A manually installed landscape foundation (20, 56) adapted for supporting a yard light (22) or similar device requiring connection to a utility line (47) such as an electrical cable or gas line is provided having a lowermost anchor shaft (24, 64) equipped with a load-bearing helix (28, 68) and a slotted, centrally apertured (34, 62) uppermost base plate (30, 58). The anchor shaft (24, 64) is coupled with the base plate (30, 58) so as to define an open clearance area (44, 70) beneath the base plate (30, 58) and aperture (34, 62). A manual driving implement (46, 72) is used for installation purposes, and includes a T-handle (48, 74) having an engagement plate (50, 76) equipped with depending driving lugs (52, 54, 80, 82). In one foundation (20), a bail (36) defining a central clearance area (44) is used to interconnect the anchor shaft (24) and base plate (30). Alternately, in another foundation (56), the anchor shaft (64) is directly coupled in an offset relation to a base plate (58), so as to define a clearance area (70). In the latter embodiment, the driver implement (72) has the T-handle (74) thereof offset relative to the engagement plate (76), and oriented so that the T-handle (74) and anchor shaft (64) are aligned when the driver (72) is operatively coupled with the foundation (56).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is broadly concerned with a manually installable earth anchor foundation of the type useful for supporting landscape items such as lighting fixtures or electrical outlets requiring a utility source, e.g., an electrical cable or gas line. More particularly, it is concerned with a landscape foundation of this type which includes an elongated shaft having a transversely extending load-bearing member such as a helix secured thereto, and operatively coupled to an uppermost, apertured base plate; the anchor shaft and base plate are coupled together by means defining an open clearance area beneath the base plate aperture in order to facilitate placement and threading of an electrical cable or gas line upwardly through the anchor structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Helix-type earth anchors have long been employed in a variety of contexts, such as guy line supports, mobile home tie-down systems, or as a part of bases for electrical equipment. Generally speaking, such anchors include an elongated shaft presenting an earth-penetrating tip, together with one or more transversely extending helical blades secured to the shaft along the length thereof. Additionally, structure is provided adjacent the upper ends of the anchor shafts for coupling of a driving element thereto. In the case of large earth anchors of significant length, installation is normally effected by means of a power driven wrench. On the other hand, small earth anchors have in the past been designed for manual installation.
In one specific case, earth anchors have been employed as a part of a hold-down assembly for mailboxes. Such anchors are of the single helix variety and are equipped with an uppermost circular plate having a pair of spaced openings therethrough. A manual driving implement in the form of an upstanding handle having a lowermost plate provided with depending driving lugs is used to engage the upper circular plate of the anchor and, by rotation of the implement, screw the anchor into the earth until the circular plate thereof is substantially at grade. Thereupon, a mailbox leg may be bolted to the circular anchor plate for hold-down purposes.
Anchors of this type are deficient in the context of a landscape foundation, inasmuch as there is no provision for utility service to the supported structure. Moreover, the provision of circular driving/mounting apertures in the uppermost plate of the anchor makes it mandatory that the anchors be rather precisely positioned so as to accommodate the fixed distance between mailbox legs. That is to say, if the anchors are positioned apart even slightly greater or less than the distance between the mailbox legs, then it can be difficult or impossible to properly attach the legs to the respective upper plates of the anchors. As can be appreciated, such precise anchor placement can be especially difficult where the anchors must be manually installed.


A vehicle includes a sensing unit configured to sense an object in a surrounding area of the vehicle, an output unit configured to output a notification about a pedestrian detected in the surrounding area, and a control unit configured to recognize whether the object is the pedestrian based on sensing signals delivered from the sensing unit and control the output unit to thereby output the notification when the pedestrian is recognized.

Generally, in a case when nobody controls a vehicle because no driver is in the vehicle or the vehicle carries out autonomous driving and/or parking though a driver in the vehicle, a pedestrian near to the vehicle may not predict a traveling direction of the vehicle so that she or he may feel queasy about the vehicle.
When a vehicle is driven by a driver, a pedestrian can communicate with the driver through a hand signal or eye contact so that each of the driver and the pedestrian recognizes each other. Accordingly, the pedestrian can believe that the driver considers the pedestrian to drive the vehicle safely. Commonsensically, the pedestrian and the driver may have a psychological trust relationship with each other to thereby avoid a collision and secure driving safety.
However, in cases when vehicles are controlled by an unmanned steering, a remote steering, and an autonomous driving, it might be not possible to confirm whether the vehicles are aware of a pedestrian. When there is no driver, the pedestrian has no the other party who can communicate with the pedestrian. Further, even if there is a driver in the vehicle, the pedestrian may not confirm whether the driver recognizes the pedestrian because the driver doesn't care about driving.
In situations described above, the pedestrian can feel uneasy and distrust an autonomous driving vehicle. A pedestrian's anxiety or apprehension may cause her or his accidental acts or movement which the autonomous driving vehicle cannot predict or cope with based on its algorithm. This phenomenon may increase uncertain factors for achieving autonomous driving, and driving safety of the autonomous driving vehicle would be decreased.
Accordingly, an autonomous driving vehicle might be required to inform a pedestrian of its driving status, which includes that the autonomous driving vehicle recognizes the pedestrian and the autonomous driving vehicle safely controlled by its algorithm or function can respond to the pedestrian, in order to provide the pedestrian with information about moving direction and speed of the vehicle as well as driving safety or stability. It is required to develop a technology that could improve reliability between a pedestrian and an autonomous driving vehicle and secure safety by inducing predictable movement from each other.
The disclosure of this section is to provide background of the invention. Applicant notes that this section may contain information available before this application. However, by providing this section, Applicant does not admit that any information contained in this section constitutes prior art.

Apparatus and method for sensing and notifying pedestrian


The invention relates to a thermocompensated resonator comprising a body used in deformation, the core of the body being formed by a first material. According to the invention, at least one part of the body comprises at least one coating made of shape-memory metal, the variations in the Young's modulus of which as a function of the temperature (CTE) are of opposite sign to those (CTE) of the first material used for the core so as to allow said resonator to have a frequency variation as a function of the temperature which is substantially zero at least to the first order (α, β).

The European Patent No. EP 1 422 436 discloses a balance spring formed in silicon and covered with silicon dioxide so as to make the thermal coefficient substantially zero around the COSC procedure temperatures, i.e. between +8 and +38° C. Likewise, the document WO 2008-043727 discloses a MEMS resonator which has similar qualities of low variation of its Young's modulus within the same temperature range.
However, the variation of the frequency of the disclosures above can require complex corrections according to the applications. For example, for electronic quartz watches to be able to be COSC certified, an electronic correction based on a measure of the temperature must be effected.

Resonator thermocompensated by a shape-memory metal

The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd


The present disclosure provides a method and apparatus for measuring ash deposit levels in a particulate filter comprising at least one cell. One or more indicator components is inserted into the at least one cell so as to lie upon any deposits contained therein. Radiation is emitted from a radiation source into the cell, and the position of the one or more indicator components is detected on the basis of the emitted radiation. The deposit level within the cell is then calculated on the basis of the position of the one or more indicator components.

Particulate filters are used in internal combustion engines, and especially diesel engines, to capture soot or ash present in the exhaust gas of the engine. The filters typically comprise a number of elongate cells which are generally aligned with the direction of the flow of exhaust gas when the filter is in use. The cells are open at one end and closed at the other end so that the gas may flow through and out of the cells but the soot and ash will be captured on the cell walls and remain in the filter. Adjacent cells usually face in opposing directions, with one cell open to the exhaust inlet side of the filter and the adjacent cell open to the exhaust outlet side of the filter.
In order to maintain their filtration performance some diesel particulate filters have a degree of autoselective regeneration, where the filter is regularly cleaned automatically whilst still in place within the exhaust system. There are numerous filter regeneration methods such as, for example, electrical discharge regeneration or gas discharge regeneration using nitrogen oxide. Whilst the regeneration of the filter in situ removes the majority of the soot captured in the filter cells, the performance of the filter will still diminish over a period of prolonged use, since the ash component in the filter is not reducible with regeneration. It is therefore important for the filter to be removed and cleaned as part of regular engine servicing procedures. It is equally important that a proper inspection of the cleaned filter is then carried out before the filter is put back into service, otherwise the filter performance may diminish to an undesirable level before the next scheduled engine service is reached.
Given the relatively small diameter of the cells in the filter it is difficult to access the cells and carry out a proper inspection. One invasive inspection technique uses a borescope to view the interior of each cell in order to determine cleanliness. However, borescopes are expensive and also require servicing personnel to be trained in order to operate them properly. Alternative, non-invasive inspection methods have also been devised. One such method is to measure the air pressure drop across the cleaned filter and compare it to a base value for a brand new filter. However, given the extremely low density of the ash particles it is very difficult to accurately establish whether deposits remain in the cleaned filter using this method. Another non-invasive method uses ultrasound waves which are directed into the filter cells and then a reading is taken of the waves reflected from the ash deposits lying in the cells. However, as the ash in the cells does not reflect the ultrasound waves well, the resultant ultrasound image presented to the user is usually unclear and unhelpful in determining whether ash is still present in the cleaned filter or not. In addition, ash which sticks to the longitudinal walls of the cells tends to disrupt the signal reflected from the main deposit against the end wall, which again presents an unclear image to the operator.

