A method for producing cutting tools incorporated in the present invention is carried out as follows: a shank portion and a drill portion are formed separately such that the inner diameter of a hole made in the shank portion is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the drill portion. The rear of the drill portion is forcibly inserted into the hole of the shank portion at normal temperature which is room temperature. The diameter of the inner wall of the hole is thereby enlarged, resulting in a tight fitting. After the insertion of the drill portion in the shank portion, the drill portion may be ground to form a drill edge. Before the insertion of the drill portion in the shank portion, the shank portion may be quenched under vacuum or the like, or the surface of the shank portion may be hardened by nitriding.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to composite-type cutting tools, whose drill portion and shank portion are made of different materials, and a method for producing such tools, for example, miniature drills used for making small-diameter holes in a printed circuit board.
This application claims priority of Japanese Patent Application Nos. 9-19485, 9-161393, and 9-208101 which are hereby incorporated by reference.
2. Discussion of the Background
Generally, miniature drills are used for making holes having extremely small-diameters. Thus, miniature drills have: a cylindrical drill portion having a diameter of approximately 0.1 to 3.175 mm at the tip end of the drill body; and a larger-diameter shank portion at the rear end, which is used for holding the drill body in the axis of rotation of the machine tools. In general, the drill portion is formed from a cemented carbide.
Thus, to produce a solid-type miniature drill, the drill portion and the shank portion are integrally formed, for example, by grinding a cylindrical cemented carbide. Since such a cemented carbide is expensive and a large amount of the cemented carbide is ground for forming the drill portion, the cost inevitably increases.
Meanwhile, composite drills have been suggested which are produced as follows: a small-diameter drill portion is formed from a substantially cylindrical cemented carbide; a large-diameter shank portion is made from a low-cost material, such as steel or SUS, different from the material used for the drill portion; and the rear of the drill portion is allowed to fit into a hole made in the tip end of the shank portion.
FIGS. 12(A) to 12(E) show a method for producing such a conventional composite drill.
A shank portion 1 shown in FIG. 12(A) has a tapered portion 1a at the tip end and a hole 1b made in the end face of the tapered portion 1a.
According to shrinkage fitting, a substantially cylindrical drill portion 2 is pressed into the hole 1b while enlarging the diameter of the hole 1b by high-frequency heating (see FIG. 12(B)). Since the outer diameter of the drill portion 2 is set to be slightly larger than the inner diameter of the hole 1b, the inner wall of the hole 1b is shaved to produce chips by the insertion. The chips are pushed into the bottom of the hole 1b by the drill portion 2. The diameter of the hole 1b is then shrunk by cooling to achieve a tight fit.
The drill portion 2 can also be fitted to the hole 1b by brazing as follows: the drill portion 2 is pressed into the hole 1b having an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the drill portion 2, and then, brazed.
Both sides of a joint 3, shown in FIG. 12(C), formed between the tapered portion 1a of the shank portion 1 and the drill portion 2 are finely ground to form a tapered face 3a having a smooth linear taper from the shank portion 1 to the drill 2 (see FIG. 12(D)), and the tip end of the drill portion 2 in succession to the tapered face 3a is ground to form a drill edge 2a (see FIGS. 12(D) and 12(E)).
However, since such methods for producing composite drills need a large number of steps, the process becomes complicated and laborious, disadvantageously increasing the cost. Furthermore, before pressing the drill portion 2 into the shank portion 1, the shank portion 1 is annealed by high frequency heating in the case of shrinkage fitting and by a flux in the case of brazing. Thus, the hardness of the shank portion 1 decreases so that the fastening strength due to the fitting to the drill portion 2 is disadvantageously reduced.
Furthermore, the drill portion 2 heated by high frequency heating is undesirably deformed when it is pressed into the hole 1b. The fastening strength due to fitting is also lowered by shaving the inner wall of the hole 1b. Furthermore, since the length of the drill portion 2 exposed outside the shank portion 1 varies with the amount of the shaved chips, it is necessary to adjust the length of the shank portion 1 to achieve a constant total length of the miniature drills.
Moreover, disadvantageously, the inner wall of the hole 1b is readily corroded by the flux at the time of brazing.
In addition, since the shank portion 1 and the drill portion 2 are made of different materials, it is difficult to simultaneously grind both of them into the linearly tapered face 3a over both sides of the joint 3 between the shank portion 1 and the drill portion 2.

Cutting tool and method for producing the same


A process has been developed for producing diesel boiling range fuel from renewable feedstocks such as plant oils and animal oils, fats, and greases. The process involves treating a renewable feedstock by hydrogenating and deoxygenating i.e. decarboxylating, decarbonylating, and/or hydrodeoxygenating to provide a hydrocarbon fraction useful as a diesel boiling range fuel or diesel boiling range fuel blending component. If desired, the hydrocarbon fraction can be isomerized to improve cold flow properties. A portion of the hydrogenated and deoxygenated feedstock is selectively separated and then recycled to the treatment zone to increase the hydrogen solubility of the reaction mixture.

As the demand for diesel boiling range fuel increases worldwide there is increasing interest in sources other than petroleum crude oil for producing diesel fuel and diesel fuel blending components. One such renewable source is what has been termed biorenewable sources. These renewable sources include, but are not limited to, plant oils such as corn, rapeseed, canola, soybean and algal oils, animal fats such as inedible tallow, fish oils and various waste streams such as yellow and brown greases and sewage sludge. The common feature of these sources is that they are composed of glycerides and Free Fatty Acids (FFA). Both of these classes of compounds contain n-aliphatic carbon chains having from about 8 to about 24 carbon atoms. The aliphatic carbon chains in the glycerides or FFAs can be fully saturated or mono, di- or poly-unsaturated.
There are reports in the art disclosing the production of hydrocarbons from oils. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,009 discloses the use of crystalline aluminosilicate zeolites to convert plant oils such as corn oil to hydrocarbons such as gasoline and chemicals such as paraxylene.  U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,605 discloses the production of hydrocarbon products in the diesel boiling range by hydroprocessing vegetable oils such as canola or sunflower oil. Finally, US 2004/0230085 A1 discloses a process for treating a hydrocarbon component of biological origin by hydrodeoxygenation followed by isomerization.
Applicants have developed a process which comprises one or more steps to hydrogenate, deoxygenate and isomerize the renewable feedstock. The performance of the isomerization catalyst is improved by removing at least carbon dioxide from the feed to the isomerization zone. The presence of carbon dioxide or other carbon oxides may result in the deactivation of the isomerization catalyst. The carbon dioxide is removed using a selective hot high pressure hydrogen stripper.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Production of diesel fuel from biorenewable feedstocks


An apparatus and method for protecting an interior of a hollow body, where an inlet and exhaust manifold include a port assembly attachable to an opening of the hollow body is provided. The interior of the hollow body is exposed to sequential self-saturating surface reactions by sequential inlet of reactive gases via the port assembly and the opening into the interior of the hollow body, and excess gases is pumped via the opening and the port assembly out from the hollow body.

This section illustrates useful background information without admission of any technique described herein representative of the state of the art.
Atomic Layer Epitaxy (ALE) method was invented by Dr. Tuomo Suntola in the early 1970's. Another generic name for the method is Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and it is nowadays used instead of ALE. ALD is a special chemical deposition method based on the sequential introduction of at least two reactive precursor species to at least one substrate.
Thin films grown by ALD are dense, pinhole free and have uniform thickness. For example, in an experiment aluminum oxide has been grown by thermal ALD from trimethylaluminum (CH3)3Al, also referred to as TMA, and water resulting in only about 1% non-uniformity over a substrate wafer.
One interesting application of ALD technique is providing protective coatings on surfaces.

Protecting an interior of a hollow body with an ALD coating


A gas feed assembly (30) comprises a compressor arrangement (32) comprising first and second compressor (34, 36). The gas feed assembly includes an outlet (42) for gas for the first and second compressors (34, 36). The gas feed assembly includes a first inlet (38) for the first compressor (34) and a second inlet (40) for the second compressor (36). The gas feed assembly further includes a valve assembly (52, 64) for allowing gas to enter either, or both, of the first and second compressors from at least one gas source.

In order to maintain the comfort of passengers and the cabin crew on an aircraft, it is necessary to ensure that the cabin is pressurised. The air used to pressurise the cabin is generally taken from the engine. However, since the operation of the engine is not constant, and flow rates and pressures can vary depending upon the engine's speed, there can be problems associated with ensuring that the correct flow rate of air to the cabin is delivered.


The present invention pertains to a device for measuring the urine flow (Uroflow) of a patient, consisting of a measuring head provided with a funnel and an outflow port, and of an electronic evaluating unit.. In a prior-art measuring device of this class, the measuring head is mounted oscillatingly in a housing. This has disadvantages in terms of the mechanical design of the measuring device and the accuracy of measurement.. To simplify the mechanical design and to increase the accuracy of measurement, the measuring head 1 is provided, according to the present invention, with a slotted pitot tube 4 forming the outflow port 30 and with a pressure sensor 18 measuring the dynamic pressure, and the electronic evaluating unit 9 calculates the flow values from the flow-proportional dynamic pressure measured.

