A water-immiscible organic fluid is tagged and identified by tagging the organic fluid with between about 0.25 and about 100 ppm of a marker compound having the formula: ##STR1## where the OH groups are either ortho or para to the diazo moieties, and the Xs are the same or different and are selected from C.sub.1 -C.sub.12 -alkyl, Cl, Br, F, NH.sub.2, CN, NO.sub.2, NH(C.sub.1-3 -alkyl) and N(C.sub.1-3 -alkyl).sub.2, and the fluid is identified by extracting the tagged fluid with an alkaline aqueous extractant having a pH above about 12 and containing, based on 100 parts by weight of said extractant, between about 10 and about 60 parts by weight of an organic cosolvent having the formula: EQU R.sup.1 --O--R.sup.2 --NH.sub.2 (II). where R.sup.1 is C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 -alkyl, and R.sup.2 is C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 -alkylene.

As described in a variety of patents, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,560,855, 5,156,653, 5,737,871, and 5,252,106, the teachings of each of which are incorporated herein by reference, it is desirable to tag organic liquids, particularly petroleum fuels, so that the tagged petroleum fuel may be identified for a variety of reasons, including tax purposes, e.g., road fuel vs. agriculture fuel, product brand identification, and quality, e.g., octane, identification. In many cases, particularly brand identification, the marker should be identifiable quantitatively to ensure against dilution of a tagged fuel with non-tagged fuel.
In a common tagging system, a marker is used which is soluble in fuel and is either not observable to the eye at the concentrations used or is used in conjunction with a dye which masks any color the marker may have. While the marker is soluble in petroleum fuel, it typically has a salt form that is soluble in either acidic or alkaline aqueous solution, whereby the marker may be extracted from the water-immiscible fluid by acidic aqueous solution or alkaline aqueous solution as the case may be. Because the marker is present in the fuel at low concentrations, typically between about 1 and about 100 ppm (parts per million by weight), it is usually a requirement that the marker, as extracted or subsequent thereto, undergo a chromophoric reaction, whereby presence of the marker is readily observable by its strong color.
While a relatively wide variety of such markers have been proposed, in actuality, only a relatively few have actually been accepted for use. There remains a need for additional markers to tag petroleum fuels and the like.
The use of chemicals as markers is to be distinguished from the use of chemicals as dyes. Dyes are used in petroleum fuels to impart color to the fuel. Dyes need only be soluble in petroleum fuel at a concentration so as to impart a desired color. They need not be extractable or color-forming, as is generally the case with markers.
The present invention is directed to a class of chemicals, some of which have been used as petroleum fuel dyes. These dyes, species of which are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,030, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference, are not easily extracted. However, it is found herein that alkaline aqueous solutions employing particular co-solvents may be used to quantitatively extract such chemicals from organic fluids, including petroleum fuels.

Tagging and identifying organic liquids including fuels


A method of manufacturing a winding includes steps of twisting U-shaped conductor segments, inserting straight portions of the twisted conductor segments in slots of a stator core, bending ends of the straight portions in a circumferential direction of the stator core and joining the ends. The method further includes a step of pressing turn portions of the U-shaped conductor segments by a turn portion twisting apparatus such that widths of the turn portions reduce in radial directions. The pressing step is performed simultaneously with the twisting step. Alternatively, the pressing step is performed after the twisting step.

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a stator winding of a rotary electric machine, such as a vehicular alternator installed on passenger vehicles or trucks, and structure of a winding and a method of manufacturing the winding.
In recent years, it has been required to improve power generation performance of a vehicular alternator in accordance with an increase in current consumed by safety control apparatus. To meet the requirement, it is proposed to improve power output of a stator by increasing occupancy of the electric conductors in slots of the stator by regularly arranging U-shaped electric conductors in the slots. This kind of stator is disclosed in JP-A-2001-45721 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,314,780) and JP-B2-3118837 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,249,956), for example.
According to the method disclosed in JP-B2-3118837, breakage of an insulation film at a turn portion of a U-shaped electric conductor due to excess concentration of stress is reduced by increasing an inside dimension or diameter of the turn portion for some amount, even if an overall width of straight portions of the U-shaped electric conductor including a gap between them is small.
However, when the inside dimension of the turn portion is increased to reduce the breakage of the insulation films, an outside width of the turn portion increases for the amount. Therefore, in a stator winding constructed of the U-shaped electric conductors, the turn portions largely protrude from an outer circumferential end and an inner circumferential end of a stator core in a radial direction. As a result, the turn portions are likely to interfere with a housing located on an outer periphery of the stator and other components such as a rotor located radially inside of the stator.

Method of manufacturing stator winding of rotary electric machine


A polycrystal silicon rod characterized in that it has a half value width of a peak indicative of crystal orientation (111) of an X-ray diffraction pattern, of 0.3.degree. or less, an internal strain rate in a radial direction of less than 5.0.times.10.sup.-5 cm.sup.-1 and an internal iron concentration of 0.5 ppba or less. The above polycrystal silicon rod having high crystallinity, high purity and low internal strain is produced by heating a core material in a gaseous atmosphere comprising trichlorosilane and hydrogen to deposit silicon on the silicon core material to produce a polycrystal silicon rod, and subjecting the polycrystal silicon rod to a heat treatment without allowing it to contact with the air, to remove strain contained therein.

A polycrystal silicon rod is generally produced by a chemical vapor deposition (to be abbreviated as CVD hereinafter). That is, the CVD is generally carried out by bringing hydrogen and one member of silane gases such as monosilane, dichlorosilane, trichlorosilane and the like or a mixture of two or more of these gases into contact with a core material kept at a high temperature, in a gaseous atmosphere diluted with an inert gas as required, to deposit silicon on the surface of the core material. Out of methods for depositing polycrystal silicon by the CVD method, there is a method for producing a polycrystal silicon rod by using silicon as a core material and thickening the rod, in particular. This method is also called a Siemens method, and is generally and widely employed.
Meanwhile, an attempt is made to melt a polycrystal silicon rod produced by the above Siemens method, as it is, and convert it into single crystals by recharging. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 7-277874 teaches a technology for producing single crystal silicon by supplying the silicon rod directly as a rod for recharging.
This Laid-open Publication discloses the necessity for reducing the residual stress of a polycrystal silicon rod to prevent a fall caused by the cracking of the polycrystal silicon rod as a raw material during the preparation of single crystals. As specific means of reducing the residual stress, there is disclosed a method of producing a polycrystal silicon rod from monosilane as a raw material. This publication teaches also that since a polycrystal silicon rod obtained from raw materials other than monosilane has large residual stress, a heat treatment such as annealing is carried out before melting of the rod to remove the residual stress.
However, a polycrystal silicon rod produced from monosilane as a raw material on an industrial scale generally has low crystallinity. In other words, the polycrystal silicon rod produced from monosilane has a half value width of a peak (may be also referred to as "peak (111)" hereinafter) in the vicinity of 2.theta.=28.5.degree. of an X-ray diffraction pattern obtained using copper as a target of around 0.4.degree. to 0.50.degree..
Therefore, the polycrystal silicon rod produced from such monosilane as a raw material has a low crystallinity and in consequence, such trouble is invited that an amorphous portion remains as a hole and an etching solution remains therein when a treatment for obtaining high-purity single crystal silicon, particularly a treatment for etching the surface thereof with a view to prevent inclusion of heavy metals, is carried out.
This can be presumed from Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 8-169797 which teaches that fine powders formed through a homogenous reaction are contained in a polycrystal silicon rod produced by the deposition of monosilane.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 8-67510 discloses that the surface area of the above polycrystal polysilicon having a low crystallinity is increased when it is etched.
In contrast to this, a polycrystal silicon rod produced using trichlorosilane as a raw material has a high crystallinity and does not contain fine powders because it is free from a homogenous reaction.
Therefore, when trichlorosilane is used as a raw material for the production of a polycrystal silicon rod, the resulting polycrystal silicon rod does not deteriorate in quality by etching because it has a smooth surface even after etching. Further, as trichlorosilane is much more inexpensive than monosilane, the use of a polycrystal silicon rod produced from trichlorosilane for recharging has been desired.
However, since a polycrystal silicon rod produced from trichlorosilane as a raw material has large residual stress in the rod, as also disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 7-277874, it has been considered to be unsuitable for use as a rod for FZ or recharging.
Further, when the polycrystal silicon rod is subjected to a heat treatment such as annealing before melting treatment for the purpose of removing the residual stress of the polycrystal silicon rod, its purity is greatly reduced by contamination and it cannot be used in the production of single crystals any longer.
That is, since the heat treatment of the polycrystal silicon rod before melting is carried out after the polycrystal silicon rod is taken out from a deposition reactor, its surface is contaminated with iron at a concentration of around 1.times.10.sup.15 atoms/cm.sup.2 by its contact with impurities contained in the air during its transfer. This surface contamination spreads into the interior of the rod during heat treatment with the result of a final contamination of about 7 ppba.
Moreover, since this heat treatment is carried out at a temperature of not lower than 1,100.degree. C, there is the possibility that the interior of the rod is contaminated by dopant impurities and heavy metal impurities released from a heater or container.
Even when such contamination on the exterior surface of the polycrystal silicon rod subjected to the above heat treatment is removed by etching in a clean room before melting in order to use it in the production process of single crystal silicon, the rod is never restored to a clean state and exerts a bad influence on the purity of the obtained single crystal silicon.
To prevent the contamination of the polycrystal silicon rod, it is conceivable to protect the rod with a quartz glass tube. However, it cannot be said that this method is effective because the quartz glass is softened at a temperature of not lower than 1,000.degree. C.

