A device that includes a circuit board (214) and a first electrical contact (100). The first electrical contact can include a jacket (104) and a magnetic member (102) that slideably engages the jacket. The jacket can be soldered, fastened or clamped to the circuit board, or conductively attached to the circuit board in any other suitable manner. A first portion of the jacket can be attached to the circuit board so as to provide electrical continuity between the jacket and a conductive portion of the circuit board. The magnetic member can include a flange (108, 208) and can be translationally moveable between a first position in which the flange does not engage the jacket and a second position in which the flange does engage the jacket.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to electrical contacts.
2. Background of the Invention
Oftentimes it is desirable to design an electronic device in a modular fashion in which the device comprises a plurality of sub-assemblies that are physically and electrically connected. For example, a first sub-assembly may include a first connector and a second sub-assembly may include a second connector that mates to the first connector when the sub-assemblies are physically attached to one another. In order to insure proper connection of mating connectors during assembly, it is often required for the positioning of such connectors to be held to very tight tolerances. Moreover, attachment of the sub-assemblies to one another must be performed very precisely. Such requirements add costs to the manufacture of the device.

Magnetic member for providing electrical continuity and method for assembling same


A system and method can support multi-homed routing in a network environment, which can be based on InfiniBand architecture using a fat-tree or a similar topology. The system can provide an end node that is associated with a switch port on a leaf switch in a network fabric. Then, the system can perform routing for each of a plurality of ports on the end node, and ensure that the plurality of ports on the end node take mutually independent paths.

The fat-tree topology is used for high performance computing (HPC) clusters, and for clusters based on InfiniBand (IB) technology. For example, the fat-tree topology is used in the fastest supercomputers, such as MilkyWay-2. Also, the fat-tree IB systems include large installations such as Stampede, TGCC Curie and SuperMUC.
These are the generally areas that embodiments of the invention are intended to address.

System and method for supporting multi-homed fat-tree routing in a middleware machine environment


A wearable element is disclosed. In an embodiment a wearable element includes at least one piezoelectric element configured to vibrate so that a haptic impression of an acoustic signal is generated, wherein the wearable element is wearable on a body.

A very wide range of applications are conceivable for such an element. The element may be used to enable deaf and hard-of-hearing people to perceive melodies. Furthermore, the element could be used in a supportive capacity in treatment aimed at relearning to hear. The element could also be used in the field of virtual reality applications, in order to make a virtual reality haptically perceptible for someone wearing the element by generating haptic impressions.

Element wearable on the body and use of the element wearable on the body


A router support assembly includes a table that has a top side, a bottom side, a first side edge, a second side edge, a front edge and a rear edge. The table has a first slot and a second slot each extending therethrough. The first slot extends between the front and rear edges and the second slot extends from the first side edge to the first slot. A first guide is attached to the table and is selectively movable along the first slot. A second guide is attached to the table and is selectively movable along the second slot. A mounting is attached to the table and supports a router a selectable distance from the top side of the table. The mounting is positioned adjacent to the first edge. A router may be attached to the mounting so that a cutting member of the router extends toward the table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to router support devices and more particularly pertains to a new router support device for supporting a router and a portion of wood at a selected position relative to each other.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of router support devices is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,608 describes a device router table for supporting a router. Another type of router support device is U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,706 which includes a structure adapted for supporting a router. Yet still another such device is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,841 which again includes a table having a structure well suited for holding a router as it is being used for cutting a portion of wood.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a device that supports a router so that it may be selectively moved upwardly or downwardly with respect to a table surface. Additionally, the device should include both x-axis and y-axis work supports for supporting a piece, which will be cut by the router, on two sides. This will ensure that the piece will remain in a selected position and orientated for being cut.


Provided are a display method and device for a menu key of a touchscreen mobile terminal, which relate to the technical field of mobile terminals. The method comprises: obtaining relative states of the left side and the right side of the screen of a touchscreen mobile terminal; and when the left side of the screen is higher than the right side thereof, displaying a menu key at the higher side of the screen.

With the development of communication technologies, mobile terminals have been greatly involved in people's daily life. In the recent years, touch screen mobile terminals have become widespread; they can provide various applications for users and achieve a better human-machine interaction.
The applications in touch screen mobile terminals typically include a plurality of function options. As a touch screen mobile terminal has a screen of a limited size, the function options cannot be all displayed on a single interface. As a result, several function options are often associated with a menu key, and only the menu key is displayed on the screen while all the function options associated with the menu key are hidden. When a user wants to use a function associated with the menu key, the menu key is hit and all the function options associated with this menu key will pop up to display on the current screen. For example, when a user is editing an SMS message, a menu key will typically be displayed on the screen (and often near the input box); upon hitting the menu key, functions such as "picture", "contact information", "ringing tone", etc. will pop up for a further operation by the user, e.g. inserting a picture.
The inventors found that at least the following problem exists in the prior art.
In prior art touch screen mobile terminals, a menu key is displayed at the same position regardless of different holding manners in which the user holds the touch screen mobile terminal. This results in a difficulty in selecting the menu key, and this inconvenience leads to a deteriorated user experience.