Prior-art measuring devices of this type measure as the physical parameter either the volume of the urine or the urine flow. This is performed according to a rotation-dynamic, gravimetric, or capacitive method, or, especially in the case of volume measurement, on the basis of the pressure of the liquid in a collecting beaker.
A measuring device of this class has been known from West German Patent Specification No. 30,07,855. Here, the measuring head is formed by a U-shaped measuring tube arranged essentially horizontally with a slight slope, through which the patient's urine flows and which is mounted inside a housing in a freely oscillating manner, with the funnel opening into the inlet port of the measuring head and the outflow port of the measuring head being arranged outside the housing. The patient's urine flows through the U-shaped measuring tube, which contains only a portion of the total amount of urine from a complete micturition, so that the measuring tube may be very small. However, the necessity to mount the U-shaped measuring tube in a freely oscillating manner inside the housing is disadvantageous.
A Uroflow measuring device of this class must also be able to be installed in the bathroom in the urological office, so that the urine can flow off directly. This permits only the use of a device which does not collect the urine. However, much greater importance is attached to accurate volume measurement in clinical urodynamic investigations. The urine is collected in a beaker at the measuring device. Furthermore, accurate representation of the flow curve as a function of time is very important for diagnosis. This is possible only when the flow is measured directly. When double differentiation is required for volume-based measurement to represent the increase in flow, the calculated result will be too inaccurate because of the effect of disturbances e.g., vibrations and wave movements of the liquid collected. Emptying of the collected liquid is too expensive in urological practice because of the great number of uroflow tests performed as a preliminary examination.
Volume calculation in flow-measuring devices is subject to great errors due to integration over time, precisely in the minimal flow range. Volume measurement is superior to flow measurement in this respect.

Device for measuring the urine flow (Uroflow) of patient


A method for preparing flame-resisting modacrylic fibers containing pentaent antimony oxide is described wherein the antimony oxide is suspended in a mixture of water and an organic solvent selected from dimethylformamide and dimethylacetamide and the suspension is then mixed with the viscose solution of the modacrylic polymeric material to be spun. The process yield high luster, flame-resisting modacrylic fibre of the "L.O.I. uprated" type.

This invention relates to a method of preparing modacrylic fibers, that is fibers which are composed of polymers containing 50 to 85% by weight of acrylonitrile units in their molecule, exhibiting a high lustre, high stability towards thermal treatments, and high resistance to flame.
Known are several methods for preparing fibers with essentially the above features, in particular the processes described in copending Italian Patent Applications Nos. 28980 A/76 and 27997 A/77 by this same Applicant. Such processes comprise the steps of admixing in suitable ratios a binary copolymer resulting from the copolymerization of acrylonitrile (ACN) and vinylidene chloride (VDC) with a polymer obtained from copolymerization of acrylonitrile and a suitable sulphonic derivative, perferably a derivative of the alkyl-acrylamidoalkane-sulphonic series. With these methods, a fiber is obtained which is characterized by a limiting oxygen index (L.O.I.) equal to at least 26% or more of oxygen.
This invention is preferably applied in conjunction with a method, such as the one described in the cited copending Applications; however, the invention is not restricted to that application, as it may also be applied, as a rule, to different processes and the resulting different modacrylic ploymers.
It is known that the flame resistance of a halogenated modacrylic fiber can be improved through the addition of antimony oxides. However, the addition of a trivalent antimony oxide to the fiber in the amounts required to achieve flame-resisting properties produces a highly opaque or matt fiber.
To solve the problem of the obtainment of a flameproof modacrylic fiber, of the so-called "L.O.I. uprated" type, but having unaltered lustre characteristics, several solutions have been proposed in the art. For example, it has been proposed that organic derivatives of antimony be prepared which are soluble in commonly used spinning solvents, but this approach involves difficulties of preparation and high costs. Also proposed has been the utilization of pentavalent antimony oxides (Sb.sub.2 O.sub.5) in particle sizes smaller than 100 millimicrons, i.e. smaller than the wavelength of light, therefore they cannot function as diffraction nuclei and consequently do not modify the lustre characteristics of the resulting fiber.
Moreover, the addition of antimony pentoxide to the spinning solution or "dope" poses considerable technical difficulties. In practice, the only known way of using it is that of suspending it in water or a specially provided organic carrier and adding the resulting suspensions to the spinning dope. However, this approach introduces considerable problems, such as coagulation phenomena, solution instability, etc.

Process for manufacturing modacrylic fibers having high luster, thermal stability and flame resistance

Snia Viscosa Societa' Nazionale Industria Applicazioni Viscosa S.p.A.


An apparatus and a method for ornamenting hair. A portion of hair is selected to be decorated. A portion of the length of each of a plurality of floss threads is then braided into the selected portion of hair, thereby forming a base cord. An adhesive is applied to the outside surface of the base cord. Then the balance of each floss thread is tied and wrapped about the base cord and adhesive. One thread at a time is wrapped and tied, for a number of loops, with the other threads being included inside the wrapping and loops for that number of loops. This tying and wrapping is continued until a desired length, changing which thread is being looped and tied after every predetermined number of loops. Optionally, beads and/or rondles, or other decorations, may be applied to the base cord and threads among the loops. Once the floss threads are looped and tied to the desired length, all of the ends of the floss threads are tied into a single knot. Any threads then extending beyond the single knot are then cut off. A lobster claw assembly is then clamped onto the knot, and a decorative extension is removably attached to the lobster claw.

This invention relates to methods and devices for decorating hair by tying and wrapping, and in particular to methods and devices for making the decorations easily changeable, replaceable and removable.
Hair wrapping per se may be considered an old art. Historically, tribes used hair wraps for ceremonial purposes. Today, hair wraps may be used to make individual fashion statements. Traditionally, however, professional persons and persons who wanted flexibility in their hair fashions were not able to take full advantage of hair wraps. The reason is that a conventional hair wrap is applied to hair in a substantially permanent manner, and the only practical way to remove the conventional hair wrap is to cut the hair to which the wrap is attached.
This invention relates to improvements to the methods and apparatus described above, and to solutions to some of the problems raised or not solved thereby.

Apparatus and method for decorating hair


The invention relates generally to a pants assembly comprising an outer shell, inner pants, and a retaining system with first and second retainers mounted to the inner pants and outer shell and a belt at least partially encircling the inner pants and being at least partially on an outer side of the outer shell for allowing fit adjustment of the inner pants and outer shell around the wearer's waist. The inner pants and outer shell are coupled together by the belt while the outer shell is movable relative to the inner pants.

Traditionally, protective pants assemblies such as hockey pants assemblies, which are knee-to-waist protective gear for hockey players, have been formed as an oversized pair of shorts and constructed as a single piece of equipment including several protective elements and padding.
Recently, manufacturers have taken new approaches for hockey pants. More specifically, upon recognizing the expense of such pants, and recognizing that players often play for more than one team which may have different team colors, two-piece hockey pants have been developed in which an inner pant is coupled with a removable outer shell. Thus, a player can purchase multiple outer shells in different colors to use with a single inner pant. Additionally, as most of the wear and tear of hockey pants is focused on the outer shell, replacement of only the outer shell instead of the entire pants further reduces expense.
The manner in which the inner pant is mounted to the outer shell can affect the player's mobility. For example, the player's mobility may be adversely affected by the interaction between the inner pant and the outer shell. A retaining system for coupling the inner pant to the outer shell should ideally be unobtrusive to minimize player discomfort and maximize the player's range of motion. Additionally, the retaining system should withstand impacts as they are common in hockey.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved pants assembly that offers versatility, while offering proper protection and minimizing restriction of movement.


The line imaging system includes a laser, first and second cylindrical optical systems with a first spatial filter disposed therebetween, a knife-edge aperture, a cylindrical relay system, and a cylindrical focusing lens. The first spatial filter is configured to truncate a line focus within the central lobe to form a first light beam. The second cylindrical lens system is arranged in the far field and is configured to perform spatial filtering to pass central intensity lobes of the first light beam while blocking outlying intensity lobes. The resultant twice-filtered light beam is has a relatively flat-top intensity distribution associated with the long direction of the line image so that subsequent truncation by the knife-edge aperture transmits more light than conventional line imaging systems. A laser annealing system that employs the line imaging system is also disclosed.