Method and apparatus for measuring ash deposit levels in a particulate filter


The present invention relates to electrochromic solutions and devices manufactured therefrom. More precisely, the invention relates to electrochemichromic solutions, and those devices manufactured with the same, that demonstrate superior responsiveness to those solutions known heretofore when an applied potential is introduced thereto. That is, the responsiveness observed in terms of solution coloring is of a greater rapidity, intensity and uniformity than those electrochemichromic solutions of the prior art. Preparation of these solutions involve the novel process of pre-treating at least one of the electrochemichromic compounds with a redox agent prior to placing it in contact with the other electrochemichromic compound. Moreover, the present invention relates to methods of preparing such novel solutions and processes for using these solutions to provide devices that exhibit and benefit from the aforementioned superior characteristics.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrochromic solutions and devices manufactured therefrom. More particularly, the present invention relates to electrochemichromic solutions, and devices using the same, that demonstrate superior responsiveness to those solutions known heretofore when an applied potential is introduced thereto. That is, the responsiveness observed, in terms of solution coloring, is of a greater rapidity, intensity and uniformity than those prior art electrochemichromic solutions. In addition, the present invention relates to processes for preparing such novel solutions and processes for using these solutions to manufacture devices that exhibit the aforementioned superior characteristics and accordingly benefit therefrom.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Such solutions, and the devices manufactured therefrom, are known [see, e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,806,229 (Schoot), 3,280,701 (Donnelly), 3,451,741 (Manos) and 4,902,108 (Byker), commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,140,455 (Varaprasad), 5,142,407 (Varaprasad) and 5,151,816 (Varaprasad), and I. V. Shelepin, Electrokhimya, 13(3), 404-08 (March 1977)].
Typically, in the context of such devices, anodic compounds and cathodic compounds are placed together in a solvent to form a solution which is then placed within a cell housed by the device. When an applied potential is introduced to the device, the solution contained within colors thereby reducing the amount of light that is transmitted therethrough.
Although prior endeavors have proven satisfactory, an improvement in the rapidity, intensity and uniformity of the solution coloring would be advantageous inasmuch as the amount of light transmitted therethrough would further be decreased and the glare resulting from the face of those devices housing the solutions would also be decreased. Such an event would benefit those commercial applications currently employing solutions of this nature and would create new opportunities for commercial activity.
Thus, it would be desirable for an electrochemichromic solution to demonstrate an enhanced rapidity, intensity and uniformity of solution coloring when the solution is influenced by the introduction of an applied potential thereto. It would also be desirable to provide a process for preparing these solutions. It would further be desirable to provide a process for using these solutions. Finally, it would be desirable to provide a device manufactured with the electrochemichromic solutions of the present invention that benefits from the above-noted advantages of these solutions when employed therewith.

Electrochemichromic solutions, processes for preparing and using the same, and devices manufactured with the same


According to some embodiments, systems and methods for reshaping bone are provided. The systems may include an implant body, an actuator coupled to the implant body, a sensor configured to detect a parameter indicative of a biological condition, a transceiver, and a controller. The transceiver may be configured to transmit data associated with the parameter to an external remote control and receive instructions from the external remote control. Finally, the controller is configured to move the actuator in response to the instructions from the external remote control, wherein the actuator adjusts the implant body. The methods may include measuring a parameter indicative of a biological condition; transmitting data associated with the parameter from the implantable device to an external remote control; transmitting instructions from the external remote control to the implantable device; and actuating the bone growth device in response to the instructions from the external remote control.

The present invention relates to orthopaedic methods and devices for the gradual modification of bones or correction of bone deformities. In particular, the present invention relates to a variety of bone reshaping devices configured to perform procedures, including the lengthening of a bone, the shortening of a bone, the healing of a fracture, the changing of a bone angle, the rotation of a bone, the adjustment of the curvature or torsion of a bone, the realignment or repositioning of a joint or a vertebra, the reforming or supporting of the shape of the spinal column, or combinations thereof, all of which are considered species of "reshaping" as used herein. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods and systems concerning bone reshaping devices that can be externally adjusted based on measured parameters indicative of biological conditions.
External fixation devices, adjustable in length and angular attitude, are commonly utilized for correcting certain angular and longitudinal defects of long bones of limbs. Such fixation devices essentially comprise clamps which hold groups of bone screws inserted in the portions of the bone affected by defects, such clamps being slidably mounted on elements or guides longitudinally positionable externally to the limb to be treated.
The correction is normally carried out gradually with the aid of compression/distraction devices which act on the mobile clamps while the bone callous regenerates itself permitting its manipulation until the desired correction is obtained.
For example, in limb lengthening, the bone is commonly surgically divided into two segments, and wires and half pins are inserted into bone segments above and below the surgical hone cut and are attached to rings of a rigid framework interconnected by struts or telescopic connection rods. The rigid framework is used to gradually push the two bone segments apart longitudinally over a period of time (e.g., one millimeter a day). This allows the bone to gradually form in the gap between bone segments created by this distraction technique. Once the desired amount of lengthening is achieved 5-6 cm), the external apparatus is stabilized into a fixed position and left on the bone segments until complete mineralization of the newly formed bone occurs 3-6 months, depending on the nature of pathology and amount of lengthening).
Similarly, in deformity correction, the bone is surgically divided usually at the apex of the deformity) into two segments, and wires and half pins are inserted into bone segments above and below the surgical bone cut and attached to rings of a rigid framework. Opposite rings of the rigid framework are connected together by threaded rods with attached uni-planar or multi-planar hinges and angular distracters that are used to gradually push the two bone segments apart angularly over a period of time.
The use of such external fixation devices can present certain disadvantages. The external fixator can be unwieldy, painful for the patient, and also subjects the patient to the risk of pin track infections, joint stiffness, loss of appetite, depression, cartilage damage, and other side effects. Having the external fixator in place also delays the beginning of rehabilitation. In some circumstances, the visibility of the external fixator can lead to patient embarrassment or insecurity.
In response to these shortcomings, the art developed implantable devices that could be positioned under the skin and/or in bones. These devices were designed to correct bone deformities by applying force to bones, including compressive forces to promote healing, distractive forces to promote lengthening, and angular forces to change the angle/curvature of bones. Some desirable aspects of these implantable devices were that they could apply steady forces over defined periods of time, did not have external wires or rods that could bother the patient or cause pain, had reduced risks of infections, and were not readily visible.
Yet, even these implantable devices could have limitations as well in some cases. For example, because of their location under the skin, some implants could be difficult for care providers to observe, monitor, and adjust. As such, additional surgical procedures would sometimes be performed to incrementally adjust an implant as therapeutically required. The additional surgical procedures exposed patients to increased risks of infection, longer healing times, injury, and increased pain.
In other cases, even where adjustments to implants could be made through the skin, the therapeutic effects of the implant could be less than optimal. Under-application of force could lead to poor bone reformation and/or require longer recovery times. Over-application of force could lead to injury, further bone deformation, and also longer recovery times. Moreover, frequent visits to see a practitioner for adjustments could be time consuming or otherwise inconvenient for a patient.
Thus, notwithstanding the efforts of the prior art, there remains a need for an improved technology for controlling implantable bone reshaping devices in order to improve their performance and efficacy.

Remotely adjustable interactive bone reshaping implant


Apparatus having a harness including a first piece of a detachable connector. The first piece is configured to be attachable to and detachable from a second piece of the detachable connector. The harness is configured to be worn on the upper part of a body in a manner that enables it to support a garment worn on a lower part of the body.

Suspenders that hold a wearer's pants at waist level typically have a pair of straps that hang over the wearer's shoulders and connect to the pants at three or four points using fasteners.
Suspenders or straps are often used with outer pants that are worn over trousers, such as ski pants, fireman's pants, waders, and rain pants. Suspenders are useful to hold up the outer pants because the overgarments extend well above the waist of the wearer, making a belt uncomfortable or even useless. Over pants are often worn under heavy jackets or coats that must be removed before the undergarment (e.g., the pants) can be taken down. When suspenders are used to suspend pants under one or more outer garments (e.g., jackets, coats, parkas, raincoats), those outer garments often are removed before the pants can be lowered or removed because the suspenders usually attach to the pants in three or four places, one or more of which is typically at the rear of the wearer and hard to reach. For a wearer to lower the pants, the wearer removes the outer garments, passes his or her arms back through the suspenders, allowing the pants and suspenders to drop. If the floor is not clean, such as in a public restroom the suspenders may be soiled if they touch the floor.


