas anti-malware systems and operating system level security are constantly being improved to detect and block new computer security threats, even computers running the best security platforms can still be compromised by user mistakes. With this in mind, malware authors frequently target the user, and attempt to trick the user into actively installing malware or otherwise unwittingly taking a proactive step that would compromise the security of the computer.
One common attack today is the fake anti-virus scan. In this attack, an alert box or similar user interface component pops up on the user's screen, indicates that the computer is susceptible to infection by computer viruses and/or other types of malware, and offers to scan the computer for malware. Unless the user closes the user interface component, it typically pretends to scan the computer, and then claims to have identified various malware infections. The user is then invited to download free anti-malware software that is supposed to be able to fix the detected infestations. If the user selects to download the "anti-malware" software, the attack instead takes advantage of the user having initiated a download of an unknown program to infect the user's computer by installing malware. There are many variations on this attack, some involving offers of fake data anti-corruption tools, fake codecs for playing videos, etc.
Although security software is always being updated to detect and block new attacks, no matter how good security software becomes, the user always remains a potential weak spot in the overall security of the computer system. Not only naive users but even advanced users can be susceptible, primarily due to the ever evolving sophistication of new social networking attacks. It would be desirable to address these issues.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Educating computer users concerning security threats


A drum is provided for building of a tire. The drum includes a central sh supporting two plates mounted axially and sliding thereon and a plurality of rods are articulably mounted on each plate. The rods of each plate are covered by a sleeve and a membrane is connected to each of the sleeves. A mantle covers the assembly to provide a surface on which the tire is progressively constructed. A process for assembling a tire with the drum is also disclosed.

The present invention relates to a drum for fabrication of tires and a process for using such a drum to assemble a tire. The state of the art knows of a considerable number of different types of such drums, from the most simple to the most complex. Some of these have been specially developed for only one part of the building of a green tire: one therefore speaks of first stage drums or second stage drums. Other drums are designed to handle a green tire during the entire period of its building (drum for building in one phase).
The present invention is aimed particularly at drums with shoulders, that is, drums designed to build the beads of the tires on the lateral edges of the drum, and not on the radially upper surface of the drum.
Among these drums, one knows namely holders comprising several parts assembled upon each other, on which a green tire is built, and which are then demounted from the interior of the tire after building. However, such holders can only be used for a single size of tire, and moreover their assembly and especially their disassembly can prove to be complex, even difficult in applications where this disassembly is done manually.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,778,326 gives an example of a more automated drum. This drum can take a spread-out position in which it defines a holder for manufacturing of a tire carcass and a retracted position allowing removal of the carcass after manufacturing. Even if this patent indicates that it is possible to adjust the drum for different widths of tires to be produced, in practice, these possibilities of adjustment are extremely limited. Also, the shoulder of the drum provides a sufficiently continuous and rigid support only for one value of axial distance. In fact, the radial upper bend of the rods can be aligned with the end of the crosspieces only for one and only one relative distance for the sleeves holding the rods. Here again, such a drum must be considered as lending itself only to the manufacturing of a single tire size.
Patent FR 1 492 577 describes a drum whose design is particularly associated with realizing a rigid support with good continuity on the shoulder. However, the walls of such a drum, because they are only comprised of one pneumatic surface, do not provide a sufficiently precise reference for confection of a tire.

Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin-Michelin & CIE


The present invention is directed to a patella-femoral brace which includes an elastic sleeve which is sized so as to be securely positionable about a user's leg and which has a bracing plate located therein which becomes positioned adjacent the lateral side of the patella when the elastic sleeve is correctly positioned about the patient's knee. The brace plate may include a protection pad which extends to cover the lateral side of the knee to protect it from impact or contact with other elements of the knee brace. The brace plate is connected to a set of strap members, each located above and below the patella, and each being capable of wrapping around the medial side of the knee, across the back of the leg, and attaching to a rigid support brace. The support brace includes upper and lower cuffs, each having a single hinge arm which connect together at a hinge. The hinge includes a locking mechanism to prevent hyperextension of the knee. The support brace is fixed in its position on the leg, and the straps are fixed to the cuffs of the support brace, such that the brace plate remains in fixed position relative to the knee to cause a medial pressure to be applied to the patella during flexion and extension thereof for preventing mispositioning (subluxation) of the patella.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a knee support device. More particularly, this invention relates to a device which supports and stabilizes the knee, including the patella, to resist abnormal lateral subluxation of the patella during motion of the knee joint.
2. The Background Art
Anterior knee pain (i.e., pain in the forward part of the knee), is one of the most common complaints that cause patients to consult a knee specialist. A frequent cause of such pain is malalignment of the patellofemoral joint which is often associated with instability of the patella (knee cap).
Patellar instability usually occurs laterally (i.e., in a direction away from the other leg), and is referred to as "patellar subluxation," "patellar dislocation," or "patellar hypermobility." In a patient with this knee disorder, the muscles and ligaments which hold the patella in its proper position in the knee are malaligned, very loose or lax. This condition is caused either by developmental abnormalities (generally in younger children), or by injuries to the muscles and/or ligaments attached to the patella. Because of the very loose placement of the patella in this condition, the patella may become misoriented relative to its normal position during flexion/extension rotation of the knee joint (i.e., during normal "bending" of the leg at the knee joint). Such misorientation usually occurs when the joint is extended under stress, such as during strenuous physical activity in which the knee is carrying an increased load while it is rotating.
Not only can patellar subluxation cause severe pain, the knee is also more prone to give way (buckle) under the strain of a load placed thereon when the patella is not properly oriented. Moreover, continued or frequent abnormal displacements of the patella can cause severe degeneration of the patella and the surrounding knee structure.
The conservative treatment of patellar instability often includes muscle rehabilitation, medication, and/or activity modification. In addition, those skilled in the art have developed numerous types of knee braces to assist in the treatment of patellar instability. Such braces range from very simple to quite complex and have been successful in the treatment of patellar instability to varying degrees.
A simple knee sleeve is often used to provide static patellar support. The sleeve is generally made of an elastic material and has an opening through which the knee cap protrudes. When thus positioned, the sleeve exerts a static force on the knee to assist in maintaining the patella in proper alignment.
Another prior art bracing device comprises an infrapatellar strap. The strap is wrapped around the knee so as to support the patella during motion of the knee joint.
Still another prior art device comprises a bracing pad held in a lateral position with respect to the patella by means of an elastic sleeve and a plurality of elastic straps. This device is intended to apply a medially displacing force to the patella (i.e., a force in a direction toward the other leg), and maintain constant pressure during flexion, extension, and rotation of the knee.
Despite the limited success of some prior art devices in treating patellar instability, the exact function of many of the devices is unclear. For example, some prior art devices may help alleviate pain for a variety of reasons. The warmth the device provides to the knee may be therapeutic. Similarly, sensory feedback may be altered, thereby reducing the patient's awareness of discomfort. Likewise, a possible alteration in circulation is another potential effect of many devices. These nonspecific mechanisms might help explain the potential effectiveness of some prior art patellar bracing devices.
Many existing brace devices are also subject to shifting on the user's knee during movement of the knee joint. Of course, such shifting may cause the brace to become misaligned, thereby significantly reducing the functional effectiveness of the brace.
In addition, the physiology of the knee is such that the patella slips deeply into the cavity provided for it when the knee joint is in hyperextension. In such cases, the structure of existing brace devices is such that the patella may slip below the bracing member and rotate thereunder. The bracing device is thereby rendered largely ineffective.
Further, the mechanical function of existing devices seems limited to applying a medial force to the lateral aspect of the patella in patients with patellar tracking problems. While this function is believed to be based upon sound biomechanical principles, it treats only one cause of patellar instability. There is no known evidence that this function is applicable in treating any other causes. Consequently, there remains a need for a bracing device which more completely enhances and facilitates patellar stability.


A cable management system is provided including a rack for holding telecommunications equipment, and a ribcage cable support member along a vertical side of the rack. The ribcage cable support member includes a plurality of forwardly and rearwardly extending ribs. The ribs each include cable retention tabs. A plurality of spools are provided for cable storage on the ribcage cable support member. Holes through the ribcage cable support member allow access between the front and rear portions. An additional rack may be positioned on an opposite side of the ribcage cable support member to the first rack, and two columns of ribs are provided.