There is a variety of applications that require the use of a uniform line image formed from a coherent light beam. One such application is laser thermal processing (LTP), also referred to in the art as laser spike annealing (LSA) or just "laser annealing," which is used in semiconductor manufacturing to activate dopants in select regions of a semiconductor wafer when forming active microcircuit devices such as transistors. Laser annealing uses a scanned line image from a light beam to heat the surface of the wafer to a temperature (the "annealing temperature") for a time long enough to activate the dopants but short enough to minimizing dopant diffusion. The time that the wafer surface is at the annealing temperature is determined by the power density of the line image, as well as by the line-image width divided by the velocity at which the line image is scanned (the "scan velocity").
To achieve high throughput in a commercial LSA tool, the line image needs to be as long and as narrow as possible, while also having a high power density. An example range for usable line-image dimensions is 5 mm to 100 mm in length, by 25 microns to 500 microns in width. To achieve uniform annealing, it is also necessary for the intensity profile along the length of the line image to be as constant as possible. Typical semiconductor processing requirements call for the anneal temperature to be between 1000° C. and 1300° C. with a temperature uniformity of +/−3° C. To achieve this degree of temperature uniformity, the line image formed by the annealing light beam needs to have a relatively uniform intensity, which under most conditions is less than +/−5%.
A CO2 laser is a preferred light source for laser annealing applications because its wavelength (nominally 10.6 microns) is much longer than the size of devices irradiated, resulting in less scatter and more uniform exposure, thereby eliminating "pattern effects," and because it emits a relatively high-intensity beam. However, the coherence length for a CO2 laser is relatively long, typically several meters, making it unfeasible to use a binary optic approach to produce a long, narrow line focus with ˜10% (+/−5%) uniformity based on principles of Kohler illumination.
Traditional methods of performing laser annealing with a CO2 laser including imaging the light beam onto a pair of knife-edges. The knife-edges are positioned to transmit only a narrow central portion of a Gaussian light beam. The length of the transmitted light beam is that portion of the beam that meets the uniformity specification for the line image formed at the wafer. For the Gaussian CO2 light beam, the knife edges are typically arranged to pass only the middle 10% of the Gaussian beam. Unfortunately, this means that the other 90% of the light beam is rejected, which is a very inefficient use of the high-intensity light from the light source.

Line imaging systems and methods for laser annealing


An apparatus comprising an application cross-stratum optimization (CSO) gateway (ACG) coupled to an application layer that handles a plurality of servers, a network CSO gateway (NCG) coupled to a network layer that handles a plurality of network nodes and configured to communicate with the ACG using a CSO protocol (CSOP), and a CSO interface established between the ACG and the NCG that enables the exchange of a plurality of CSOP messages to allow joint application-network resource allocation, provisioning, and optimization. Also disclosed is a network apparatus implemented method comprising sending a user profile from a user plane to an application plane, sending an application profile from the application plane to a network plane via a CSO interface between an ACG and a NCG, and sending network capability information from the network plane to the application plane via the CSO interface.

Network carriers, also referred to sometimes as telecommunications operators or communications service providers, that run existing networks desire to optimize the network utilization for passing traffic, such as Internet Protocol (IP) traffic, over a physical network, e.g., across the network layers 1 to 5. The optimized traffic may include traffic for triple play services (e.g., Video, Voice, and/or Data) and any type of bulk data. In existing networks, end-to-end services are typically set-up by Operational Support Systems (OSS) or provider specific network management service applications. Network carriers have suggested two different scenarios for optimizing network utilization and traffic: optimizing existing network services and enabling new/emerging network application services.


A novel catheter apparatus for use in delivering an anesthetic agent or other fluid medicament to the portion of subcutaneous tissue through which a catheter device has been inserted into a patient, thereby allowing the catheter device to be retracted without causing pain or discomfort to the patient. The catheter device has an indwelling cannula adapted for insertion through subcutaneous tissue into a patient's body. A cylindrical sheath is placed on the cannula so as to be positioned within the subcutaneous tissue once the cannula has been inserted into the body. The cylindrical sheath has formed therein a lumen into which the anesthetic agent or other fluid medicament can be delivered via a hub that is disposed on the catheter apparatus. The cylindrical sheath has formed therein a plurality of one-way slit valves. The one-way slit valves permit the anesthetic agent or fluid medicament to be delivered to the surrounding subcutaneous tissue, and also prevent any bodily fluids from entering the lumen. In one embodiment the cylindrical sheath is permanently mounted to the cannula. In another embodiment the cylindrical sheath is detachably mountable to the cannula. In yet another embodiment, the lumen is formed within the outer wall of the cannula and the one-way slits are formed through the outer wall.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a catheter apparatus with a means for subcutaneous delivery of anesthetic agents or other fluid medicaments, and more particularly to catheter apparatus having subcutaneous infusion ports that provide for the administration of a local anesthesia or other medicaments to an area of subcutaneous tissue through which a cannula has been inserted.
2. The Present State of the Art
Catheter devices are widely used for a variety of medical applications. Generally, a catheter is a hollow, tubular cannula that is capable of being inserted into canals, vessels, passageways, or other body cavities so as to permit injection or withdrawal of fluids, or to keep a passage open. Other catheter devices are used for controlling, directing and placing medical devices, such as intubation tubes or dilation catheters, into a body cavity, such as the trachea, a blood vessel, or the heart These types of insertion catheters are commonly referred to as intubators, insertion sheaths, and/or dilators. Given that catheters are used for such a wide variety of applications, catheters are implemented in a variety of designs, shapes and sizes. However, when used, almost all catheters Share the universal characteristic of having to be passed through the skin and subcutaneous tissue of the patient so as to be inserted into the proper body cavity.
Depending on the medical procedure, the catheter is very often left in the body cavity over a relatively long period of time. As such, the skin and subcutaneous tissue through which the catheter device is inserted often becomes very swollen and tender, and thus extremely sensitive. Consequently, when the catheter is eventually retracted from the patient, the patient will often experience great discomfort. This discomfort may agitate the patient and thereby hinder the ability of medical personnel to effectively retract the catheter and/or treat the patient.
For example, in a percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) procedure, a patient is administered a local anesthesia and an intravascular sheath introducer (a type of catheter device) is inserted through the patient's skin in the groin area and into the femoral artery. In so doing, the sheath introducer necessarily passes through the area of subcutaneous tissue that lies between the skin and the femoral artery. Once inserted, the sheath introducer catheter provides a means for introducing the dilation catheter for performing the PTCA procedure.
Following the PTCA procedure, the sheath introducer is usually left within the femoral artery for a period ranging between four to twenty-four hours. Typically, the sheath is left in place because blood thinning drugs, such as Heparin, are administered to the patient. The effects of such drugs must wear off before the sheath can be removed in order to avoid hemorrhaging problems. Similarly, the device may be left in the patient as a precaution, in case quick access to the femoral artery is needed due to subsequent complications, such as an abrupt closure of the artery. In any event, by the time the sheath is retracted, the patient's skin and subcutaneous tissue through which the catheter is inserted is typically very swollen, bruised and tender. Also, by this time, the numbing effects of the earlier administered local anesthesia have completely worn off. Consequently, as the sheath is retracted from the femoral artery, the subcutaneous tissue and the overlying skin, the patient can experience considerable pain.
Pain experienced during sheath removal is known to occasionally cause vasovagal syncope type reactions, which can potentially result in a variety of undesirable patient responses--including a drop in blood pressure and heart rate. This can be hazardous when it occurs so soon after the PTCA procedure, and may thus require treatment with intravenous Atropine, or other drugs. Pain may also cause the patient to become agitated, which makes it difficult for medical personnel to properly administer arterial compression. This can lead to a hematoma formation within the subcutaneous tissue adjacent to the catheter.
Although medical personnel can administer a local anesthesia to the area, this must be done with a hypodermic needle, which usually causes as much discomfort or pain as the actual retraction of the catheter device. Thus, there is not a medical device available which adequately relieves a patient's discomfort during catheter retraction, and there is a need to be able to administer a local anesthesia to the subcutaneous tissue surrounding a catheter device prior to the retraction of the device, in a relatively painless and easy manner.

Catheter apparatus with means for subcutaneous delivery of anesthetic agent or other fluid medicament


Systems, methods and tools for mapping data elements between a source data structure and a target data structure without the needing exactly matching values or a dictionary of synonyms. The embodiments of the present disclosure auto map data elements having similar phonetic sounds, even in the presence of one or more misspellings or alternative spellings. Embodiments of the present disclosure utilize Soundex algorithms to generate a key corresponding to each source and target data elements. Each Soundex key may be generated based on the phonetical sounds of the source and target data elements. By using phonetical sounds to generate the key, a Soundex algorithm allows for similarly sounding words, alternatively spelled words or misspelled words to generate the same Soundex key, creating equivalence between the naming of source and target data elements once the auto mapping function is implemented.