Display method and device for menu key of touchscreen mobile terminal

Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited


The present disclosure provides a download management method and device based on Android browser. The download management method includes the following steps: obtaining a physical address of a network card of a television when a download request input from a user through the browser is received; and judging whether the television corresponding to the physical address is granted a download permission corresponding to the download request; if the physical address is granted the download permission, implementing the download according to the download request; otherwise, if the physical address is not granted the download permission, preventing the download. The method and device of the present disclosure can effectively control the download contents of the television and thus prevent random downloads from reducing the safety and stability of the system and further thus improves the user experience.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to fields of display terminals, and particularly, to a download management method and device based on an Android browser.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, with the popularization of Android systems in consumer electronic products, smart cloud televisions equipped with Android systems become a focus of the color television industry. Like Android mobile phones, being equipped with Android operating systems, Android smart televisions allow users to run browsers to surf the Internet freely like on personal computers. However, since the Android system is an open platform, more and more developers are engaged in to develop a number of articles of application software. Most of the articles of application software are based on touch operations of mobile phones and panel computers, making it disadvantageous to run the articles of application software in televisions. What's worse, some articles of the application software may affect the running speed of the system of the television. Thus, in a situation where no controlling method is applied to the download resource, a user may download corresponding resources at will, which may cause some download resources to affect the safety and stability of the system of the television for not being suitable to the television.

Download management method and device based on android browser

SHENZHEN COOCAA NETWORK TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


The present invention aims to provide a rigid polyurethane resin for cutting, which has high heat resistance, no scorching, and reduced expansion due to absorption of moisture in the air. The rigid polyurethane resin-forming composition (P) for cutting of the present invention includes: a polyol component (A); an isocyanate component (B); an inorganic filler (C); and a dehydrating agent (D). The polyol component (A) includes: 45 to 99% by weight of a polyphenol (j) alkylene oxide adduct (a), the polyphenol (j) having k functional groups where k is an integer of 2 or 3; and 1 to 55% by weight of a polyol (b). The polyphenol (j) alkylene oxide adduct (a) includes a total of not more than 39% by weight of a polyphenol (j) alkylene oxide adduct (ak) with at most k moles of alkylene oxide, based on 100% by weight of the polyphenol (j) alkylene oxide adduct (a), and has a hydroxyl value of 100 to 295 mg KOH/g. The polyol (b) is a multi-functional aliphatic or alicyclic polyol having 3 to 8 functional groups and has a hydroxyl value of 160 to 700 mg KOH/g. The weight of the oxyethylene groups included in the polyol component (A) is not more than 10% by weight in 100% by weight of the polyol component (A).

Conventional models and inspection jigs have been formed of materials such as natural wood, rigid polyurethane foams, and synthetic wood (e.g. foamed polyurethane molded articles produced by foaming a mixture of a bisphenol A alkylene oxide adduct, aliphatic polyol, aromatic polyisocyanate, and a dehydrating agent by a mechanical froth method) (see Patent Literature 1, for example).

Rigid polyurethane resin for cutting work


A portable object having a display and a fastening band includes, on the fastening band, a super thin lighting element. The portable object could, for example, be a wrist watch, heart monitor, or compass, and could be permanently or removably attached to the band. A power pack for the super thin lighting element may be provided in the object itself, with the super thin lighting element having centrally located contacts.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a portable object, such as a watch, having an illuminated fastening band, and more particularly to a portable object having a fastening band illuminated by a super thin lighting element. By "super thin" lighting element is meant a lighting element of the type containing a chemical sandwiched between protective layers, such as an electro-luminescent strip or panel, which typically has a thickness of less than ten millimeters.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Super thin lighting elements such as electro-luminescent strips or panels offer a number of advantages over conventional lighting elements such as incandescent light bulbs and light emitting diodes. These advantages include flexibility, which allows the lighting elements to follow curves on the object to which they are attached, the ability to be printed or silk-screened with logos, marks, figures, and characters, or to be stenciled or masked, a wide variety of color choices, including green, blue, pink, yellow, and white, and low assembly and design costs. These advantages are explained in a number of pending U.S. patent applications and issued patents of the Inventor, including U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 08/226,322 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,574; 08/305,294 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,817; 08/343,404 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,542; 08/343,915 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,671; 08/383,404 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,667394; 08/383,405 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,760; 08/421,647 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,038; 08/432,707 now allowed; 08/438,373 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,946; 08/444,064 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,651; 08/436,007 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,325.
In addition to the Inventor's own patents and patent applications, the following prior publications are of particular interest as background for the present invention:
British published patent specification 166,534 discloses a "wearing device for a person" in which super thin lighting elements are used to illuminate a harness which fits around the shoulder and waist of the user for use by crossing guards. U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,110, on the other hand, discloses a pet collar having a super thin lighting element attached thereto, while U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,151,678 and 5,245,516 disclose safety belts illuminated by super thin lighting elements.
The illuminated straps, belts, or collars disclosed in the prior U.S. patents all have in common the use of large area electro-luminescent lighting elements for the purpose of making the devices to which they are attached more visible to motorists. In general, the illumination arrangements disclosed therein are relatively expensive, because of the large amount of electro-luminescent material used, and the function of the devices is limited to warning purposes. While the copending applications of the Inventor, which are not to be considered prior art, disclose more versatile super thin lighting arrangements, they are not directed to the type of illuminated object with which the present invention is concerned, namely objects having fastening bands designed to be worn by the user, such as wrist watches and other timers, and also heart monitors, pedometers, compasses, children's jewelry, and the like. Illumination of this type of object provides a significant advantage over prior "safety band" illumination arrangements because the type of object with which the present invention is concerned has uses apart from the warning function, and thus are likely to be worn more often than a dedicated safety band, while still providing a measure of protection to the wearer in dark environments, particularly as a warning to motorists.
On the other hand, because the objects with which the present invention is concerned are intended for everyday use in a variety of circumstances, attractiveness both when lighted and unlighted is an important consideration that was not of great concern to the designers of the abovementioned safety belts, collars, and straps.

