A fastening arrangement for protective equipment comprised of relatively soft inner cushioning material and relatively rigid outer shell-like material. The fastening is comprised of a main strap which has a fixed end and free end. The fixed end is sewn in place to both inner and outer fabric surfaces of a cushion. The free end of the strap is threaded through a series of three slots and through an opening formed by a transverse strap. The circuitous path of the main strap prevents separation of the cushion from the shell. Hook-and-loop fastening surface areas on different portions of the main strap allow it to be completed with one hand.

This invention relates to protective equipment, like the kind used in football and ice hockey. In particular, the invention relates to the attachment of cushions, which are relatively soft, to an outer shell of relatively hard material.
Shoulder, elbow and various other padding is required for the protection of athletes who participate in sports where substantial impact can be expected. For many years, shoulder pads and the like have been made of a rigid outer shell, the underside of which is covered with a soft cushion. In many such pads, the soft cushion and rigid shell were permanently attached to one another. More recently, systems have been devised whereby hook-and-loop strapping (e.g. Velcro.RTM. straps) are used to connect the cushion to the rigid shell of a shoulder pad. The use of hook-and-loop fasteners allows for the separation of the shoulder pad components so that they may be cleaned and repaired more easily. Examples of such systems are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,681 to Kirkland, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,901 to Donzis. The Kirkland device shows a system in which a hook-and-loop strap is sewn to one surface of a cushion by the use of a "doubler" which reinforces the fabric which forms the outer surface of the pad. In the Kirkland patent, one of the connections shown includes a single strap, the opposite ends of which extend through two parallel slots formed in the shell.
In the Donzis system, a single strap extends through a single slot formed near an edge of the shell of the pad. In the Donzis system, the connections are disposed at generally diametrically opposed edge locations to provide stability to the overall interconnection between the shell and the pad.
Problems which exist with respect to the prior art techniques for removably attaching cushions to shells include the fact that with some systems, two hands are required to tightly pull the cushion against the underside of the shell. Another difficulty relates to obtaining proper alignment, for example, when the straps extend over the edge of the shell. A further potential problem with prior art techniques relates to the fact that once the hook-and-loop surfaces are no longer engaged, the shell and cushion are quite easily separated. Still another difficulty relates to the manner by which the strap is fastened to the cushion. While the use of a reinforcement under the outer fabric may prevent the strap from being torn from the outer fabric of the cushion, attachment of the strap to only the outer fabric and its reinforcement means that the foam core and the inner fabric are only indirectly connected to the shell.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a more effective attachment for use in connecting a cushion to an outer shell of a piece of protective equipment.
Another object of the invention is to provide an attachment means for protective equipment which can be completed by using one hand.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a hook-and-loop fastening system for protective equipment which is more secure and more difficult to detach than prior art fastening techniques.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention are achieved with a fastening arrangement whereby a single strap is attached at one of its ends to a cushion, and the strap is wound through a series of three openings in a shell. The strap has mating hook-and-loop fastening surfaces disposed on the same side of the strap, one hook or loop surface at approximately the free end of the strap, and a mating hook or loop surface nearer the end of the strap which is attached to the cushion. The cushion includes a small transverse strap located a short distance away from the location where the main strap is connected to the cushion. The main strap extends from beneath the shell through a first slot in the shell across the outer surface of the shell back through a second slot in the shell and under the small transverse strap. The main strap then extends through a third slot and back upon itself so that the mating hook-and-loop surfaces can engage one another. The fastening of the present invention can be completed with one hand, i.e. the user can simply pull on the free end of the main strap and press it against itself.


A chemiluminescence-based gel assay may be used as an indicator of fermenter health. The assay is performed using a sample of fermentation medium essentially directly from the fermenter (with no need for complicated purification of the sample before performing the assay). Results from the assay may be correlated with the final product purification yield of a given protein/purification protocol system. This may then be used as a predictor of purification yield before actually performing the purification.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to the production of target proteins in cell culture, and specifically relates to a method of assaying a sample of the cell culture medium to evaluate the quality of the target protein in the sample.
2. Background
Blotting procedures have been cited in the literature since 1975 when Southern published his method of DNA fragment identification after transfer of the DNA from a gel to a nitrocellulose membrane (Southern, 1975). This type of macromolecular transfer was followed by the transfer of RNA onto a filter matrix, which was termed Northern blotting (Alwine et al., 1977). The transfer of proteins from gels onto membranes occurred in 1979 and was termed Western blotting (Towbin et al., 1979). Since then, numerous reviews have been written describing protein blotting (Dunbar, 1994; Gershoni, 1988). The immobilization and detection of proteins generally involves five basic steps. The first step is the electrophoresis of the proteins on a PAGE-gel. Next, the proteins are transferred from the gel and immobilized onto a membrane. Third, non-specific sites on the membrane are blocked so as to increase the signal to noise ratio. The fourth step includes the binding of specific antibodies to the immobilized proteins and subsequent binding of a secondary antibody that recognizes the primary antibody. Finally, the secondary antibody is detected via a detection system, typically involving an enzymatic reaction.
The four main detection systems used on immunoblots are radiometry, calorimetric, bioluminescence, and chemiluminescence. Radiometry involves labelling the samples/antibodies with radioisotopes and exposing the blot to autoradiography film. Although this procedure is sensitive it requires the handling and disposal of radioisotopes and a radioactivity safe facility. Furthermore, the exposure time to the X-ray film is much longer than that for other detection methods. Colorimetric detection methods involve using a secondary antibody that is conjugated to an enzyme, for example alkaline phosphatase, which will react with a colored substrate such as bromochloroindolyl phosphate and nitroblue tetrazolium, to produce a color wherever the antigen/primary antibody complex has reacted with the secondary antibody. The colorimetric method is more sensitive and faster than the radioactive method but does not give a permanent hard copy and is not as sensitive as chemiluminescence or bioluminescence.
More recently, detection systems that have focused on the detection of light have become more common because of their high sensitivity and prolonged and rapid signal output. Bioluminescence and chemiluminescence are the two most sensitive detection methods used for Western blotting). Although both involve the emission of light, they primarily differ in the substrate they use. Bioluminescence substrates such as luciferin are natural products while chemiluminescent substrates such as luminol are made synthetically. Bioluminescence detection involves the release of activated luciferin from luciferin-o-.beta.-galactoside by .beta.-galactosidase during its interaction with an alkaline phosphatase conjugated secondary antibody. The luciferin is oxidized to oxyluciferin by luciferase, with light being a product of the reaction. This technique has allowed the detection of as little as 5 fg of protein (Geiger, 1994).
Chemiluminescence involutes the oxidation of a peracid salt by horseradish peroxidase (HRP) that is conjugated to a secondary antibody. This oxidation reaction raises the oxidation state of the HRP heme group. As the electron attempts to come back to its ground state it reacts with lumincil to form a luminol radical. As the luminol radical decays it emits light, which is then detected on an autoradiography film. The use of enhancers can prolong the luminol decay for up to 24 hours, which is the main advantage of chemiluminescence over bioluminescence. Chemiluminescence is as sensitive and rapid (often only a few seconds of film exposure is necessary) as bioluminescence. The sensitivity of the chemiluminescence can be significantly improved if the secondary antibody has been conjugated with biotin. This complex can then be exposed to avidin conjugated HRP conjugate and reacted with the luminol reagents. Chemiluminescence is a preferred method of detection because of its high sensitivity, its rapid speed of detection, its prolonged emission time as well as the ready availability of reagents in a kit format from a large number of suppliers.
Common applications of Western blotting include immunodetection of antigenic sites on polypeptides and for amino acid sequencing. Other applications for Western blots include the detection and characterization of glycoprotein carbohydrate chains (Sato et al., 1998) and detection of receptors zand the study of protein-protein interactions. This has all been made possible by the extensive and sensitive detection methods used in immunoblotting. Most applications, however, have been confined to confirming the presence or absence of product in cell extracts and not for assessing the overall quality of the product for the prediction of downstream purification yields. (Kennel et al., 1998).

Method for evaluating target protein quality from fermenter


Systems and methods for compensating for visual distortion caused by surface features on a display are disclosed. For example, one disclosed system includes: a display including one ore more surface features; a processor configured to: receive a display signal including graphical data; determine a location of the surface feature; transform the display signal based at least in part on the location of the surface feature; and cause the transformed display signal to be displayed.

The use of touch-screens in all types of devices is becoming more common. Conventional touch-screens have a flat surface. But many touch-screens can benefit from the tactile haptic feedback caused by the addition of surface features. These surface features can lead to distortion of the image on the display. Thus, there is a need for systems and methods for compensating for visual distortion caused by surface features on a display.


There is disclosed an air conditioner which can realize appropriate air conditioning control in a situation closer to a feeling temperature even in a case where a floor surface of a room to be conditioned is low. The air conditioner which blows air subjected to heat exchange between the air and a user side heat exchanger into a room to be conditioned by an indoor side blower comprises a user side controller which controls a revolution speed of the indoor side blower based on the present temperature in the room and a set temperature, and this controller raises the revolution speed of the indoor side blower in a case where an outside air temperature is not higher than a predetermined revolution speed rise temperature during a heating operation.