Soundex was originally developed by Margaret K. Odell and Robert C. Russel at the U.S. Bureau of Archives to simplify census taking in the early 1900s. Soundex is a phonetic algorithm for indexing names by sound, as pronounced in English. The goal is for data elements to be encoded to the same representation so that they can be matched despite minor differences in spelling. Surnames that sound the same but are spelled differently have the same code and are filed together. This system was developed to make it easier to find a particular name even though it may have been spelled (or misspelled). Soundex is the most widely known of all phonetic algorithms, as it is a standard feature of MS SQL and Oracle.
Over time, additional variations to Soundex have been created. A similar algorithm called "Reverse Soundex" prefixes the last letter of the name instead of the first. In 1970, the NYSIIS algorithm was introduced by the New York State Identification and Intelligence System as an improvement to the Soundex algorithm. NYSIIS handles some multi-character n-grams and maintains relative vowel positioning, whereas Soundex does not. As a response to deficiencies in the Soundex algorithm, Lawrence Philips developed the Metaphone algorithm in 1990 for the same purpose as Soundex. Philips developed an improvement to Metaphone in 2000, which he called Double Metaphone. Double Metaphone includes a much larger encoding rule set than its predecessor, handles a subset of non-Latin characters, and returns a primary and a secondary encoding to account for different pronunciations of a single word in English.

International Business Machines Corporation


A device for decoding digital picture data coded by compression to thereby regenerate original picture data has a decoding section for decoding the digital picture data. A reverse normalizing section reversely normalizes picture data outputted by the decoding section. A reverse orthogonal transforming section executes two-dimensional reverse orthogonal transform with picture data outputted by the reverse normalizing section. A data counting section counts coded data existing in a plurality of blocks constituting the digital picture data block by block. A filter selecting section selects an interblock filter and an edge filter on the basis of the amount of coded data determined by the data counting section block by block. A correcting section corrects a distortion between nearby blocks by using the interblock filter selected, while an edge enhancing section executes edge enhancement by using the edge filter. The filter selecting section selects the intensity of the interblock filter and the intensity of the edge filter on the basis of the amount of coded data determined block by block. The filters for the correction of a distortion may be replaced with predicted values which are determined on the basis of the activities of individual blocks and substituted for pixel data. Random noise matching the activities of individual blocks may be added to pixel data after the correction in order to eliminate the distortion of contours of the blocks.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for regenerating a picture signal by decoding it and, more particularly, to a device for regenerating digital picture data coded by compression and transmitted or stored by decoding while reducing distortions between nearby blocks which constitute the picture data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, when picture data generated by an electronic still camera or similar digital picture data is stored in a memory or transmitted to a remote station, it is a common practice to code the picture data by compression for the purpose of reducing the amount of data. Among various conventional compression schemes, two-dimensional orthogonal transform is extensively used since it compresses picture data by a large ratio and causes a minimum of distortion ascribable to coding to occur in a picture.
The two-dimensional orthogonal transform type coding divides picture data into a predetermined number of blocks and transforms the picture data block by block. The transformed picture data have transform coefficients thereof compared with a predetermined threshold value, and the coefficients smaller than the threshold value are discarded. The transform coefficients greater than the threshold value are each divided by a particular quantizing step value, i.e., normalizing coefficient and thereby quantized or normalized by the step width. The normalized transform coefficients are coded by Huffman coding to produce compressed picture data. The compressed picture data is written to a memory or transmitted to a remote station.
To regenerate original picture data, the picture data compressed by the above procedure is decoded by Huffman decoding and then subjected to reverse normalization and reverse orthogonal transform. The problem with this kind of compressed picture data is that since the picture data has been divided into blocks and then subjected to orthogonal transform and coding block by block, the decoded picture data has distortions between nearby blocks, i.e. interblock distortions. Especially, the border or edge between nearby blocks is conspicuous in relatively monotonous portions of a picture, which lowers the quality of a reproduced image.

Device for regenerating a picture signal by decoding


In a film formation method comprising introducing a sputtering gas into a film forming chamber and forming a film on a substrate therein, the partial pressure of H2O in an atmosphere inside the film forming chamber is controlled so as to satisfy prescribed conditions, thereby forming a reflective layer of a prescribed reflectance on the substrate, thereby providing a film formation method using sputtering and a production method of a photovoltaic element using the film formation method that attain stable good film formation even during long-time sputter film formation, can constantly form a reflective film with a desired reflectance, has excellent workability and durability, and constantly attain high photoelectric conversion efficiency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a film formation method using sputtering and a production method of a photovoltaic element using the film formation method, and more particularly to a method of producing a reflective metal layer and a transparent conductive layer stacked thereon by means of a sputtering apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
As the prior art film formation method using sputtering, there is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-64874 a method of forming an oxide film by sputtering which adopts a water vapor concentration of 12% by volume or more and a sputtering gas pressure of 2 mTorr or less to provide a dense, high-quality sputter film and to prevent step-breaking of a wire vaporized on the sputter film.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-236666 discloses providing a sputtering apparatus mainly composed of a vacuum apparatus with a mass spectrometer and a spectrophotometer, measuring an H2O partial pressure inside the sputter film formation apparatus before and during the film formation, and feeding back the measurement results to adjust the H2O partial pressure, thus constantly forming a dielectric film of a desired dielectric constant.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-171434 describes effecting exhaust of a sputtering chamber to reduce the inner pressure only to 5xc3x9710xe2x88x925 to 5xc3x9710xe2x88x924 Torr to leave some air in the sputtering chamber and depositing nitrogen, oxygen or hydrogen of the remaining air along with sputter particles to provide a high-quality Al-based alloy film.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-116722 discloses continuously forming a metal layer and a transparent conductive layer on a long substrate by sputtering while moving the substrate (Roll-to-roll process).
The addition of H2O during sputter film formation in the above mentioned methods provides a deposited film with considerably high quality.
However, in order to mass-produce deposited films with higher quality at a lower cost, there remain the problems to be solved as follows.
For example, the methods described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 61-64874 and 11-236666 of the above mentioned prior art are techniques accomplished by paying attention to H2O content, and more specifically the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-64874 is accomplished by paying attention to the dielectric constants of dielectric films, but there is no disclosure or suggestion therein of the relationship between deposited films comprised of a metal or metal compound and H2O, especially forming a deposited film comprised of a metal or metal compound while maintaining H2O partial pressure within a predetermined range and applying the deposited film to photovoltaic elements such as solar cells.
Further, the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-236666 is accomplished by paying attention to the shapes of deposited films, but there is no disclosure or suggestion therein of optical characteristics represented by reflectance or the like of deposited films.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-171434 has no description of specific H2O content, and use of only the H2O content controlling method defined therein may lead to variability of characteristics of deposited films due to a large variance of H2O content resulting from, e.g., a change in the temperature and humidity of an atmosphere during maintenance and a change in the surface area or material of the inner wall of a film formation chamber.
Further, although the problem in long-time film formation using a long substrate by, e.g., the roll-to-roll process is to constantly maintain characteristics, there is no description in the above mentioned patent gazettes of characteristic stability during long-time film formation by the roll-to-roll process and application of deposited films to photovoltaic elements. That is, with long-time film formation by the roll-to-roll process, only rear surface reflective layers with large variability of characteristics such as reflectance or the like of rear surface reflective films can be formed due to change in the film forming atmosphere and the target surface state. For example, when the target material is a low-melting metal such as In, there is a case where the rise in temperature of the target during the film formation may melt a part of a surface of the target to vary the sputtering efficiency. Photovoltaic elements obtained by stacking a photoelectric conversion layer and a transparent electrode layer using such a rear surface reflective layer with large variability of characteristics will have large variability of photoelectric conversion efficiency and give rise to lowering in photoelectric conversion efficiency. Further, applying a pulling force of about 15000 xcexcxcex5 to such a photovoltaic element will generate a number of cracks therein, and an increase in resistance due to extension of a wiring route will lower photoelectric conversion efficiency, so that workability and durability may be lowered.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a film formation method using sputtering and a production method of a photovoltaic element using the film formation method that solve the above mentioned problems of the prior art, attain stable good film formation even during long-time sputter film formation, can constantly form a reflective film with a desired reflectance, has excellent workability and durability, and constantly attain high photoelectric conversion efficiency.
In order to attain the above mentioned object, the present invention provides a film formation method using sputtering and a production method of a photovoltaic element using the film formation method featured by (1)-(17) below.
(1) A film formation method using sputtering which comprises introducing a sputtering gas into a film forming chamber and forming a film on a substrate therein, wherein the partial pressure of H2O in an atmosphere inside the film forming chamber is controlled so as to satisfy prescribed conditions, thereby forming a reflective layer of a prescribed reflectance on the substrate.
(2) The method as mentioned in (1) above, wherein the partial pressure of H2O in the atmosphere is controlled so as to be not less than 6.6xc3x9710xe2x88x924 Pa but no more than 1.4xc3x9710xe2x88x922 Pa.
(3) The method as mentioned in (1) above, wherein during the film formation, the partial pressures of H2O at the beginning and completion of the film formation are each controlled so as to be not less than 6.6xc3x9710xe2x88x924 Pa but no more than 1.4xc3x9710xe2x88x922 Pa.
(4) The method as mentioned in (1) above, wherein during the film formation, the partial pressures of H2O at the beginning and completion of the film formation are each controlled so as to be not less than 2.6xc3x9710xe2x88x923 Pa but no more than 6.7xc3x9710xe2x88x923 Pa.
(5) The method as mentioned in any one of (1)-(4) above, wherein the partial pressure of H2O is detected during the film formation.
(6) The method as mentioned in (5) above, wherein the partial pressure of H2O is controlled based on the result of the detection.
(7) The method as mentioned in (6) above, wherein the partial pressure of H2O is controlled by supplying H2O into the film forming chamber and adjusting the concentration of the H2O.
(8) The method as mentioned in any one of (5)-(7) above, wherein the detection is effected using a tetrode mass spectrometer.
(9) The method as mentioned in any one of (1)-(8) above, wherein prior to the film formation, the interior of the film forming chamber is baked.
(10) The method as mentioned in any one of (1)-(9) above, wherein the film comprises a metal.
(11) The method as mentioned in (10) above, wherein the metal is Al, Ag or Cu.
(12) The method as mentioned in any one of (1)-(9) above, wherein the film comprises a metal oxide.
(13) The method as mentioned in (12) above, wherein the metal oxide is a metal oxide containing at least one selected from Al, In, Sn, Zn, and Ti.
(14) The method as mentioned in any one of (1)-(13) above, wherein the substrate is a belt-like substrate, and the film is formed on the belt-like substrate while successively moving the belt-like substrate.
(15) A method of producing a photovoltaic element comprising a rear surface reflective layer, a photoelectric conversion layer and a transparent electrode layer on a substrate, which comprises forming the rear surface reflective layer using the film formation method as mentioned in any one of (1)-(14) above.
(16) A method of producing a photovoltaic element comprising a transparent conductive layer, a photoelectric conversion layer and a transparent electrode layer on a substrate, which comprises forming the transparent conductive layer using the film formation method as mentioned in any one of (1)-(14) above.
(17) A method of producing a photovoltaic element comprising a rear surface reflective layer, a transparent conductive layer, a photoelectric conversion layer and a transparent electrode layer on a substrate, which comprises forming at least one of the rear surface reflective layer and the transparent conductive layer using the film formation method as mentioned in any one of (1)-(14) above.