Portable object having a fastening band illuminated by a super thin light element

8F, No. 29, Alley 73, Lin-Shen St., Shi-Chi Town


An apparatus and method for moving a tubing along a path, according to which the tubing is engaged by an outer chain which is driven to advance the tubing. The chain is adapted to be deflected radially in response to an increase in the diameter of the tubing, and a plate is compressed in response to the deflection of the chain to accommodate the variation in diameter.

The present invention relates to an injector for injecting coiled tubing into an oil or gas well.
Coiled tubing injectors are often used to inject coiled tubing into an oil or gas well to facilitate the servicing of the well. For some well-servicing applications, the diameter of the tubing must be increased in the upper sections of the tubing for reasons related to the well-servicing process.
One technique for accommodating an increase in diameter is to dispose a tapered connector between a relative small-diameter section and a relatively large diameter section. However, a problem arises in connection with this technique especially when the tubing passes through an injector for injecting it into the well. In particular, due to the rigidity of the injector structure, substantially all of the loading on the tubing provided by the injector is applied to the area of the connector having the relatively larger diameter. This results in a relatively small percentage of the exterior surface of the connector bearing substantially all of the loading, creating high stress areas at the points of contact with the injector, and possibly causing failure in the connector and/or the tubing.
Therefore, what is needed is an injector for passing coiled tubing through an injector that overcomes this problem.

Apparatus and method for injecting tubing in a well bore


A ceiling fan assembly or similar air-moving device can include a motor for rotating one or more blades to drive a volume of air about a space. The ceiling fan assembly can further include a hanger ball with an indexing pin. The ball hanger can be received by a mounting bracket so that, via an alignment guide, the indexing pin of the hanger ball aligns with an indexing groove on the mounting bracket.

Ceiling fans are machines typically suspended from a structure for moving a volume of air about an area. While the structure to which the ceiling fan is mounted is typically a ceiling or part of a ceiling, such as a joist or beam, the structure can be a wall or any other structure for that matter.
The ceiling fan includes a motor, with a rotor and stator, suspended from and electrically coupled to the structure. A set of blades mount to the rotor such that the blades are rotatably driven by the rotor and can be provided at an angled orientation to move a volume of air about the area. A ball-and-socket or ball mount ceiling fan has several advantages in that it permits rotation and swinging relative movement between the ball and socket. However, alignment of the ball with the socket can be difficult or tedious for many users.