Polycrystal silicon rod and production process therefor


Using an imaging system in relation to a plurality of material layers in an initial alignment state is provided, a first of the plurality of material layers at least partially obscuring a second of the plurality of material layers in the initial alignment state. The first material layer is moved from a first position corresponding to the initial alignment state to a second position out of a field of view of the imaging system, and a first image of the second material layer is stored. The first material layer is moved back the first position to restore the initial alignment state. A second image of the first material layer is acquired. The second image and the stored first image are processed to determine the initial alignment state.

The generation of small devices often involves an alignment of multiple material layers, e.g., two or more material layers, with the assistance of an imaging system. For example, in one scenario, the material layers are positioned substantially parallel to each other and are spaced apart by an amount that is relatively small compared to their overall dimensions. An imaging system having an optical axis perpendicular to the material layers is used to image one or more alignment markers on or within each layer. Relative position is established according to alignment marker positions. Alignment markers can comprise markers provided explicitly for alignment purposes, or can comprise known landmarks identified among features present on the material layer.
One issue can arise in the context of material layers that can obscure other material layers relative to the imaging system. As used herein, a first layer obscures a second layer if a clean image of the second layer cannot be obtained by the imaging system in the presence of the first layer. Depending on the selection of algorithm used for alignment sensing or control, the presence of obscuring material layers may confound performance in the alignment sensing and/or control process. Notably, a first layer may obscure a second layer even if the first layer is positioned below the second layer relative to the imaging system. For example, features or textures of a lower layer may show through an upper layer such that a clean image of upper layer cannot be obtained in the presence of the lower layer.
Other issues that can arise, either alone or in combination with obscuring material layers, relate to the ever-shrinking nature of devices and the ever-changing nature of their fabrication processes. One issue brought about by shrinking feature sizes is that the spacing between material layers may begin to exceed the depth of field of the imaging system used in the alignment process. Another issue is that it may not always be desirable or practical to use alignment markers for sensing device alignment and/or for sensing relative position shifts. At the same time, however, the need for exacting alignment tolerances remains. By way of example, it may be desirable to measure very small changes in an alignment state between layers even where no alignment markers are present.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Described herein are an apparatus, system, and method for compensating voltage swing and duty cycle of a signal on an input-output (I/O) pad of a processor by adjusting the voltage swing and duty cycle of the signal. The apparatus comprises a driver to transmit a signal on an I/O pad, the signal on the I/O pad having a voltage swing and a duty cycle; and an adjustment unit, coupled to the driver, to receive the signal from the I/O pad transmitted by the driver and to generate voltage swing and duty cycle control signals for adjusting the voltage swing and duty cycle of the signal on the I/O pad respectively. Described herein is also an analog-to-digital (A2D) converter for measuring and/or calibrating various signal attributes including current, voltage, and time.

As input-output (I/O) transceivers operate at higher frequencies, voltage and timing margins become smaller and harder to meet for a given design. Furthermore, high degree of random variation (also referred to as within-die variation) in modern process technology results in excessive variations in voltage swing and duty cycle of signals transmitted by the I/O transceivers on transmission media. Identical I/O transceivers (i.e., transceivers with identical designs and transistor sizes) may exhibit different signaling attributes within internal nodes and at the outputs of their respective I/O pads e.g., the voltage swing and duty cycle of a signal generated by a first I/O transceiver of a processor may be different from the voltage swing and duty cycle of another signal generated by a second I/O transceiver of the processor, even when the second I/O transceiver being physically located next to the first I/O transceiver.
Such variability in the voltage swing and duty cycle of signals at the I/O pads result in reduced performance of the processor—performance as measured in terms of overall I/O speeds and satisfaction of I/O specifications of the processor.
Furthermore, characterizing various attributes of such high speed devices (e.g., the devices of the high speed I/Os) require expensive debugging testers. To reduce the cost and test time such high speed devices, on-die processor self-testing measures are applied. Traditional analog to digital (A2D) converters can be used to measure a single analog attribute of a device e.g., current levels of a current source of an I/O transmitter, to characterize the device. However, such A2D converters are unable to measure multiple internal analog and digital attributes of a device e.g., current levels flowing through a node, duty-cycle of a high-speed node, phase difference between two different high-speed nodes, voltage level of a signal on a node.

Apparatus, system, and method for voltage swing and duty cycle adjustment


Methods and devices are disclosed for performing laparoscopic gastroplasty for the treatment of morbid obesity. The method utilizes a stapling device and a nasogastric tube for positioning the stapling device. A non-absorbable staple support strip is to form and support a passage between a proximal pouch and a distal region in the stomach formed by stapling.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods and devices for surgically treating obese individuals. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and device for performing gastroplasty procedures relying on the laparoscopic placement and stapling of a vertical band partitioning the individual's stomach.
Obesity is the most frequent nutritional disorder in Western civilization. In the U.S., over 34 million citizens between the ages of 20-75 are overweight, and of those, 12.4 million are morbidly obese, i.e. being 100 pounds over their desirable weight or having one or more serious medical conditions in association with obesity. Such morbid obesity carries with it a greatly enhanced risk of premature death, particularly between the ages of 25-35, where there is a 12-fold increased risk of death compared with the non-obese. The most common causes of death are heart disease, stroke, diabetes mellitus, cancer, pulmonary diseases, and accidents.
Presently there are but two methods of treatment for morbid obesity--diet and surgery. Numerous studies have found diet alone is generally unsuccessful with recidivism rates approaching 95%. After abandoning the highly successful jejunal-ileal bypass surgical procedure performed in the early 70's because of its unacceptably high rate of late metabolic complications, surgeons have developed two different gastric surgical approaches--the Vertical Banded Gastroplasty (hereafter called VBG) and the Gastric Bypass. Each of these procedures has its advantages and disadvantages. The Gastric Bypass, which entails short circuiting the gastric pouch, has previously been more successful in bringing about sustained weight loss. However, the procedure is more difficult to perform, has a higher rate of catastrophic post-operative complications, and produces long term deleterious changes due to the rerouting of the alimentary flow.
Vertical Banded Gastroplasty is more commonly performed than Gastric Bypass because it is simpler, has fewer major complications, and does not disturb normal alimentary continuity. VBG relies on stapling the stomach to create a small partitioned pouch high up in the stomach that can contain no more than 50 ml of food and liquid, where the pouch has a small diameter (typically not exceeding 10.7 mm) controlled non-dilatable outlet to the larger stomach. The smaller pouch which receives food and liquid directly from the esophagus (gullet) will fill quickly. Because the outlet from this smaller pouch into the larger stomach is quite narrow, the patient will experience early satiety, which in turn will decrease the appetite and result in weight loss.
Vertical Banded Gastroplasty is accomplished by accessing the patient's general peritoneal cavity through a very long abdominal incision and an exemplary procedure involves the following steps.
Step 1: The lesser curvature of the stomach is dissected from any attaching structures over a distance of about 3 or 4 cm. This requires clearing all blood vessels and nerves from the anterior and posterior aspects of the stomach.
Step 2: A 32 French Ewald rubber tube is placed through the patient's mouth and into the stomach and is held against the lesser curvature (32f=10.7 mm, this tube calibrates the size of the outlet). A special stapling device called an EEA.TM. (U.S. Surgical Corporation, Norwalk, Connecticut) punctures both gastric walls, then punches-out and seals a 28 mm diameter circle in both walls of the stomach. Thus, a small hole is created in the stomach by stapling the front and back walls of the stomach together.
Step 3: A second stapling device (TA-90B.TM., available from U.S. Surgical Corporation, Norwalk, Connecticut) is specially designed to place 4 rows of linear staples and is introduced through the stomach hole so that the lower jaw of the staple device is on the back wall of the stomach and the upper jaw of the staple device is on the front wall of the stomach. The length of stomach that needs to be stapled varies from 5-9 cm. The TA-90B.TM. stapling device is then placed so that its longitudinal axis is parallel to a line from the opening of the esophagus to the new outlet opening constructed next to the punched-out hole. After measuring the proposed volume of the partitioned pouch and making it somewhere between 15 ml and 50 ml, staples in a double row are then fired through both walls of the stomach.
The stomach is now compartmentalized into a smaller proximal pouch which can accommodate only small portions of food. To gain access to the much larger portion of the stomach and the remainder of the digestive tract, food must pass through the narrow exit opening which is the new outlet from the smaller proximal portion of the stomach.
Step 4: The new outlet is encircled with a band of polypropylene non-absorbable mesh which measures 5.5 cm.times.1.5 cm (the mesh resembles a screen door). This band encircling the newly constructed outlet will form a collar. The mesh is placed through the punched-out hole and is secured around the outer surface of the outlet. The mesh, once sutured to itself, prevents the inner diameter of the outlet of the stomach from stretching beyond is initial diameter.
Thus, the steps of the VBG procedure compartmentalize the stomach into a larger portion and a smaller portion. The smaller portion is vertically stapled and its outlet banded with a piece of non-absorbable mesh to insure that it will not increase in size. The smaller pouch will hold a volume of 15-50 ml, and the exit opening, by virtue of its being banded, will not increase in diameter. Such features serve to insure that the patient who attempts to eat too much, too fast will have early satiety and not overeat.
While this procedure has been successful, it suffers from the fact that obese patients are poor surgical risks. The surgery requires a very long incision, extending through an extremely thick layer of fat. Post-operative healing of such incisions is highly problematic. The procedure is difficult for the surgeon to perform because of the poor exposure associated with the enormous size of these patients.
With the exception of a few centers, VBG has fallen into disuse because of the difficulties associated with the performance of the procedure and the high rate of complications that ensue afterwards. Early complications, such as wound infection, pulmonary emboli, gastric perforation, and subphrenic abscess, are serious and the early mortality figure in the best series runs between 1-3%. Many early complications necessitate reoperation.
Late compilations, such as ventral (incisional) hernias and gallbladder stones, also occur. The most troubling late complication is a disruption of the vertical linear rows of staples. When this occurs, the smaller partitioned stomach now has two openings into the larger stomach and the benefits of the procedure are immediately negated.
In recent years, less invasive surgical (LIS) techniques, such as laparoscopic, thoracoscopic, and arthroscopic techniques, have been performed through small incisions. Such LIS procedures use specialized instruments to carry out the desired surgical result. For abdominal surgery, the specialized instruments are usually introduced through a tube, such as a trocar, while the surgeon observes the manipulation of the instruments through a laparoscope. The image is transmitted by means of a camera attached to the laparoscope to a visual monitor. LIS techniques offer significant advantages over conventional "open" surgical procedures. In particular, the LIS techniques are generally much less traumatic, require substantially shorter recovery periods, and are less costly than corresponding, conventional surgical techniques such as open abdominal surgery.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide methods and devices for laparoscopically performing gastroplasty procedures. Such laparoscopic gastroplasty procedures would lessen or avoid the morbidity associated with open surgical gastroplasty procedures. Further, it would be advantageous to perform gastroplasty procedures in a manner that reduced the possibility of staple disruption.
2. Description of Background Art
Surgical gastroplasty procedures are described in Mason (1982) Arch. Surg. 117:701-706; Willibanks (1986) Surg. 101:606-610; and Deitel et. al. (1986) 29:322-324. Willibanks (1986) illustrates the TA-90.TM. surgical stapling device manufactured by U.S. Surgical Corporation, as described above. A gastroplasty method employing a specialized clamp having an aperture to define the small diameter flow passage between the partitioned portions of the stomach is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,985. A laparoscopic stapling device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,715, the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,614 discloses a surgical stapling device with features similar to the model TA-90.TM. manufactured by U.S. Surgical Corporation.