Film formation method using sputtering and production method of photovoltaic element using same


3-Spiro-5"-oxazolidine-2",4"-dione derivatives of Vinca alkaloids, useful as anti-tumor agents and as intermediates.

Several naturally-occurring alkaloids obtainable from Vinca rosea have been found active in the treatment of experimental malignancies in animals. Among these are leurosine (U.S. Pat. No. 3,370,057), vincaleukoblastine (vinblastine) to be referred to hereinafter as VLB (U.S. Pat. No. 3,097,137), leuroformine (Belgian Pat. No. 811,110); leurosidine (vinrosidine) and leurocristine (to be referred to hereafter as vincristine) (both in U.S. Pat. No. 3,205,220); deoxy VLB "A" and "B", Tetrahedron Letters, 783 (1958); 4-desacetoxyvinblastine (U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,773; 4-desacetoxy-3'-hydroxyvinblastine (U.S. Pat. No. 3,944,554); leurocolombine (U.S. Pat. No. 3,890,325) and vincadioline (U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,565). Two of these alkaloids, VLB and vincristine, are now marketed as drugs for the treatment of malignancies, particularly the leukemias and related diseases in humans. Of these marketed compounds, vincristine is a most active and useful agent in the treatment of leukemias but is also the least abundant of the antineoplastic alkaloids of Vinca rosea. The two marketed alkaloids are customarily administered by the i.v. route.
Chemical modification of the Vinca alkaloids has been rather limited. In the first place, the molecular structures involved are extremely complex, and chemical reactions which affect a specific functional group of the molecule without changing other groups are difficult to develop. Secondly, alkaloids lacking desirable chemotherapeutic properties have been recovered or produced from Vinca rosea fractions or alkaloids, and a determination of their structures has led to the conclusion that these compounds are closely related to the active alkaloids. Thus, anti-neoplastic activity seems to be limited to very specific structures, and the chances of obtaining more active drugs by modification of these structures would seem to be correspondingly slight. Among the successful modifications of physiologically-active alkaloids has been the preparation of dihydro VLB (U.S. Pat. No. 3,352,868) and the replacement of the acetyl group at C-4 (carbon No. 4 of the VLB ring system-see the numbered structure below) with higher alkanoyl group or with unrelated acyl groups. (See U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,173.) Several of these derivatives are capable of prolonging the life of mice inoculated with P1534 leukemia. One of the derivatives in which a chloracetyl group replaced the C-4 acetyl group of VLB was also a useful intermediate for the preparation of structurally modified VLB compounds in which an N,N-dialkylglycyl group replaced the C-4 acetyl group of VLB (See. U.S. Pat. No. 3,387,001). C-3 carboxamide derivatives of VLB, vincristine, vincadioline etc. have also been prepared and found to be active anti-tumor agents. (Belgian Pat. No. 813,168) These compounds are extremely interesting because, for example, the 3-carboxamides of VLB are more active against Ridgeway osteogenic sarcoma and Gardner lymphosarcoma than is VLB itself from which they are derived. Certain of the amide derivatives actually approach the activity of vincristine against these tumors. One of these amides, 4-desacetyl VLB C-3 carboxamide or vindesine, is currently on clinical trial in humans and has been found active in certain leukemias. In humans, vindesine appears to have less neurotoxicity than does vincristine.

Oxazolidinedione derivatives of Vinca alkaloids


The use of a wireless interface is dynamically changeable according to connection states of stations belonging to access points. Therefore, limited wireless interfaces are efficiently utilized without requiring operation in which the user conducts a complex setting operation. First, connection states of stations belonging to access points are measured. Based on information of the connection states, the connection destination of a wireless connection unit of an access point under consideration is changed over between an access point and a station.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a wireless communication system including an access point connected via wireless communication to a backbone network such as a wired Local Area Network (LAN), and a system controller, an access point, a station, a communication control method, and a computer-readable medium storing a communication control program for use with the wireless communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a general wireless communication system, an access point or a wireless base station is linked with a station or a wireless communication terminal in an infrastructure mode and the access point is coupled by wire with a backbone network such as a wired LAN.
In a recent communication technique, the access points are linked via wireless communication with each other to configure a backhaul communication line up to the backbone network using the wireless communication between the access points.
Some wireless communication systems associated with the present invention include first and second mobile communication terminals or stations as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-320132 (document 1). In such systems, the first station detects at least intensity of a received radio wave from a wireless LAN access point or a communication state of the radio wave. If it is determined that communication is possible using a wireless LAN interface, the first station conducts communication by use of the wireless LAN interface. The second station operates in an infrastructure mode if it includes an access point function and operates in an ad hoc mode if it includes a client function.
In other wireless communication systems, if an instruction is issued and data to be communicated by the instruction is, for example, mobile picture data of which the amount is equal to or more than a predetermined amount of data, the system changes its operation mode to an infrastructure mode. Otherwise, the system changes its operation mode to an ad hoc mode as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-349777 (document 2).
Referring now to FIG. 1, description will be given of problems of the general wireless communication system.
In the wireless communication system shown in FIG. 1, each of the access points 801a, 801b, and 801c includes two wireless interfaces 811 and 812.
The interface 812 is employed for a backhaul wireless line to relay communication between the access points. The interface 811 is adopted for access to accommodate a station 803a, 803b, 803c.
The access interface 811 includes a function to arbitrate conflict between the stations according to a polling control operation and a function to conduct a power saving control operation for the stations. The backhaul interface 812 adopts in most cases wireless access control of the type based on a distributed coordinate function to implement a mesh configuration of the backhaul wireless link.
The access point 801 constructs, by use of one wireless interface, a backhaul wireless network of the backhaul line to relay communication between the access points. Therefore, it is required in the backhaul network that wireless communication is conducted by using one wireless channel shared in the overall network.
In the example shown in FIG. 1, to implement communication between an external network 805 and the station 803c accommodated in the access point 801c, it is required that the access point 801b relays the communication. However, since the access point 801b uses only one wireless interface for the backhaul network, a radio channel of one and the same frequency is required to be shared between backhaul links L812 and L813.
As a result, due to influences of, for example, a problem of a station exposed to wireless communication and a problem of a concealed station, it is difficult to secure scalability to expand the zone of the backhaul network and the communication quality at the same time.
Also, since the access link to accommodate the stations is constructed using one wireless interface, it is required that the plural stations accommodated by the access link carry out communication by sharing the radio channel. This hence leads to a problem that the number of stations to be accommodated by the access link is limited. Particularly, in a situation in which the stations are densely placed at a particular position, the influences of interference and access conflict are not negligible.
To solve the problems, if the user conducts a setting operation for the access points according to the state of the network such as the state of installation of the access points, the setting operation is troublesome and takes a long period of time.
To remove the problems, it can also be considered to construct the system by use of access points each of which includes many wireless interfaces. However, the number of channels available for the wireless LAN is limited. Therefore, even if the number of interfaces is desirably increased, the advantageous effect is limited. The desirable increase in the number of wireless interfaces makes it difficult to reduce the production cost.
Moreover, as in the communication system of FIG. 1, if the backhaul interface and the access interface are fixedly allocated to the wireless interfaces of the access stations, there likely appears depending on the topology and traffic of the network a case in which the traffic concentrates on a particular wireless link and hence the network performance is lowered due to congestion. Contrarily, there may exist a wireless interface not used. Particularly, in use of a station of high mobility, these problems conspicuously take place when the traffic varies and/or moves.
According to the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-320132, when a station relays wireless communication, the infrastructure mode and the ad hoc mode are discriminately employed according to the function of the station. That is, consideration is given neither to the operation of the access point to control connection of stations belonging thereto nor to the operation in which the setting of the destination of connection in the wireless interface is changed according to the state of connection to the backhaul wireless line for wireless communication between access points or is changed to the access use to accommodate the station.
According to the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-349777, to adapt to the communication traffic predictable by an instruction thus issued, the setting of connection of the wireless interface is changed to the infrastructure mode or the ad hoc mode. Therefore, consideration is given neither to an operation of the access point to control connection of stations belonging thereto nor to the operation in which the setting of the destination of connection in the wireless interface is changed according to the state of connection to the backhaul wireless line to conduct wireless communication between access points or is changed to the access use to accommodate the station.