An in-vehicle display device includes (a) a display unit provided on a surface of an instrument panel of a vehicle, opposed to a windshield of the vehicle, and configured to indicate a plurality of information dots V in a row or in a rectangular array on the windshield such that the necessary information dots are selectably displayed from among the plurality of the information dots and superposed upon a real image viewed through the windshield, (b) a target information acquisition unit that obtains target information of which a driver of the vehicle is to be notified, and (c) a display control unit that controls the display unit and makes the display unit indicate the predetermined information dots V that correspond to the target information that has been obtained by the target information acquisition unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an in-vehicle display device, and more specifically to an in-vehicle display device that includes a display unit provided on a surface of an instrument panel of an automobile and configured to indicate one or more information dots on a windshield of the automobile.
2. Background of the Related Art
Recently, increasing number of various vehicles embrace a display device that incorporates techniques of projecting information directly into a human's field of vision, i.e., a head-up display (HUD) device. The display device of this kind helps improving driver's visibility. A virtual image presented by the display device is superposed on the landscape that can be seen ahead of the vehicle through a windshield of the automobile. The HUD devices of a kind as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publications No. 2002-211274 and No. 2004-130916 has a display unit as a main functional unit dedicated to virtual image display and a reflection member provided in an instrument panel of a vehicle, and light emitted by the display unit is reflected off the windshield or a combiner that protrudes from an upper surface of the instrument panel toward a driver, so that the driver recognizes what is presented within his or her field of vision during driving.
Also, since the driver in a driver's seat gets information mainly through visual perception, visual recognition is of essential importance for the driver. In addition, the driver can readily take a necessary action if the driver can at an earlier stage identify an obstacle that exists in a vehicle's traveling direction. In view of these factors, drive support systems with night-vision capability are advocated that ensures good visibility at night and in all weathers to support safe and careful driving.
A conventional drive support system with night-vision capability has various components including an infrared camera mounted on a front side of the vehicle body, a control unit (microcontroller or microprocessor), and the HUD device. Visual images captured for example by the infrared camera are presented by the HUD device, so that the driver can recognize an obstacle that exists in the vehicle's traveling direction.
A known in-vehicle display device that projects driving information on a windshield is disclosed by Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-019491. The known device has an obstacle detecting unit that detects existence of the obstacle in the vehicle's traveling direction and a line-of-sight detecting unit that detects a direction of a line of sight of the driver. A display position of driving information relevant to the obstacle is moved toward a location of the obstacle and the driver's line of sight is guided toward the location of the obstacle. Also, in an HUD device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-291688, if the obstacle that has been detected is a target object and the driver's line of sight is guided to the target obstacle when a distance between the vehicle and the obstacle becomes shorter than a threshold.
However, in the conventional HUD devices mentioned above, it is necessary to indicate a virtual image in a location relatively distant from the driver so as not to increase driver's burden of focusing his or her eyes on both the real image farther from the driver and the virtual image presented during driving, and one or more reflection members have to be provided to ensure that the virtual image is viewed by the driver at a predetermined distance. Accordingly, the HUD device has to incorporate expensive reflection members that cause a manufacturing cost of the HUD device as a whole to increase. In addition, mounting of the reflection member to the HUD device has to be done with utmost accuracy. Further, when the virtual images are to be projected using the conventional HUD device over a wide area of the windshield, as disclosed for example in the 2003-291688 document, a projector cannot be accommodated inside of the instrument panel, which is undesirable in terms of interior design of the automobile and appearance of a cockpit.
Furthermore, a sufficient space has to be provided inside of the instrument panel in order to accommodate the HUD device inside thereof in a manner that the accommodated HUD device does not interfere with the vehicle body and air-conditioning components.
Also, a size of the conventional virtual image and its display position on the windshield is limited so as not to interrupt a driver's range of vision while driving, and it is difficult for the driver to instantaneously recognize the virtual image while driving. Further, the drive support system with night-vision capability only allows a limited display area with a number of still and/or moving images to a detriment of driver's visibility.


A method for dividing a field into zones with similar crop attributes and developing a mission plan for steering the harvester to selectively harvest crops based on one or more of the attributes. The attributes include protein level, starch level, oil level, sugar content, moisture level, digestible nutrient level, or any other crop characteristic of interest. The method can be applied to selectively harvest and/or segregate according to attribute any crop, including grains such as wheat, corn, or beans, fruits such as grapes, and forage crops. Directed crop sampling provides absolute value and variance information for segregated batches of harvested crop.

Most current methods for harvesting crops involve simple pass to pass steps without opportunity to efficiently separate crop according to crop attributes level to optimize market price potential and profitability. Although on-board crop monitors are becoming available for sampling harvested grain from point grain samples and estimating overall attribute levels of a harvested crop, most provide range or variance information of batches of harvested crop in the storage area without segregation of the crop according to attributes. Also, automatic sampling systems generally lack a good method for deciding areas wherein samples are to be taken.
Various attempts have been made for segregating crop based on attribute levels, including use of field topology such as slope, elevation and contour to divide fields of crop into zones. Dividing soybean fields into areas that correlate to protein levels has been proposed. For example, beans growing on knolls often mature weeks before those in the rest of the field, so farmers will go into the fields and selectively harvest the mature beans. Most crop segregation methods have been based on the visual perception of field and crop conditions by the harvester operator and a subjective view of potential value.
Prior evaluation of the level of attribute desired in a previous harvest is often ineffective for determining attribute zones in a present crop since there are numerous variables that affect crop attributes. Heretofore, there has not been an entirely satisfactory method for locating boundaries of areas of desired attributes and providing information in an effective and user-friendly manner to assist an operator in the harvest and segregation of the crop or to provide input to an automated harvester guidance system for that purpose.
Various methods have been proposed for guiding a vehicle, including selection of a work path based upon geographic factors of the area being traversed to minimize energy usage. Such a method is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,728,607. Other work path planning methods for such functions as optimizing travel routes, minimizing work times, optimizing unloading operations of harvesters and the like, are exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,574. However, a reliable and user friendly method for establishing a mission plan to assist in crop segregation by attribute is required.
A method for segregating crops at the point of harvest including the step of operating a diverter on the basis of machine position and a map of harvesting instructions is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,304. Such diverter methods generally limit the number of segregated batches to the number of storage areas or bins provided at the harvester. Segregating crop by attribute into a number of batches greater than the number of storage areas presents difficulties. Segregating crops into a plurality of batches or loads and providing a convenient and reliable measurement of the mean and variance of the attributes of a batch or load of harvested crop have also been continuing sources of difficulty.

Crop attribute map input for vehicle guidance


The invention teaches a new apparatus and method to photograph glasses in multiple layers for taking high quality photo images with scratch, crash, black/white defect, lack, crack, pin-hole, concave edge and raised edge, bubble and smudge defects on the surface-layer, backside-layer or/and mid-layer of the glasses. The invention also introduces flexible and expendable photographing hardware architecture that will meet various customers inspecting defects requirements and speed requirements.