Method and devices for use in surgical gastroplastic procedure


A new and distinct grapevine variety characterized by naturally large, red, seedless berries that are crisp, round and uniform. Berries of the new xe2x80x98Sugratwentyonexe2x80x99 variety are thin-skinned and are strongly attached to large, slightly compact clusters.

This invention relates to the discovery and asexual propagation of a new variety of grapevine, Vitis vinifera cv. xe2x80x98Sugratwentyonexe2x80x99. The new variety was first hybridized by David W. Cain in Wasco, Kern County, Calif., the variety being originated by controlled bybridization and subsequent ovule culture of normally abortive seeds. The new xe2x80x98Sugratwentyonexe2x80x99 variety is characterized by producing large clusters of red, naturally large seedless berries that are uniform, crisp and round.
The seed parent is xe2x80x98Sun World Breeding Selection 90089-165-268xe2x80x99 (nonpatented). The pollen parent is xe2x80x98Sun World International Breeding Selection 90227-127-008xe2x80x99 (nonpatented). The parent varieties were first crossed in May, 1993, with the date of first flowering being May, 1995. The new xe2x80x98Sugratwentyonexe2x80x99 variety was first asexually propagated by David W. Cain in December, 1995, near Wasco, Kern County, Calif., using hardwood cuttings.
The new grapevine variety cv. xe2x80x98Sugratwentyonexe2x80x99 differs from its seed parent by producing larger, more nearly round light red berries (as compared to the smaller, reddish-black berries of the seed parent) that ripen approximately one month later. xe2x80x98Sugratwentyonexe2x80x99 differs from its pollen parent by producing berries that are rounder and light red in color, in comparison to the oval, black berries of the pollen parent.
The new variety cv. xe2x80x98Sugratwentyonexe2x80x99 can be distinguished from commonly grown grape varieties such as the xe2x80x98Redglobexe2x80x99 (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 4,787) and the xe2x80x98Flame Seedlessxe2x80x99 (nonpatented) by possessing large clusters of red seedless berries that are crisp and uniform. The berries of the new xe2x80x98Sugratwentyonexe2x80x99 variety color with some difficulty in hot conditions, and are prone to bunch rot due to a combination of thin skin and a slightly compact cluster structure. Moreover, the berries of xe2x80x98Sugratwentyonexe2x80x99 are naturally very large, being among the largest of known seedless grapes. Manipulation by either gibberellic acid or girdling produces berries that are even larger. The berries are strongly attached to the cluster, mainly due to increased lignification of the peduncle, rachis, pedicel, and torus.
xe2x80x98Sugratwentyonexe2x80x99 most nearly resembles the xe2x80x98Redglobexe2x80x99 variety, but is distinguished from xe2x80x98Redglobexe2x80x99 by forming berries that are slightly smaller and contain small, vestigial seed remnants as compared to the xe2x80x98Redglobexe2x80x99 variety. The new variety cv. xe2x80x98Sugratwentyonexe2x80x99 remotely resembles the xe2x80x98Flame Seedlessxe2x80x99 variety, but produces berries that are naturally much larger, ripening about six weeks after the xe2x80x98Flame Seedlessxe2x80x99 variety.
The new xe2x80x98Sugratwentyonexe2x80x99 variety has been shown to maintain its distinguishing characteristics through successive asexual propagations by, for example, cuttings.


A carrier management system having the capability to compute discounted shipping charges. The carrier management system includes inputs for input of parcel weight, information for selecting a class of carrier service, a parcel identification number and operator input signals. A data processor responds to a first operator input signal to append a suffix to the parcel identification number and store the parcel information, and for succeeding parcels increments the suffix and stores the parcel information. Upon input of a second operator input signal the data processor determines the discounted shipping rate for the group of parcels. The data processor also compares the discounted and non-discounted costs and in response to other operator input signals adds or deletes parcels in the group.

The subject invention relates to carrier management systems for enabling a user to determine the shipping charges for shipping of parcels by a selected carrier. More particularly, the subject invention is directed to such a system wherein discounted shipping charges can be determined for groups of parcels to be shipped to a single consignee.
In the shipping of parcels, it is frequently desirable to provide for shipping by a carrier selected from a group of carriers. In current shipping practice, provisions must be made for shipping of parcels by two major carriers; specifically the United States postal service (USPS) and the United Parcel Service (UPS), a private carrier, as well as a large number of smaller private carriers. In prior tracking or recording systems, various data concerning parcels or groups of parcels to be shipped were entered by an operator so that charges for each transaction, i.e. shipment of a parcel or consolidated group of parcels, could be determined. The data included information relating to the shipment, such as, the selection of the carrier, the number of parcels in a consolidated shipment, the weight of a parcel, delivery address data, invoice number, date, time, etc. Typically, weight could be entered either manually, through a keyboard, or automatically by a scale; while other data were generally entered by an operator through a keyboard, barcode reader, or similar input.
Such systems however did not include a capability for determining discounted shipping charges for groups of parcels to be shipped to a single consignee, where the group of parcels met certain predetermined requirements such as, total weight of the group or average weight of the group. Other possible requirements might relate to the total number of parcels in the group, minimum or maximum weight of parcels in the group, and other restrictions which might be of concern to the carrier.
Typically, known carrier management systems are disclosed, for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,325,440; 4,495,581; and 4,595,984.
One such system is the J90M system, marketed by the assignee of the present application. The J90M includes a microprocessor, keyboard and display in a single integrated console, a separate scale, and a separate printer. The J90M has the capability to weight parcels; input shipment data and determine charges as described above; and prints address labels and the like as well as manifest for parcels to be shipped by a selected carrier.
The J90M has a capability for handling "multi-packages", that is groups of packages which are to be delivered to a single consignee. The user enters a parcel identification number and shipment data for the first package in the group and the system automatically appends a distinct suffix to the parcel identification number for each package in the group and uses the shipment data input for the first package to compute the shipping charges for each package. The J90M however does not have a capability for handling group discounts which maybe provided by a carrier.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,397; to: Barns-Slavin et al.; issued: Dec. 10, 1991; for: Carrier Management System Enabling Determination of Charges With Discounts, describes a carrier management system which has a capability for handling discount rate structures. In this system a discount from the standard charge is defined by manually entering a discount as a percentage, flat rate, or sum of a percentage and a flat rate, into the system during set up for one or more classes of service selected from the plurality of classes of service available. These discounts maybe allowed only after a certain cumulative total dollar amount, number of pieces, or weight have been shipped using a particularly class of service. (Note column 6, lines 15-31). That is, these discounts are provided not for a group of parcels sent to a single consignee, but to high volume users of particular classes of service.
Thus, it is an object of the subject invention to provide a carrier management system having an easily implemented and flexible system for determining discounted shipping charges for groups of parcels sent to a single consignee.

Carrier management system having a capability to determine discounted shipping charges for groups of parcels having the same consignee


A baton holder formed of a coated solid unitary frame having an open inner diameter for receiving the baton includes a resilient lip, formed integrally with the coating, to grip the baton when inserted in the baton holder and a cradle that extends upwardly having a concave surface facing the inserted baton to cradle the baton and thereby stabilize it in the baton holder. An attachment portion facilitates attaching the baton holder to the belt of a user by means of an attachment loop. The resilient lip may be formed in a snap-on insert, removably mounted on the frame, that includes at least one resilient leaflet. The insert obviates the need for the coating and facilitates removal and replacement of the insert when required.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for holding a baton or night-stick of the type normally carried by police, security officers, military personnel and the like, and in particular to a baton holder that provides for rapid insertion and withdrawal of the baton from the baton holder, yet maintaining the baton in a secure and stable condition when positioned in the baton holder.
2. Description of the Related Art
Batons have been widely used by law enforcement personnel for quite some time as, for example, in law enforcement, self defense and crowd control. Baton holders are known in the art and examples of such are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 710,236, 372,000, 3,307,754, 4,006,851 and 4,424,923 to identify a few. Typically, a baton holder, which is attached to a user's belt, includes a metal ring through which the baton is inserted. Normally, the baton has an elongated cylindrical shaft of a diameter smaller than that of the ring and a shoulder or handle having a diameter larger than the ring so that the baton is insertable into the ring only up to the handle. In such case, the baton rests in the ring in a loosely confined manner which creates potential inconveniences and more importantly hazards to the officer carrying the baton. For example, the baton may readily pop out of the ring when the officer is running, bending over or jumping, while in pursuit. The officer may be preoccupied with stabilizing the baton in the baton holder during his movements, thus interrupting his concentration, thereby distracting him from his pursuit strategy. The freedom of movement of the baton in the baton holder may also result in injury to the officer during rapid movement.
Furthermore, the ease of removal of the baton from the ring compromises the officer's safety since an adversary or assailant may readily remove the baton from the baton holder while the officer is involved in policing activities and not focused on maintaining the baton in the ring.
Accordingly, what is needed is a baton holder that provides for easy insertion and withdrawal of a baton while maintaining the baton in a secure and stable condition during use.