A gas valve with electromagnetic actuation, in particular for use as a fuel injection valve for gas engines, includes a sealing element (7), actuable by way of an armature (12) of a controllable electromagnet (19), between a or each fuel inlet (4) and a or each fuel outlet (24), and at least one closing spring (8) acting on the sealing element (7). In order to achieve very short switching and response times while at the same time having a large passage cross-section, and thus to render the gas valve suitable also for use in multi-point systems and in supercharged engines, in particular gas engines for commercial vehicles, the gas valve is designed as a flat-seat valve with a plane valve seat (3) and a sealing element (7) with at least one plane sealing surface facing this valve seat.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gas valve with electromagnetic actuation, in particular to a fuel injection valve for gas engines, which includes a sealing element, actuable by way of an armature of a controllable electromagnet, between a or each fuel inlet and a or each fuel outlet, and at least one closing spring acting on the sealing element.
2. The Prior Art
In conventional gas engines based on the Otto principle, the fuel gas is admixed in the intake port and then supplied to the cylinders. Control valves and static mixers, for example, are used in this procedure. However, these systems are too unwieldy for systems with electronic fuel injection. Gas nozzles switched by way of magnets have therefore been used, these nozzles metering the fuel and producing a combustible mixture in the entire supply system. On account of the fact that the passage cross-sections are too small in conventional gas valves for use in commercial vehicles, it is necessary to bundle these gas valves, typically up to twelve of them, to obtain sufficient cross-sections (corresponding to the central injection which is customary in passenger vehicles). For this reason, gas engines, for example CNG (compressed natural gas), LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) or hydrogen engines, should also only be operated at present without supercharging, that is to say at atmospheric pressure, and typically achieve about 145 kW.
However, for improved controllability, better fuel utilization and more favorable pollutant emissions, preference is given to systems which operate with so-called sequential fuel injection (also known as multi-point injection or ported-gas admission) and supply each cylinder individually with its combustible mixture by way of separate injectors or valves. In this case, it is not necessary for a combustible mixture to be present in the entire intake system and the fuel injection mainly takes place during the intake cycle of the respective cylinder only. However, the valves known at present are unsuitable for use in such systems, since their passage cross-sections of not more than 4 to 5 mm.sup.2 are too small, so that, per cylinder, two valves would be needed in atmospheric engines and three valves in supercharged engines. However, this is scarcely possible for structural reasons. On the other hand, the requirement for a larger passage cross-section entails ever-greater difficulties as regards obtaining the required short switching times and the high metering precision necessary, resulting in a low average pressure especially in the idle range and part-load range.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a gas valve which has very short switching and response times and at the same time a large passage cross-section, and which is suitable also for use in multi-point systems or ported-gas-admission systems and in supercharged engines, in particular in gas engines for commercial vehicles. An additional object is therefore to provide lightweight and yet stable sealing elements which combine the necessary rapid mobility, through small electromagnets, with a sure sealing action.

Gas valve with electromagnetic actuation


A modulation apparatus for converting digital data having the basic data length equal to m bits into a variable length code (d, k; m, n; r) having the basic codeword length of n bits is disclosed. The apparatus includes an encoder 12 for determining the constraint length i of data supplied from a shift register 11, based upon m bits as a unit, a selector 13, plural conversion tables 14.sub.1 and an unfixed bit processing circuit 16.sub.1. The selector 13 selects one of the conversion tables 14.sub.1 based upon the constraint length i and transmits m.times.i bit data to the selected conversion table 14.sub.1, which then converts the m.times.i bit data into n.times.i bit codewords. The unfixed bit processing circuit 16.sub.1 sets a bit at a preset position of a codeword among the codewords which gives an infinite value of the maximum run, or a bit at a preset position of a codeword among the codewords which has the maximum number of consecutive "0"s from the least significant bit towards upper order side bits, as being an unfixed bit, and sets the unfixed bit to "1" if d or more "0"s are consecutive to the unfixed bit. With the present modulation apparatus, the minimum length between transitions T.sub.min may be enlarged as compared to that in EFM for increasing the recording density, while the maximum length of transitions T.sub.max may also be increased as compared to that for VFM.

This invention relates to a modulating method and a demodulating apparatus and, more particularly, to a modulating method for modulating data so as to be suited to transmission or recording of data on a recording medium and a demodulation apparatus for reproducing the data by demodulating the modulated coded data resulting from the demodulation.
When transmitting the data or recording the data on the recording medium, such as a magneto-optical disc or an optical disc, the data are modulated so as to be suited for transmission or recording. Block coding has been known as one of such modulating techniques. The block coding consists of blocking an input data string into units (data words) each consisting of m.times.1 bits and translating the data words into codewords, each consisting of n.times.1 bits, in accordance with an appropriate coding rule. The block coding becomes a fixed length code if i=1 and becomes a variable length code if i may assume multiple values, that is if i>1, with the maximum value of i being i.sub.max =r). The code produced by block coding is termed the variable length code (d, k; m, n; r), where i is termed a constraint length, with i.sub.max being equal to the maximum constraint length r, d is the minimum number of the same consecutive symbols, that is a so-called minimum run of O's, and k is the maximum number of the same consecutive symbols, that is a so-called maximum run of O's.
When recording the variable length code on, for example, an optical disc, it is modulated into so-called non-return to zero code (NRZ code) and recorded based upon the NRZ modulated variable length code, referred to hereinafter as the recording waveform data string. With the minimum length between transitions and the maximum length between transitions of the recording waveform data string being T.sub.min and T.sub.max, respectively, it is desirable from the viewpoint of the recording density that the minimum length between transitions T.sub.min be long, that is that the minimum run d be large, while it is desirable from the viewpoint of clock reproduction and jitter that the maximum length between transitions T.sub.max be short, that is that the maximum run k be small. A variety of modulation methods have been proposed with which the above conditions are met.
In the case of an optical disc having audio data recorded thereon, that is a so-called compact disc (CD), a so-called eight-to-fourteen modulation (EFM) is employed. This modulation method is a variable length code (2, 10; 8, 17; 1) in which, if the interval between bits (bit length) of the recording waveform data string is T, the minimum length, between transitions T.sub.min is (2+1)T or 3T. If the interval between bits of the data string is T1, the minimum length between transitions T.sub.1min is ((8/17).times.3)T.sub.1 or 1.41T.sub.1. In the following description, the indication of the bit length T is directly followed by the bracketed indication of the corresponding bit length T.sub.1. The maximum length between transitions T.sub.max (T.sub.1max) is 11T (5.18T.sub.1,), while the window margin T.sub.W, which stands for the allowable jitter, is represented as (m/n).times.T, and has a value equal to (8/17)T or 0.47T. With such a CD, it may be contemplated to diminish the minimum pit length corresponding to the minimum length between transitions T.sub.min (T.sub.1max) on the optical disc. However, if the minimum pit length becomes excessively shorter than the spot size of the laser beam, it becomes difficult to detect the pits so that errors tend to be produced. On the other hand, limitations are imposed on increasing the recording density by diminishing the wavelength of the laser light source for diminishing the spot size.
With the above in view, there has also been developed a modulation method whereby the minimum pit length on the optical disc, that is the minimum length between transitions T.sub.min (T.sub.1min), may be increased without diminishing the information volume.
For example, as shown in table 1, there has also been proposed a variable length code (4, 22; 2, 5; 5) in which the minimum length between transitions T.sub.min is increased to 5T (2T.sub.1) for increasing the recording density as compared to EFM. This modulation method is referred to hereinafter as variable five modulation (VFM). With the VFM, the maximum length between transitions T.sub.max (T.sub.1max) increased to 23T (9.2T.sub.1,) as compared to the maximum length between transitions T.sub.max (T.sub.1max) of EFM which is equal to 11T (5.18T.sub.1,). That is, the VFM is not advantageous from the viewpoint of clock reproduction and jitter and renders the designing of the apparatus difficult.
TABLE 1a ______________________________________ data words code words ______________________________________ i=1 11 00000 10 10000 111111 00001 00001 00000 ii=2 0111 01000 00000 0110 00100 00000 0101 00010 00000 0100 00001 00000 i=3 001111 01000 01000 00000 001110 01000 00100 00000 001101 01000 00010 00000 001100 01000 00001 00000 001011 00010 00001 00000 001010 00100 00100 00000 001001 00100 00010 00000 001000 00100 00001 00000 000111 00010 00010 00000 i=4 00011011 01000 01000 01000 00000 00011010 01000 01000 00100 00000 00011001 01000 01000 00010 00000 00011000 01000 01000 00001 00000 00010111 01000 00010 00001 00000 00010110 01000 00100 00100 00000 00010101 01000 00100 00010 00000 00010100 01000 00100 00001 00000 00010011 01000 00010 00010 00000 00010010 00100 00100 00100 00000 00010001 00100 00100 00010 00000 00010000 00100 00100 00001 00000 00001111 00010 00001 00001 00000 00001110 00100 00001 00001 00000 00001101 00100 00010 00010 00000 00001100 00100 00010 00001 00000 00001011 01000 00001 00001 00000 00001010 00001 00001 00001 00000 00001001 00010 00010 00010 00000 00001000 00010 00010 00001 00000 ______________________________________
TABLE 1b ______________________________________ data words code words ______________________________________ i=5 0000011111 01000 01000 01000 01000 00000 0000011110 01000 01000 01000 00100 00000 0000011101 01000 01000 01000 00010 00000 0000011100 01000 01000 01000 00001 00000 0000011011 01000 01000 00010 00001 00000 0000011010 01000 01000 00100 00100 00000 0000011001 01000 01000 00100 00010 00000 0000011000 01000 01000 00100 00001 00000 0000010111 01000 01000 00010 00010 00000 0000010110 01000 00100 00100 00100 00000 0000010101 01000 00100 00100 00010 00000 0000010100 01000 00100 00100 00001 00000 0000010011 01000 00010 00001 00001 00000 0000010010 01000 00100 00001 00001 00000 0000010001 01000 00100 00010 00010 00000 0000010100 01000 00100 00010 00001 00000 0000001111 01000 01000 00001 00001 00000 0000001110 01000 00001 00001 00001 00000 0000001101 01000 00010 00010 00010 00000 0000001100 01000 00010 00010 00001 00000 0000001011 00100 00100 00010 00010 00000 0000001010 00100 00100 00100 00100 00100 0000001001 00100 00100 00100 00010 00000 0000001000 00100 00100 00100 00001 00000 0000000111 00100 00100 00010 00001 00000 0000000110 00100 00100 00001 00001 00100 0000000101 00100 00010 00010 00010 00000 0000000100 00100 00010 00010 00001 00000 0000000011 00100 00100 00010 00001 00000 0000000010 00100 00100 00001 00001 00000 0000000001 00100 00010 00010 00010 00000 0000000000 00100 00010 00010 00001 00000 00010 00001 00001 00001 00000 00001 00001 00001 00001 00000 SYNC for mod2to4d5 ASYNC 23T 21T 6T BSYNC 21T 23T 6T ______________________________________
In other words, although it is necessary to increase the minimum length between transitions T.sub.min for increasing the recording density, it is necessary to reduce the maximum length between transitions T.sub.max simultaneously to as small a value as possible in order to assure the operating reliability of the apparatus. That is, a smaller value of the ratio of the maximum length between transitions to the minimum length between transitions is desirable. Specifically, the ratio T.sub.max /T.sub.min =11T/3T=3.67 for EFM, while the same ratio for VFM is 23T/5T=4.60.
In sum, while it is necessary to increase the minimum length between transitions T.sub.min (T.sub.1min), that is the minimum run d, of the variable length code produced on modulation in order to increase the recording density for a recording medium, such as an optical disc, the maximum length between transitions T.sub.max (T.sub.1max), that is the maximum run k, is undesirably increased with the conventional modulation methods.