Suppliers and users of structured connectivity communications systems in local area networks often have difficulty managing the cabling and demarcation and patching points such as in communications closets and computer rooms. Here, large numbers of data, voice, and video communications circuits, cables and connectors may be concentrated into small areas on relay racks and in communications cabinets resulting in congestion of cabling and connectors. In the past, connectivity systems attempted to ease the congestion of cabling and connectors by integrating cable management devices within and around the racks and cabinets. In the connectivity industry, horizontal cable management devices may be provided between each row of patch panels. As a result, applications with a high number of network connections or circuits must generally double the amount of racks and floor space needed in order to accommodate the horizontal management devices for cable management. Minimizing the space consumed by the cable management systems, and managing the cable in an efficient manner are desired.

Vertical cable management system with ribcage structure


An intraocular lens folder having a generally planar, open frame in the shape of a rounded "A" with a rimmed, open head at the top of the "A." The base of the "A" forms a pair of opposing legs or handles that join to form a hinge at the crotch where the handles attach to the head. The hinge allows the handles to be squeezed together and yet spring apart when released. Squeezing the handles causes the top edge of the head rim to compress and move toward the hinge. The open head contains a plurality of projections terminating in open, relieved jaws into which the IOL is placed. The location of the projections is such that when the handles are squeezed together and the rim moves toward the hinge, two of the jaws moves toward each other, causing the IOL to be folded in half.

The present invention relates to intraocular lenses and particularly to foldable intraocular lenses.
For many years, the predominant method of treating a diseased lens is to remove the lens and replace it with an intraocular lens ("IOL"). Two surgical procedures are preferred for removing the diseased lens: extracapsular cataract extraction and phacoemulsification. Extracapsular cataract extraction involves removing the lens in a relatively intact condition by use of a vectus or similar surgical instrument. Phacoemulsification involves contacting the lens with the vibrating cutting tip of an ultrasonically driven surgical handpiece to emulsify the lens, thereby allowing the emulsified lens to be aspirated from the eye. Both surgical procedures require that the anterior lens capsule be cut to allow access to the lens itself and to allow the implantation of the replacement lens, and because the capsule bag is used to hold or retain the IOL in place after surgery, the opening should be as small as possible. Although extracapsular cataract extraction has been the preferred surgical technique, phacoemulsification is becoming increasingly popular, in part because of the relatively small (around 3 millimeters) tunnel incision that is used with phacoemulsification.
A typical IOL comprises an artificial lens ("optic") and at least one support member ("haptic") for positioning the IOL within the capsular bag. The diameter of the optic varies depending on the design of the IOL, but an optic diameter of around 5 millimeters (mm) to 6 mm is most common. When the surgical technique used is extracapsular cataract extraction, inserting the IOL through the relatively large incision presents no particular difficulties. However, when the surgical procedure used in phacoemulsification, the surgeon typically must widen the initial 3 mm tunnel incision enough to allow the IOL to be inserted into the capsular bag. Enlarging the incision reduces one of the advantages of phacoemulsification because of the possibility for postoperative complications associated with large incision ocular surgery, including induced astigmatism. Therefore, rollable or foldable IOL's have been developed that can be inserted into the capsular bag with minimal widening of the phacoemulsification incision.
As discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,573,998, 4,619,657, 4,834,750 and 4,919,130, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, foldable IOL's generally are made from polyurethane elastomers, silicone elastomers, hydrogel polymer collagen compounds or organic or synthetic gel compounds. The lens is rolled, compressed or crushed by a special syringe or forceps and placed into the capsular bag without enlarging the incision. While these IOL's and insertion devices work well, the insertion devices are bulky and require practice to master their use.
A second generation of foldable IOL's have recently been introduced that are made from monomers derived from acrylacrylate or methacrylates and a crosslinking agent. Such monomers are described more fully in copending and commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/879,237, the entire contents of which is incorporated by reference. Such materials are advantageous because they have higher refractive indices and, hence, allow the IOL to be thinner and fold more easily.
Prior to the present invention, to implant IOL's made from such acrylic materials, a special duckbill forceps with rounded jaws that will not close together completely (so as not to press the sides of the folded IOL together) was used. However, these forceps cannot, by themselves, fold the IOL, and the surgeon must hold the IOL with a second needle-nose or tying forceps while enveloping and folding the IOL with the duckbill forceps. This technique, while reliable, requires the use of two hands and a great deal of practice to master.
One IOL folder disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,410 uses a pair of opposing jaws that when pressed together folds the IOL within a pair of duckbill forceps. However, the recessed jaws of the folder disclosed in this patent requires that the forceps be held in place on either side of the lens during folding operation, making it difficult for one person (such as the nurse) to fold the IOL while another person (such as the surgeon) holds the forceps.
Another IOL folder disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,501 uses a base with a fixed jaw and an opposing, movable jaw. The IOL is placed between the jaws and the movable jaw is pressed toward the fixed jaw, thereby folding the soft IOL. However, this folder must be assembled from several pieces, increasing its manufacturing cost.
Accordingly, a need continues to exist for an inexpensive, one-handed device that will fold easily a soft IOL.