Oar carriers and methods of carrying oars, for example, rowing blades or sculls used by competitive rowing crews. The oar carriers include a panel, through holes in the panel sized to receive a shaft of an oar, and slots in a peripheral surface of the panel providing open access to the through holes to allow transfer of the shaft to the through hole. The slots may have a minimum width less than the diameter of the shaft of an oar, where the slot is made of a resilient material adapted to deflect and allow the diameter of the shaft to transfer to the through hole. One or more handles may be provided to the carrier. Methods of using the oar carrier and arrangements of oars and oar carriers are also disclosed.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to carriers for rowing oars. More particularly, the present invention relates to carriers for rowing oars having slots adapted to receive the oars and through holes adjoining the slots adapted to receive and retain the oars, for example, for transport or storage.
2. Description of Related Art
In rowing, for example, in competitive rowing, for example, "crew," the participants propel their watercraft, for example, sculls or shells, with oars. As known in the art, the oars or "blades" typically include an elongated shaft having a somewhat flattened oar blade at one end and a handle at the other. Crew oars may typically be quite long, for example, about 250-300 centimeters [cm] (8 to 10 feet [ft]) in length, and may be made from wood or synthetic materials, for example, carbon fiber composite materials.
Due to their length, oars can often be quite unwieldy to handle, for example, to carry, or transport to and from the scull or to and from a rowing competition, that is, a regatta. In addition, when teams of crew members assemble at a regatta, the oars for each of the teams must be arranged and separated to provide each team ready access to their oars, while minimizing oar loss, misplacement, damage, and confusion with the oars of others. Images of collections of oars at regattas are exemplified by the colorful arrangement of oars shown, for example, in FIG. 1.
In addition, oars can be expensive, especially, oars made from carbon fiber composites. Accordingly, though difficult to handle, there is a need to minimize or prevent damaging oars during transport, or during handling at such events as shown in FIG. 1. In addition, as suggested by the image shown in FIG. 1, if not damaged during transport or handling, oars can also be exposed to mud or wet grass that can also negatively impact the performance and/or appearance of the oar.
There exist means in the prior art for storing or displaying oars, for example, as shown by the oar display racks shown in FIG. 2. However, the oar display racks shown in FIG. 2 provide little or no remedy to the issues of handling and storing oars that are exemplified by the oar handling and storage issues that characterize the groups of oars shown in FIG. 1.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a means to facilitate the handling of oars, and a means for minimizing or preventing damaging oars either during transport, prior to use, or while in storage. Aspects of the present invention address these needs and other disadvantages of the prior art.


Disclosure is an electrical connector comprising an opening of each terminal receiving chamber which is formed by cutting out an upper wall of a connector housing, and a rear holder including a movable arm portion having a plurality of terminal engagement portions formed thereon corresponding to the openings which is integrated with the connector housing via hinge bands. The rear holder is connected to the connector housing by way of two stages comprising a provisionally connected state and a normally connected state. While the provisionally connected state is shifted to the normally connected state, fitting guide projections formed on the movable arm portion are brought in the connector housing along fitting guide grooves formed in the connector housing in the forward/rearward direction so that the movable arm portion is displaced in the connector housing, causing the terminal engagement portions to enter the locus of displacement of terminals.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector including a rear holder for twice preventing terminals from being disengaged from a connector housing wherein the rear holder is connected to the connector housing via flexible hinge bands.
2. Prior art
In a conventional art, in order to avoid an application of load to both fixed portion and a middle portion of long hinge band when the read holder is engaged/disengaged, a rear holder connected to a housing with a long hinge band. Thus, when the rear holder is repeatedly disengaged/engaged, the long hinge potion is prevented from being broken (cf. Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication).
FIGS. 5 and 7 are showing the conventional art. A flexible engagement arm d for preventing a terminal from being disconnected is formed in an inner wall of a terminal accommodating chamber b formed in a housinc a. The housing a has an outer wall with a rear holder insertion hole f communicated with the terminal accommodating chamber b. A rear holder i, which is provided with a terminal engaging portion h under holder base board g, is fitted to the rear holder insertion hole f and is mounted to the outer wall e with a flexible long hinge band j. The terminal engaging portion h is provided with a forward floating prevention portion k which is engaged with the inner wall of the terminal accommodating chamber toward the rear holder insertion hole f, and the rear holder i is provided with a backward floating prevention arm m having an engagement pawl l. When the rear holder i is fixed, the terminal engaging portion is slantwise inserted from the rear holder insertion hole f to the housing a in a toward direction so that the terminal c positioned in an incomplete position is driven to a position where the terminal accommodating chamber d is engaged.
However, in the conventional art, the rear holder i could not be engaged with the housing a until terminal c is inserted into the housing a. Therefore, when the electronic connecter is carried, the long hinge belt j is twisted to lead a breakage of the long hinge belt j or the rear holder i, because the long hinge belt j protrudes from the housing a.


The present invention aims to provide an improved entertainment property. In a robot system where a plurality of robot apparatus act autonomously, each robot apparatus has wireless communication means, and when the robot apparatus make conversation between themselves, the contents of the conversation are transmitted to and received by the robot apparatus as a command and/or a semantics through the wireless communication means of both.

In recent years, the present applicant has developed and commercialized a quadrupedal robot. The robot has the appearance and form modeled after dogs and cats kept at home as pets, and acts autonomously in accordance with a command from a user and surrounding circumstances.
On the other hand, robot systems capable of remotely controlling mobile robots by wireless and the like have been widely seen. And among these robot systems, such robot systems are desirable that not only remotely control a robot using a remote-control terminal with a remote-control software installed, but also allow a robot to establish conversation between robots 1 and make the motion and the action patterns synchronized between robots 1.

Robot system and robot apparatus control method


A roll of disposable pieces of hygienic paper from which pieces of hygienic paper can be removed with one hand without any need for tearing or cutting the hygienic paper, including an inner tube of a rigid material onto which pieces of hygienic paper are wound with partial overlapping between themselves. Pulling the next piece of hygienic paper in turn causes rotation of the roll of pieces of paper and easy removal of the piece from it. The roll of disposable pieces of hygienic paper can be assembled to a dispenser for carrying and use as well as a dispenser designed especially for the roll with means of exerting an adduction force on the roll.

The present invention relates to rolls of disposable pieces of hygienic paper, and in particular to rolls of toilet paper and paper towels that enable removal of a piece of paper for use without needing to tear the paper prior to use. Paper is used in many forms for single-time hygienic purposes. There is a wide variety of packaging of paper towels, ranging from a simple roll of paper towels to high-quality moist towelettes in packages that enable removal of a single towelette at a time. These packages are inefficient when they do not prevent unwanted unraveling of the towelettes or are expensive. However, the packaging of hygienic paper in a long strip of paper rolled onto itself with perforated lines at regular intervals in order to facilitate tearing off pieces of paper for wiping, which are disposed of after use, is the most common type of hygienic paper currently available
Such rolls of paper can be found in dispensers of suitable sizes such as toilet paper dispensers in toilet rooms and paper towel dispensers near washbowls. Many efforts have been made to develop paper of superior qualities, which are sometimes even contradictory, such as paper strength, dimensions, softness, wiping and absorption capacity, and manufacturing cost.
FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of the prior art that illustrates a roll of toilet paper 100 in a standard toilet paper dispenser 101. The roll of paper 100 includes toilet paper 10, which has perforated lines 11 at regular intervals that enable tearing at the desired places. The toilet paper is a long continuous strip, long in comparison to its width, rolled onto an inner tube 12. As shown in the illustration, the inner tube 12 is disposed on an arm 13 with a round section, which is part of the toilet paper dispenser 101. When pulling the toilet paper in order to expose a segment of paper to be torn, this arrangement enables the toilet paper roll 100 to rotate around the arm 13.
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the prior art that illustrates a continuous hygienic toilet paper roll 102 above which a cutting apparatus 20 is disposed. This roll can perforated lines across its width however this is not necessary seeing as the tearing of the paper 14 is performed by suitably pulling the paper 14 strongly towards the cutting apparatus, which is usually of a heavy and rigid metallic material that could include a cutting knife or saw teeth 21 as shown in the illustration.
In many cases, the standard packaging of continuous paper in a roll of which pieces can be torn for use is inconvenient or even impossible to use. Seeing as the tearing of the paper in the desired places requires use of both hands, use of such rolls by disabled individuals who are unable to use one hand or individuals with disability with regard to combined use of both hands for this purpose.
Use of such rolls of continuous paper is also problematic for observant Jews, seeing as according to the laws of Judaism, tearing of paper is prohibited during the Shabbat and on holidays.
There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, a roll of hygienic paper with the same qualities that have made prior art toilet paper popular and with an additional quality that enables removal of pieces of hygienic paper from it with only one hand without any need for tearing.