Modulating method and demodulating apparatus


A pocket for a garment adapted to removably receive an object having appendages partially visible therein, wherein the pocket is a panel of flexible yieldable material which has a top and sides, with openings therethrough, and the object may be inserted into the pocket with its appendages extending through the top and a side opening. The pocket may have a bottom side parallel to the top side and opposed parallel sides and tapered sides between the parallel sides and bottom side, and openings through the tapered sides. The garment may have graphic indicia arranged on it and the object, when secured in the pocket, forms a part of the graphic indicia.

This invention relates to a combination garment pocket and object and is more particularly directed to such an assemblage for use by or with a child or other person which provides a novel display and carrying means for an object, such as a toy like a stuffed animal or a doll, or other item.
In fashion people are always seeking clever means for displaying an item on a garment. Particularly, small children are usually interested in toys, such as stuffed animals, like a teddy bear, or a doll or a special toy, like a model car, and are even more fascinated when there is an out of the ordinary or unique means for displaying and carrying such a object. The present invention consists of a novel pocket arrangement for a garment combined with such an item, which is held and displayed in a surprising way and is particularly useful to entertain a child.
A typical garment embodying the invention may consist of a Tee shirt or other garment which has secured on it a special shaped pocket. This pocket may be sewn on opposite edges, but is specially constructed to provide slits for receiving therein a toy or other object which is held in the pocket and removable therefrom, but where the slits and pocket are specially sized and arranged to hold the toy or other object but yet keep it visible and accessible and removable from the pocket. The pocket and the object must be constructed to permit the object to be carried and easily removable from and insertable into the pocket, and where the object in the pocket is visible, particularly in the case of a toy, to the child.
The object in the pocket may also form a three dimensional part of an overall design in combination with a two dimensional picture or graphic arranged on the garment and pocket. For example, the garment and pocket may have a scene printed on it and the three dimensional object may fit into the pocket and form a part of the illustration, such as a jungle scene which shows a tree branch printed on the garment and a teddy bear nested in the tree branch.
The object is preferably of an animal or humanoid form, such as a stuffed animal or doll, and must be of a size and shape to be removably secured in the pocket (and, of course, a toy car or the like can be similarly constructed for removable securement in the pocket). Preferably, the pocket and the object are of a soft fabric-like material, so that fabric-like pocket material may be slightly stretched and the soft object may be slightly compressed to accommodate the object in the pocket. PG,4


Compounds that inhibit or reduce glucose transport and methods of using the compounds to treat cancer are provided herein.

The Warburg effect, or upregulated glycolysis, is a near-universal hallmark of cancer cells. Because of the increasing demands for biomaterials and energy generated during rapid cell proliferation, cancer cells rely on upregulating glycolysis. As a result, cancer cells are much more sensitive to changes in glucose concentration and glucose metabolism than normal cells.
Basal glucose transporters (GLUTs) function as glucose channels and are required for maintaining the basic glucose needs of cells. These GLUTs are constitutively expressed and functional in cells and are not regulated by (or sensitive to) insulin. All cells use both glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria but rely overwhelmingly on oxidative phosphorylation when oxygen is abundant, switching to glycolysis at times of oxygen deprivation (hypoxia), as occurs in cancer. In glycolysis, glucose is converted to pyruvate and 2 ATP molecules are generated in the process. Cancer cells, because of their faster proliferation rates, are predominantly in a hypoxic (low oxygen) state. Therefore, cancer cells use glycolysis (lactate formation) as their predominant glucose metabolism pathway. Such a glycolytic switch not only gives cancer higher potentials for metastasis and invasiveness, but also increases cancer's vulnerability to external interference in glycolysis since cancer cells are "addicted" to glucose and glycolysis. The reduction of basal glucose transport is likely to restrict glucose supply to cancer cells, leading to glucose deprivation that forces cancer cells to slow down growth or to starve.

Glucose transport inhibitors and methods of using same


A hydraulically actuated clutch release system for a motor vehicle friction clutch, including a piston-cylinder unit oriented concentrically to a transmission input shaft, whereby the cylinder is fastened to the transmission housing, and has the cylinder chamber for the piston between an inner and an outer cylinder shell. The piston itself is guided inside a guide element surrounded by the outer cylinder shell. The outer cylinder shell, next to the guide element, has at least one retaining member which can be brought into contact with the guide element, and through which retaining member the guide element can be secured against participation in the movement of the piston during the engagement and release of the clutch. In this case, when there is a change in the axial position of the piston caused by wear in the friction clutch, the action of the retaining member can be suppressed for a displacement of the guide element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a hydraulically actuated clutch release system for a motor vehicle friction clutch, including a piston-cylinder unit oriented concentrically to a transmission input shaft, whereby the cylinder of the piston-cylinder unit is fastened to the transmission housing, and between an inner and outer cylinder shell has the cylinder chamber for the piston, the shell of which is at least partly surrounded by a guide element.
2. Background Information
German Utility Model No. 93 13 557 discloses a clutch release system such as that described immediately above. Fastened to the piston of this clutch release system is a guide element which surrounds the piston, and which guides the piston in a sealed manner with respect to the external cylinder shell. Therefore, the guide element must essentially project in the axial direction a sufficient distance beyond the piston, so that this sealed connection can also remain reliably effective when the piston of a new friction clutch travels by, or over, its maximal extension out of the cylinder chamber.
Starting from this first extreme position, the piston executes a stroke into the cylinder chamber to engage the friction clutch. When there is wear in the friction clutch, accompanied by the corresponding action of the application spring of the friction clutch, the piston is also pushed deeper into the cylinder chamber, until the piston finally reaches a second extreme position. In the second extreme position, when the friction clutch is completely worn, the piston has reached its maximum depth of insertion into the cylinder chamber.
Because the length of the guide element is specified, or dictated, by addition, or superposition, of the stroke and wear travel of the piston, when determining the dimensions of the cylinder chamber in the axial direction, either the stroke distance of the piston must essentially be limited or a ring-like axial recess must essentially be formed on the cylinder housing radially outside a rotary shaft lip seal, into which recess the guide element can be inserted. The first-named measure, namely a limitation of the stroke distance of the piston, is usually not possible, since the stroke distance is specified as, or dictated by, a function of the design and layout of the friction clutch. The creation of a ring-like recess, as specified or dictated by the second measure can often be impossible in motor vehicles, in which, as a result of the design, there is essentially no space available for such a recess. Consequently, this known clutch release system can be unsuitable if a long piston stroke is demanded in a motor vehicle, where there is generally not much space available.