A thermoset composition comprises a crosslinked blend of a metallocene copolymer of ethylene and an alpha olefin and a block copolymer of styrene and a diene. A medical article is made from the composition. The invention includes a method to make the composition and the article.

Medical articles are conventionally made by thermoplastic processing of polyolefins or copolymers thereof. Typical polyolefins used are polyethylene, polypropylene or copolymers of these materials with one or more other monomers such as styrene, acrylic or butadiene. A variety of physical properties can be achieved according to the medical application envisioned for the plastic.
One important criterion to be considered when selecting a plastic for medical application is the resistance of the plastic to morphological change during end use, particularly when a component made from the plastic is to be used in a sealing relationship with another component.
If the components also have a sliding relationship, the phenomenon known as stick-slip is often a problem. Thus, it is well known that two stationary plastic surfaces having a sliding relationship often exhibit sufficient resistance to initiation of sliding movement that gradually increased pressure applied to one of the surfaces does not cause movement until a threshold pressure is reached at which point a sudden sliding separation (called breakout in the art) of the surfaces takes place. This situation is commonly referred to as stick-slip or sticktion. Stick-slip is exacerbated by prolonged stationary contact between the surfaces, such as occurs during shelf time. It is particularly troublesome in devices such as syringes, in particular syringes to be used with syringe pumps where ultra slow advancement of the stopper is required, and repeating sequential episodes of stick-slip occur. The term tribology refers to the study of friction, lubrication and wear of surfaces in relative motion.
Natural rubber has been fabricated into articles of low stick-slip which resist morphological change because of low compression set. This material is, however, expensive, difficult to process, and for this reason, SANTOPRENE.TM. (blend of polypropylene and EPDM (ethylene-propylenediene monomer) has become a material of choice for stoppers intended for medical use. This material, while of excellent compression set, is subject to substantial stick-slip.
It is toward the provision of a composition, and articles made therefrom, having improved tribological properties and reduced morphological change during use that the present invention is addressed.

Composition and article of improved compression set


In a method of joining a structure to a water-filled pipeline aboard a reel-lay vessel, a trailing end portion of the pipeline is suspended upright on a reel-lay tower. Water is drained from the trailing end portion while being retained in an inclined portion of the pipeline extending from the tower to a reel of the vessel and in a spooled portion of the pipeline coiled on the reel. The structure is joined to a trailing end of the pipeline after inserting a pig into the trailing end portion through the trailing end. Pumping additional water into a leading end of the pipeline on the reel propels the pig from the trailing end portion into a conduit of the structure while flooding the trailing end portion. This expels air through a port of the structure that was trapped in the trailing end portion between the pig and the structure.