Roll of disposable pieces of hygienic paper


A fixing apparatus for fixing an image on a record sheet comprises a fixing roller in which a heater is disposed, a pressing roller urged against the fixing roller, heat pipes extending in either one of the fixing and pressing rollers in a longitudinal direction thereof, and a temperature detection / control device for detecting to control a temperature of the fixing roller. In a typical embodiment, the heat pipes are disposed in the fixing roller to extend both through an imaging portion, through which a record sheet passes, and through a non-imaging portion, through which no record sheet passes and the temperature detection / control device has a temperature detection device for detecting a temperature of the fixing roller in contact with the non-imaging portion. The temperature detection / control device is provided with a temperature regulating device for interrupting electricity to the heater when the fixing roller exceeds a predetermined temperature. In another embodiment, at least one of heat pipes is provided in the fixing roller in parallel with an axis of the fixing roller, and a core of the fixing roller is produced by extrusion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fixing apparatus of a thermal roller fixing type. More particularly, the invention relates to a fixing apparatus for fixing a toner image on a sheet, which comprises a fixing roller with a heater therein and a pressing roller urged thereagainst.
2. Description of the Related Background Art
Fixation is in general performed using a fixing roller and a pressing roller in a fixing apparatus of image forming apparatus such as electronic copier, printer, or facsimile. The fixing roller is formed by coating a core with a resin like polytetrafluoroethylene ( PTFE ) such as Teflon ( registered trademark ) and is provided with a heater inside the core. The pressing roller is urged against the fixing roller to form a nip portion therebetween. A transfer sheet carrying a toner image is passed through, the nip portion for fixation. A surface layer of the pressing roller is usually made of an elastic material such as silicone rubber suitable for formation of the nip portion.
A temperature is desirably even in a longitudinal direction of the fixing and pressing rollers. An uneven temperature could cause wrinkles on the transfer sheet, an unfixed portion of image, or offset due to a difference in nipping rising from a difference in thermal expansion between portions different in temperature.
The surface temperature of the fixing roller is detected by a temperature detecting member such as a thermistor in contact with the fixing roller. The heater is controlled to maintain the surface temperature of the fixing roller at a predetermined value based on the detection results. An output distribution of the heater is set non-uniform, because the imaging portion contacting with the record sheet requires a greater quantity of heat than the nonimaging portion not contacting with the record sheet, for thermal transfer to the record sheet.
When the surface temperature of the fixing roller is detected by a temperature detecting member in contact with the imaging portion in a conventional fixing apparatus, a release member thereof made for example of Teflon is abraded by the temperature detecting member to cause incomplete fixation of toner or wrinkles on the record sheet in the abraded part, degrading a quality of image. Further, thermal accumulation tends to take place in the non-imaging portion due to no heat transmission to the record sheet. This thermal accumulation could cause an abnormally high temperature in the non-imaging portion after continuous fixations though the imaging portion is maintained at a predetermined temperature. This results in deformation or melting of the pressing roller urged against the fixing roller.
In contrast, when the surface temperature of the fixing roller is detected by a temperature detecting member in contact with the non-imaging portion in the conventional fixing apparatus, an abnormally high temperature could happen in the imaging portion while keeping a predetermined temperature of the non-imaging portion, because the heater has a higher output in the imaging portion than in the non-imaging portion. This would, also result in deformation or melting of the pressing roller urged against the fixing roller. On the contrary, the temperature in the imaging portion will be reduced below a fixation possible temperature due to thermal transmission to the record sheets in the imaging portion after continuous fixations while maintaining the non-imaging portion at the predetermined temperature, causing incomplete fixation.
Further, thermal leakage takes place in the conventional fixing apparatus through portions in contact with the fixing roller having the heater, for example, bearings, drive gears, and so on, upon start of heating from a cool state of rollers. The thermal leakage lowers a thermal efficiency and a temperature at the ends of the fixing roller, causing incomplete fixation. To prevent the thermal leakage, a fixing apparatus has a thermal insulation bush between the fixing roller and a bearing disposed on a side plate, making the arrangement complicated.
Also, after the fixing apparatus is heated to a stable condition, continuous sheet passage of transfer sheets of small size causes a temperature difference between the sheet passage area and the non-passage area of the roller, resulting in temperature rise in the non-passage area of the roller ends. If a transfer sheet of larger size is passed immediately after the continuous sheet passage of smaller size sheets, there would be caused problems such as incomplete fixation due to the lowered temperature in the sheet passage area of smaller size sheets and offset due to the higher temperature in the non-passage area. The repetition of temperature rise in the roller ends would result in deterioration of fixing and pressing rollers, inevitably shortening their lives.


Compounds of formula I, wherein R1, R2, R3, X1, X2 and Ar, are as defined herein or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, inhibit HIV-1 reverse transcriptase and afford a method for prevention and treatment of HIV-1 infections and the treatment of AIDS and/or ARC. The present invention also relates to compositions containing compounds of formula I useful for the prevention and treatment of HIV-1 infections and the treatment of AIDS and/or ARC.

The invention relates to the field of antiviral therapy and, in particular, to non-nucleoside compounds that inhibit HIV reverse transcriptase and are useful for treating HIV-1 mediated diseases. The invention provides novel heterocyclic compounds according to formula I for treatment or prophylaxis of HIV-1 mediated diseases, AIDS or ARC, employing said compounds in monotherapy or in combination therapy.
The human immunodeficiency virus HIV is the causative agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a disease characterized by the destruction of the immune system, particularly of the CD4+ T-cell, with attendant susceptibility to opportunistic infections. HIV infection is also associated with a precursor ARC syndrome characterized by symptoms such as persistent generalized lymphadenopathy, fever and weight loss.
In common with other retroviruses, the HIV genome encodes protein precursors known as gag and gag-pol which are processed by the viral protease to afford the protease, reverse transcriptase (RT), endonuclease/integrase and mature structural proteins of the virus core. Interruption of this processing prevents the production of normally infectious virus. Considerable efforts have been directed towards the control of HIV by inhibition of virally encoded enzymes.
Two enzymes that have been extensively studied for HIV-1 chemotherapy are HIV protease and HIV reverse transcriptase. (J. S. G. Montaner et al., Antiretroviral therapy: 'the state of the art', Biomed & Pharmacother. 1999 53:63-72; R. W. Shafer and D. A. Vuitton, Highly active retroviral therapy (HAART) for the treatment of infection with human immunodeficiency virus type, Biomed. & Pharmacother. 1999 53:73-86; E. De Clercq, New Developments in Anti-HIV Chemotherap. Curr. Med. Chem. 2001 8:1543-1572) Two general classes of RTI inhibitors have been identified: nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI) and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. Currently the CCR5 and CXCR4 co-receptors have emerged as a potential targets for anti-HIV-1 chemotherapy (D. Chantry, Expert Opin. Emerg. Drugs 2004 9(1):1-7; C. G. Barber, Curr. Opin. Invest. Drugs 2004 5(8):851-861; D. Schols, Curr. Topics Med. Chem. 2004 4(9):883-893; N. A. Meanwell and J. F. Ksadow, Curr. Opin. Drug Discov. Dev. 2003 6(4):451-461). N-substituted hydroxy pyrimidinone carboxamide inhibitors of HIV-1 integrase have been disclosed by B. Crescenzi et al. in WO2003/035077, published May 1, 2003, and MK-0518 is nearing approval
NRTIs typically are 2′,3′-dideoxynucleoside (ddN) analogs that must be phosphorylated prior to interacting with viral RT. The corresponding triphosphates function as competitive inhibitors or alternative substrates for viral RT. After incorporation into nucleic acids the nucleoside analogs terminate the chain elongation process. HIV reverse transcriptase has DNA editing capabilities which enable resistant strains to overcome the blockade by cleaving the nucleoside analog and continuing the elongation. Currently clinically used NRTls include zidovudine (AZT), didanosine (ddI), zalcitabine (ddC), stavudine (d4T), lamivudine (3TC) and tenofovir (PMPA).
NNRTIs were first discovered in 1989. NNRTI are allosteric inhibitors which bind reversibly at a nonsubstrate-binding site on the HIV reverse transcriptase thereby altering the shape of the active site or blocking polymerase activity. (R. W. Buckheit, Jr., Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors: perspectives for novel therapeutic compounds and strategies for treatment of HIV infection, Expert Opin. Investig. Drugs 2001 10(8)1423-1442; E. De Clercq, The role of non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) in the therapy of HIV infection, Antiviral Res. 1998 38:153-179; E. De Clercq, New Developments in Anti-HIV Chemotherapy, Current Med. Chem. 2001 8(13): 1543-1572; G. Moyle, The Emerging Roles of Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors in Antiviral Therapy, Drugs 2001 61 (1):19-26) Although over thirty structural classes of NNRTIs have been identified in the laboratory, only three compounds have been approved for HIV therapy: efavirenz, nevirapine and delavirdine.
Initially viewed as a promising class of compounds, in vitro and in vivo studies quickly revealed the NNRTIs presented a low barrier to the emergence of drug resistant HIV strains and class-specific toxicity. Drug resistance frequently develops with only a single point mutation in the RT. While combination therapy with NRTIs, PIs and NNRTIs has, in many cases, dramatically lowered viral loads and slowed disease progression, significant therapeutic problems remain. (R. M. Gulick, Eur. Soc. Clin. Microbiol. and Inf. Dis. 2003 9(3): 186-193) The cocktails are not effective in all patients, potentially severe adverse reactions often occur and the rapidly reproducing HIV virus has proven adroit at creating mutant drug-resistant variants of wild type protease and reverse transcriptase. There remains a need for safer drugs with activity against wild type and commonly occurring resistant strains of HIV-1.
Compounds of formula I wherein R3 is H are efficacious HIVRT inhibitors however their utility is limited by limited bioavailability. Effective therapy for HIV-1 requires compounds that provide sustained high levels of compounds to minimize the opportunity for the emergence of resistant strains.