Wireless communication system, system controller, access point, station, communication control method and computer-readable medium storing communication control program


A microactuator for precisely aligning an optical fiber with an optical device includes a carrier having at least one bimorphic actuator which bends or deflects in response to electrical stimuli to thereby controllably position the carrier and, in turn, an optical fiber mounted on the carrier, with an optical device, such as a laser diode. The bimorphic actuator includes first and second layers of first and second materials, respectively, which respond differently to electrical stimuli. For example, the first and second materials can have different coefficients of thermal expansion or one of the materials can be a piezoelectric material such that application of electrical stimuli to the bimorphic actuator will deflect the actuator by a precisely controllable amount. The carrier can also be mounted on an alignment support structure such that upon deflecting the bimorphic actuator is urged against a portion of the alignment support structure so as to move the carrier relative to the alignment support structure. Thus, by maintaining the alignment support structure in a fixed relation to the optical device, the carrier and, in turn, the optical fiber mounted on the carrier can be positioned in precise alignment with the optical device.

It is oftentimes desirable to align optical fibers with an electro-optic device, such as a laser diode. Such alignment is particularly desirable in order to maximize the percentage of light coupled from the light source or electro-optic device to the optical fiber and to thereby increase the transmission efficiency of the optical signals. However, the alignment of optical fibers is complicated by the relatively small sizes of both the optical fiber waveguide, such as a single mode optical fiber which, for example, can have a light transmitting core diameter of approximately 2-10 micrometers, and the light source which has approximately the same size.
The alignment of an optical fiber is further complicated since an optical fiber generally has six degrees of freedom, each of which must be separately aligned. In particular, an optical fiber must generally be aligned in three translational directions, i.e., the X, Y and Z directions, and three rotational directions, i.e., .theta..sub.X, .theta..sub.Y and .theta..sub.Z. Furthermore, the alignment of polarization preserving or polarization maintaining optic fibers is complicated by the need to maintain the polarization axis of the optical fibers in alignment with that of the polarized optical system.
Notwithstanding these difficulties, various methods have been proposed to align a single optical fiber with a variety of electro-optic devices. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,683 which was issued Sep. 11, 1992, to Nobuo Shiga, et al. and is assigned to Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,439 which was issued Jan. 17, 1989, to Keith Preston and is assigned to British Telecommunications, PLC; U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,796 which was issued May 3, 1988, to Hans Althaus, et al. and is assigned to Siemens Aktiengesellschaft; U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,547 which was issued Oct. 27, 1987, to R. Scott Enochs and is assigned to Tektronix, Inc.; U.K. Patent Application GB 2,128,768 which was published May 2, 1984, and is assigned to Hitachi Ltd.; and U.K. Patent Application GB 2,146,841 which was published Apr. 24, 1985, and is assigned to Hitachi Ltd.
As illustrated by these patents and known to those skilled in the art, individual metallized optical fibers can be soldered to a support. In order to position the optical fiber, the solder bonding the metallized optical fiber to the support is generally heated to a temperature above the predetermined melting temperature of the solder. Thereafter, the optical fiber can be moved and, once the optical fiber is properly positioned, the solder can be allowed to cool and resolidify to fix the position of the optical fiber relative to the support and, more importantly, to a light source. These systems typically require, however, some means, such as solder, for retaining an optical fiber in place after the optical fiber has been positioned in a separate alignment process, distinct from the means for retaining the optical fiber in position.
In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,439 to Keith Preston (hereinafter the "'439 patent") describes an optical assembly and a related method for mounting optical components, such as an optical fiber, on a substrate. According to the '439 patent, an optical fiber is lowered into a layer of solder, such as a solder preform or a solder paste, which has been applied to a submount assembly. Thereafter, a heating element is lowered into contact with the solder to locally melt the solder about the optical fiber such that the optical fiber can be mounted therein. During the mounting process, a first end of the optical fiber is positioned to receive the output of a laser, also illustratively mounted on the submount assembly. By positioning the optical fiber such that the power level of the light transmitted through the optical fiber is maximized, the optical fiber is appropriately aligned with the laser. Once aligned, the heating element is cooled to allow the solder to solidify and to fix the optical fiber to the submount assembly.
Another method of positioning an optical fiber is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,796 to Hans Althaus, et al. (hereinafter the "'796 patent"). In particular, the '796 patent describes a method for aligning an optical fiber with a laser diode. According to this method, an electrically conductive body having a groove defined therein is bonded to a base. An optical fiber extends through the groove and is bonded to the electrically conductive body with a bonding agent. By inducing current flow through the electrically conductive body, the temperature of the electrically conductive body is increased such that the optical fiber is positionable within the bonding agent. After properly positioning the optical fiber relative to the laser diode, the current flow is stopped to cool and solidify the bonding agent, thereby fixing the position of the optical fiber.
While the above-described alignment and bonding systems may controllably position an individual optical fiber, the heat required to allow one optical fiber to be positioned can oftentimes affect the position or alignment of adjacent optical fibers, thereby misaligning the adjacent optical fibers. In addition, these alignment and bonding systems and methods, such as the systems disclosed by the '439 patent and the '796 patent, are generally relatively laborious and time-intensive, particularly, in instances in which a number of optical fibers must be individually aligned.
Accordingly, several commercial alignment systems have been developed to automatically connect, or pigtail, an opto-electronic device, such as a laser diode, to an optical fiber. For example, Melles Griot has developed a system for precisely aligning optical fibers with other optical components. As known to those skilled in the art, however, the Melles Griot alignment system generally includes a variety of relatively complex and costly components which significantly increase the fabrication costs to produce such precisely aligned optical devices. In addition, once the optical fiber has been aligned by a Melles Griot alignment system, the optical fiber must generally be bonded with a separate bonding means, such as solder, as described in the foregoing patents.
In addition, none of the above-described alignment methods and systems precisely align an optical fiber within a hermetically sealed package, such as a standard 14-pin hermetic butterfly package, in which opto-electronic devices are typically disposed. As known to those skilled in the art, the precise alignment of an optical fiber to an optical device within a hermetically sealed package is complicated since, in addition to precisely aligning the optical fiber in each of the six degrees of freedom, the alignment process must typically be performed without physically contacting or otherwise heating the optical fiber since heat, such as body heat, can cause the optical fiber to move due to thermal expansion, thereby misaligning the optical fiber. In addition, access to an optical fiber within a hermetically sealed package is generally limited since the optical device with which the optical fiber is being aligned is disposed within an internal cavity defined within the hermetic package.

Microactuator for precisely aligning an optical fiber and an associated fabrication method


Provided are a reciprocal distribution calculating method and a reciprocal distribution calculating system for cost accounting, in which, when performing cost accounting using a computer, a reciprocal distribution method is used to effectively perform cost accounting of each department. In the reciprocal distribution calculating method and the reciprocal distribution calculating system for cost accounting, reciprocal distribution costs are calculated using the limit and convergence of a transition probability matrix. And, a reciprocal distribution calculation is performed in a completely different way from the method of calculating reciprocal distribution known for the last several tens of years and in an effective manner, thereby calculation of reciprocal distribution costs at a high speed.