The present invention relates to an air conditioner which blows air subjected to heat exchange between the air and an indoor side heat exchanger to perform at least heating of a room to be conditioned, thereby enabling effective air conditioning in accordance with an outside air temperature.
Heretofore, for example, an air conditioner having a refrigerating cycle constituted of a compressor, a condenser, a pressure reducing unit and an evaporator has been used for air conditioning such as cooling, heating or drying in a room to be conditioned. When a cooling operation is performed, an indoor side heat exchanger operates as the evaporator to cool the inside of the room to be conditioned. When a heating operation is performed, the indoor side heat exchanger operates as the evaporator to heat the inside of the room to be conditioned.
In a main body of an indoor unit provided with the indoor side heat exchanger, a blower is disposed which sucks air into the main body through a suction port and discharges the air subjected to heat exchange between the air and the indoor side heat exchanger through a blowing port. When this blower is set to an 'automatic air flow' operation, a revolution speed, i.e., a velocity (flow rate) of the air discharged from the indoor unit is controlled based on a difference between a set temperature set by a controller and a temperature in the room to be conditioned detected by a room temperature sensor (a sucked air temperature) (e.g., see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-332593).
On the other hand, when an outside air temperature is low, a floor surface temperature is often remarkably lower than a room temperature in the room where the air conditioner is installed. In this case, during the above-mentioned 'automatic flow rate' operation, when the present indoor temperature rises as much as a certain degree by hot air discharged from the air conditioner installed in an upper part of the room, the flow rate is automatically switched from 'strong wind' to 'weak wind', 'breeze' or the like. In this case, a person in the room feels coldness from a floor surface or a wall surface having a low temperature, and hence feels that the flow rate lowers although a feeling temperature is lower than the present temperature (the displayed present temperature). In particular, when the outside air temperature is low, the person is remarkably influenced by the lowered floor surface temperature, and feels slowness in a heating speed.
The present invention has been developed to solve the conventional technical problems, and an object thereof is to provide an air conditioner which can realize appropriate air conditioning control in a situation close to a feeling temperature even when a floor surface temperature in a room to be conditioned is low.

Air conditioner having a variable speed indoor side blower and flaps being control based on outside air temperature and indoor heat exchanger temperature

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


Information storage media, such as cassette tapes or laser discs adapted to be read by machines, such as cassette tape players or compact disc players, has some information stored thereon adapted to be played back at a first speed and other information stored thereon adapted to be played back at a second speed. The storage or playback characteristic of the information on the media will generally vary with the speed at which the information is adapted to be read and the information is divided between the two speeds based on such characteristics. The media may advantageously be used to provide full text readings of magazines, newspapers, books, etc., and to provide indexing for such full text readings. The full text readings are broken into separate informational items, such as the individual magazine or newspaper articles or book chapters, which are stored on the media to be read back at a slow speed while individual summaries of the separate information items are stored to be read back at a faster speed. The informational items and their summaries are arranged on the media so that an informational item may be accessed at the completion of the summary of such item.

1. Field
The invention is in the field of information storage media, such as magnetic tape or compact laser discs upon which information is stored and may be read back from the media by means of a machine.
2. State of the Art
It is currently common practice to record information, such as sound information, on magnetic tape or discs of various types to be played back from the media through use of a machine, such as an audio tape player or a compact disc player. For example, it is common to supply music or spoken words on magnetic tape in a cassette device for playback by the purchaser of the tape cassette in an audio tape player. When the information is recorded onto the tape, it is placed thereon so that it can be played back or read intelligibly by the machine at a preset constant speed. If played back or read at a speed substantially different from the preset speed, the information becomes unintelligible or unpleasant. Thus, normal prerecorded music cassettes are recorded so that they should be played back at a standard tape speed of 4.8 centimeters per second. Most cassette playback equipment commercially available is designed to play back cassette tapes at this standard speed. In this way substantially all prerecorded cassette tapes and cassette tape playback equipment are compatible so that such tapes may be played back on any standard cassette playback machine.
The size of the standard cassette limits the amount of tape that can be held in the cassette. The amount of tape in the cassette, in turn, limits the amount of material that can be recorded on the tape. The speed at which the tape is designed to be played back determines the amount of information that can be stored on a given length of tape. Thus, the slower the speed at which the tape is designed to be played back, the greater the information that can be stored on the tape.
However, the currently known systems for reading information that is stored on magnetic tape are speed dependent. The speed at which a tape passes the head in a tape playback machine which reads the information stored on the tape has a significant effect on the frequency response obtainable for the played back information. The frequency response is important because it affects the fidelity of the played back information. The standard cassette speed was chosen to give staisfactory high frequency response for the played back signals with state of the art tape and magnetic playback heads while at the same time, going as slowly as possible to give maximum information storage on the tape. Any reduction in tape speed reduces the frequency response. Similarly, with compact discs, it is the number of bits of digital information provided for any given playback time unit that determines the frequency response.
While high frequency response giving high fidelity sound reproduction is generally considered a necessity for music reproduction, reproduction of the spoken word does not require such high fidelity so does not require such high frequency response. Over the past several years, cassette record and playback equipment has been developed which operates at speeds below the standard speed. For example, Norwood Industries, Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah, has developed and markets several cassette record and playback machines which operate at one-quarter normal speed. This reduction in speed allows four times as much information to be recorded on a given length of tape so that a cassette which can normally hold ninety minutes of information at standard speed, will contain six hours of information at one-quarter standard speed. These machines also operate as monaural machines so that information can be recorded on each of the normal four track of a cassette tape and played back separately rather than having the two separate stereo signals recorded on two of the tracks and played back simultaneously. This separate playback of each track of information doubles again the amount of playback time obtainable from a standard cassette so that twelve hours of monaural information can be obtained from a standard ninety minute cassette. This increase in recorded or stored information allows readings or dramatizations of entire novels or other books to be stored on a single cassette tape.
Prerecorded cassette or other tapes, or other media upon which such information may be stored, are supplied to be played at a single preset speed. Thus, most cassette tapes are recorded to be played back at normal speed, with a number of tapes now available to be played back at one-quarter speed. However, tapes are not supplied with some information recorded to be played back at one speed and other information to be played back at another speed.

Information storage media having information stored thereon for playback at different speeds and method of indexing such stored information


A detection device configured to detect each color of a plurality of components of a biological-sample is provided. The detection device executes the detection process with respect to the container which stores the sample containing the first and the second components. The detection device includes an image pickup device for picking up an image of the container, a background section serving as background of the image pickup section, and a detection section for detecting color of the first component of the sample. The container is disposed between the image pickup section and the background section. The detection section is configured to identify a first region of the first component having the label attached to the container as background, and a second region of the first component having the background section as background so as to detect color information on the first component from at least one region of the first and the second regions.

Generally, the technique for analyzing components that constitute a biological sample has been introduced. The biological sample of a patient is processed in a container exclusively used for the aforementioned technique. Upon use of a blood sample, the collected blood is fed into a blood tube which has been preliminarily filled with a separating agent. Thereafter, the blood tube is subjected to centrifugal separation so that the blood is separated into clot and serum layers. Then the serum as the component necessary to the analysis is extracted.
Recently, the inspection item measurable by means of the serum has been diversified. As a result, a large number of automatic analyzers have been provided, leading to significantly increased samples. The aforementioned situation has necessitated pre analysis to be executed before loading the biological sample into the automatic analyzer, or the system for automatically transporting the sample to the automatic analyzer.
The process for detecting index and liquid amount of the serum has been known as the pre analysis. If the serum as the sample is colored different from the normal color (pale yellow), for example, the hemolysis (red), jaundice (dark yellow) and chyle (milky-white), such sample may cause an error in the automatic analyzer operated in accordance with the absorbance as the measurement principle. In order to avoid the error, it is necessary to remove the sample indexed as hemolysis, jaundice and chyle. In the case of hemolysis, it is necessary to require the physician to carry out the blood collection again. If the liquid amount of the serum is insufficient for the analysis, the aliquot amount has to be determined by prioritizing the analytical items. Furthermore, the probe may thrust through the separating agent during aliquot, resulting in such error as clogging. It is therefore necessary to recognize insufficiency in the liquid amount of the serum before aliquot process. In one of methods practically utilized in the laboratory, the label is applied to a surface of the blood tube, on which important information such as patient ID, personal information, parameters necessary for device operation is provided. Patent Literature 1 discloses the art for handling the labeled blood tube, which is configured to identify the unlabeled surface by checking the light receiving level of the photodetector of the optical sensor during horizontal rotation of the blood tube by the rotation mechanism, and to have image data of the identified surface picked up by a camera for calculating the blood volume.

Detection device that calculates a center of gravity of a container gap region


An optical fiber sensor according to the present invention is provided with a first fixation member which fixes an optical fiber on a base at a fixation position set on the base in a state where FBGs are arranged in one side of the fixation position and the other side of the fixation position respectively. Also, in one side of the fixation position, a second fixation member which fixes the optical fiber on the base in a state where tension is applied to a first FBG is provided. Further, in the other side of the fixation position, a third fixation member which fixes the optical fiber on the base in a state where tension which is different from the tension applied to the first FBG is applied to the second FBG and the Bragg wavelength of the second FBG is different from that of the first FBG is provided.