This invention addresses the challenges of incorporating structures such as pipeline accessories into pipelines filled with a pressurising fluid such as water. The main application of the invention is the offshore installation of mechanically-lined pipeline by the reel-lay method, in which the pipeline is spooled for transport and unspooled for installation.
Reel-lay operations involve winding or spooling a continuous pipe formed of welded elements onto a reel of a dedicated pipelaying vessel, to be unwound or unspooled subsequently during pipelaying at sea. The vessel comprises at least one transport reel and a lay tower or ramp that comprises a straightener and various guides to guide the pipeline into the sea after unspooling and straightening.
From time to time, a pipeline accessory, which typically comprises a valve and/or a connector supported by a structure, has to be incorporated into and installed with a reeled pipeline.
A conventional method to incorporate a pipeline end accessory into a reeled pipeline, such as a pipeline end termination (PLET) or a pig launcher/receiver, involves spooling the length of pipeline required until the accessory and then welding the structure of the accessory to an end of the pipeline.
It can be convenient to spool longer pipelines in order to reduce the number of trips that a reel-lay vessel has to make between a coastal loading quay and an offshore installation site. A longer pipeline such as this may require accessories to be installed not only at the ends of the pipeline but also in-line at intermediate locations along the pipeline. In that case, the pipeline is cut at a workstation in the tower, after the straightener, and the accessory structure is welded between the cut ends of the pipeline.
Similarly, it can be convenient for a reel-lay vessel to carry first and second pipelines spooled in series on the same reel if the capacity of the reel is sufficient. A transition joint effects the transition between successively-reeled pipelines that have different characteristics, such as different diameters. The transition joint is cut out before abandoning the upper end of the first pipeline to the seabed and then initiating the installation of the second pipeline. Pipeline end accessories may be added to the cut end of either or both of the pipelines.
Nominally rigid pipes have enough flexibility to be bent if a minimum bend radius is observed. When spooling, bending extends beyond elastic limits into plastic deformation of the pipe that must be recovered by subsequent straightening processes during laying.
Bending deformation of a pipe upon spooling and unspooling develops considerable stresses and strains in the pipe wall, including ovalisation in transverse cross-section.
Particular problems arise when bending a lined pipe, which may be required for handling well fluids containing corrosive agents such as hydrogen sulphide and chlorides.
A lined pipe typically comprises a load-bearing, thick-walled, high-strength, outer pipe of low-alloy carbon steel, lined with a thin-walled liner sleeve of a corrosion-resistant alloy (CRA). Plastics liner sleeves are also known. The outer pipe resists buckling during spooling and unspooling and resists hydrostatic pressure when underwater. Conversely, the inner sleeve provides little mechanical strength, being just a few millimetres thick, but it protects the outer pipe from corrosive constituents of fluids carried by the pipe in use.
The use of two different materials in this way recognises that a pipe made entirely from corrosion-resistant material would be prohibitively expensive and yet could lack the essential mechanical properties that are provided by the strong outer wall of a lined pipe.
CRA-lined bimetallic pipes take two forms. The first is 'clad' pipe, in which an internal CRA liner sleeve is metallurgically bonded to the outer pipe. The second is 'mechanically lined pipe' or 'MLP', in which an interference fit between the liner sleeve and the outer pipe fixes the liner sleeve without metallurgical bonding. An example of MLP is supplied by H. Butting GmbH & Co. KG of Germany under the trade mark 'BuBi'.
To produce a length of MLP, a tubular liner sleeve is inserted telescopically into an outer pipe as a sliding fit and both are expanded radially by internal hydraulic pressure applied to the liner sleeve. The expanding liner sleeve undergoes radially-outward plastic deformation to apply radial expansion force to the outer pipe, which undergoes radially-outward plastic or elastic deformation as a result. Once the internal pressure is relaxed, radially-inward elastic shrinkage of the outer pipe onto the plastically-expanded liner sleeve effects a mechanical bond between the outer pipe and the liner sleeve.
MLP benefits from an economical production process that makes it much less expensive than clad pipe. This can save tens of millions of US dollars in a large subsea project, considering the many kilometres of lined pipe that may be required. However, MLP is susceptible to problems during spooling and unspooling that make it difficult to use in reel-lay applications. Specifically, under bending deformation, the thick-walled outer pipe may be structurally stable while the thin-walled inner liner sleeve of lower yield strength suffers significant deformation under the combined action of bending and external pressure from the outer pipe. This deformation manifests itself as buckling or wrinkling of the liner sleeve, especially around the intrados or inner curve of the pipe bend. A wrinkled liner sleeve may hinder the smooth flow of well fluids, may decrease fatigue life due to stress concentration and may preclude effective pigging of the pipeline.
In view of the wrinkling problem, the present invention is mainly concerned with MLP as opposed to metallurgically-bonded clad pipe for which wrinkling—of the liner at least—is not such a challenge. The invention is also concerned with plastics-lined pipes. Both MLP and plastics-lined pipes are characterised by the possibility of localised longitudinal slippage of the liner sleeve relative to the outer pipe upon bending deformation of the lined pipe, with consequent undesirable deformation of the liner sleeve manifested as wrinkling. However, in a broad sense, the invention could also have benefit when bending clad pipe and indeed when bending unlined pipe, if bending is such as to give rise to unwanted inward deformation of the pipe wall.
Wrinkling of the intrados of a pipe bend during bending is a well-known phenomenon. Standards such as ASME B31.3, API 5L and DNV-OS-F-101 recommend that wrinkling should be mitigated by choosing a pipe wall of suitable thickness. However, this approach cannot be applied to double-walled lined pipe in which the outer wall is designed primarily for mechanical strength but the inner wall is designed primarily for corrosion resistance and is made of a material with lower yield strength.
WO 2008/072970, WO 2010/010390 and WO 2011/051218 address the problem of liner wrinkling by filling at least a substantial part of a lined pipeline with a pressurised fluid such as water. However, connecting a structure such as a pipeline accessory is complex when the pipeline is preliminarily filled with a pressurising liquid. For example, the pressure must be reduced when cutting the pipeline and the liquid has to be re-pressurised in the spooled pipeline before unspooling can restart. There is also a need to manage and to reduce the presence of air in the pipelines before re-pressurisation, which could otherwise undermine the benefits of the procedure in terms of wrinkle mitigation.
GB 2553837 discloses a method of refilling and pressurising a pipeline using a pig within the pipeline. However this method works better if water flows through the pig, which limits the water flow rate and so delays the procedure. In this respect, any delays are undesirable because reel-lay vessels are extremely valuable capital assets that cost hundreds of millions of US dollars to acquire and hundreds of thousands of US dollars per day to operate.
WO 2018/051191 discloses the use of a port on the accessory structure to refill the pipeline with liquid and to re-pressurise the liquid. However, this is not as efficient as methods that employ pigs within the pipeline for re-pressurisation. The friction of pigs with the inner surface of the pipeline allows better management of high pressure differentials.