Hydraulically actuated clutch release system


Reducing kink in the leading edge portion of tempered flat glass sheets by applying a downward flow of air across the entire width of the leading edge portion of the upper surface only of the glass sheet as the sheet passes the boundary region between the exit of a furnace or heating area and the entrance into a cooling area where both upper and lower surfaces of the sheet are cooled throughout their entire extent to impart at least a partial temper to the sheet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the tempering of flat glass sheets and particularly glass sheets that are produced on a gas hearth of the type depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 3,332,759 to McMaster et al or U.S. Pat. No. 3,223,501 to Fredley et al. However, the present invention is also suitable for use in tempering flat glass sheets using a roller type conveyor of the type depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,488 to Pytel et al.
The present invention particularly relates to the tempering of flat glass sheets that have at least one dimension exceeding about 3.3 feet (1 meter). Glass sheets that are supported horizontally or substantially horizontally tend to develop a kink or curl at their leading edge. This upward curl is noticeable even when associated with relatively small glass sheets. However, when tempering glass sheets having one or more dimensions greater than about 3.3 feet (1 meter), the leading edge of the glass sheet develops an enlarged, upward curl. In such larger glass sheets and in sheets of smaller dimension heated on a gas hearth, the leading edge curl is usually sufficiently severe to cause the glass sheet to depart from the flat shape desired by an amount sufficient for the glass to be outside tolerance requirements. Such severe edge curl leads to customer rejects. Leading edge curl is the deviation from flatness of the glass sheet measured in the direction of its thickness in its initial one foot (30 centimeters) of length.
In well-known commercial procedures for tempering glass sheets, the sheets are first heated to a temperature corresponding substantially to the softening point of the glass and then are chilled rapidly to a temperature below the annealing range of the glass to impart a temper. Coventionally, the sheet is heated while transported through an enclosed hot atmosphere of a furnace and propelled forwardly through the furnace exit into a cooling station comprising upper and lower plenums which flush the opposite surfaces of the sheet with streams of suitable tempering medium, such as air under predetermined pressure applied through arrays of nozzles which chill the glass and impart the desired stress patterns therein. Cooling air is directed against the opposite surfaces of the sheet while the sheet moves between the upper and lower plenums in order to impart the temper desired.
It is also well known to differentially cool the upper and lower surfaces to either induce warpage or reduce the amount of warpage that results from the thermal treatment of the moving glass sheets. Warpage has been controlled both transverse to the direction of glass sheet travel and parallel to the direction of glass sheet travel by differential heating and/or cooling of the opposite surfaces.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,245,772 to Cypher et al discloses warping of a glass sheet by differentially heating its opposite major surfaces followed by cooling differentially to reduce the curvature or warpage induced by differential heating.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,396,000 to Carson et al discloses the use of blowers in the region intermediate a furnace exit and an entrance to a cooling station to induce a transverse curvature about an axis of glass sheet movement by applying blasts of cooling air downward through a plurality of obliquely disposed air delivery pipes. The pipes face the side edge portions only of glass sheets passing therebeneath.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,497,340 to Dennison et al discloses a technique for controlling the onset of longitudinal warpage to facilitate the passage of a glass sheet to be bent to a compound shape between upper and lower arrays of nozzles before the compound shape takes place so as to enable the glass sheet to be suitably cooled between upper and lower blasts of cooling medium applied through said nozzles.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,522,029 to Carson et al discloses the shaping of a glass sheet to a preselected curvature by differentially chilling one of its surfaces from the central area toward an edge area.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,488 to Pytel et al discloses a technique for reducing upward curl at the leading edge of a glass sheet conveyed through a heated area and a cooling area by applying a cooling medium toward a portion of the lower surface of the glass sheet only in spaced relation to its leading edge. This application is started after the glass sheet leaves the furnace and before the glass portion reaches a position where both its upper and lower surfaces are cooled by exposure to opposing blasts of tempering medium. The entire length of glass sheet except for the leading one foot or so of length is subjected to this differential cooling treatment.

Controlling kinking of tempered glass sheets


A method for replying to a DHCP request packet is provided which allows a DHCP server to forward its reply packet directly back to the requester, thus permitting a gateway or similar device to make a DHCP request on behalf of a client. A reply to sender options field in the DHCP request packet is used to signify when the reply packet should be sent directly back to the requester. The method includes: examining the reply to sender field; extracting an address from the giaddr field if a flag in the reply to sender field is not set; forwarding a reply packet to said address extracted from the giaddr field if the flag in the reply to sender field is not set and said giaddr field is not empty; broadcasting a reply packet over a local subnet if the flag in the reply to sender field is not set and said giaddr field is empty; extracting a source network address from the source network address field if the flag in the reply to sender field is set; and forwarding a reply packet to said source network address if the flag in the reply to sender field is set.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) used in conjunction with large scale data communications networks such as the Internet. More particularly, the present invention relates to utilizing a DHCP server to allocate dynamic network addresses to various devices, rather than just to dial-up users.
2. The Background
As shown in FIG. 1, the Internet, or any large data communications network, 10 may be described as a group of interconnected computing networks (not shown) that are tied together through a backbone 12. The computing networks, in turn, provide access points, such as access points 14, 16 and 18, through which users may connect to the Internet via a station (a computer having a connection to a network) or host, such as hosts 20, 22, 24, and 26. An access point is essentially a location on the Internet that permits access to the Internet. An access point may include a modem pool (not shown) maintained by an ISP (Internet Services Provider) which enables its subscribers to obtain Internet access through a host having a dial-up connection. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other types of access methods may be provided by an ISP such as frame relay, leased lines, ATM (asynchronous transfer mode), ADSL, and the like.
Regardless of the access method used, each device (e.g., a host or router) that receives, sends and/or routes information between or among other devices on Internet 10 is configured to communicate with other devices using a communication protocol that may be understood by the other devices. The current communication protocol used by these devices on the Internet is TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/internet protocol). In addition, each device that can send or receive information (e.g., a host device) must also have a unique host address. The type of host address used for the Internet, or an equivalent switched network that uses TCP/IP, is commonly referred to as an IP address. A standard TCP/IP address in accordance with current standards is 4 bytes (32 bits) in length, providing a total of 232 possible IP addresses. Those of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that not all of these possible IP addresses are available due to administrative expediencies, such as reserving blocks of IP addresses for future use.
Sending or receiving information using the TCP/IP protocol requires encapsulating information into packets. Each packet includes a header and a payload. The header contains information related to the handling of the payload by a receiving host or routing device, while the payload contains part or all of the user information. The information in the header includes the sender""s and the recipient""s addresses and is used to route the packet through the Internet until the packet is received by a host having an IP address that matches the packet""s destination address (when referring to the source IP address and destination IP address of a packet, the source IP address and destination IP address are commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cSAxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cDAxe2x80x9d, respectively). This enables users to accurately send and receive information with each other through their respective host computers.
By implementing a protocol common to all devices using Internet 10, users may send and receive information with other users on the Internet in a seamless manner regardless of geographic location or the type of host and/or interconnected network used.
The dramatic increase in popularity of the Internet in recent years has created a concern about the number of available IP addresses under the current standard (known as IP v.4). ISPs and domains are generally allocated a finite number of IP addresses. The ISPs and domains, therefore, are constantly looking for ways to limit the number of IP addresses they use while still providing access to the greatest number of users.
One solution for mitigating the effect of the number of users requiring host addresses is to dynamically allocate host addresses for users who do not have dedicated connections to the Internet, such as users who use dial-up access methods to connect to an ISP. Dynamic allocation of IP addresses entails having a pool of IP addresses, such as IP address pool, from which an ISP can draw from each time a valid subscriber (who does not use a dedicated connection or a connection that does not have a framed IP address, i.e., a static IP address) seeks to access the Internet. Once the subscriber logs on to an ISP and is properly authenticated, the ISP allocates an IP address for use by the user. This task is normally performed by a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server or service existing at the ISP (or other local segment of the Internet).
Upon log-off, the DHCP server releases the assigned/allocated IP address, rendering that IP address available for subsequent use by another user. In this way, a set of IP addresses can be used to provide access to a number of users that exceed the number of IP address comprising the IP address pool, assuming that at any given time the number of users seeking to log-on and obtain dynamic IP addresses is less than or equal to the number of IP address available in the IP address pool.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the format of a DHCP message. Message 50 includes an op field 52, which indicates whether the message is a request or a reply. An htype field 54 indicates the hardware address type. An hlen field 56 indicates the hardware address length. An hops field 58 is initially sent to zero by the client and is used by relay-agents. An xid field 60 indicates the transaction ID, which is a random number chosen by the client and used to associate messages with responses. A secs field 62 indicates the elapsed time (in seconds) since the client started trying to boot. The flags field 64 includes a number of different flags utilized by the client and server. The ciaddr field 66 indicates the client""s IP address. The yiaddr field 68 indicates the offered or assigned temporary IP address. The siaddr field 70 is used to indicate the next server in a bootstrap. A bootstrap is a network of devices utilizing a bootstrap protocol, such as BOOTP (Bootstrap Protocol). The bootstrap protocol allows the devices to deliver assigned IP addresses and dynamically configure software to remote devices. The siaddr field 70 would then indicate the next server or device in the bootstrap. A giaddr field 72 indicates the relay agent""s (if any) IP address. A chaddr field 74 indicates the client hardware address. Sname field 76 indicates an optional server host name. Afile field 78 indicates a boot file name or options to be used by the client. Finally, a variable length options field 80 may utilize a number of predefined options, while allowing for new options to be created.
A subnet is an independent division of a network interconnected with the network. If a client is on the same sub-net as the DHCP server, the DHCP server simply broadcasts its reply, as every host on the local subnet can receive the broadcast. However, in large networks such as the Internet, a DHCP request packet is not directly sent from a client on the local subnet. Instead, the packet is indirectly passed from the client to the DHCP server through the use of relay agents or servers. In this case, the DHCP server will send its reply packet to the address found in the giaddr field 72, which is the address of the last relay agent or server. This relay agent or server will then pass the reply packet along to other relay agents or servers until it eventually reaches the client. However, the giaddr field 72 also is used as the subnet ID, which is depended upon by a DHCP server in allocating an IP address. The DHCP server will allocate an IP address that has the same subnet as the giaddr field 72. There may be times when this may create problems. For example, if one wants to allocate an IP address that has a different subnet from that of the relay agent, one will be unable to do so since both must match the giaddr field 72. Additionally, if a gateway is utilized to request an IP address for a user, the gateway may be utilizing the giaddr field 72 for IP pool identification, or other purposes. Finally, if the gateway requested the IP address, it is preferable to send the reply packet back directly to the gateway rather than to the client on whose behalf the gateway made the request. There may be other instances where it is inappropriate to send the reply packet to the address in the giaddr field 72 because either the field does not accurately reflect a destination which allows the packet to get back to the requestor, or the field is utilized for other purposes. It is therefore preferable to have a solution which allows the DHCP server to send the reply packet directly back to the requester.
A method for replying to a DHCP request packet is provided which allows a DHCP server to forward its reply packet directly back to the requester, thus permitting a gateway or similar device to make a DHCP request on behalf of a client. A reply to sender options field in the DHCP request packet is used to signify when the reply packet should be sent directly back to the requester. The method includes: examining the reply to sender field; extracting an address from the giaddr field if a flag in the reply to sender field is not set; forwarding a reply packet to said address extracted from the giaddr field if the flag in the reply to sender field is not set and said giaddr field is not empty; broadcasting a reply packet over a local subnet if the flag in the reply to sender field is not set and said giaddr field is empty; extracting a source network address from the source network address field if the flag in the reply to sender field is set; and forwarding a reply packet to said source network address if the flag in the reply to sender field is set.
A DHCP server is also provided for performing the method indicated above. The DHCP server includes: a reply to sender field examiner; a giaddr field extractor coupled to said reply to sender field examiner if the reply to sender field is not set; a reply packet broadcaster coupled to said giaddr field extractor if said giaddr field is empty; a reply packet forwarder coupled to said giaddr field extractor if said giaddr field is not empty and the reply to sender field is not set; a source network address extractor coupled to said reply to sender field examiner if the reply to sender field is set; and said reply packet forwarder coupled to said source network address extractor if the reply to sender field is set. A system including the DHCP server is also provided.