In recent years, optical fiber sensors using an optical fiber where a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is formed have been used as pressure sensors or strain sensors and the like. Such optical fiber sensors measure pressure or strain amount based on a variation of a Bragg wavelength in response to a deformation of the optical fiber.
As it is publicly known, a Bragg wavelength is determined by a refractive index of an optical fiber and a grating space of diffraction grating. Thus, the Bragg wavelength varies by a variation of the refractive index caused by temperature variation, or expansion and contraction of the optical fiber as well. In other words, under temperature-uncontrolled environment, it is unable to distinguish whether the variation in the Bragg wavelength is caused by pressure or strain, or temperature variation on a measurement object. Consequently, to accurately obtain pressure or strain on the measurement object, temperature compensation for eliminating the variation of the Bragg wavelength caused by temperature variation is required.
As a method for such temperature compensation, for example, an FBG for temperature compensation is arranged to measure only the variation of the Bragg wavelength caused by temperature variation (for example, see patent documents 1 and 2). The FBG for temperature compensation is arranged adjacent to an FBG for measuring such as pressure or strain. A measurement value obtained by the FBG for measurement is corrected based on a measurement value of the FBG for temperature compensation. In this example, the FBG for measurement and the FBG for temperature compensation can be arranged either in series or in parallel.
As another method, a physical structure that suppresses a variation of a Bragg wavelength caused by temperature variation is adopted in an FBG for measuring such as pressure or strain (for example, see patent documents 3 and 4). The patent document 3 discloses a strain gauge adopting a physical structure where a thin part having spring characteristics generated by providing a void part connects two thick parts in a gauge base supporting an optical fiber. The thick parts of the gauge base are fixed on a measurement object in this structure. Expansion of the thick parts with a rise in temperature compresses the both sides of the thin parts. A dimension of each part of the gauge is designed so that the largeness of compression force can cancel the variation of the Bragg wavelength generated in an FBG for measurement. The Patent document 4 discloses a strain sensor where an FBG for measurement and measurement object to which strain is applied are fixed with a temperature compensation member therebetween. The temperature compensation member is made from a material whose coefficient of thermal expansion is a positive/negative reversed value to a coefficient of thermal expansion of an optical fiber.
Further, as another method, a patent document 5 discloses a mechanical sensor where an FBG having uniform grating spaces is adhered and fixed to a tensile member having a part which generates non-uniform strain when tension force is added. In this configuration, when the tension force is added, the grating spaces of the FBG become non-uniform and a bandwidth of reflected wave becomes widen. While, when temperature variation occurs, a Bragg wavelength varies but the bandwidth does not vary. As a result, the mechanical sensor is assumed to be able to measure strain unaffected by temperature variation by measuring the bandwidth variation.


Vacuum adsorption system of the invention includes: vacuum adsorption platform; carrying platform, which is provided on vacuum adsorption platform and edges thereof are sealed with edges of vacuum adsorption platform, configured to carrying mother substrate to be packaged and provided thereon with a plurality of adsorption units used for adsorbing and fixing, in cooperation with vacuum adsorption platform, mother substrate to be packaged; detection unit, configured to detect positional relationships between adsorption units on carrying platform and packaging areas on mother substrate to be packaged; and adjustment unit, configured to adjust position of carrying platform when detection unit detects that positions of adsorption units on carrying platform are overlapped with packaging areas on mother substrate to be packaged, so that positions of at least part of adsorption units on carrying platform are not overlapped with packaging areas on mother substrate to be packaged.

As a novel display device, Organic Light-emitting Diode (OLED) display device has the advantages of good color saturation and wide angle of view. However, luminescent and function materials within the display device are sensitive to moisture and oxygen, where the parameter requirements for moisture resistance and oxygen resistance of the corresponding products are in that: permeability of oxygen is required to be less than 10−3 cc/m2/day and permeability of moisture is required to be less than 10−6 g/m2/day. Currently, OLED display devices in middle or small size are packaged by means of printing frit.
As shown in FIG. 1, packaging by means of printing frit includes the following steps: placing first a mother substrate 20 to be packaged on a vacuum adsorption platform 10 of a vacuum adsorption system, and then adsorbing, by vacuumizing, the mother substrate 20 to be packaged to fix it on the vacuum adsorption platform 10; subsequently, placing an alignment substrate (Mask substrate, not shown in FIG. 1), which is used for determining positions of frit, on the mother substrate 20 to be packaged, and then printing the frit to the mother substrate 20 to be packaged along grooves of the alignment substrate; finally, removing the alignment substrate and packaging another mother substrate with the mother substrate 20 to be packaged, so as to form a package assembly. It should be noted that, a plurality of grooves, which may be in a rectangular ring shape, are provided on the alignment substrate, and area on the mother substrate 20 to be packaged may be divided into a plurality of display areas 22, a plurality of packaging areas 21 and a plurality of cutting areas 23, wherein the size, shape and position of each of the grooves on the alignment substrate correspond to those of a packaging area 21 on the mother substrate 20 to be packaged and thus the packaging area 21 may be in a rectangular ring shape as well, as shown in FIG. 1. The area surrounded by one packaging area 21 is one display area 22, and the areas between adjacent packaging areas 21 are the cutting areas 23, wherein a plurality of display panels can be formed by cutting the package assembly that has been packaged along the cutting areas 23.
The inventors have found that at least the following problems exist in the prior art. Most of vacuum adsorption systems used in the prior art adopt grooves or adsorption holes on the vacuum adsorption platforms. A common disadvantage to these two types of vacuum adsorption platforms is that positions on the mother substrate to be packaged (i.e., the packaging areas on the mother substrate to be packaged) on the vacuum adsorption platform corresponding to the grooves on the alignment substrate will be deformed due to action of the adsorption force from the vacuum adsorption platform, which in turn causes large step on the surface of the printed frit, so that poor packaging due to untightness may occur when packaging the mother substrate to be packaged with another mother substrate and thus the service life of the display device will be affected.

Vacuum adsorption system, method and packaging device for mother substrate to be packaged

BEIJING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


In a processing waste liquid treating apparatus, a housing includes a bottom wall, an upper wall, a left lateral wall, a rear wall and an opening/closing door for opening/closing a front opening. A waste liquid tank is disposed on the bottom wall and close to the rear wall. A clear water storage tank is disposed adjacently to the waste liquid tank and at the central portion of the bottom wall. A pure water generating unit is disposed on the bottom wall adjacently to the clear water storage tank and close to the front opening. A waste liquid filtering unit is disposed above the pure water generating unit. A pure water temperature adjusting unit is disposed above the waste liquid tank. A control unit and a console panel are disposed above the waste liquid filtering unit and the console panel is disposed on the front side of the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a processing waste liquid treating apparatus attached to a processing device such as a cutting device for cutting a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer or the like to treat processing waste liquid fed thereto during the processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the semiconductor device manufacturing step, the front surface of a generally disklike semiconductor wafer is sectioned into a plurality of areas by predetermined dividing lines called streets arranged in a lattice-like pattern. Devices such as ICs, LSIs or the like are formed on the areas thus sectioned. Thereafter, the semiconductor wafer is cut along the streets to divide the areas formed with the devices to manufacture the individual semiconductor devices. Also optical device wafer in which gallium nitride-based compound semiconductor or the like are laminated on the front surface of a sapphire substrate is cut along streets and divided into individual optical devices such as light-emitting diodes, laser diodes or the like, which are widely used in various electric equipment.
Cutting the semiconductor wafer or the optical device wafer described above along the streets is usually performed by a cutting device called a dicer. This cutting device includes a chuck table adapted to hold a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer or the like; cutting means provided with a cutting blade for cutting the workpiece held by the chuck table; and processing water supply means for supplying processing water to the cutting blade. In addition, the processing water supply means supplies cutting water to the rotating cutting blade to cool it and supplies the processing water to a portion of the workpiece cut by the cutting blade. Thus, the cutting work is performed.
Cutting scraps produced by cutting silicon or gallium nitride-based compound semiconductor mix in the processing liquid supplied during the cutting as described above. Since the processing waste liquid immixed with the cutting scraps made of the semiconductor material pollutes environment, a waste liquid treating apparatus is used to remove the cutting scraps before reuse or discard. See e.g. Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2004-230527.
The waste liquid treating apparatus includes a waste liquid storage tank for holding processing waste liquid; a pump for supplying the processing waste liquid held in the waste liquid storage tank; waste liquid filtering means for filtering the processing waste liquid supplied by the pump to purify it into clear water; and a clear water storage tank for holding the clear water purified by the waste liquid filtering means. The waste liquid treating apparatus further includes a clear water supply pump for supplying the clear water held in the clear water storage tank; control means for controlling the constituent means mentioned above; and a console panel equipped with display means for displaying the operating conditions of the constituent means controlled by the control means. A significantly large installation area is required to arrange the constituent means so that a clean room with high maintenance costs cannot be used effectively.