Incorporating structures into reeled pipelines


An improved artist assistive device provides easy adjustment and support of a mahl. The mahl can be repositioned with one hand, eliminating the need for the artist to lay down a work tool to reposition the mahl as required by the prior art. Embodiments include a second, vertical mahl supported from the top rail. Preferably, the top rail has front and rear members with a gap therebetween in which a slide supporting the second mahl is inserted. With the slide in the gap, the position of the vertical mahl can be adjusted by sliding the support along the top rail.

For centuries, artists have employed tools to steady their hands and to assist in the drawing of lines on paintings and the like. A favored tool has been the mahl, also known as a maul or mahlstick. The typical mahl is a stick or dowel with padding on one end that the artist holds against the surface on which he or she is working. The artist then can rest his or her other hand on the mahl to steady the hand and/or to draw straighter lines. Clearly, this arrangement can be inconvenient since both hands are occupied with the traditional arrangement. Most artists put up with this inconvenience because the mahl itself is so simple to make and use. However, there have been attempts to provide an improved mahl.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,133 to Parshall discloses a mahl stick holder that employs a series of notches in a vertical member to support one end of the mahl while the other end of the mahl is held by the artist's free hand. While moving the mahl off the work surface, this still requires that the artist hold the mahl.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,088,290 to Novello discloses a telescoping mahl that can be mounted across the canvas supported by the uprights of the frame. Alternatively, the mahl can be mounted vertically across the canvas supported by the top and bottom frame members, or can hang from the top member with the free end of the mahl resting on the work surface. The extent of telescopy and the position relative to the frame rail are adjusted with knobs on the mahl that would be difficult to operate with one hand, and in some positions, the artist must still hold the mahl.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,006 to Karlin discloses a steadying device in which a first mahl is supported by posts in clamps on the uprights of the canvas frame, while a second mahl is supported by the first mahl and a third post in a clamp on the top member of the canvas frame. The mahls are attached to the posts and to each other with elastic members, such as rubber bands, to allow adjustment relative to the canvas and each other. The clamps must be adjusted with two hands and the mahl must be slid through the elastics to be adjusted.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,198 to Hoyt discloses a mahl support in which the mahl has plastic end caps and a hook at one end. The hook is inserted into an eyelet in a bar on the top of the canvas frame and the free end of the mahl is held by the artist's free hand. This is hardly an improvement on the traditional mahl in that the artist must hold the mahl with one hand while working with the other hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,883 to Amirian discloses an artist tool in which a bar rests atop the canvas frame and slidably and pivotably supports a mahl. The mahl can be slid and pivoted to allow the painting hand to be supported anywhere on the canvas. However, the adjustment requires two hands and the resulting support is not terribly secure.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,193,772, and 4,717,109 to Johnston disclose a hand and brush guide for adjustable mahl in the form of a beam, ends of the beam being mounted in carriages. A hand support slides on the beam along the longitudinal axis of the beam, while the carriages allow the beam to be adjusted along the transverse axis of the beam. The carriages are supported at the edges of the work space by rods held on held on the canvas frame with clamps and can include counterweights to facilitate movement of the beam up and down the canvas. This is the most complicated of the devices mentioned here and is quite large and cumbersome. Adjustment of the beam requires two hands, and learning how to use the device itself could be a challenge. The device is very likely to be expensive to manufacture and to purchase.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,772 to Weber discloses an artist tool that supports a double-mahl-like hand rest for adjustment in a plane parallel to the work surface and, to some extent, skew to the work surface. The hand rest is supported at one end by a swing clamp mounted on the canvas frame. The clamp requires adjustment with two hands.