Compounds of formula I wherein R3 is hydrogen or C1-6 alkyl and R1, R2, X1, X2 and Ar are as defined in the Summary of the Invention have been described by J. Kennedy-Smith et al. in U.S. Publication No. 20080045511 which was filed Aug. 15, 2007 and which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.


Systems and methods for transmitting uplink control signals in a cellular communications network are disclosed. In one embodiment, a wireless device configured to operate in a cellular communications network includes a radio subsystem and a processing subsystem. The processing subsystem selects a value for at least one parameter for an uplink control channel format based on content to be transmitted in an uplink control channel transmission according to the uplink control channel format. The processing subsystem then transmits, via the radio subsystem, the content in an uplink control channel transmission according to the uplink control channel format and the value for the at least one parameter for the uplink control channel format selected based on the content.

3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular communications networks utilize Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) in the downlink and Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT)-spread OFDM in the uplink. The basic LTE downlink physical resource can thus be seen as a time-frequency grid as illustrated in FIG. 1, where each resource element corresponds to one OFDM subcarrier during one OFDM symbol interval. As illustrated in FIG. 2, in the time domain, LTE downlink transmissions are organized into radio frames of 10 milliseconds (ms), where each radio frame consists of ten equally-sized subframes of length Tsubframe=1 ms. Each subframe includes two slots of 0.5 ms. Furthermore, resource allocation in LTE is typically described in terms of resource blocks, where a resource block corresponds to one slot (0.5 ms) in the time domain and 12 contiguous subcarriers in the frequency domain. Resource blocks are numbered in the frequency domain, starting with 0 from one end of the system bandwidth.
Downlink transmissions are dynamically scheduled. More specifically, in each subframe of the downlink from a base station, the base station transmits control information about to which terminals data is transmitted and upon which resource blocks the data is transmitted in the subframe. This control signaling is typically transmitted in the first 1, 2, 3, or 4 OFDM symbols in each subframe of the downlink. A downlink subframe with three OFDM symbols as control is illustrated in FIG. 3.
LTE utilizes a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) scheme in the downlink. More specifically, a base station transmits data to a terminal in a subframe of the downlink. At the terminal, after receiving data in the subframe, the terminal attempts to decode the data and then reports to the base station whether the decoding was successful (ACK) or unsuccessful (NAK). In case of an unsuccessful decoding attempt, the base station can retransmit the data.
In LTE, uplink control signaling from the terminal to the base station consists of: HARQ acknowledgements for received downlink data; channel status reports to report downlink channel conditions, which are used for downlink scheduling; and uplink scheduling requests indicating that the terminal needs uplink resources for uplink data transmissions. If the terminal has not been assigned an uplink resource for data transmission, L1/L2 control information (i.e., channel status reports, HARQ acknowledgments (ACKs/NAKs), and uplink scheduling requests) is transmitted in uplink resources (resource blocks) specifically assigned for uplink L1/L2 control on the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).
As illustrated in FIG. 4, the uplink resources allocated to L1/L2 control information on the PUCCH are located at the edges of the total available cell bandwidth. Each of these uplink resources consists of 12 subcarriers (one resource block) within each of the two slots of an uplink subframe. In order to provide frequency diversity, these frequency resources are frequency hopping on the slot boundary, i.e., one uplink resource consists of 12 subcarriers at the upper part of the spectrum within the first slot of a subframe and an equally sized resource at the lower part of the spectrum during the second slot of the subframe or vice versa. If more uplink resources are needed for the uplink L1/L2 control signaling, e.g., in case of very large overall transmission bandwidth supporting a large number of users, additional uplink resources blocks can be assigned next to the previously assigned uplink resource blocks. The reasons for locating the PUCCH resources at the edges of the overall available spectrum are two-fold, namely: (1) together with the frequency hopping described above, locating the uplink resources for the PUCCH at the edges of the overall available spectrum maximizes the frequency diversity experienced by the L1/L2 control signaling and (2) assigning the uplink resources for the PUCCH at other positions within the spectrum, i.e., not at the edges, would fragment the uplink spectrum, making it impossible to assign very wide transmission bandwidths to a single mobile terminal and still retain the single-carrier property of the uplink transmission.
The bandwidth of one PUCCH resource block during one subframe is too large for the control signaling needs of a single terminal. Therefore, to efficiently exploit the PUCCH resources set aside for control signaling, PUCCH transmissions from multiple terminals can share the same PUCCH resource block. More specifically, PUCCH transmissions from multiple terminals can be multiplexed onto the same PUCCH resource block by assigning the terminals different orthogonal phase rotations of a cell-specific length-12 frequency-domain sequence, which is referred to as a base sequence. A linear phase rotation in the frequency domain is equivalent to applying a cyclic shift in the time domain. Thus, although the term "phase rotation" is sometimes used herein, the term "cyclic shift" is also used with an implicit reference to the time domain.
The resource used by a PUCCH transmission is therefore not only specified in the time-frequency domain by the resource-block pair, but also by the phase rotation applied to the base sequence. Similarly to the case of reference signals, there are up to 12 different phase rotations specified, providing up to 12 different orthogonal sequences from each cell-specific base sequence. However, in the case of frequency-selective channels, not all the 12 phase rotations can be used if orthogonality is to be retained. Typically, up to six phase rotations are considered usable in a cell.
As mentioned above, uplink L1/L2 control signaling includes HARQ acknowledgements, channel status reports, and uplink scheduling requests. These different types of messages and combinations thereof are transmitted using different PUCCH formats. There are generally two different PUCCH formats defined for LTE. The first PUCCH format is PUCCH format 1. In general, PUCCH format 1 can be used to transmit a HARQ acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) and/or an uplink scheduling request. A HARQ acknowledgement is used to acknowledge the reception of one (or two in case of spatial multiplexing) transport blocks in the downlink. An uplink scheduling request is used to request resources for uplink data transmission. Obviously, a scheduling request should only be transmitted when the terminal is requesting resources, otherwise the terminal should be silent in order to save battery resources and not create unnecessary interference. Hence, unlike a HARQ acknowledgement, no explicit information bit is transmitted by a scheduling request. Rather, the scheduling request is instead conveyed by the presence (or absence) of energy on the corresponding PUCCH resource. However, uplink scheduling requests, although used for a completely different purpose, share the same PUCCH format as HARQ acknowledgements. This PUCCH format is referred to as PUCCH format 1 in the LTE specifications.
As illustrated in FIG. 5, PUCCH format 1 uses the same structure in the two slots of a subframe. For transmission of a HARQ acknowledgement, the single HARQ acknowledgement bit is used to generate a Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) symbol (in case of downlink spatial multiplexing the two acknowledgement bits are used to generate a Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbol). On the other hand, for a scheduling request, the BPSK/QPSK symbol is replaced by a constellation node treated as a negative acknowledgement (NACK) at the base station. The modulation symbol is then used in combination with a length-12 phase-rotated sequence (i.e., a phase-rotated base sequence) and an Orthogonal Cover Code (OCC) (i.e., the length-4 and length-3 sequences) to generate the signal to be transmitted in each of the two PUCCH slots.
A resource used for a PUCCH format 1 transmission for either a HARQ acknowledgement or a scheduling request is represented by a single scalar resource index. From the resource index, the phase rotation for the base sequence and the OCC are derived. For a HARQ acknowledgement, the resource index to use for transmission of the HARQ acknowledgement is given implicitly by the downlink control signaling used to schedule the corresponding downlink transmission to the terminal. Thus, the resources used for HARQ acknowledgements vary dynamically and depend on the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) used to schedule the terminal in each subframe. In addition to dynamic scheduling HARQ acknowledgements based on the PDCCH, HARQ acknowledgements may be semi-persistently scheduled. More specifically, downlink transmissions to a terminal may be semi-scheduled using a semi-persistent scheduling pattern. In this case, configuration of the semi-persistent scheduling pattern includes information on the PUCCH index to use for the corresponding HARQ acknowledgements. In a similar manner, configuration information informs the terminal of the PUCCH resource to use for transmission of scheduling requests.
Thus, to summarize, PUCCH format 1 resources are split into two parts, namely, a semi-static part and a dynamic part. The semi-static part is used for uplink scheduling requests and HARQ acknowledgements for semi-persistently scheduled downlink transmissions. The amount of resources used for the semi-static part of PUCCH format 1 resources does not vary dynamically. The dynamic part is used for dynamically scheduled terminals. As the number of dynamically scheduled terminals varies, the amount of resources used for the dynamic PUCCH format 1 resources varies.
In addition to PUCCH format 1, a second PUCCH format, PUCCH format 2, is defined for LTE. PUCCH format 2 is used to transmit channel status reports. Channel status reports are generated by the terminal and provided to the base station in order to provide an estimate of downlink channel properties at the terminal. The channel status reports are utilized by the base station to aid in channel-dependent scheduling. A channel status report consists of multiple bits per subframe. PUCCH format 1, which is capable of at most two bits of information per subframe, can obviously not be used for this purpose. As such, transmission of channel status reports on the PUCCH is instead handled by PUCCH format 2, which is capable of multiple information bits per subframe.
PUCCH format 2 is illustrated in FIG. 6 for normal cyclic prefix. Like PUCCH format 1, PUCCH format 2 is based on a phase rotation of the same cell-specific base sequence as used for PUCCH format 1. Similarly to PUCCH format 1, a resource used for a PUCCH format 2 transmission can be represented by a resource index. The phase rotation and other parameters for PUCCH format 2 can then be derived from the resource index. The PUCCH format 2 resources are semi-statically configured.
The signals described above for both PUCCH format 1 and PUCCH format 2 are, as already explained, transmitted on a resource-block pair with one resource block in each slot. The resource-block pair to use for a particular PUCCH transmission is determined from the PUCCH resource index. Thus, the resource-block number to use in the first and second slot of a subframe can be expressed as:RBnumber(i)=f(PUCCH index,i)where i is the slot number (0 or 1) within the subframe and f is a function found in the LTE specification.
Multiple resource-block pairs can be used to increase the control-signaling capacity. When one resource-block pair is full, the next PUCCH resource index is mapped to the next resource-block pair in sequence. The mapping is in principle done such that PUCCH format 2 (channel status reports) is transmitted closest to the edges of the uplink cell bandwidth with the semi-static part of PUCCH format 1 next and finally the dynamic part of PUCCH format 1 in the innermost part of the bandwidth. Three semi-statically parameters are used to determine the resources to use for the different PUCCH formats, namely: (1) NRB(2), which is provided as part of the system information, controls the resource-block pair on which the mapping of PUCCH format 1 begins, (2) NPUCCH(1) controls the split between the semi-static and the dynamic part of PUCCH format 1, and (3) X controls the mix of PUCCH format 1 and PUCCH format 2 in one resource block. In most cases, the configuration is done such that the two PUCCH formats are mapped to separate sets of resource blocks, but there is also a possibility to have the border between PUCCH format 1 and PUCCH format 2 within a single resource block. The PUCCH resource allocation in terms of resource blocks are illustrated in FIG. 7. The numbers 0, 1, 2, . . . represent the order in which the resource blocks are allocated to PUCCH, i.e., a large PUCCH configuration may need resources 0-6 while a small configuration may use only 0.