A continuous process for heating a fluid by recovering heat from a heated, pumpable aqueous slurry of granular material wherein the slurry is passed through an indirect heat exchanger to heat the fluid and then passed to a second indirect heat exchanger to preheat water for forming of further heated, pumpable slurry, with the slurry next passed to a third indirect heat exchanger to heat makeup water to the system and then to a thickener wherein the granular material is separated and the water recovered from the thickener is returned to the system.

The present invention is concerned with the recovery of heat from hot granular solids, such as sand. In chemical processing, numerous processes exist wherein a granular material, such as sand, is heated during the processing and, with the present day energy requirements, efforts need to be made to recover heat from such solids prior to their discharge from a system.
For example, in the processing of bitumen containing oil sands, such as by solvent extraction, large quantities of hot sand are discharged from the extraction system. Recovery of heat from such solids is important in providing an economical and energy-efficient system. Such heat may, for example, be used to heat the process streams or solvents used in the extraction of the oil from the sand, or in other steps of the process.
An example of a system wherein the present process is especially useful is the process for extraction of bitumen from oil-bearing sand described in copending application Ser. No. 41,769 filed May 23, 1979 in the name of George B. Karnofsky, one of the present inventors, entitled "Method of and Apparatus for the Continuous Solvent Extraction of Bitumen from Oil-Bearing Sand," and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the contents of said application being incorporated by reference herein. In the process described in said copending application, the hot, wet bitumen free sand, prior to discarding, is processed to recover the heat therefrom, the recovered heat used to heat the sand slurry that is to be subjected to extraction and oil separation to the desired process temperature.
Other uses of the present heat recovery process would, of course, be known to those skilled in the art relating to processing of hot granular materials that can be formed into a pumpable slurry.

Method of recovering heat from hot granular solids


A memory module includes an error correction logic to provide data error protection for data stored in the memory module. The error correction logic is selectively controllable between an enabled state and a disabled state. Data stored in the memory module is without error protection provided by the memory module if the error correction logic is in the disabled state.

In an electronic device, a memory module can be used to store data and machine-readable instructions. A memory module can be implemented using a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), flash memory, or another type of memory. To protect data stored in the memory, error detection and correction can be performed. Error detection and correction can be based on error correction codes that are stored in conjunction with data.

Memory module having error correction logic

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP


An enclosure for use with an injection site in which the penetrating member, such as a needle, is at all times maintained within a protective shroud that protects the user from accidental needle sticks and contamination during use.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to medical infusion and fluid sampling devices. More particularly, the invention concerns a safety enclosure for enclosing a hollow member, such as a hypodermic needle, or blunt cannula adapted for use with one or more injection sites disposed between two lengths of small plastic tubing.
2. Discussion of the Invention
Needle sticks have become an extremely serious problem. Approximately 40 percent of all pharmaceuticals used in hospitals are now administered by injection, either directly or through injection sites. Similarly, blood or other fluid sampling using hypodermic syringes and evacuated chambers has become common place. Accordingly, health-care workers are continuously exposed to needle sticks and to contaminated blood. Statistics show that most needle sticks occur during recapping of used needles, picking up and carrying the needle, placing needles in a receptacle, or when needles are inadvertently left at a patient's bedside.
Hepatitis-B has long been of great concern to clinicians. This concern was meaningfully addressed only after the recent epidemic of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). As pointed out in the Aug. 4, 1988 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, 319:284-288, the epidemic of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome has led to great concern among health-care workers about all of the various risks they face in the hospital environment. Needle-stick injuries, in particular, have drawn attention, for despite safety guidelines and employee education, there is little evidence that their incidence is abating. While transmission of human immunodeficiency virus is unusual after a needle stick, nevertheless, infections in health-care workers have been attributed to this type of exposure. The potential medical and psychological consequences of needle sticks for health-care workers and their spouses or sexual partners remain great.
Studies concerning needle-stick injuries indicate that disposable syringes accounted for about 35 percent of the injuries and needle assemblies for another 26 percent. These types of devices are typically used in connection with the methods and apparatus for fluid administration and blood or other fluid sampling. More particularly, these types of devices are used in connection with an apparatus for arterial and venous blood sampling of the character sold by Abbott Laboratories of Mountain View, Calif., Telos Medical of Upland, Calif., or Concord/Portex of Keene, N.H. Additionally, one form of the device of the invention is uniquely usable with an improved apparatus for arterial and venous blood sampling invented by the present inventor and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,648.
Each of the commercially devices described in the preceding paragraph comprises an injection site including a body having a fluid chamber and spaced apart fluid ports adapted to be connected to plastic tubing. The upper chamber is adapted to be sealed by a septum penetratable by a penetration member such as a blunt cannula or a needle of a syringe. As will be better understood from the description which follows, the device of the present invention is usable with the devices of the character just described and uniquely carries a penetration member disposed interiorly of a novel shroud portion which is adapted to be closely received over the body of the injection site and interlocked to the tubing. Following the injection or sample step, the skirt portion can be quickly unlocked from the tubing, removed from the body and safely sealed by a novel interlocking closure cap.


A capacitive humidity sensor includes a first electrode, a humidity sensitive dielectric layer, and a second electrode. The humidity sensitive dielectric layer is between the first and the second electrodes. The humidity sensitive dielectric layer is etched at selected regions to form hollow regions between the first and second electrodes.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to the field of humidity sensors. The present disclosure relates in particular to a capacitive humidity sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Humidity sensing is important in many fields. In many applications it is beneficial to control the humidity level. In other applications it is beneficial simply to know what the humidity level is. In many manufacturing settings it is important that the relative humidity not rise above a certain level or the products being manufactured may be adversely affected. In many scientific settings the relative humidity is taken into account while performing experiments. When processing certain types of integrated circuits the humidity level may be closely monitored or controlled both in the clean room settings as well as in the various deposition chambers and processing equipment.
Humidity sensors come in a variety of forms. Humidity sensors can include resistive humidity sensors, thermal conduction humidity sensors, capacitive humidity sensors, and others. Humidity sensors can also be manufactured using thin film techniques. Thin film technology has reduced the size and cost of humidity sensors. However, humidity sensors with specific design requirements for particular applications may yet be very expensive.

Tunable humidity sensor with integrated heater

STMicroelectronics Asia Pacific Pte Ltd.