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,791 to Givonett discloses a hand rest in which a pivoting support attaches to an easel leg or other support structure and holds an end of a mahl. The mahl extends over the work space and can be adjusted by pivoting the mahl about the pivoting support. The unsupported end of the mahl is a traditional padded mahl tip that can rest on the work surface while in use. This arrangement provides a wide range of adjustment, but is very cumbersome, complicated, and expensive. Additionally, the use of the device is somewhat involved, requiring two hands to adjust the position of the mahl.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,059 to Falconer discloses a hand rest that provides a vertical bar with pegs in it on which one end of a mahl can rest. The other end of the mahl is supposed to be rest on the easel tray or be held by the artist in his or her free hand. While this is somewhat of an improvement over the traditional mahl, the artist still must hold the mahl or take up space in and block access to the easel tray.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,972 to Oliver discloses an adjustable hand rest that uses two bars, one on either side of a canvas frame, to support brackets that hold a mahl. The brackets can slide up and down the bars to allow adjustment of the mahl's height and angle. One of the brackets has an open notch in which the mahl rests, while the other has an opening into which the end of the mahl is inserted. While this is fairly useful, it is quite complicated, cumbersome, and likely to be expensive to manufacture and purchase. Additionally, use of the Oliver device is involved, requiring two hands to adjust each vertical support.
What none of the prior art have tried, and what embodiments disclose herein propose, is to provide a step-wise vertical adjustment and support on both ends of the mahl that can be operated with one hand. Embodiments employ two vertical members that include spaced-apart supports on which ends of the mahl can rest. For example, pegs can be used in the vertical members, allowing the artist to place the mahl horizontally at a position of his or her choosing simply by lifting the mahl with a free hand and placing the mahl on the appropriate pegs. Further, embodiments allow artists to place the mahl at an angle by putting one end of the mahl on a higher peg than the other end of the mahl. The vertical members can be part of a frame with top and bottom rails extending between the vertical members. The bottom member can act as a support in embodiments, resting on the easel tray.
Embodiments additionally comprise a vertical member, such as a second mahl, that preferably hangs down from a top horizontal rail and rests on the first mahl. Additionally, the vertical mahl is preferably slidable along the top rail to allow adjustment of the point of intersection between the first and second mahl. Thus, an artist can place the first mahl at a desired vertical location and, if the artist desires additional assistance, can hang the second mahl from the top rail, sliding it to its desired location. In embodiments including the sliding vertical second mahl, the top rail preferably includes front and rear members, the ends of which are mounted on the fronts and backs of the tops of the vertical members, creating a gap between the front and rear top rail members. The vertical mahl then includes a slide sized to fit in the gap so that pivoting is substantially eliminated.
Embodiments thus disclose a mahl support that can be used and adjusted with one hand, eliminating the need for the artist to hold the mahl or to lay down a work tool to adjust the position of the mahl in the support. Embodiments further provide a vertical mahl that can be used and adjusted with one hand, again eliminating the need for the artist to hold the mahl or to lay down a work tool to adjust the position of the vertical mahl.


To implement a configuration to calculate a manual driving recoverable time required for a driver who is executing automatic driving in order to achieve a requested recovery ratio (RRR) for each road section, and issue a manual driving recovery request notification on the basis of the calculated time. A data processing unit is included, which calculates a manual driving recoverable time required for a driver who is executing automatic driving in order to achieve a predefined requested recovery ratio (RRR) from automatic driving to manual driving and determines notification timing of a manual driving recovery request notification on the basis of the calculated time. The data processing unit acquires the requested recovery ratio (RRR) for each road section set as ancillary information of a local dynamic map (LDM), and calculates the manual driving recoverable time for each road section scheduled to travel, using learning data for each driver.