Processing waste liquid treating apparatus


An endoscope system comprises first and second endoscopes each of which includes an elongated insertion tube and an imaging device, a light source for supplying illumination light to the endoscopes, a function for processing a signal originating from one of the imaging devices, and a video processor which mixes the signal with at least a signal sent from an external input terminal and outputs a given video signal corresponding to the first and second endoscopic images. The video signal provided by the video processor is output to a shared monitor, thus displaying two endoscopic images simultaneously.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope system for simultaneously displaying endoscopic images produced by two endoscopes on the same monitor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Parent and child scopes are sometimes employed as a unit or system for endoscopic observation of the bile duct or other small duct in a body cavity. This kind of system comprises a parent scope which has channel whose internal diameter is large enough for a child scope to run through, a child scope which is routed through the channel, a light source for supplying illumination light to the scopes for easy observation, video processors for processing video signals originating from the imaging means of the scopes, and monitors for displaying the images.
To display a parent scope image produced by a parent scope on a monitor, an electric signal originating from a charge coupled device (CCD) at the distal end of an endoscope must be converted into a video signal using a video processor. As for a child scope inserted into the channel of the parent scope, the CCD in the TV camera head mounted on the eyepiece section of the child scope forms a child scope image. Then, the electric signal resulting from the child scope image is converted into a video signal by other video processor corresponding to the child scope, then displayed on other monitor corresponding to the child scope.
For observation using parent scopes, electronic endoscope systems are needed for each of the parent scopes. This results in an increase in the space occupied by the endoscope systems within an endoscope room. The installation site for monitors, in particular, is restricted. That is to say, monitors must be installed in a place where operators can view them easily. However, a space wide enough to install two monitors is sometimes unavailable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,413 has disclosed a system in which an X-ray image obtained in vitro and an angioscopic image obtained in vivo can be displayed on a shared monitor. The X-ray image is a fluoroscopic image obtained in vitro, which cannot be used to route an endoscope into a complicated region in a body. In addition, an object to be observed cannot be observed directly. Therefore, this system is unsuitable for detailed observation or treatment of an object.

Endoscope system for simultaneously displaying two endoscopic images on a shared monitor


A configurable, connectorized system for providing RTU monitoring of field digital and analog parameters and transmitting data to the Central PLC system dramatically reduces the number of wire connections that must be made to connect sensors and actuators to a PLC system. The system is also extremely rugged and safe to be located in a hazardous environment.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to SCADA systems in which signals from end devices such as sensors and control devices are transmitted to and from a remote location via a standard Modbus or other protocol.
(2) Description of the Related Art
The control of various systems such as may be associated with a vehicle or other complex systems must take in various electronic signals and process those signals to control associated components. These controls are becoming more and more complex. One type of control element is an input/output module. An input/output module receives an "Input" signal, such as from a switch or sensor, respectively a digital or an analog signal. The signal from a sensor might be that a particular condition has been sensed, and some control step should now be taken. The input from a switch may be that the switch has switched from off to on, and some control action must be taken. The "output" of the module is typically sending a signal to control an associated component based upon the signal from the switch or sensor or from a microcontroller. In the past, there has been a plurality of these modules associated with more complex systems. Typically, a single processor (PLC) has been associated with and directly and locally connected to a plurality of input/output modules located in the PLC. This has been somewhat undesirable in that a failure of that single processor would cause all of those control systems to fail.
SCADA systems perform adjustments by modifying set points and other parameters in the processor (PLC) by communicating principally via a network connection, With the network connection generally inside of a Local Area Network (LAN) where communication timing, security and reliability is maintained. The PLC itself is made up of input/output modules (I/O modules) which connect to the sensors producing the information about the state of the process, and the actuators, which provide the action of the control system.
The prior art utilizes fixed-configuration I/O modules local to the host processor (ie. part of the PLC). Due to cost, complexity and non-rugged nature of PLC's, generally, few are used and cover large geographical regions. This requires many long cables to be run from each sensor to the PLC. Sensors are generally clustered together and thus some rugged low cost means is required to substantially reduce the length and number of cables.
Further the National Electrical Code mandates that Wiring and devices used in a hazardous environment be intrinsically safe in that they are incapable of releasing electrical or thermal energy to cause ignition of a volatile gas or gaseous mixture. In general, an intrinsically safe environment has a safe side and a hazardous side. In an intrinsically safe application, it is a common practice to use an intrinsically safe barrier as a safety buffer between a device located on the hazardous side and an apparatus located on the safe side. The prior art therefor requires the addition of Intrinsic Barriers to each input/output signal.

Apparatus and method for interfacing a plurality of remote devices to a programmable logic controller (PLC)


A molded case circuit breaker unit having an accessory compartment within the circuit breaker cover, contains a field-replaceable fuse within the compartment for protecting an electric motor without tripping upon motor current reversal. Upon the occurrence of a short circuit within the protected circuit, the fuse operates to isolate the protected equipment and is conveniently replaced without disassembling the circuit breaker components.

When electric motors are used in a machine tool cutting operation, large in-rush currents are temporarily generated when the electric motors are reversed to change the direction of the cutting tools. Heretofore, fuses were used in series with thermal overload relays in the motor control equipment to protect the motor and associated equipment. When the fuses were subjected to thermal aging by repeated subjection to high transient reversing currents the fuses had to be frequently replaced. With the advent of the so-called "energy efficient" motors that operated at lower normal operating currents and higher currents during current reversal, the ratings of the fuses were selected to sustain the higher transient reversing currents and resist thermal aging. The higher-rated fuses however do not coordinate as well with the thermal overload relays used within the motor control units and find limited application outside the tool-making industry.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,544 describes an industrial-rated circuit breaker having an electronic trip unit that is adjustable over a wide range of long and short time over-current conditions. The circuit breaker also includes an accessory cover wherein components can be installed within the field without disturbing the circuit breaker operating components.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,304 describes a digital circuit interrupter with electric motor trip parameters that includes control algorithms tailored for motor protection applications. It would be economically advantageous to have a combined circuit breaker-fuse arrangement whereby the fuse does not need frequent replacement when used within machine tool cutting operations and wherein the circuit breaker magnetic trip function can be adjusted to provide coordination between the short circuit protection provided by the fuse and the long time over-current protection provided by the thermal overload relay.
One purpose of the invention is to provide a circuit breaker-fuse arrangement wherein the short circuit protection provided by a fuse can be coordinated with the long time over-current protection provided by a thermal overload relay