In an example embodiments, a single signal-to-differential signal converter includes a first inverter for receiving and inverting a single input signal and outputting an inverted single input signal to a first node, and a first differential signal generating portion for generating a first signal and an inverted first signal which have the opposite phases to each other to second and third nodes in response to the single input signal. The single signal-to-differential signal converter further includes a second differential signal generating portion for generating a second signal and an inverted second signal which have the opposite phases to each other to the second and third nodes in response to the inverted single input signal, wherein the single signal-to-differential signal converter outputs differential signals such that the first and second signals applied to the second node are merged by a phase interpolation and the inverted first and second signals applied to the third node are merged by a phase interpolation.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to a Single Signal-to-Differential Signal (SS-DS) converter, and more particularly, to a SS-DS converter and a SS-DS converting method which uses a phase interpolation method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A SS-DS converter is a device which receives a single signal as an input signal and outputs two differential signals which have opposite phases to each other, and it is represented by a phase splitter or a phase divider.
Many signals are used in a semiconductor device, and these signals are used as a single signal or a differential signal according to a need. When the single signal is used, there are advantages in that a circuit configuration is simplified and power consumption is low, and so most of the semiconductor devices use the single signal as a basic signal. However, the single signal changes an amount of electrical current consumption according to a signal level and causes induced electromotive force by the parasitic inductance in a power line through which electrical power is supplied. The induced electromotive force is a sort of a noise, and it reduces a voltage margin and a time margin of a signal to restrict an operating speed of a semiconductor device.
On the other hand, the differential signal has constant power consumption, and so using the differential signal can reduce a noise much more than using the single signal. Using the differential signal, it is easy to remove a noise from a signal by using a circuit such as a differential amplifier which amplifies the difference between two signals. The differential signal is used to control a switch of a pipeline, to control a double data rate signaling, or to control a transmission gate of a circuit. When serial data are transferred to an output terminal by sampling parallel data in a SDRAM by using a rising edge and a falling edge of the same output clock like a double data rate SDRAM, only the differential signal can be used as the output clock. However, since in case of the differential signal, two differential signals of the same function should be used, and power consumption is high. Therefore, since power consumption is too high if the differential signal is used to represent all signals of the semiconductor device, the typical semiconductor device uses the single signal as a basic signal and generates and uses the differential signal according to a need. Therefore, many semiconductor devices require a SS-DS converter which converts the single signal to the differential signal when the differential signal is required. Here, the single signal and the differential signal can represent all digital signals such as a clock signal and a data signal.
The performance of the SS-DS converter is relative to the performance of a device in which the SS-DS converter is used and is determined by whether to perform a high speed operation, a skew, a slope of a signal, a duty rate, low power consumption, and the layout area size. The skew denotes a delay time difference that the single signal is applied and the differential signal is outputted. The SS-DS converter receives the single signal and outputs two output signals whose phases are opposite and delay times are same as the differential signals. If a skew which is a delay time difference occurs between the two output signals, an operating time difference occurs in circuits which respectively receive the outputs to operate, and thus it is difficult to perform a normal operation. The slope of the signal relates a time of a rising/falling transition of the differential signal, and if the slope of the signal is small, a timing margin that the circuits which use the differential signal can detect the signal is reduced, whereby a stable operation can not be secured, and power consumption is increased in a CMOS circuit configuration. The duty rate represents a time rate occupied by a certain level during one cycle of a signal of a pulse form. When the signal used for a circuit synchronization such as a clock signal, it is preferable that the duty rate of the signal is set to 50% so that a time of a high level state and a time of a low level state are equal. However, since a PMOS transistor and an NMOS transistor which are usually used in the semiconductor device have a difference in operating characteristics, the duty rate of the signal may often be distorted. A circuit which has received the distorted signal can normally operate only when it operates according to a level having a shorter time among signal levels.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating a SS-DS converter according to a conventional art. The SS-DS converter of FIG. 1 comprises a plurality of inverters Inv1 to Inv5. The two inverters Inv1 and Inv4 constitute a first path through which an input signal sig_in is received and delayed during a predetermined time period, and then a first output signal sig_out is outputted. The three inverters Inv2, Inv3 and Inv5 constitute a second path through which the input signal sig_in is received, delayed during a predetermined period and inverted, and then a second output signal sig_outB having the opposite phase to the input signal sig_in. The first output signal sig_out and the second output signal sig_outB are differential signals which have the opposite phase to each other.
In FIG. 1, since the first path comprises the two inverters Inv1 and Inv4 and the second path comprises the three inverters Inv2, Inv3 and Inv5, and thus the delay times of the first and second paths differ from each other. Since the delay times of the first and second paths differ from each other, the skew occurs between the first output signal sig_out and the second output signal sig_outB, so that a circuit which receives the differential signals sig_out and sig_outB outputted from the SS-DS converter may not operate normally. Therefore, there is a need for removing the skew between the first output signal sig_out and the second output signal sig_outB.
In FIG. 1, in order to remove the skew between the first and second output signals sig_out and sig_outB, the first inverter Inv1 has a different configuration from the other inverters Inv2 to Inv5. That is, used is a delay matching method in which a delay time difference between the first and second output signals sig_out and sig_outB is reduced by adjusting the sizes of the physical inverters between the first and second paths. The delay matching method is a technique in which in the process for adjusting the delay time of the first path to be equal to the delay time of the second path, the PMOS transistor and the NMOS transistor are designed so that delay elements can be matched, so that stable characteristics for a variation on a process, a voltage and a temperature (hereinafter, PVT) is obtained.
In FIG. 1, the third converter Inv3 representatively shows a configuration of the inverters Inv2 to Inv5 except the first inverter Inv1. Each of the inverters Inv2 to Inv5 comprises a PMOS transistor P3 and an NMOS transistor N3 which are serially connected between a power voltage VDD and a ground voltage VSS and receives a signal through a gate terminal. On the other hand, the first inverter Inv1 comprises two PMOS transistors P1 and P2 and two NMOS transistors N1 and N2 which are serially connected between the power voltage VDD and the ground voltage VSS as shown in FIG. 1. The PMOS transistor P1 and the NMOS transistor N1 receive a signal through a gate terminal like the other inverters. However, the PMOS transistor P2 connected to the power voltage VDD receives the ground voltage VSS through a gate terminal, and the NMOS transistor N2 connected to the ground voltage VSS receives the power voltage VDD through a gate terminal. That is, the PMOS transistor P2 and the NMOS transistor N2 are always in an ON state.
The PMOS transistor P2 and the NMOS transistor N2 are provided such that the first inverter Inv1 delays the input signal sig_in by the same time as a time that the second and third inverters Inv2 and Inv3 of the second path delay the input signal sig_in.
In FIG. 1, a skew between the first output signal sig_out and the second output signal sig_outB is reduced such that the first inverter Inv1 is configured differently from the inverters Inv2 to Inv5 and the number and the size of the transistors P1, P2, N1, and N2 which constitute the first inverter Inv1 are adjusted.
The SS-DS converter of FIG. 1 is not suitable for the high speed operation since the slope of the signals from between the first inverter Inv1 and the fourth inverter Inv4 is degraded, and the current lost in the fourth inverter Inv4 which has received the output signal of the first inverter Inv1 which has the low signal slope is large. It handles the PVT variation by using the delay matching method, but since a configuration of the first path and a configuration of the second path are asymmetric, there is a limitation to cope with the PVT variation. The asymmetric structure in the configuration of the first and second paths causes a duty rate distortion of the differential signal.
In FIG. 1, the fourth and fifth inverters Inv4 and Inv5 are output drivers, and the first to third inverters Inv1 to Inv3 are used for a SS-DS converting operation.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating a SS-DS converter according to another conventional art. One of the problems of the SS-DS converter of FIG. 1 is that the first path and the second path are different in the number of the inverters. In order to resolve the problem of the SS-DS converter of FIG. 1, the SS-DS converter of FIG. 2 employs a transmission gate TG1. As shown in FIG. 1, the inverter comprises the MOS gate. Therefore, the transmission gate TG1 which is the MOS gate is added to the first path for delay matching of the first and second paths. Since the transmission gate TG1 is added, a sixth inverter Inv6 which has the same configuration as the inverters Inv2 to Inv5 is used instead of the first inverter Inv1.
The SS-DS converter of FIG. 2 adds the transmission gate TG1 to match the delay times of the first and second paths, but since the output signal of the transmission gate TG1 is different in signal slope from the output signal of the inverter, in order to control this, it is needed to adjust the size of the fourth inverter Inv4. However, adjusting the size of the fourth inverter Inv4 causes an asymmetric structure between the first path and the second path. For these reasons, like the SS-DS converter of FIG. 1, the SS-DS converter of FIG. 2 is not suitable for the high speed operation, and has a limitation to cope with the PVT variation.
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram illustrating a SS-DS converter which improves upon the SS-DS converter of FIG. 2. As was mentioned above, in the SS-DS converter of FIG. 2, the first path and the second path are asymmetric since the output signal slope of the transmission gate TG1 differs from the output signal slope of the inverter.
In FIG. 3, a buffer Buf1 is added to match the output signal slope of the transmission gate TG1 with the output signal slope of the inverter. The buffer Buf1 comprises an NMOS transistor N4 and a PMOS transistor P4 which are serially connected between the power voltage VDD and the ground voltage VSS. The gate terminals of the NMOS transistor N4 and the PMOS transistor P4 receive an output signal of a sixth inverter Inv6. Since the buffer Buf1 is a delay element which comprises a MOS gate, if the transmission gate TG1 and the buffer Buf1 are independently used, there occurs a delay time difference between the first and second paths due to the delay time of the buffer Buf1. In FIG. 3, in order to prevent the delay time difference caused by the buffer Buf1, the buffer Buf1 is configured such that the gate terminals of the NMOS transistor N4 and the PMOS transistor P4 receive the output signal of the sixth inverter Inv6. Therefore, if the sixth inverter Inv6 inverts and delays the input signal sig_in and outputs the result, the output signal of the sixth inverter Inv6 is simultaneously applied to the transmission gate TG1 and the buffer Buf1, and the output signal of the transmission gate TG1 is added to the output signal of the buffer Buf1, thereby correcting the output signal slope of the transmission gate TG1. Therefore, the signal applied to the fourth inverter Inv4 has a higher slope than the signal applied to the fourth inverter Inv4 of when the transmission gate TG1 is used like FIG. 2. A range for adjusting the size of the fourth inverter Inv4 which is the output driver is significantly reduced compared to the single signal-to-differential signal converter of FIG. 2, and since a signal transitioning time is shorter, power consumption is reduced.
However, as a result of simulating the SS-DS converter of FIG. 3, the waveform of the differential signal is improved compared to the SS-DS converter of FIG. 2, but there is still a need for adjusting the size of the fourth inverter Inv4. Therefore, the first path and the second path are asymmetric in structure, and there is a limitation to cope with the PVT variation, leading to the duty rate distortion.