In recent years, for the purpose of improving safety of vehicle traveling, reducing a load on a driver, and the like, automatic steering systems are being developed, which automatically control travel of the vehicle and support the travel without a driver's traveling and steering operation of the vehicle. When the entire travel control of a vehicle becomes able to be automatically performed in the future, a user who is using the vehicle in an automatic drive mode is expected to be free from all the driving and steering operations during the vehicle's automatic driving and is expected to be permitted to execute another secondary task with respect to the steering operation that is an original primary task. However, in the case where the driver who was originally involved in driving completely drops out of a control loop of the vehicle and lefts the control of the vehicle to an automatic drive system of the vehicle, grasp of a surrounding situation, which is essential for the driver's driving, is not performed while the driver is dropping out of the control loop, resulting in complete disconnection of the surrounding situation grasp and recognition, which is necessary for the driver for the driving and steering operation.
If the driver starts automatic steering traveling using a system capable of automatic driving of the vehicle, in a case where the traveling controlled by the system continues or a situation where recovery by the driver is required occurs, the vehicle needs to be safely taken over to the driver because the driver is away from the original primary task operation of recognizing the surrounding environment necessary for steering, but situation grasp and an operation ability required for the driver's traveling are not necessarily recovered within a limited time. That is, once the vehicle automatically enters a traveling state using the automatic steering system, measures that can be taken by the system are limited for the safety of the vehicle thereafter, such as a surrounding event that can be recognized and handled by the automatic steering system being held, the driver normally grasping a road traveling situation instead of the automatic steering system while the system safely functions and taking over the traveling and steering control, or the system suspending the traveling of the vehicle and urgently stopping the vehicle.
In this case, when a situation where the driver does not voluntarily take over the steering control occurs, the system urgently stops the traveling vehicle for safety when the vehicle approaches a section on a traveling route where the driver needs to take over the steering control. However, if a vehicle is urgently stopped or decelerated on a road, it may result in a bottleneck in an allowable traffic volume on the road, which may lead to deterioration of a basic function of social infrastructure, such as congestion, and it cannot be said to be a desirable use mode from the viewpoint of social activities.
In other words, to make the automatic drive system socially available in a wide area and to introduce the automatic drive system without negatively affecting basic functions of society, it can be said that the system is required to have a function that enables the driver to almost reliably and accurately recover to control in a vehicle that is started for traveling in the automatic driving state by the driver.
The automatic driving system cannot return the control of the vehicle to the driver unless the system can determine driver's ability to recover to driving as to whether or not the control of the vehicle can be safely taken over to the driver. Therefore, a use mode in which the automatic driving is completely used in a closed space is considered to be one use. Meanwhile, an advantage of a car is that the car can freely move from an arbitrary point to any different point. If the automatic driving is introduced in such a use mode, the driver needs to recover from the automatic driving in a case where there is a section that cannot be passed by the automatic driving. Even if the vehicle is pulled over to a shoulder to a road or the like in a case where the driver has a difficulty in recovering, and it may lead to a traffic congestion, as described above.
In fact, even if the automatic driving is introduced in the social infrastructure where general vehicles travel, a state in which a section requiring the driver to intervene and a section where the automatic driving is available are alternately mixed is assumed as the road infrastructure for the time being from the perspective of infrastructure investment that the society allows. In particular in an initial introduction period, an introduction mode where the sections alternately appear in patches throughout an itinerary section is assumed. Therefore, to enable the driver to favorably execute the secondary task when the driver using a vehicle capable of automatic driving, a driving recovery notification needs to be given to the driver at appropriate timing.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology of displaying danger levels for a plurality of dangers on a road on which a driver's own vehicle is planned to travel. Furthermore, for example, Patent Document 2 discloses a technology of displaying and notifying the driver who is focusing on a mobile terminal that the driver is in a situation to start manual driving on a screen of the mobile terminal in the case of causing the driver to start manual driving during automatic driving. These known technologies are uniform notification methods for known predetermined points that can be acquired in advance as map information as a travel environment.

Information processing device, mobile device, information processing system, and method

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