Thus far, the discussion has focused on PUCCH for a single carrier bandwidth. Starting in LTE Rel-10, LTE supports bandwidths larger than 20 megahertz (MHz). In order to assure backward compatibility with LTE Rel-8 which supports a single bandwidth up to 20 MHz, starting with LTE Rel-10, a carrier having a bandwidth that is larger than 20 MHz appears as a number of LTE carriers to an LTE Rel-8 terminal using Carrier Aggregation (CA). CA is illustrated in FIG. 8. Each carrier in an aggregated bandwidth is referred to as a Component Carrier (CC). CA implies that an LTE Rel-10 or later terminal can receive multiple CCs, where the CCs have, or at least have the possibility to have, the same structure as an LTE Rel-8 carrier. The number of aggregated CCs as well as the bandwidth of the individual CCs may be different for uplink and downlink. A symmetric configuration refers to the case where the number of CCs in downlink and uplink is the same whereas an asymmetric configuration refers to the case where the number of CCs is different. It is important to note that the number of CCs configured in the network may be different from the number of CCs seen by a terminal. A terminal may, for example, support more downlink CCs than uplink CCs, even though the network offers the same number of uplink and downlink CCs.
During initial access, an LTE Rel-10 terminal behaves similar to an LTE Rel-8 terminal. Upon successful connection to the network, a terminal may, depending on its own capabilities and the network, be configured with additional CCs in the uplink and the downlink. Configuration is based on Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. Due to the heavy signaling and the rather slow speed of RRC signaling, a terminal may be configured with multiple CCs even though not all of them are currently used. A terminal configured on multiple CCs implies the terminal has to monitor all downlink CCs for the PDCCH and Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). This implies a wider receiver bandwidth, higher sampling rates, etc. resulting in high power consumption.
To mitigate the above problems, LTE Rel-10 supports activation of CCs in addition to configuration of CCs. The terminal monitors only configured and activated CCs for PDCCH and PDSCH. Alternatively, LTE Rel-11 terminals may monitor an enhanced PDCCH (ePDCCH), which is only detectable by LTE Rel-11 terminals and beyond. Since activation is based on Media Access Control (MAC) elements, which are faster than RRC signaling, activation/deactivation can follow the number of CCs that is required to fulfill the current data rate needs. Upon arrival of large data amounts, multiple CCs are activated, used for data transmission, and deactivated if no longer needed. All but one CC, the DL Primary CC (DL PCC), can be deactivated. Therefore, activation provides the possibility to configure multiple CCs but only activate them on an as needed basis. Most of the time, a terminal has one or very few CCs activated, resulting in a lower reception bandwidth and thus battery consumption.
Scheduling of a CC is done on the PDCCH or ePDCCH via downlink assignments. Control information on the PDCCH or ePDCCH is formatted as a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message. In LTE Rel-8, a terminal only operates with one downlink and one uplink CC, and the association between downlink assignment, uplink grants, and the corresponding downlink and uplink CCs is therefore clear. However, in LTE Rel-10, two modes of carrier aggregation need to be distinguished. The first mode is very similar to the operation of multiple LTE Rel-8 terminals where a downlink assignment or uplink grant contained in a DCI message transmitted on a CC is either valid for the downlink CC itself or for associated (either via cell-specific or terminal specific linking) uplink CC. The second mode of operation augments a DCI message with a Carrier Indicator Field (CIF). A DCI containing a downlink assignment with a CIF is valid for that downlink CC indicted with the CIF and a DCI containing an uplink grant with a CIF is valid for the indicated uplink CC.
DCI messages for downlink assignments contain, among other things, resource block assignments, modulation and coding scheme related parameters, HARQ redundancy version, etc. denoted as DCI format Information Elements (IEs). In addition to those parameters that relate to the actual downlink transmission, most DCI formats for downlink assignments also contain an IE which is a bit field for Transmit Power Control (TPC) commands. These TPC commands are used to control the uplink power control behavior of the corresponding PUCCH that is used to transmit the HARQ feedback.
PUCCH transmission with carrier aggregation is performed somewhat differently that PUCCH transmission for a single carrier. From a terminal perspective, both symmetric and asymmetric uplink/downlink CC configurations are supported. For some of the configurations, one may consider the possibility to transmit the uplink control information on multiple PUCCH or multiple uplink CCs. However, this option is likely to result in higher power consumption at the terminal and a dependency on specific terminal capabilities. It may also create implementation issues due to inter-modulation products, and would lead to generally higher complexity for implementation and testing. Therefore, the transmission of PUCCH should have no dependency on the uplink/downlink CC configuration, i.e., as a design principle all uplink control information for a terminal is transmitted on a single uplink CC. In the case of PUCCH, the single uplink CC used for CA PUCCH is the semi-statically configured and terminal specific Uplink Primary CC (UL PCC), which is referred to as an anchor carrier.
Terminals only configured with a single downlink CC (which is then the DL PCC) and a single uplink CC (which is then the UL PCC) transmit HARQ acknowledgements on dynamically scheduled PUCCH resources according to LTE Rel-8. In this case, the first Control Channel Element (CCE) used to transmit PDCCH for the downlink assignment determines the dynamic PUCCH resource for a corresponding HARQ acknowledgement. If only one downlink CC is cell-specifically linked with the UL PCC, no PUCCH collisions can occur since all PDCCHs are transmitted using different first CCEs.
In a cell asymmetric carrier aggregation scenario or for other reasons, multiple downlink CCs may be cell-specifically linked with the same uplink CC. Terminals configured with same uplink CC but with different downlink CCs (with any of the downlink CCs that are cell-specifically linked with the uplink CC) share the same UL PCC but have different DL PCCs. Terminals receiving their downlink assignments from different downlink CCs will transmit their HARQ feedback on the same uplink CC. It is up to base station scheduling to ensure that no PUCCH collisions occur. However, at least in LTE Rel-10, a terminal cannot be configured with more uplink CCs than downlink CCs.
This concept can be extended even to terminals which have multiple downlink CCs configured. Each PDCCH or ePDCCH transmitted on the DL PCC has, according to LTE Rel-8, a PUCCH resource reserved on the UL PCC. Even though a terminal is configured with multiple downlink CCs but only receives a DL PCC assignment it should still use the LTE Rel-8 PUCCH resource on the UL PCC. The alternative would be to also use, for a single DL PCC assignment, a PUCCH format that enables feedback of HARQ bits corresponding to the number of configured CCs (which is referred to herein as CA PUCCH). Since configuration is a rather slow process and a terminal may be often configured with multiple CCs even though only the DL PCC is active and used, this would lead to a very inefficient usage of CA PUCCH resources.
Upon reception of downlink assignments on a single Secondary CC (SCC) or reception of multiple downlink assignments, CA PUCCH should be used. While in the latter case it is obvious to use CA PUCCH because only CA PUCCH supports feedback of HARQ bits of multiple CCs, it is less clear to also use CA PUCCH in the first case. A downlink SCC assignment alone is not typical. The base station scheduler should strive to schedule a single downlink CC assignment on the DL PCC and try to deactivate all SCCs if not needed. Another issue is that PDCCH for a downlink SCC assignment is transmitted on the SCC (assuming CIF is not configured) and, hence, there is no automatically reserved LTE Rel-8 PUCCH resource on the uplink PCC. Using the LTE Rel-8 PUCCH for stand-alone downlink SCC assignments would require reserving LTE Rel-8 resources on the uplink PCC for any downlink CC that is configured by any terminal using this UL PCC. Since stand-alone SCC assignments are atypical, this would lead to an unnecessary over provisioning of LTE Rel-8 PUCCH resources on the UL PCC.
Also, a possible error case that may occur is that the base station schedules a terminal on multiple downlink CCs including the DL PCC. If the terminal misses all but the DL PCC assignment, the terminal will use LTE Rel-8 PUCCH instead of CA PUCCH. To detect this error case, the base station has to monitor both the LTE Rel-8 PUCCH and the CA PUCCH.
Depending on the number of actually received downlink assignments, the terminal has to provide a corresponding number of HARQ acknowledgements (i.e., a corresponding number of HARQ feedback bits). In a first case, the terminal could adopt the CA PUCCH format according to the number of received assignments and provide feedback accordingly. However, PDCCH with downlink assignments can get lost. Therefore, adopting a CA PUCCH format according to the number of received downlink assignments is ambiguous and would require testing of many different hypotheses at the base station. Alternatively, the CA PUCCH format could be set or included in an activation message. It has been decided that activation/deactivation of CCs is done with MAC control elements and per-CC activation/deactivation is to be supported in LTE Rel-10 and beyond. MAC signaling and especially the HARQ acknowledgement indicating whether the activation command has been received successfully is error prone. Also, this approach requires testing of multiple hypotheses at the base station. Therefore, basing the CA PUCCH format on the number of configured CCs appears to be the safest choice. Configuration of CCs is based on RRC signaling. After successful reception/application of a new CC configuration, a confirmation message is sent back, which makes RRC signaling very safe.
The CA PUCCH can be transmitted in two different ways. The first method is based on the use of PUCCH format 3, which is based on Discrete Fourier Transform Spread (DFTS)-OFDM. PUCCH format 3 is illustrated in FIG. 9. FIG. 10 illustrates the CA PUCCH transmission scheme that is based on the PUCCH format 3, where only one slot is shown. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the multiple HARQ ACK/NACK bits are encoded to form 48 coded bits. The coded bits are then scrambled with cell-specific (and possibly DFTS-OFDM symbol dependent) sequences. Twenty-four (24) bits are transmitted within the first slot and the other 24 bits are transmitted within the second slot. The 24 bits per slot are converted into 12 QPSK symbols, DFT precoded, spread across five DFTS-OFDM symbols and transmitted within one resource block (bandwidth) and five DFTS-OFDM symbols (time). The spreading sequence (OC) is terminal specific and enables multiplexing of up to five users within the same resource blocks. For the reference signals, cyclic shifted Constant Amplitude Zero AutoCorrelation (CAZAC) sequences can be used. Some examples of CAZAC sequences that can be used are the computer optimized sequences in disclosed in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 36.211, "Physical Channels and Modulation."
The second CA PUCCH transmission scheme is referred to as channel selection. The basic principle is that the terminal is assigned a set of PUCCH format 1a/1b resources. The terminal then selects one of resources according to the HARQ ACK/NACK sequence that the terminal should transmit. The terminal then transmits a QPSK or BPSK on the selected resource. The base station detects which resource the terminal uses and which QPSK or BPSK value the terminal fed back on the used resource and combines this into a HARQ acknowledgement for associated downlink CCs. The mapping of ACK (A), NACK (N) and DTX (D) is according to FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B and FIG. 11C for Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD). A similar type of mapping including a bundling approach is also done for Time Division Duplexing (TDD) in case the terminal is configured with channel selection.
The discussion above describes PUCCH for conventional LTE deployments. However, as new deployments (e.g., heterogeneous cellular communications networks) emerge, there is a need for PUCCH transmission schemes for these new deployments.