Glass inspection is applied in many fields, especially in the field of mobile phone display panel, iPad window panel and flat-panel display manufactures. Due to difficultly for taking high quality images on different defects (scratches, crashes, black/white defects, lack, cracks, pin-holes, concave edges and raised edges, bubbles and smudges) on the surface, backside and mid-layer of glasses, therefore in the world, no full automatic glass inspection system provides high quality inspection solution, thus the method of human manual inspections is still used in most glass manufactures. The inspection accuracy of this method is limited by the vision of human beings and the inspection results of this method can become not reliable due to human errors from human's feeling, emotion and tiredness.
Among the current automatic glass detection technology, there are some apparatus that can photograph one or several defects, but it still lacks a consistent, stable, fast, and high accuracy glass photographing apparatus, and the method for creating the same.
Among the current automatic glass detection technology, most of glass photography devices use multiple area scanning cameras for high accuracy photography, but this technique is restricted at its mechanical mounting space when photographing small size glasses such as mobile phone glass panel. This invention uses multiple line-scanning cameras with micro-lens to walk around the problem of space limit.
Among the multiple layer glass photography of the invention, multiple layer photography for scratches on glasses is most difficult. So far there is no single apparatus that can photograph glass scratches at all orientations. For instance, one apparatus is able to take clear photographs to expose scratches on glasses on vertical direction (+/+30°) but not on horizon direction, and another apparatus is able to take clear scratch photographs on glasses on horizon direction (+/−30°) but not on vertical direction. To solve the glass photograph problem that it is difficult to get clear photographs to expose scratches on all orientations, this invention introduces an apparatus that adopts an illumination technology using multiple lights to spread on the glass from different positions and various angles.
Most of machine-vision applications take one photograph of glass panel for image process and inspection. The apparatus of this invention introduces flexible hardware architectures. Using the apparatus of this invention, it can take one or multiple photo-images for each glass panel based on the glass inspection need of customer, and each photo-image can capture clear image of one or more defects in various layers. This results in fast inspections of multiple-layered glass with the support of multi-tasking image process and inspection.
On normal machine vision applications, the photographing hardware is usually fixed, and is not easy to modify. This invention introduces a flexible hardware architectures for various glass inspecting purposes.
There are two methods to take photo-image on glasses. One is fixing glasses and move cameras, and the other is fixing cameras and moving glasses. The later method is used in this invention.
To control photographing and real-time inspection at multiple glass layers, multi-tasking photographing, image processing and inspection techniques software must be programmed.

Apparatus and method for photographing glass in multiple layers


Embodiments of golf club heads with hosel inserts are presented herein. Other embodiments can be described and claimed.