Induction motor protective circuit breaker unit


An insulating film layer consisting of silicon oxynitride is formed on a silicon semiconductor substrate surface by bringing a surface of a silicon substrate into contact with an ammonia gas atmosphere containing a gas comprising containing substance gas, for example, oxygen gas, carbon dioxide gas, carbon monoxide gas, nitrogen monoxide gas, nitrogen dioxide gas, or water vapor, in a volume concentration of from 10.sup.2 to 10.sup.4 ppm in terms of molecular oxygen, at an elevated temperature, for example, of from 900.degree.to 1300.degree. C.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for forming an insulating film layer on a semiconductor substrate surface. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for forming an insulating film layer, which exhibits an excellent stability in electrical properties and a high degree of density, on a surface of a semiconductor substrate useful for the production of integrated circuits.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the production of semiconductor devices, it is known that a portion of the semiconductor surface, in which a PN junction is exposed to an ambient atmosphere, is coated with an insulating film layer in order to prevent changes in the electrical properties of the semiconductor device with the lapse of time and to enhance the reliability of the semiconductor device. In the production of MISFET (metal insulator semiconductor field effect transistor) or MIS type integrated circuits, it is also known that a gate insulating film layer is formed in the semiconductor device, so as to introduce an inversion layer channel into the device. Generally speaking, in the conventional MISFET and MIS type integrated circuits, the semiconductor substrate, the insulating film layer and the metal gate electrode respectively consist essentially of silicon (Si), silicon oxide (SiO.sub.2) and aluminum (Al). However, the above-mentioned structure of the conventional metal insulator semiconductor device exhibits a disadvantage in that an application of a field of about 10.sup.6 V/cm onto the insulating film layer at a temperature of about 200.degree. C. results in a remarkable fluctuation of a gate threshold voltage. This disadvantageous phenomenon may be due to the fact that the drift effect of impurity ions contained in the SiO.sub.2 insulating film layer or the structural defects of the SiO.sub.2 insulating film layer per se cause the creation of a capture level of carriers, and the creation of the capture level of carriers results in a remarkable fluctuation in the space charge distribution in the surface layer of the semiconductor device. It is clear that the fluctuation in the space charge distribution is influenced most remarkably by the structural defects in the interface between the Si substrate and the insulating film layer (SiO.sub.2). The structural defects are remarkably created when the insulating film layer (SiO.sub.2) is formed by thermally oxidizing the surface layer of the Si substrate. This thermal oxidization process tends to permit the impurity ions, such as alkali metal ions, to be contaminated in the oxidized silicon film layer. In order to eliminate the above-mentioned defects from the conventional insulating film layer, an attempt was made to provide an insulating film layer by way of a chemical vapor deposition or sputtering. However, all of the previous attempts failed to reduce the structural defects in the interface between the Si substrate and the SiO.sub.2 layer to a level lower than that of the thermal oxidation.
Furthermore, it is known that when the surface of the Si substrate is thermally oxidized in an extremely clean atmosphere, the resultant SiO.sub.2 film layer exhibits very little structural defects in a level, in terms of surface charge density, of 10.sup.11 /cm.sup.2 or less. However, the interface between the Si substrate and the SiO.sub.2 film layer still exhibits structural defects due to excessive silicon ions. Accordingly, it has been strongly desired to eliminate the above-mentioned defects from the interface between the Si substrate and the SiO.sub.2 film layer.
On the other hand, recently, the increase in density of the integrated circuits is accompanied with a tendency to decrease the thickness of the gate insulating film layer in the semiconductor device. When a thinned insulating film layer is used, it is important that the resultant semiconductor device exhibits an excellent stability in electrical properties.
As a method for decreasing the variation in the electrical properties of the semiconductor device, it was attempted to provide a gate insulating film layer consisting of a silicon oxide film formed on a silicon substrate and a phospho-silicate glass (PSG) film formed on the silicon oxide film. However, in the case where the PSG film has a high concentration of phosphorus, an application of a high field onto the gate insulating film layer results in polarization of the gate insulating film layer. This polarization causes the potential of the semiconductor surface to be undesirably fluctuated. Also, it was found that the reduction in the thickness of the silicon oxide film causes the operation of the resultant N channel enhancement type field effect transistor to be more difficult due to the diffusion of donor impurities from the polysilicon gate film into the silicon substrate.
In another method, it was tried to utilize a silicon nitride film or aluminum oxide film as a gate insulating film layer. However, since the above-mentioned film layers are provided by means of chemical vapor deposition, structural defects are locally created in the interface between the silicon substrate and the insulating film layer. These structural defects cause the electrical properties of the semiconductor device to be unstable.
Moreover, it was attempted to utilize a silicon oxynitride film layer the properties of which are intermediate between those of the silicon oxide film layer and the silicon nitride film layer, as the gate insulating film layer. For example, the conventional silicon oxynitride film layer was produced by bringing a mixed gas containing monosilane (SiH.sub.4) gas, ammonia (NH.sub.3) gas and carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) gas into contact with a surface of a silicon substrate heated at a temperature of from 700.degree. to 1000.degree. C. so as to react the monosilane with the ammonia and carbon dioxide in vapor phase. However, the insulating film layer produced by the above-mentioned chemical vapor deposition sometimes exhibits structural defects in the interface between the silicon substrate and the insulating film layer. Otherwise, it is sometimes difficult to produce a silicon oxynitride film layer having an even structure and composition. The above-mentioned structural defects or the structural unevenness cause the electrical properties of the semiconductor device to be unstable.

Method for forming an insulating film layer of silicon oxynitride on a semiconductor substrate surface


An energy storage apparatus including: an outer case having an opening portion; a plurality of energy storage devices arranged in a first direction in the outer case; and a positioning projection disposed on opposedly facing inner side surfaces of the outer case, extending in a second direction substantially orthogonal to the first direction toward a lower side of the outer case opposite from the opening, and being capable of positioning the adjacently disposed energy storage devices at the lower side of the outer case.

Conventionally, there has been known an assembled battery where a leaf spring member is disposed on an inner lower portion of a side wall of a case, and battery cells accommodated in a battery accommodating chamber of the case are positioned by being pushed toward an inner surface of an opposite side wall (see JP 2013-242967 A, for example).
There has been also known a battery module where battery cells are respectively accommodated in respective spaces formed by a plurality of partition walls in a case (see JP 2010-80450 A, for example).
There has been also known a battery pack where a plurality of circular columnar bodies are formed at a center portion of a pack case, and a plurality of columnar bodies are formed on inner surfaces of the pack case thus positioning secondary battery cells accommodated in the pack case by the circular columnar bodies and the columnar bodies (see JP 2011-171176 A, for example).
However, the conventional configurations described in the above-mentioned Patent Literatures exhibit poor assembling operability due to reasons in terms of their structures.

Energy storage apparatus including aligning projection contacting energy storage devices


The present invention relates to compounds of formula (I):

Chromatin is a complex combination of DNA and protein that makes up chromosomes. It is found inside the nuclei of eukaryotic cells and is divided between heterochromatin (condensed) and euchromatin (extended) forms. The major components of chromatin are DNA and proteins. Histones are the chief protein components of chromatin, acting as spools around which DNA winds. The functions of chromatin are to package DNA into a smaller volume to fit in the cell, to strengthen the DNA to allow mitosis and meiosis, and to serve as a mechanism to control expression and DNA replication. The chromatin structure is controlled by a series of post-translational modifications to histone proteins, notably histones H3 and H4, and most commonly within the "histone tails" which extend beyond the core nucleosome structure. Histone tails tend to be free for protein-protein interaction and are also the portion of the histone most prone to post-translational modification. These modifications include acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, ubiquitinylation, and SUMOylation. These epigenetic marks are written and erased by specific enzymes that place the tags on specific residues within the histone tail, thereby forming an epigenetic code, which is then interpreted by the cell to allow gene specific regulation of chromatin structure and thereby transcription.
Of all classes of proteins, histones are amongst the most susceptible to post-translational modification. Histone modifications are dynamic, as they can be added or removed in response to specific stimuli, and these modifications direct both structural changes to chromatin and alterations in gene transcription. Distinct classes of enzymes, namely histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs), acetylate or de-acetylate specific histone lysine residues (Struhl K., Genes Dev., 1989, 12, 5, 599-606).
Bromodomains, which are approximately 110 amino acids long, are found in a large number of chromatin-associated proteins and have been identified in approximately 70 human proteins, often adjacent to other protein motifs (Jeanmougin F., et al., Trends Biochem. Sci., 1997, 22, 5, 151-153; and Tamkun J. W., et al., Cell, 1992, 7, 3, 561-572). Interactions between bromodomains and modified histones may be an important mechanism underlying chromatin structural changes and gene regulation. Bromodomain-containing proteins have been implicated in disease processes including cancer, inflammation and viral replication. See, e.g., Prinjha et al., Trends Pharm. Sci., 33(3):146-153 (2012) and Muller et al., Expert Rev., 13(29):1-20 (September 2011).
TBP-associated factor 1 (TAF1) is a subunit of transcription factor IID and contains both a HAT domain and a double bromodomain (Papai et al., Current Opinion in Genetics & Development 21:219-224 (2011)). While the function of TAF1 has not been fully elucidated, the molecule has been implicated in pathways associated with cancer (see, e.g., Kloet et al., Molecular and Cellular Biology 32(16): 3358-3369 (2012)). Hence, the selective inhibition of TAF1 creates varied opportunities for the development of novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of human dysfunction, including cancer.
Accordingly, there is a need for compounds that inhibit TAF1 for treating diseases such as cancer, as well as for use as tools for studying the pharmacology of TAF1.

Abstract: and to salts thereof, wherein R1-R6 have any of the values defined in the specification, and compositions and uses thereof. The compounds are useful as inhibitors of TAF1. Also included are pharmaceutical compositions comprising a compound of formula (I) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and methods of using such compounds and salts in the treatment of various TAF1-mediated disorders.


A process for vapor depositing a metallic interlayer on the surface of a metal component, for example, by sputtering and thereafter depositing an aluminum diffusion coating on the interlayer. The metallic interlayer is vapor deposited on the surface of the component in a noble gas atmosphere, more than one-half of which, in per cent by weight, is composed of noble gases which are heavier than argon. Advantageously, the noble gases can be krypton or xenon. The process can be used with particular advantage for applying protective aluminum diffusion coatings on turbine blades.

In order to improve the corrosion resistance to hot gases of metal components, such as turbine blades, it is known to vapor deposit or electrodeposit onto the components a metallic interlayer prior to application on the component of an aluminum diffusion coating.
The electrodeposition of an interlayer has disadvantages which are inherent in the process. For example, the thickness of the interlayer can not be maintained within small tolerances and accordingly uniform, thickness of the interlayers can not be achieved.
Interlayers produced by sputtering (cathodic disintegration) have the disadvantages of producing microscopic defects and internal compressive stresses in the interlayers which impede an undisturbed subsequent application of the aluminum diffusion coating and when the coated component is subjected to thermal and/or oxidic stresses, pore formation is developed at the interface between the metallic interlayer and the aluminum diffusion coating.

Formation of interlayers for application of aluminum diffusion coatings

Mtu Motoren-Und Turbinen-Union Munchen GmbH


An integrated circuit chip bonding system comprising a multi-layer film adhesive for mounting an integrated circuit chip to a printed circuit substrate having a metallized grounding pad disposed thereon that is connected to a circuit ground of the integrated circuit chip. The multi-layer film adhesive comprises a lower film layer that is a dielectric insulator, and an upper film layer that is disposed in contact with the chip. The length and width dimensions of the upper film layer are slightly larger than the dimensions of the integrated circuit chip, and the dimensions of the lower film layer are slightly larger than the dimensions of the upper film layer. Conductive adhesive is used to electrically connect the upper film layer to the circuit ground by way of the metallized pad.