In regard to calculating of costs of an enterprise, a cost allocation process whereby costs incurred in respective cost departments (subsidiary departments and production departments) are distributed between respective departments is important. Examples of known cost allocation methods are a direct distribution method, a step distribution method, and a reciprocal distribution method.
The reciprocal distribution method, in which costs are distributed by considering services reciprocated between departments, increases accuracy of cost allocation and cost accounting and provides information about support costs of a service-providing department, thus providing important information regarding decision making for enterprise management.
However, calculation of cost allocation according to the reciprocal distribution method involves continuous reciprocating services between cost departments, and thus the calculation of costs is complicated. In particular, when calculating costs of a company having a large number of departments using a computer, an operation memory of a very large capacity is required, and it takes a long time to calculate the final costs. Accordingly, a cost accounting system according to the reciprocal distribution method requires a very expensive high-performance computer.
Due to the above problem, although cost accounting according to the reciprocal distribution method provides important and various information related to enterprise management, a function of a module corresponding to cost accounting according to the reciprocal distribution method is restricted in many ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems that are on the market. Also, since cost accounting according to the reciprocal distribution method requires a high-performance computer system, costs consumed in the cost accounting according to the reciprocal distribution method are high.

Reciprocal distribution calculating method and reciprocal distribution calculating system for cost accounting


A continuous motion passive anatomic ankle-foot exerciser for rehabilitating ankle and foot injuries is provided. The ankle-foot exerciser is constructed to move a patient's foot through a range of motion which may include pure ankle joint motion, pure subtalar joint motion, or a combination of both. The ankle-foot exerciser includes a base, a foot holder, a drive motor for moving the foot holder in an up/down in/out motion, and a foot tilting device for continuously tilting the foot in an inversion/eversion motion. Movement of the foot holder is controlled by an initial positioning of the drive motor and by a control circuit that coordinates the up/down in/out and tilting motions of the foot holder.

Various anatomical exercise and therapy devices for exercising or conducting specific therapy movements of different muscle groups of a patient are well known in the art. As an example, continuous motion passive exercise machines have now become the standard of care for rehabilitation of joint injuries of injured or surgical patients.
In general, a passive motion exerciser moves a body part such as an arm or foot through a range of motion. This simulates the operation of the muscles and joints associated with the body part. Such passive motion exercisers may be continuous in motion and driven by electric motors or other continuous drive means. U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,633 to Heilbrun discloses such a passive exercise apparatus for exercising the shoulder joint. French Patent No. 2,635,457 to Stef discloses a passive exercise apparatus for the foot and ankle.
A problem with such passive exercise devices, as they are related to ankle and foot rehabilitation, is that in general, the prior art continuous-motion ankle-foot exercise devices do not compensate for the complex anatomical construction of the ankle and foot. Movement of the foot relative to the leg involves the ankle joint as well as the subtalar joint. The axis of the ankle joint and subtalar joint are not coincident to one another. These axes are in fact, located at different angles to the plane and longitudinal axis of the foot. Most prior art passive exercise devices accommodate only the ankle joint.
In FIGS. 1 and 3, the subtalar axis is denoted as S--S. As shown in FIG. 1, the subtalar axis S--S is situated about 45.degree. from the plane of the foot and as shown in FIG. 3 about 84.degree. off the longitudinal axis L--L of the foot. The ankle axis is denoted as A--A in FIGS. 1 and 3. The ankle axis A--A is situated about 13.degree. off the horizontal plane of the foot and as shown in FIG. 3 about 84.degree. off the longitudinal axis L--L of the foot.
As shown in FIG. 1, the ankle joint is formed by the articulation of two bones of the leg, the tibia and fibula, relative to the talus. The talus is the second largest tarsal and the main weight bearing bone of the articulation. The subtalar joint is formed by the articulation of the talus with the largest tarsal the calcaneus.
In FIGS. 2-6, the different motions of the foot are shown. As shown in FIG. 2, movement of the foot from a neutral position and away from the leg is referred to as plantarflexion. Movement of the foot from a neutral position and towards the leg is referred to as dorsiflexion. In general, plantarflexion and dorsiflexion motion involve movement about the ankle joint.
As shown in FIG. 3, the foot may also move from a neutral position towards the center of the body (adduction) or away from the center of the body (abduction). Dorsiflexion has a component of abduction, plantarflexion has a component of adduction.
Additionally, as shown in FIGS. 4-6, the ankle may also be moved from a neutral position (FIG. 5) by turning outward, which is denoted as eversion (FIG. 4), or by turning inward which is denoted as inversion (FIG. 6). In general, eversion and inversion motion of the foot involve movement about the subtalar joint.
As previously stated, most prior art passive exercise apparatus are directed only to ankle joint motion and do not include subtalar joint motion. Moreover, prior art continuous motion passive exercise devices do not allow the different axes of rotation to be isolated (i.e. pure ankle joint motion or pure subtalar joint motion). Consequently, all of the muscles associated with the foot and ankle are not exercised and the different joints cannot be specifically isolated. A total workout of the foot muscles is thus not achieved. Additionally, the muscles of the foot responsible for plantarflexion and dorsiflexion are stronger than the muscles which perform inversion and eversion. Inadequate rehabilitation of the muscles responsible for inversion and eversion may accentuate this imbalance.
The ankle-foot exerciser of the invention, on the other hand, is constructed to passively exercise both the ankle and subtalar joints and allow the muscles associated therewith to follow a natural anatomic range of motion. Additionally, the ankle-foot exerciser of the invention may be adjusted to achieve either pure ankle motion, pure subtalar motion or a combination of both.


A new cultivar of Hydrangea macrophylla subsp. serrata named ‘Santiago’ that is characterized by its compact, well-branched and rounded plant habit, its lace-cap flowers that are pink in color and turning red in color at the end of summer, its double sterile flowers, its prolific and reblooming flowering habit, its inflorescences that are present on axillary branches as well as terminal branches, its dark green foliage that turns red in autumn and resistant to sun scorch, its vigorous growth habit, and its unique combination of flowers and foliage that turn red at the end of the season.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea macrophylla subsp. serrata and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, 'Santiago'. 'Santiago' represents a new Bigleaf Hydrangea, a deciduous shrub grown for landscape use and for use as a cut flower.
'Santiago' was derived from an ongoing controlled breeding program by the Inventor in Nuaillé, France that focuses on developing new cultivars of Hydrangea that are floriferous and frost resistant with flattened inflorescence shapes, and compact and well branched growth habits.
'Santiago' originated from a cross conducted in the Inventor's breeding field in June 1998 in Nuaillé, France between Hydrangea macrophylla subsp. serrata 'Mont Aso' (not patented) as the female parent and Hydrangea macrophylla subsp. serrata 'Blue Wave' (not patented) as the male parent. The new Hydrangea was selected as a unique single plant from the progeny of the cross in August 2005.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by softwood stem cuttings in Nuaillé, Maine et Loire, France in 2005 by the Inventor. The characteristics of this cultivar have been determined to be stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.


In a vehicular warning system for sensing the approach of severe weather, a pressure sensor generates a first signal representative of the barometric pressure. A computer, coupled to the pressure sensor through the electrical system of the vehicle, generates a second signal responsive to the first signal changing in a time series pattern correlated with a known time series pattern representative of a severe weather system. The computer is coupled through the electrical system of the vehicle to the horn and/or lights for generating warning signals responsive to receiving the second signal, but only when the vehicle is not in the operating mode.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a severe weather warning system of the type utilized in a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Jacobs in U.S. Pat. No. 2,723,388 discloses a device for tracking absolute barometric pressure, and responsive to sudden rather than gradual changes therein, will provide an audible or other detectable signal warning of the imminent approach of severe weather conditions, such as a tornado.
The prior art includes other examples, both mechanical and electronic, of similar severe weather warning detectors. However, in each case these prior art references require the use of special purpose, expensive devices such as atmospheric pressure sensors, computers, and displays. These severe weather warning systems are stand-alone units and are not suitable for use in an automotive environment, not only due to the required ruggedness of the apparatus but also because of the additional space and expense involved.
The present invention, in contrast, utilizes inexpensive, highly accurate and highly reliable components that are already available within the automotive vehicle, but connected into a system that is activated when the automotive vehicle and the components are not otherwise in use. That is, when these automotive components are not used for running or operating the motor vehicle, they are coupled into a different system configuration that is used for detecting and then warning of the onset of severe weather.
In addition to these aforementioned cost and quality advantages, the new system is particularly cost effective because the automobile is usually in close proximity to the operator or other people that are interested in determining the onset of severe weather. For example, when the family automobile is parked at home or is in a parking lot at an office building or other work location, the detection and warning of imminent severe weather will alert those nearby who may not otherwise have access to, or have their attention turned to, other sources of information regarding the approach of severe weather, such as radio, television, etc.
In order to utilize over the long term a microcomputer already located in the automobile, it is important to conserve electrical energy when the alternator is not charging the storage battery in the vehicle. One method of conserving power is to utilize the microprocessor for only short periods of time. However, this approach greatly reduces the computing power available for complex computational tasks. Therefore, the present invention also provides a uniquely efficient computational process, implemented in software to be run on the intermittently powered microprocessor, for acquiring, processing and storing the data, while also providing signals that will result in the warning of severe weather to nearby persons.
Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to utilize existing automotive components, when not in use for their normal automotive operational function, for sensing the changes in barometric pressure associated with the approach of severe weather, and then to warn those persons in the vicinity, through either visual or audible means or both. This function is accomplished through the use of existing, high performance components in a location that is convenient and near the persons to be warned.