Golf club heads have been progressively growing in volume and size throughout the years in an effort to improve the game experience. As the golf club heads have grown in volume, the mass of the golf clubs has also increased. Innovation in mass distribution has been a major focus of the golf industry, and utilizing various materials to achieve desirable characteristics has become increasingly common.
A golf club head's design can optimize the golf club head's mass distribution scheme by, for example, using less dense materials in certain areas and more dense materials in other areas. Such designs can facilitate a larger golf club head without compromising performance.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure. Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. The same reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements.
The terms "first," "second," "third," "fourth," and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Furthermore, the terms "include," and "have," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, device, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, system, article, device, or apparatus.
The terms "left," "right," "front," "back," "top," "bottom," "over," "under," and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the apparatus, methods, and/or articles of manufacture described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.
The terms "couple," "coupled," "couples," "coupling," and the like should be broadly understood and refer to connecting two or more elements, mechanically or otherwise. Coupling (whether mechanical or otherwise) may be for any length of time, e.g., permanent or semi-permanent or only for an instant.
The absence of the word "removably," "removable," and the like near the word "coupled," and the like does not mean that the coupling, etc. in question is or is not removable.
As defined herein, two or more elements are "integral" if they are comprised of the same piece of material. As defined herein, two or more elements are "non-integral" if each is comprised of a different piece of material.
Description
In one example, a golf club can comprise golf club head with a strike face and a hole. The golf club head can comprise a first material that has a first density. A hosel insert can be located within the hole and the hosel insert can comprise a second material having a second density. The second material can be different from the first material, and the second density can be less than the first density. A shaft can have a shaft tip that can be located within a portion of the hosel insert.
In another example, a golf club head can comprise a hollow body made of a first material. The golf club head can have a strike face, and a crown that is coupled to the strike face comprising a crown hole that opens into the interior of the hollow body. The golf club also has a sole coupled to the strike face, an interior surface. The interior surface forms an outer boundary of the interior of the hollow body. The golf club head also has a support structure that is coupled to the interior surface and aligned with the crown hole. A hosel comprising a first hosel portion configured to house a shaft tip, and a second hosel portion adjacent to the first hosel portion. Wherein the first hosel portion engages the crown hole, and the second hosel portion engages the support structure. The hosel comprising a second material different form the first material.
In a further example, a method for providing a golf club including providing a golf club head comprising a strike face and a hole. The golf club head comprising a first material having a first density. Positioning a hosel insert within the hole and comprising a second material have a second density. The second material different form the first material, and the second density different from the first density. Positioning a shaft within a portion of the hosel insert.
Other examples and embodiments are further disclosed herein. Such examples and embodiments are found in the following paragraphs, the figures, and the claims.
FIG. 1 shows a golf club head 100 according to an embodiment. Golf club head 100 is merely exemplary and is not limited to the embodiments presented herein. Golf club head 100 can be employed in many different embodiments or examples not specifically depicted or described herein.
Golf club head 100 is comprised of a strike face 110, a hole 120, and a crown portion 130. Strike face 110 can be configured for striking a golf ball (not shown) and can comprise titanium, steel, aluminum or any other suitable material. Hole 120 can have any shape or diameter. For example, hole 120 can have a generally closed, circular shape with a diameter between approximately 0.25 inches (0.64 centimeters (cm)) and approximately 0.75 inches (1.91 cm). In other embodiments, hole 120 can have a diameter between approximately 0.4 inches (1.0 cm) and approximately 0.6 inches (1.52 cm). In further embodiments, hole 120 can have a partially open circular periphery or any non-circular closed or partially open periphery.
While FIG. 1 depicts hole 120 as being located in crown portion 130 of golf club head 100, hole 120 can be located anywhere on golf club head 100. Further, while FIG. 1 depicts a wood-style golf club head, golf club head 100 can be any one of an iron-style, putter-style, hybrid-style, or wedge-style golf club head.
Golf club head 100 can be manufactured out of any material known in the art. For example titanium, aluminum, various metallic alloys, steel, composites, plastics, wood, or any other sturdy material can make up the majority of golf club head 100. The material used for golf club head 100 has a density value. For example, if golf club head 100 is made of titanium, the titanium can have a density of approximately 4.51 grams per centimeter-cubed (g/cm3) near room temperature, and if golf club head 100 is made of aluminum, the aluminum can have a density of approximately 2.7 g/cm3 near room temperature. In other embodiments, the density of materials used for golf club head 100 can be between approximately 2.6 g/cm3 and approximately 7.8 g/cm3.
FIG. 2 shows a cross section of a golf club 200 that can comprise golf club head 100 depicted in FIG. 1, where the cross section is taken along section line 2-2 in FIG. 1. Golf club 200 is merely exemplary and is not limited to the embodiments presented herein. Golf club 200 can be employed in many different embodiments or examples not specifically depicted or described herein.
Golf club 200 is comprised of golf club head 100 and shaft 260. In FIG. 2, shaft 260 is shown disassembled from golf club head 100. Golf club head 100 is shown to include a sole portion 210, a crown portion 220, an interior surface 230, a support structure 225, and a hosel insert 250. (Hosel insert 250 and shaft 260 are not shown in FIG. 1.) Interior surface 230 defines an outer boundary of a hollow cavity within golf club head 100. Hole 120 can create a passage through interior surface 230 to the interior of golf club head 100. The location on golf club head 100 of hole 120 is not restricted by the embodiment in FIG. 2. Hole 120 can be located anywhere on golf club head 100, leading into the area encompassed by interior surface 230.