The present invention relates generally to integrated circuits, and more particularly, to a multi-layer film adhesive for electrically isolating and grounding an integrated circuit chip to a printed circuit substrate.
Integrated circuit chips are conventionally mounted on a printed circuit substrate with either conductive or nonconductive adhesive. Such adhesives typically contain fillers to enhance thermal conduction of heat from the chip to the substrate and to electrically ground the chip to a metallized die attachment pad on the substrate. A metal filler such as silver powder serves this purpose well. If the chip must be electrically isolated from the substrate, a dielectric filled adhesive is used and the substrate does not have a metallized pad beneath the chip.
However, conventional mounting arrangements for integrated circuit chips that must be electrically grounded do not provide for very high density circuits. Furthermore, in such conventional circuits, a severe area penalty is suffered in requiring all routing vias to be placed outside the chip mounting area.
Therefore, it is an objective of the present invention to provide for an integrated circuit chip bonding system comprising a multi-layer film adhesive for electrically isolating and grounding an integrated circuit chip to a printed circuit substrate.

Multi-layer film adhesive for electrically isolating and grounding an integrated circuit chip to a printed circuit substrate


A heat exchanger comprises a bundle of tubes connected between two water boxes, each of the latter being delimited by a wall of moulded plastics material having two opposed, lateral faces on which are secured lateral portions of two mountings which join the two water boxes together and which enclose the tube bundle between them. Each water box is secured to each mounting by means of at least one self-tapping screw which passes through an aperture formed in a lateral portion of the mounting and which engages in a bore formed in the wall of the water box.

Heat exchangers of the above type are already known which comprise a bundle of tubes which are mounted between two water boxes or manifolds, each of which is delimited by a wall of moulded plastics material having two opposed lateral faces on which two mountings are fitted. Each of these mountings has a U-shaped transverse cross section, and joins the two water boxes together while the two mountings enclose the tube bundle between them. Each mounting comprises a body portion or web from which two side portions extend.
The two mountings which join the water boxes together thus give the heat exchanger a high mechanical strength, which enables the heat exchanger to be made large so as to be suitable for mounting on a motor vehicle, and in particular a heavy goods vehicle. This is important because in such circumstances it is subjected in operation to high mechanical stresses, due in particular to engine vibrations and to variations in thermal expansion of the tubes in the bundle.
It is known, from the specification of European patent No. 115 795, to build such a heat exchanger in which each of the mountings is secured on each of the water boxes by means of at least one dowel or pin which passes right through the water box and through two apertures which are formed in the two opposed lateral portions of the mounting. Fitting of such dowels is complex and costly in practice.
It is also known from European patent No. 112 251 to construct a heat exchanger of similar type, in which the water boxes are made of cast metal, and in which the appropriate portions of a mounting are secured on a lateral face of a water box by means of at least one bolt which passes through an aperture formed in that portion of the mounting, being screwed into a threaded hole, which is provided for this purpose within the thickness of the water box wall. Here again, however, the fastening operation is time-consuming and expensive to carry out, because it requires two successive machining operations on each water box so as initially to form in it a plurality of holes or apertures, and this has to be followed by threading operations.

Motor vehicle heat exchanger having two interconnected water boxes


A video conference endpoint includes a camera to capture video and a microphone array to sense audio. One or more preset views are defined. Images in the captured video are processed with a face detection algorithm to detect faces. Active talkers are detected from the sensed audio. The camera is controlled to capture video from the preset views, and from dynamic views created without user input and which include a dynamic overview and a dynamic close-up view. The camera is controlled to dynamically adjust each of the dynamic views to track changing positions of detected faces over time, and dynamically switch the camera between the preset views, the dynamic overview, and the dynamic close-up view over time based on positions of the detected faces and the detected active talkers relative to the preset views and the dynamic views.

A video conference system includes an endpoint that captures video of participants in a room during a conference, for example, and then transmits the video to a conference server or to a "far-end" endpoint. During the conference, the participants may wish to show specific objects of interest to participants at the far-end, such as when one of the participants moves to a whiteboard to explain and/or draw illustrations on the whiteboard. A camera in the endpoint may frame the entire room, thus rendering the object of interest, e.g. the whiteboard, too small to be read. Alternatively, the camera may point away from the object of interest and, therefore, fail to capture it. As a result, the participants may be forced to manually control pan, tilt, and/or zoom settings of the camera so that the camera points to and captures the object of interest in sufficient viewable detail; however, such manipulation of the camera is time consuming, cumbersome, and intrusive to the participants.

Automatic switching between dynamic and preset camera views in a video conference endpoint


Laminated composite structures for use in making fluid filters are disclosed. Such structures comprise (a) a densified high loft layer of powder bonded nonwoven fabric, rebulkable by heating, laminated to (b) a filter media or element that supplies stiffness to the laminate. Also disclosed are methods of making fluid filters, e.g., ones used to filter inlet air for internal combustion engines, from such laminates, and fluid filters containing such laminates in which the nonwoven layer has been rebulked by heating.

Composite fluid filters made up of two or more layers of filtering media are known in the art. Included among such filters are ones having at least one layer of a conventionally-prepared nonwoven fabric whose fiber content, at least in part, is made up of synthetic polymer fibers such as nylon (polyamide), polyester (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate), viscose rayon, cellulose acetate, polyolefin, acrylic or alkyl acrylate copolymer fibers. The fibers in these conventional nonwoven fabrics can be bonded together by heat, pressure or a combination of the two to fuse individual fibers together at their crossover points, or by applying to a fibrous mat or web a liquid adhesive substance, e.g., a natural or synthetic polymer latex such as one containing natural rubber, an acrylonitrile-butadiene or acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene adhesive latex or emulsion, or the like. Mechanical means, e.g., needle punching, can also be used to bond such conventional nonwoven fabrics.
Composite filters in which conventional nonwoven fabrics are adhesively or mechanically bonded to each other or to other filter media are also known. Japanese Kokai No. 55-99315, published Jul. 29, 1980, for instance, discloses nonwoven air filters constructed from at least two layers of such nonwoven fabrics of coarse structure and having:
". . . an embossed pattern wherein a coarse structure and a dense structure are intermittently unitized."
This Kokai also speaks of filters with improved shape retaining properties as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publications Nos. 4316274 and 43-28530, such filters having partially heat fused surfaces, with these fused portions being converted into films having a deeply embossed structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,625, issued Sept. 10, 1985 to Sherwood, discloses flexible, air-permeable, highly absorbent fiber-particle composites useful as air filters in which a nonwoven substrate or nonwoven fibers are combined with in-situ formed organic polymer fibers and solid sorptive particles; see, e.g., column 2, lines 16-49.
Composite air filters made up of a pleated paper filtering medium and a non-woven filter batt are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,231, issued Jan. 13, 1987 to Thornton et al.; see, e.g., column 1, lines 24-47. Batts "made from fibers which are not thermoplastic but which [are] impregnated with a thermoset binder" are specifically disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,479, issued May 19, 1987 to Shoji, discloses air filters for semiconductor wafer containers which can be composites of one or more "filter films" (e.g., one produced from foamed urethane material) and a nonwoven sheet; see, e.g., from column 2, line 58 to column 3, line 16.
Dust filters made by depositing glass fibers by "papermaking methods" on a nonwoven thermoplastic fiber support are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,349, issued Mar. 1, 1988 to Oshitari; see, e.g., from column 1, line 63 to column 2, line 2. The use of "an adhesive binder" is disclosed at column 4, lines 5-13.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,812, issued Aug. 23, 1988 to Homonoff et al., discloses air laid fibrous filter media containing mixtures of small diameter and coarser fibers together with a binder material which can be a thermoplastic or thermosetting resin; see, e.g., column 2, lines 3-13 and from column 2, lines 62 to column 3, line 14.


A hand held portable labeler includes a housing enclosing a movable print head, and the housing has a pivotal cover section which covers the print head. A molded plastic frame is pivotally supported by the cover section and has spaced U-shaped bearing surfaces for receiving the end journals of an ink roller positioned to apply ink to the selected printing characters of the print head. The journals are confined in the bearing surfaces by spaced arms of a molded plastic retainer pivotally supported by the frame and releasably secured by a finger depressable positive latch so that the ink roller may be quickly and conveniently replaced without contacting the ink applying surface of the roller.