Single signal-to-differential signal converter and converting method


In various embodiments, approaches to calibrating an implantable drug-delivery device feature a drug reservoir, an expandable electrolysis chamber, and an integrated strain gauge using a refill apparatus having one or more pumps, one or more refill reservoirs, an outlet fluid channel fluidically connected to the refill reservoir(s), and a needle having a lumen in fluid communication with the outlet fluid channel include inserting a needle into a refill port of the implantable drug-delivery device, monitoring a pressure change within the device, monitoring a pressure level of one or more components of the implantable drug-delivery device, and calibrating the monitored pressure level of the component(s) of the implantable drug-delivery device to the monitored pressure level of the outlet fluid channel.

Medical treatment often requires the administration of a therapeutic agent (e.g., medicament, drugs, etc.) to a particular part of a patient's body. As patients live longer and are diagnosed with chronic and/or debilitating ailments, the need to place even more protein therapeutics, small-molecule drugs, and other medications into targeted anatomical areas will only increase. Some maladies, however, are difficult to treat with currently available therapies and/or require administration of drugs to difficult-to-reach anatomical regions. Many of these therapies would benefit from concentrated target-area treatment, which would reduce systemic side effects. Furthermore, certain drugs such as protein therapeutics are expensive, costing thousands of dollar per vial. For these reasons, new and improved approaches to targeted drug delivery are constantly sought.
Implantable drug-delivery devices with refillable drug reservoirs address and overcome many of the problems associated with conventional drug-delivery modalities. They generally facilitate controlled delivery of pharmaceutical solutions to a specified target. As the contents of the drug reservoir deplete, a clinician may refill the reservoir in situ, i.e., while leaving the device implanted within the patient's body.
Monitoring and controlling the administration of pharmaceuticals can be critically important, particularly when implanted drug pump are utilized, as such devices may often not be constantly closely monitored. Thus, implantable drug pumps would benefit from autonomous safeguards sufficient to ensure proper dosing and performance monitoring. Furthermore, the drug reservoirs of implantable pumps are likely to be of limited size and their contents would ideally be monitored to ensure timely refilling or replacement.
Accordingly, there is a need for implantable pumps that incorporate sensors for monitoring various parameters related to pump performance and drug administration.

Pressure sensing in implantable drug pumps


The device pertains to providing side shift force control using load cell force feedback in the web slitting industry. Further included is a removable means of providing the load cell force feedback without integrating the load cell with the side shift mechanism. This provides for easy maintenance of the blade cartridge and specifically the cutting blade.

This invention relates to the web manufacturing industry. Materials like paper, films and various laminates are typically manufactured as a continuous sheet or web of material. During the processing of a continuous web, the web is handled by cylindrical rolls and cut into continuous strips. This cutting is typically required for downstream handling or for producing a final product such as a roll of tape.
The invention is a slitting device. The slitting device includes a circular blade with a sharp cutting edge on the periphery and a blade actuator this slitting device is referred to as a knife holder. The knife holder typically includes a means of extending and translating the circular blade into an anvil which is cylindrical in shape and has a cutting edge located on the periphery of each end. This translation develops a force between the anvil and the blade the invention pertains to this force.
The prior art cited in application Ser. No. 12/672,561 Chilcott teaches a translation mechanism which includes a strain gauge (Page 15 Lines 8-10). This placement of the strain gauge requires that connecting wires extend thru the side shift mechanism. Thus the mechanism cannot be removed without disconnecting these wires. Additionally, this mounting scheme requires flexure of the mechanism in a position that also requires rigid support of the circular slitting blade. This latter requirement causes a tradeoff between rigid support and force sensing accuracy.
Other prior art is cited which includes U.S. Pat. No. 8,707,838 Dienes. This patent teaches driving two circular blades against each other using a motor for each blade. An adaptive control assembly which includes both motors is used to maintain constant pressure against the overlap of the two blades. The specific use of strain gauges is not taught. This means that the force determination could be determined by the amount of current used to move each blade. One of the problems with this type of device is that the cutting edge (regardless of the force determination function) must be moved and in some cases both the top and bottom blade are moved. This will result in a variable width of material being cut. Most slitting applications require exacting control of the slitting location transversely along the width of the web.
An additional prior art example from Deines is U.S. Pat. No. 6,877,412. This patent teaches the use of a pressure sensor in conjunction with a pneumatic cylinder to determine and monitor side force. This patent however does not specifically teach a means of controlling the side force. Again in this example the pressure sensor is an integrated part of the blade support and translation mechanism and so requires removing the wires during blade maintenance.
Lastly, prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,867 Ichikawa is considered. This patent specifically teaches the use of a strain gauge to determine side shift force. However, no method of actively controlling side shift force is provided. Additionally, an integrated translation mechanism is not contemplated.
Some of the embodiments of the invention include a means of determining that the blade and anvil are in contact. As can be imagined as the blade is sharpened it decreases in diameter, since the vertical extension of the blade is fixed relative to the anvil, at some point the blade and anvil will no longer touch. This causes the blade to move over the anvil edge instead of into the side. This condition results in an incorrect side force reading and the controller sets an alarm indicating maintenance is required. This is indicated in FIG. 12 at step 3004.
It is the objective of this invention to address these issues included in the above prior art by providing an improved mechanism and method of slitting materials while being processed in the form of a moving web. Additionally, each and every issue in the prior art is not addressed by each embodiment. In fact some embodiments may not address any of the prior art issues mentioned above.


A manufacturing method of a touch panel is provided. The method includes the following steps. A conductive layer is formed on a substrate, and a dielectric layer is formed to cover the conductive layer. The conductive layer and the dielectric layer are then patterned to respectively form several sensing wires and several dielectric blocks by using a first mask, which is a half-tone mask. Next, a transparent conductive layer is first formed to cover the conductive layer and the dielectric layer, and is then patterned to form a touch sensing structure by using a second mask.

1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates in general to a touch panel, a touch display apparatus using the same and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly to a touch panel fabricated by a half-tone mask process, a touch display apparatus using the same and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional touch panel includes a substrate and a sensing layer, with the sensing layer being formed on the substrate. The sensing layer is generally formed by several mask processes. For example, using a first mask process, a number of first sensing units along a particular direction are formed on the substrate. Using a second mask process, a number of metal sensing wires are formed along the direction and are electrically connected with the first sensing units. Using a third mask process, an insulating layer is formed to cover the metal sensing wires. Using a fourth mask process, a number of second sensing units are formed along another direction on the insulating layer and the substrate. Using a fifth mask process, a protection layer is then formed to cover the first sensing units and the second sensing units.

Touch panel, touch display apparatus using the same and manufactured method thereof


In video game device 1, two game players opposed to each other across a monitor screen 3 compete a game. Game images are displayed on the monitor screen 3, properly positioned with respect to the respective game players. A logo is displayed in a game image. The logo is rotated to be displayed properly with respect to the respective game players and horizontally properly positioned. Thus game images can be recognized by the respective game players opposed to each other, and the logo display can be more effective.

The present invention relates to a video game device for playing a game by means of images displayed on a monitor screen, such as a CRT or others, more specifically to a method for displaying various images on the monitor screen and a method for controlling a game.
Video game devices for competing games, such as competing shooting games and competing block collapsing games, which are played by a plurality of game players by the use of one monitor screen are known. A video game device for competing a game, such as a competing block collapsing game, which is played by game players sitting on both sides of one monitor screen usually includes a coin slot provided in one of said both sides, and a selection button provided near the coin slot for selecting one-game-player-play or two-game-player-play. The video game device for playing such competing games includes controllers for operating characters on the monitor screen. The controllers are provided respectively on both sides of the monitor screen.
In a general video game device, in a state in which the device is waiting for a game player to insert coins, often a logo of a game maker, high scores, or others are displayed on the monitor screen in addition to inducing a game player to insert coins. On the following game initial stage images which explain an operational method of controllers are outputted at the start of a game. It is general that such game initial display is formed on the preface that the display is seen on a side of the game device having a coin slot.
However, in the above-described competing video game device, such one-sided arrangement makes letters or logos opposite to a game player facing a game player on the side of the coin slot, which makes the former player feel awkward. In a case that the displayed images are connected with contents of a game play, such as a method for operating controllers, in such one-sided arrangement the game player facing the game player on the side of the coin slot moves to the side of the coin slot to understand the display, which disadvantageously takes time to start the game play.
As competing mechanical devices for competing games are conventionally known those for playing soccer games, hockey games or others, in which a plurality of operational sticks are operated by game players to treat balls, and the game players compete in score. The players have to well operate the plural operational sticks. Such games thus have an athletic factor and are established as popular games in game centers.
If such competing mechanical devices are provided in video game devices, screen displays, game control, etc. which are impossible on the competing mechanical devices are made possible, and such video game devices will become popular.

Two-player video game with method of displaying logos and instructions in a manner readable by both players