Hosel insert 250 is located within hole 120 of golf club head 100. Hosel insert 250 can receive shaft tip 270. Shaft tip 270 can be fixed to the hosel insert 250 by any one of welding, brazing, adhesion, or any mechanical, chemical, or other suitable attachment method. Hosel insert 250 is located in hole 120 to couple shaft 260 to golf club head 100.
Hosel insert 250 can comprise a sturdy material such as magnesium, plastic, composite, or any other suitable material. The material used to manufacture hosel 250 has a density. For example, when hosel 250 is made of magnesium, the magnesium can have a density of 1.73 g/cm3 at room temperature. In other embodiments, these densities can be between approximately 1.0 g/cm3 and approximately 2.8 g/cm3. These densities for the materials of hosel 250 are generally less than the densities of titanium, aluminum, or steel, etc. used to manufacture the rest of golf club head 100. In general, materials with lower density, such as magnesium versus other metals, will have less mass for the same amount of volume. By manufacturing hosel 250 out of a material with a lower density than the other material of golf club head 100, mass can be reduced in the portion of the golf club head where shaft 260 is coupled to golf club head 100. The amount of mass reduced in this portion of golf club head 100 can be added advantageously in other parts of golf club head 100.
In general, hosel insert 250 is located in hole 120 and extends to support structure 225. Hosel insert 250 can be fixed to either hole 120 or support structure 225, or hosel insert 250 can be fixed to both of hole 120 and support structure 225. The fixing methods can be mechanical, chemical, welding, brazing, etc., as described above.
Support structure 225 is located at interior surface 230 of golf club head 100, and is aligned with hole 120. Support structure 225 can comprise a boss-like structure with a support structure bore 227 that is configured to receive hosel insert 250. In another embodiment, support structure 225 may not have support structure bore 227 so that the hosel insert abuts support structure 225.
In one embodiment, support structure 225 is located between hole 120 and sole portion 210. Support structure 225 can be coupled to interior surface 230 of golf club head 100 by any method. For example, support structure 225 can be coupled to interior surface 230 by welding, brazing, or adhering to interior surface 230, or support structure 225 can be cast with interior surface 230 such that support structure 225 and interior surface 230 are part of a single, integral piece of material. In the current embodiment, support structure 225 is approximately 0.75 inches (1.91 cm) from sole portion 210. However, support structure 225 can be located closer to crown portion 220 than shown in FIG. 2 or more distant from crown portion 220.
Hosel insert 250 can comprise a first hosel portion 253 and a second hosel portion 256. First hosel portion 253 is configured to receive, be received by, and/or be coupled to the tip of a shaft 270. The tip of shaft 270 can be fixed to first hosel portion 253 by any of an adhesive, a weld, a braze, or any mechanical or chemical fastening method. Second hosel portion 256 is adjacent to first hosel portion 253. Second hosel portion 256 is also adjacent shaft tip 270 when shaft tip 270 is received by first hosel portion 253.
Second hosel portion 256 is supported by support structure 225, and first hosel portion 253 may be supported by hole 120. As shown in FIG. 2, support structure 225 is not contiguous with hole 120 to reduce the mass of the structure used to support hosel insert 250. Hosel insert 250 is exposed within the interior cavity of golf club head 100.
Turning to the next figure, FIG. 3 shows a cross sectional view of the hosel region of golf club head 100. Hosel insert 250 substantially occupies hole 120 when placed in hole 120. Hole 120 has a hole cross section, and hosel insert 250 has at least one exterior hosel insert cross section that is substantially similar to hole 120 cross section. The exterior hosel insert cross section can be slightly smaller than the cross section of hole 120 to facilitate receiving hosel insert 250 into hole 120. In some embodiments, there can be a slight space between hosel insert 250 and the perimeter of hole 120 when hosel insert 250 is installed or located in hole 120. The space can be sealed with a filler material. As an example, the distance between the exterior of hosel insert 250 and hole 120 can be approximately 0.012 inches (0.03 cm) to 0.001 inches (0.003 cm).
Hosel insert 250 can be fixed in hole 120 using a mechanical, chemical, or other technique. For example, hole 120 can comprise the first part of a mechanical fastening mechanism. In FIG. 3, hole 120 can have a hole threaded portion 330 at its perimeter. Hole 120 also can comprise a slotted region for receiving a boss (not shown), or a notched area for receiving a pin (not shown). Hole threaded portion 330 shown in FIG. 3 can have any number of threads of any thickness. Hosel insert 250 can have a second, complimentary mechanical fastening mechanism. For example, hosel insert 250 can have a complimentary hosel threaded portion 340 as shown in the FIG. 3 embodiment, or hosel insert 250 can have a boss (not shown) or a pin (not shown). When hosel insert 250 is placed in hole 120, hole threaded portion 330 will receive hosel threaded portion 340 as hosel insert 250 is rotated into position. The mechanical fixing method can be permanent or reversible.
Other methods of fixing hosel insert 250 into hole 120 can be used in addition to, or in place of, the mechanical methods. For example, hosel insert 250 can be fixed to hole 120 by a welding method. In another example, hosel insert 250 can be fixed to hole 120 by brazing. In a further example, an adhesive or epoxy could be used to fix hosel insert 250 to hole 120. Additionally, any of welding, brazing or adhesive could be used in conjunction with any of the mechanical fixing methods described above. Any of the fixing methods can be applied at first hosel region 253 and/or second hosel region 256.
Hosel insert 250 can comprise a hosel end 360, which can comprise a hosel flange 370. Interior surface 230 of golf club head 100 can create a periphery around hole 120 that can be adjacent to hosel flange 370 when hosel insert 250 is located in hole 120. Hosel flange 370 can assist in sealing hole 120 when hosel insert 250 is installed, can act as a stopping mechanism for the mechanical fastener, and/or can create more bonding surface area for a weld, braze or adhesive. Accordingly, hosel flange 370 can have an exterior diameter that is larger than the diameter of hole 120, and hosel flange 370 can be located outside of hole 120.