In a hand held portable label printing apparatus or labeler, for example, of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,100,852 and 4,116,747 which issued to the assignee of the present invention, a series of pressure sensitive labels are carried by a web and are successively advanced over a platen where each label is printed with predetermined information by a set of selectable endless printing bands forming part of a movable print head. After each label is printed, the carrier web is advanced around a delaminator where the printed label is peeled from the carrier web for application to an article by means of an applicating back-up roller. The movement of the print head and the alternating advancement of the carrier web are produced by an indexing mechanism which is preferably actuated by a trigger forming part of the handle portion of the labeler.
In a labeler of the type generally described above, it is common to use an ink applying roller which is supported for movement across the selected printing characters in response to movement of the print head. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 13 of above mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,852, the ink roller has projecting end journals which snap-fit into corresponding bearing recesses formed within the side walls of a molded plastic holder. The holder is pivotally supported for movement within an aperture formed in the side wall of the labeler housing. To replace the ink roller, the end hub portions or journals of the used roller are pulled out of the snap-fitting bearing recesses, and the journals of a new or fresh roller are snapped into the bearing recesses.
Another ink roller support assembly is disclosed in connection with FIGS. 35 and 67 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,852. In this embodiment, the ink roller is supported by a holder which is pivotally supported between the side walls of the labeler housing, and the holder includes spaced arms having slots which receive the end journals of the ink roller. To replace the ink roller, the slotted arms are sprung apart to remove one of the journals from its supporting slot.
Referring to the hand-held labeler disclosed in above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,747, the holder for the ink roller is shown in FIGS. 1, 10 and 11 and is pivotally supported by a pivotal cover section of the labeler housing. The ink roller holder has deformable or pivotal side walls (FIG. 10) which are pinched or squeezed together to release the hub portions or journals of the ink roller from corresponding holes formed within the side arm extensions of the holder. A new ink roller is inserted by gripping the cylindrical inking surface and snap-fitting the end journals into the bearing holes.
Since it is periodically necessary to replace the ink roller in a hand-held labeler after a predetermined number of labels have been printed, it is highly desirable to provide not only for a positive retention of the ink roller but also for conveniently removing a used roller and inserting a new or fresh ink roller without touching the porous inking surface of the roller. In the replacement of the ink rollers disclosed in the above-mentioned patents, it is not uncommon for the operator's fingers to contact the inking surface inadvertently, thus resulting in an ink stain or smudge on the operator's fingers or hand.


An incoming string is received and an initial segmentation is generated based upon separators in the incoming string. The segment values in the initial segmentation are validated by determining whether they are found in a data store. Where a segment in the initial segmentation is not found, subsequent segments, and corresponding separators, are iteratively concatenated to find segment values. Where a segment is still not found, after iterative concatenation, the initial segment in the concatenation is output as an unfound segment and the subsequent segments are processed further.

Computer systems are currently in wide use. Some such computer systems enable a user to provide data entry in the form of a string of characters. Some data that is entered can be segmented data, meaning that the data contains multiple different segments that are provided according to a structured format. One example format is a set of discrete values, each of which is a string.
For instance, some computer systems include business systems. Business systems can include customer relations management (CRM) systems, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, line-of-business (LOB) systems, among others. These systems often have business data records which correspond to items in the business system. For instance, a record may correspond to a customer account, a vendor account, a product, or a wide variety of other things.
Each of the items may be represented by a number. For instance, a customer account may be identified by an account number. A vendor account may be identified by a vendor account number. A product may be identified by a product number, etc.
The numbers are often segmented to indicate different variations. For instance, a customer account number may have a main account segment that identifies the customer in general. It may also have a division account segment that identifies a particular division of the customer, a business unit account segment that identifies a particular business unit, a project segment that identifies a particular project, etc. The same can be true of other segmented information that can be entered. This type of information is referred to as segmented data.
When a business system receives an incoming string that is expected to be in a segmented data format, it often parses the incoming string to identify the individual segments, and segment values. One way of doing this is to separate the string based upon recognized separators that are included in the string and to treat groups of characters between separators as a discrete segment value. One example of a separator is a hyphen. However, this is only one example and computer system often identify a wide variety of different types of characters as separators.
Some computer systems also allow segment values to include a separator character. For instance, where a computer system recognizes a hyphen as a separator, the computer system may also allow a user to include the hyphen within a segment, as part of the segment value.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Segmenting data with included separators


An alternating current (AC) plasma display panel is provided that emits little electromagnetic waves and which has no brightness irregularity. In this panel, pairs of scan electrodes and sustain electrodes are provided in rows, and data electrodes arranged orthogonally to the pairs of scan electrodes and sustain electrodes constitute a matrix. A conductor is disposed in each row in parallel with the scan electrodes and the sustain electrodes. The scan electrodes are coupled with a scan electrode driving circuit on the left side of the panel. The conductors are electrically coupled with the sustain electrodes on the right side of the panel and are connected with a sustain electrode driving circuit on the left side of the panel. When a sustain pulse voltage is applied, a current runs through the conductors in a direction reverse to a direction of the sustaining discharge current running through the scan electrodes and the sustain electrodes.

FIG. 10 shows a conventional panel and its driving apparatus. On panel 1, a sustaining discharge generated between pairs of scan electrodes and sustain electrodes causes a phosphor to emit light for display. 2M rows of pairs of scan electrodes SCNj and sustain electrodes SUSj(j=1 to 2M) and N rows of data electrodes Di (i=1 to N), which are arranged orthogonally to the scan electrodes and sustain electrodes, constitute a matrix with 2M rows and N columns. Discharge cells are formed at intersections between the data electrode Di and the pairs of scan electrodes SCNj and sustain electrodes SUSj. Over panel 1, pairs of scan electrodes SCNj and sustain electrodes SUSj extend out reversely to each other. The scan electrodes in any adjacent rows extend out reversely to each other over the panel. The sustain electrodes in any adjacent rows extend out reversely to each other over the panel.
In other words, scan electrodes SCN1, SCN3, . . . SCN2m−1 in odd-numbered rows extend out to the left side of panel 1 and are connected to a scan electrode driving circuit 2a which drives these scan electrodes. Sustain electrodes SUS1, SUS3, . . . SUS2M−1 in odd-numbered rows extend out to the right side of panel 1 and are connected to a sustain electrode driving circuit 3a which drives these sustain electrodes. Scan electrodes SCN2, SCN4, . . . SCN2M in even-numbered rows extend out to the right side of panel 1 and are connected to scan electrode driving circuit 2b which drives these scan electrodes. Sustain electrodes SUS2, SUS4, . . . SUS2M in even-numbered rows extend out to the left side of panel 1 and are connected to sustain electrode driving circuit 3b which drives these sustain electrodes. Data electrodes D1, . . . DN extend out to the upside of panel 1 and are connected to a data electrode driving circuit 4 for driving the data electrodes.
When a sustain pulse voltage for causing the sustaining discharge is applied on the sustain electrodes or scan electrodes on panel 1, pulse currents having extremely short time-width that do not contribute to light emission run through respective rows, and therefore electromagnetic waves occur in the respective rows. Because the currents in any of the adjacent rows run reversely to each other, the electromagnetic waves have reverse polarities and therefore cancel each other.
However, when an operation of scan electrode driving circuit 2a is out of accord with that of scan electrode driving circuit 2b, an operation of sustain electrode driving circuit 3a is thereby out of accord with sustain electrode driving circuit 3b. And if the applying time of the sustain pulse voltages in any of the adjacent rows is even slightly out of accord with each other, then the time of generating pulse currents is out of accord with each other, and therefore the electromagnetic waves do not cancel each other. As a result, the electromagnetic waves are radiated out of the panel, which therefore causes the other electronic apparatus to malfunction.
For preventing the electromagnetic wave from being radiated out of the panel, it is considered that all scan electrodes SCN1–SCN2m and sustain electrodes SUS1–SUS2M extend out in the same direction, such as on the left side of the panel, for example, and are connected to the scan electrode driving circuit and the sustain electrode driving circuit, respectively. In this case, currents which are the same in amplitude run reversely through the scan electrode and the sustain electrode in each row, and thus the electromagnetic waves generated by reversely running currents therefore cancel each other. As a result, the electromagnetic waves are not radiated out of the panel.
In this case, however, the sum of the path length through which the current runs from the scan electrode driving circuit to a discharge cell and the path length through which the current runs from the discharge cell to the sustain electrode driving circuit varies depending on a position of the discharge cell in the panel. In other words, the current running path length to the discharge cell on the right side of the panel is smaller than that on the left side of the panel. Therefore, due to a voltage drop caused by the resistance of the electrodes, a voltage that is applied between the scan electrode and the sustain electrode for each discharge cell varies depending on the position of the discharge cells. Since strength of the discharge varies for each cell, brightness irregularity occurs.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A sealing plug including an elastic body and a stem coaxially assembled to one another. The elastic body has a main body which is suitable for being expanded radially when pulling on the free end of the stem which emerges out of said elastic body. The elastic body also has a head attached to the main body, the head having a compressive strength less than that in the main body.

Sealing plugs for closing holes in walls and the like, of the type including an elastic body and a stem such that the elastic body expands radially by pulling on the stem, are known. Such plugs are widely used for sealing holes that are provided for example in a concrete wall due to the manufacturing process. As is well known, concrete walls are manufactured allowing a gap between formwork panels which are arranged facing one another. Said panels are secured to one another by transverse bolts having threaded ends projecting out of the panels to be able to screw the corresponding nuts. Once the panels are secured, the concrete is poured into the gap which is arranged sandwiched between the formwork panels. To prevent the concrete from adhering to the transverse bolts once set, these bolts are usually first covered or placed inside a tube (normally made of plastic) which is sometimes removed when stripping formwork and other times not. Once the concrete has set, the formwork panels are dismantled and the transverse bolts are disassembled. Therefore, once said transverse bolts are disassembled, they create through holes in the concrete wall which must be closed and sealed to prevent water leaks.