In-vehicle barometric pressure detection system


A developing apparatus includes: an agitating chamber agitating a developer; a developing chamber provided with an inlet to which the developer is supplied from the agitating chamber and an outlet from which the developer is returned to the agitating chamber; a developer carrying member; a rotatable developer supplying member supplying the developer to the developer carrying member; a developer conveying member, provided above the center of rotation of the developer supplying member in the developing chamber, for conveying the developer in a longitudinal direction of the developer carrying member, wherein, in a vertical cross-sectional area of a region vertically above the center of rotation of the developer supplying member of the developing chamber, excluding a developer conveying region by the developer conveying member, a cross-sectional area S1 upstream in the developer conveying direction and a cross-sectional area S2 downstream in the developer conveying direction satisfy a relationship of S1<S2.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a developing apparatus that can be used for an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer and a combined copying machine. The developing apparatus can be provided in a cartridge detachably mountable to the main body of the image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a developing system using dual-component developer has been frequently used in general, but in recent years, there has been a growth in the use of developing apparatuses using mono-component developer that are simple in construction and advantageous also in running cost. Also, there is available a replenishing system for replenishing a developer (hereinafter simply referred to as "toner") in order to maintain image quality satisfactory until it reaches the end of developer life. Even in this case, however, the use of the mono-component developer is being substituted for the dual-component developer. In addition, a developing apparatus with the aim of downsizing by adopting vertical circulation of toner is also proposed (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-024382).
In the replenishing system of a developer, there are differences in physical properties such as charge amount and flowability between an existing toner that currently exists in a developing chamber and a new replenished toner that is replenished, and the existing toner and the replenished toner having different physical properties from each other coexist in one developing chamber. In this case, when physical properties of both the existing toner and the replenished toner are greatly different, so-called coarseness or fog on a white background portion may occur in a half-tone image, and there occur defects such as a dropping on sheet. To resolve such defects, there are many developing apparatuses with a construction to convey a toner while agitating adequately the replenished toner with the existing toner.
FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 illustrate one example of a developing apparatus of such a replenishing system and a toner circulation configuration. A developing apparatus 11 is comprised of two chambers, an agitating chamber 9 and a developing chamber 10. The agitating chamber 9 and the developing chamber 10 are separated from each other by a partition wall 16, and an inlet 19 and an outlet 20 are provided at both ends of the partition wall 16 and opened in the partition wall 16 so as to allow the toner to flow to and from. In the developing chamber 10, a developing roller 1, a toner supply roller 2, a toner regulating member 3 and a developing container 12 are accommodated therein. Also, a screw 4 is arranged in parallel with the toner supply roller 2, and the agitating chamber 9 is arranged at the opposite side of the screw 4 sandwiching the partition wall 16. The screw 4 is provided at a higher level in the gravitational direction than an axis of a rotation center of the toner supply roller 2, in order to carry out two functions of supplying the toner to the toner supply roller 2 and returning the toner to the agitating chamber 9.
A toner replenishing operation corresponding to the detection of the toner amount in the agitating chamber 9 as well as the obtained information regarding coverage rates of images is performed by a replenishing device 8, then the replenished toner is dropped off into the agitating chamber 9 after passing through an opening 6. An agitating member 5 arranged in the agitating chamber 9 can level the toner horizontally, but does not have further conveying capability. Accordingly, even if the agitating member 5 in the agitating chamber 9 attempts to rotate to the limit, there are no cases where it actively feeds the toner to the inlet 19. The movement of the toner in the agitating chamber 9 is such that the toner conveyed from the side of inlet 19 and the replenished toner will rise high at the outlet 20 within the agitating chamber 9. The agitating member 5 rotates repeatedly to level the toner horizontally, and then spreads it gradually throughout the agitating chamber 9, as indicated by arrows D. By repeating this operation the toner finally reaches the inlet 19 to pass through the opening, and drops into the developing chamber 10 with the aid of the gravitational force of the toner so as to be supplied to the toner supply roller 2.
The developing roller 1 and the toner supply roller 2 rotate in the directions as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 9. The developing roller 1 is coated with a toner due to rotational friction, and the toner is scraped to be leveled when it passes through a toner regulating member 3 abutting on the developing roller 1 as the developing roller 1 rotates, so that a thinned toner coat layer is formed on the developing roller 1. The toner that has not been expended by reason of low coverage rate is scraped off from the developing roller 1 by the toner supply roller 2, and subsequently conveyed by the screw 4, passing through the outlet 20 so as to be returned to the agitating chamber 9. Thus, a toner circulation in vertical direction is created, and the replenished toner and the existing toner are adequately agitated and conveyed.
Incidentally, in a developing apparatus of a replenishing system, a horizontal in-line system is commonly used, whereas a construction to circulate the toner in the gravitational direction, i.e. an up-and-down vertical direction would offer such an advantage that a width size of the entire developing apparatus can be reduced to achieve downsizing, which is very effective.
As illustrated in FIG. 10, the toner in the developing chamber 10 is conveyed by the screw 4 in a direction from the one side to the other side of the longitudinal direction, and fed by its conveying pressure C from the opening of the outlet 20 to the agitating chamber 9. Also, a toner replenished from the toner replenishing mechanism 8 is replenished to the side of the outlet 20 in the agitating chamber 9 in a similar way, since it takes an agitating time in the agitating chamber 9. The replenished toner is agitated and the surface 18 is leveled horizontally by the agitating member 5. The toner replenished by repeating this movement finally reaches the inlet 19 by the movement of spreading the toner over the agitating chamber 9 as indicated by the arrows D, and supplied from the inlet 19 into the developing chamber 10, as shown by arrow A.
On the other hand, when images with a high coverage rate are continuously printed, a difference in an image density likely occurs in the longitudinal direction of the developing apparatus, that is, in the toner conveying direction in which the toner is conveyed by the screw 4 of the developing apparatus in the direction indicated by arrow AC in FIG. 10, and as shown in a characteristic graph of FIG. 11 and in a density measuring point diagram of FIG. 12. This is because the presence ratio of the replenished toner in the agitating chamber 9 becomes more than that of the existing toner due to the continuous toner replenishing operation, as a result, the presence ratio of the replenished toner becomes high in the toner layer on the developing roller 1 in the vicinity of the inlet 19 of the developing chamber 10. In other words, in a circulation route having the inlet 19 and the outlet 20, the toner supplied from the inlet 19 is much coated on the developing roller 1 on the upstream side in the toner conveying direction.
Since the replenished toner has a high charge amount, the coat tends to be thin on the developing roller 1. On the contrary, since the existing toner has a low charge amount, the coat on the developing roller 1 tends to be thick. As a result, when a high portion and a low portion of the presence ratios of the replenished toner appear on the developing roller 1, the density becomes light at a high portion of the presence ratio of the replenished toner, whereas the density becomes dense at a low portion of the presence ratio of the replenished toner. This phenomenon noticeably occurs particularly under a high-temperature and high-humidity environment where difference in charge amount is likely to occur between the existing toner and the replenished toner.
Here, as illustrated in FIG. 13, if a cross-sectional area of a region of the developing chamber 10 surrounded by the developing container 12, excluding a conveying region of the screw 4, in a higher level region in the gravitational direction than the rotational axis of the supply roller 2 is expressed as S, the cross-sectional area S of the developing chamber 10 is constant at each point. It should be noted that the conveying region of the screw 4 is meant by a region covered by the uppermost point and the lowermost point of the screw shape.
Incidentally, there are common problems to be solved in the developing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-024382 and the developing apparatus of the replenishing system as shown in FIG. 13.
Since the cross-sectional area S of the developing chamber 10 is constant at each point in the longitudinal direction, a force in a flow direction E caused by a toner blowoff is equal at each point in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, as illustrated schematically in FIG. 14, the flow of toner supplied from the inlet 19 as indicated by the arrows F is large on the upstream side in toner conveying direction, whereas the flow F of the toner supplied from the inlet 19 becomes gradually smaller toward the downstream side Even from this fact, the toner density has an impact on an unstable shading.
As described above, in whichever case where a toner is replenished under the impact of a cross-sectional construction of the developing chamber 10 and a high-temperature and high-humidity environment, and a print setting varies each time, it is strongly desired that a toner be coated uniformly on the developing roller 1, and the densities on the upstream side and downstream side in the toner conveying direction be uniformly maintained.