Selection of uplink control transmission format parameters based on content of the uplink control transmission


A motion sickness reduction device includes an image capture device for capturing an image device environment and an image display device for displaying image related to the captured image. In order to effectively prevent or reduce motion sickness, the right amount of motion must be displayed on the image display device when the vehicle accelerates or turns. Various methods are disclosed for adjusting the image on the display device and/or the angle of the environment subtended to make the motion sickness reduction device effective.

Motion sickness relates to the sense of balance, equilibrium and spatial orientation. The sense of balance is controlled and maintained by an intricate interaction of multiple parts of the human body, specifically, the inner ears (also called the labyrinth), the eyes, skin pressure receptors, muscle and joint sensory receptors, and the central nervous system.
The inner ears monitor motion, such as turning and tilting. The eyes monitor body orientation in space (i.e. upside down, right side up, etc.) and also directions of motion. The skin pressure receptors, such as those in the joints and spine, determine what part of the body is down and touching the ground or other surfaces. The muscle and joint sensory receptors determine which parts of the body are moving. The central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord), processes all of the information from the four other systems to determine the spatial orientation and motion of the body.
People may get motion sickness when their brains receive conflicting messages. Different people have various degrees of tolerance for these conflicting messages.
It is common knowledge that during operation, a vehicle such as an automobile may pitch as well as yaw and roll. These motions can contribute to motion sickness in an occupant. A passenger inside a ship at sea may see around him just four walls that appear to be stationary, but his body will still feel the motion of the ship. These conflicting signals can lead to motion sickness. A greater rocking motion of the ship will increase the disparity between what the passenger feels and what he sees, and so ships in heavy storms often have many passengers suffering from motion sickness.
An effective way for a person to reduce the likelihood of motion sickness is to look at a stationary point of reference. Ship passengers are commonly advised to get out on the deck and look at a fixed object on land or, if the ship is far out at sea, at the horizon. Thus, as the ship rocks, they can see their own motion relative to a fixed point of reference. If this perceived motion matches the motion they feel, the passengers will avoid motion sickness.
Likewise, a passenger in an automobile can reduce the likelihood of motion sickness by looking out a window at stationary points of reference—buildings, trees, signs, et al. Since the natural tendency for passengers is to look forward, passengers riding in the front seat spend a lot of time looking out the windshield, while rear seat passengers spend much of the time looking at the back of the seat in front of them. Because of this, passengers in the rear seat of an automobile are more likely to suffer from motion sickness than front-seat passengers.
The symptoms of motion sickness can include a general feeling of being unwell (malaise), nausea and vomiting, or both, headaches, cold sweating and a pale appearance. Symptoms may alleviate when the motion stops; however, it has been found that for some people it can take a significant period of time for symptoms to subside.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,692,428 to Kania discloses an apparatus having a sensor that detects a motion of an object and a sensory converter which converts the detected motion to corresponding sensory signals, which can be audio, white noise or video. The sensory signals are designed to alleviate motion sickness by using varying audio frequencies and/or colors displayed to the user selected in proportion to the determined motion. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 6,497,649 to Parker, et al., discloses displaying an independent visual background via a head-mounted display with a visual reference corresponding to the perceptions of a person's vestibular system.
Another attempt to prevent motion sickness is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,275,998 to Tromble which shows a vision occluding eye shield which completely blocks the peripheral vision of the wearer to the discernment of motion and which blocks most or all of the superior field of vision of the wearer. When worn by a passenger, the device blocks perception of objects passing through the peripheral field of vision in the side windows and through the front window, while allowing the wearer to focus on tasks or objects within the vehicle by looking through the unoccluded portion.
There have also been many attempts to treat motion sickness medically, with pharmaceutical solutions and other medicinal treatments. Some preventative medications can be purchased without a prescription (e.g., Dramamine®, Bonine®, Marezine®). Stronger medicines such as tranquilizers and nervous system depressants usually require a prescription.
The downside of using any of these medications includes cost, inconvenience, and potential side effects.
Other medical solutions involve the use of magnetic or metallic bracelets and/or jewelry. Some jewelry is worn on pressure points in an attempt to alleviate motion sickness. It has been found however, that such devices have limited success in preventing motion sickness. As such there exists a need for an effective apparatus, system and method for preventing motion sickness without using medications or medical devices.
The afore-mentioned problems, drawbacks, and disadvantages, in addition to others, are alleviated by the present invention disclosed herein where an object thereof is to provide a non-intrusive, non-medicinal, safe and effective system, method and apparatus for preventing motion sickness while reading text or viewing an image.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A rate controlled cardiac pacemaker stimulates the heart of a patient at a stimulation rate and includes a stress sensor for sensing actual physical stress of the patient. The device includes control logic for adapting the stimulation rate of the pacemaker to the actual physical stress of the patient and determining circuitry for determining the activity of the patient. The determining circuitry includes an activity sensor for sensing the activity state of the patient and a rate control circuit having an input connected with an output of the activity sensor. A timer generates a signal based on a 24-hour rhythm indicating a rest phase or an activity phase, and is synchronized by the activity sensor in a 24-hour rhythm with patient activity and rest phases that occur in continuous alternation. The activity sensor, in the case of the absence of activity or low activity of the patient over a long period of time, or in the case of activity which exceeds a predetermined level, respectively, emits an output signal to an input of the timer for synchronizing the timer. The timer generates the signal based on the 24-hour rhythm indicating a rest phase or an activity phase, respectively, independently of the signal from the activity sensor, with a change between an activity and a rest phase, on the average, following a change of the output signals of the activity sensor picked up during a preceding time period.

The invention relates to a cardiac pacemaker.
The publication "Biomedizinische Technik (Biomedical Technology), 34 (1989) pages 191-196" discloses a cardiac pacemaker developed for rate-adaptive single and dual chamber stimulation whose rate control is effected on the basis of measuring the low frequency oscillation spectrum as signals characterizing the patient's activity. For this purpose, the signals are limited in level, are amplified in a frequency selective manner and their spectral component is evaluated for the physical stress.
With the aid of a piezoelectric transducer integrated in the pacemaker housing and with a subsequently connected signal processing circuit, the motion values generated by physical stress can be detected and the pacemaker can be optimally physiologically adapted to the patient's given stress state.
However, the signal processing unit connected to the output of the piezoelectric transducer that is integrated in the pacemaker housing requires additional current beyond that required by the other circuit components of the pacemaker independent of the patient's biorhythm.

Rest/activity phase-responsive rate controlled cardiac pacer

Biotronik Mess-und Therapiegerate GmbH & Co., Ingenieurburo Berlin