Sealing plug for closing holes in walls and the like


A control system for a transmission includes first and second engagement devices and a controller. The first engagement device brings first dog teeth of a first member into engagement with second dog teeth of a second member to enable torque transmission therebetween. The second engagement device connects a third member and a fourth member while changing a torque transmitting capacity therebetween. The transmission establishes a predetermined gear stage by bringing into engagement the first engagement device and the second engagement device. The controller is configured to bring the first engagement device into engagement while reducing a torque transmitting capacity of the second engagement device and then to increase the torque transmitting capacity of the second engagement device, when shifting a gear stage from another gear stage established by bringing the first engagement device into disengagement while bringing the second engagement device into engagement to said predetermined gear stage.

Field of the Invention
The present application relates to the art of a control system for a transmission adapted to establish a predetermined gear stage by bringing into engagement a first engagement device for transmitting torque and a second transmission whose torque transmitting capacity is variable.
Discussion of the Related Art
JP-A-2013-151997 describes a transmission having three frictional clutches and three dog clutches. A gear stage of the transmission taught by JP-A-2013-151997 can be shifted among first to eighth forward stages and a reverse stage by selectively bringing into engagement three clutches. However, the dog clutch has to be brought into engagement while synchronizing rotational speeds between an input member and an output member, and this may slow the response of shifting operation of the gear stage. According to the teachings of JP-A-2013-151997, therefore, a common dog clutch is brought into engagement to establish gear stages next to each other to reduce opportunities of speed synchronization.
JP-A-2014-105845 describes a claw clutch in which engagement teeth of rotary members are brought into engagement by pushing one of the rotary members. According to the teachings of JP-A-2014-105845, those engagement teeth of rotary members may be engaged with each other even if the rotational speeds of the rotary members are not in complete synchronization. To this end, in the claw clutch, each engagement tooth has a chamfered leading end.
In the transmission taught by JP-A-2013-151997, response of the shifting operation of the gear stage may be improved by applying the chamfered leading end of the engaging tooth taught by JP-A-2014-105845. In this case, however, friction between the teeth being engaged to each other will be increased during engagement if rotational speeds of the rotary members are not in synchronization. In addition, torque transmitting capacity of the dog clutch cannot be changed gradually, and hence rotational speed of one of the rotary members would be changed abruptly to cause an engagement shock when bringing into engagement the teeth of the rotary members rotating at different speeds.


The invention concerns a device for fixing additional lenses on spectacles, comprising a flexible bridge (10) consisting of a single piece with lateral branches (12) comprising means for fixing a flexible wire for mounting additional lenses on said branches (12). The invention is in particular useful for fixing additional filtering or correcting lenses on spectacles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for fixing supplementary lenses to eyeglasses.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such devices are mostly used to mount filter lenses (which provide protection against solar radiation) to eyeglasses with prescription lenses and are generally of a standard type that does not correspond to the frame of the eyeglasses. They are also fitted with lenses that do not have the same shape as the prescription lenses of the eyeglasses, which makes the combination of the device with filter lenses and the eyeglasses with prescription lenses rather heavy, bulky and unattractive. Also, these prior art devices include means for attaching them to the eyeglasses whose fit to the frame of the eyeglasses is somewhat hit and miss.
There has already been proposed, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,920,370, a device of the above type that is formed of a flexible material bridge and two flexible material supports fixed to the bridge by screws. Nylon filaments for mounting lenses on the supports are fixed or attached to the supports. Hooks for fixing the device to the eyeglasses are mounted on the supports by means of screws. This device provides a better match to the shape of the frame of the eyeglasses, thanks to the flexibility of the bridge and the supports, but because the hooks and the supports are fixed by means of screws, it is relatively complex, time-consuming and costly to fabricate and assemble.
One particular object of the invention is to simplify the fabrication and assembly of a device of the above kind and thereby reduce its cost.
Another object of the invention is to render this type of device adaptable to any type of eyeglasses.
It provides a device for fixing supplementary lenses to eyeglasses, including a bridge connected to branches including means for fixing a flexible filament for mounting supplementary lenses on said branches, and attachment means for attaching the device to the eyeglasses, characterized in that the bridge and the branches are made in one piece from a flexible material.
This feature of the invention greatly simplifies the structure of the device for fixing supplementary lenses to eyeglasses, simplifies its fabrication and assembly, increases it reliability, and greatly reduces its unit cost.
Moreover, the flexibility of the bridge and the branches enables a good match to be obtained to the shape of the lenses and to the shape of the frame of the eyeglasses.
Advantageously, the bridge and the flexible branches are molded in one piece from a plastics material or diecast in one piece from a metal.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the attachment means are formed in one piece with said flexible branches
Accordingly, a single molding operation produces a device comprising a bridge, lens support branches, and attachment means, such as flexible hooks, for fixing the device to eyeglasses.
According to another characteristic of the invention, at least some of the attachment means are mounted on the flexible filament for fixing the supplementary lens to said flexible branch.
Advantageously, the position of the elastic attachment means can be adjusted by sliding it along the flexible filament.
This means that the device according to the invention can be matched to any shape of eyeglasses frame.
Generally speaking, the device according to the invention is extremely simple because it can be made in one piece, is light in weight, unobtrusive and compact, and can be matched to all types of eyeglasses frames and lenses.

Apparatus for attaching supplementary lenses to eyeglasses


The present teachings provide a device and method of making and using thereof. Specifically, one aspect of the present teachings provides a device comprising a shunt having a distal end and a proximal end and the shunt positionable across the septum of a heart. Certain embodiments of the present teachings also include a distal anchoring portion connecting to the distal end of the shunt portion and a proximal anchoring portion connecting to the proximal end of the shunt portion. Another aspect of the present teachings provide methods of using thereof to modify the pressure difference in a heart chamber.

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a condition that affects millions of people worldwide. CHF results from a weakening or stiffening of the heart muscle that commonly is caused by myocardial ischemia (due to, e.g., myocardial infarction) or cardiomyopathy (e.g., myocarditis, amyloidosis). CHF causes a reduced cardiac output and inadequate blood to meet the needs of body tissues.
Treatments for CHF include: (1) pharmacological treatments, (2) assisting systems, and (3) surgical treatments. Pharmacological treatments, e.g., with diuretics, are used to reduce the workload of a heart by reducing blood volume and preload. While pharmacological treatments can improve quality of life, they have little effect on survival. Assisting devices, e.g., mechanical pumps, are used to reduce the load on a heart by performing all or part of the pumping function normally done by the heart. However, in a chronic ischemic heart, high-rate pacing may lead to an increased diastolic pressure, calcium overload, and damages to the muscle fibers. There are at least three surgical procedures for treating a heart failure: (1) heart transplant, (2) dynamic cardiomyoplasty, and (3) the Batista partial left ventriculectomy. These surgical treatments are invasive and have many limitations.
CHF is generally classified into systolic heart failures (SHF) or diastolic heart failures (DHF). In a SHF, the pumping action of a heart is reduced or weakened. A normal ejection fraction (EF), the volume of blood ejected out of the left ventricle (stroke volume) divided by the maximum volume remaining in the left ventricle at the end of the diastole or relaxation phase, is greater than 50%. In a systolic heart failure, EF is decreased to less than 50%. A patient with SHF may have an enlarged left ventricle because of cardiac remodeling developed to maintain an adequate stroke-volume. This pathophysiological phenomenon is often associated with an increased atrial pressure and an increased left ventricular filling pressure.
DHF is a heart failure without any major valve disease every though the systolic function of the left ventricle is preserved. Generally, DHF is a failure of the ventricle to adequately relax and expand, resulting in a decrease in the stroke volume of the heart. Presently, there are very few treatment options for patients suffering from DHF. DHF afflicts between 30% and 70% of patients with CHF.
There are several known techniques that can be used to treat the symptoms of DHF. Without attempting to characterize the following references, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,091,556 by Keren et al. discloses the use of an interatrial pressure relief shunt with a valve and a tissue affixation element at each end of the shunt; and United States Patent Application Publication No. 20050165344 by Dobak discloses a pressure relief system with an interatrial septal conduit with an emboli barrier or trap mechanism to prevent cryptogenic stroke due to thrombi or emboli crossing the conduit into the left sided circulation. Dobak also discloses a conduit with a one-way valve which directs blood flow from the left atrium to the right atrium.
The constantly evolving nature of heart failures represents a significant challenge for the treatment. Therefore, there is a need for novel and adaptable methods and devices for treating DHF, for example, by creating a pressure relief shunt which can be retrieved, repositioned, adjusted, expanded, contracted, occluded, sealed and/or otherwise altered as required to treat a patient. Furthermore, there exists a need for treating DHF with devices and methods that can self-adjust over time either in accordance with or in anticipation of the gradual hemodynamic changes associated with a heart failure.

Devices and methods for treating heart failure