In FIG. 4, hosel insert 250 is shown to comprise hosel end 360 and mechanical fastening portion 340. The mechanical fastening portion 340 of hosel insert 250 is depicted as threads proximate to hosel end 360. As indicated above, however, mechanical fastening portion 340 can comprise other features such as pins, bosses, or notches, and mechanical fastening portion 340 can be located anywhere along hosel insert 250. Hosel end 360 further comprises a tooled portion 420 for engaging a tool (not shown) in order to secure mechanical fastening portion 340 to hole 120 (FIG. 3) of golf club head 100 (FIG. 3).
In FIG. 4, tooled portion 420 of hosel insert 250 comprises notches 430 proximate to hosel end 360. Notches 430 are configured to receive a tool (not shown), and then facilitate the engagement of mechanical fastening portion 340 to hole 120 (FIG. 3) to fix hosel insert 250 into golf club head 100 (FIG. 3). Notches 430 can be of any configuration, and can be placed anywhere along hosel insert 250. For example, notches 430 can be located proximate hosel end 360, as shown in FIG. 4, and separate from mechanical fastening portion 340. In a different embodiment, notches 430 can be replaced with a single hexagon or other shape depression, and/or notches 430 can be located on an interior surface of hosel insert 250 (not shown).
Hosel insert 250 has a hosel length 460. Hosel length 460 can be between approximately 0.25 inches (0.64 cm) and approximately 3.0 inches (7.62 cm). In a different embodiment, hosel length 460 is between approximately 0.5 inches (1.27 cm) to approximately 2.0 inches (5.08 cm). Depending on the golf club head being manufactured, hosel length 460 can be any suitable length for hosel insert 250. Factors influencing hosel length 460 are the material being used to manufacture hosel insert 250, the type of golf club head being manufactured, other dimensions of hosel insert 250, and/or the method being used to fix hosel insert 250 to the golf club head.
Hosel insert 250 also has at least one hosel outside diameter 470. Hosel outside diameter 470 can be substantially the same as the diameter of hole 120 configured to support hosel insert 250. For example, hosel outside diameter 470 can be between approximately 0.25 inches (0.64 cm) and approximately 0.75 inches (1.91 cm). In a different embodiment, hosel outside diameter 470 can be between approximately 0.25 inches (0.64 cm) to approximately 0.5 inches (1.27 cm) and/or between approximately 0.4 inches (1.02 cm) and approximately 0.6 inches (1.52 cm). Hosel insert 250 is, according to one embodiment, comprised of more than one hosel outside diameter 470. In other embodiments, hosel outside diameter 470 can stay constant throughout hosel length 460.
Hosel insert 250 can comprise any suitable material that has a lower density than the golf club head (e.g., golf club head 100) that is configured to receive hosel insert 250. The material used to manufacture hosel insert 250 also can have a damping capacity associated with it. The damping capacity of a material defines the ability of the material to absorb vibrations and not transmit the vibrations through the material. The damping capacity is given in a percentage that correlates to a percentage of vibrational energy not transferred through a material. For example, a magnesium alloy can have a damping capacity of 5.33 percent (%) when a predetermined vibrational energy is applied, but cast iron can have a damping capacity of 5.0% and aluminum alloy can have a damping capacity of 0.51% when the same vibrational energy is applied. Hosel insert 250 can comprise a material that is associated with a relatively lower damping factor or capacity when compared to the other material(s) used to manufacture the other parts of the golf club head, as described above. The lower damping factor or capacity of hosel insert 250 can create a better feel of the golf club when contacting a golf ball as well as prolong the structural integrity of the golf club head by damping the vibrations resulting from striking the golf ball.
Hosel insert 250 can have openings or voids 490 in non-end portions of the sidewall of hosel surface 480. Voids 490 can facilitate mass removal from hosel insert 250 without compromising the structural integrity of hosel insert 250. Voids 490 can be rectangular as shown in FIG. 4, or voids 490 can have an elliptical shape or any polygon or closed curve configuration. Voids 490 can comprise any combination of the aforementioned void configurations. Voids 490 can be located centrally along hosel length 460 or off-centered along length 460. The quantity of voids and their arrangement in hosel insert 250 can vary from one hosel insert to another. In another embodiment (not shown) hosel insert 250 can be free from any voids in surface 480 at the side wall of hosel insert 250.
Referring to FIG. 5, a cross sectional view of a golf club head 500 is shown according to another embodiment. Golf club head 500 is merely exemplary and is not limited to the embodiments presented herein. Golf club head 500 can be employed in many different embodiments or examples not specifically depicted or described herein. Golf club head 500 can be similar to golf club head 100.
Golf club head 500 has a sole portion 510, a crown portion 520, an interior surface 530, a crown hole 540, a hosel insert 550, and a support structure 560. Like the above examples, hosel insert 550 can be located in crown hole 540. Hosel insert 550 can comprise a first hosel portion 553 and a second hosel portion 556. First hosel portion 553 can be supported by crown hole 540, and second hosel portion 556 can be supported by support structure 560. At least one of first hosel portion 553 or second hosel portion 556 is fixed to at least one of crown hole 540 or support structure 560, respectively, using one or more of the fixing methods discussed herein. Hosel insert 550 can have or be devoid of voids (similar to voids 490 in FIG. 4). Also, hosel insert 550 can be exposed inside of golf club head 500.
Support structure 560 comprises a second hole 570 that passes through interior surface 530. Second hole 570 is aligned to crown hole 540 and is located between crown portion 520 and sole portion 510 of golf club head 500. Second hole 570 can be a distance between approximately 0.25 inches (0.64 cm) and approximately 1.5 inches (3.81 cm) from sole portion 510. In one embodiment, second hole 570 can be a distance of approximately 0.75 inches (1.91 cm) from sole portion 510. Second hosel portion 556 can be fixed to second hole 570 by any mechanical, chemical, welding, or brazing, or adhering techniques.
Referring to FIG. 6, a cross sectional view of the hosel region of FIG. 5 is shown. First hosel portion 553 is supported by crown hole 540, and second hosel portion 556 is supported by support structure 560. Second hosel portion 556 can comprise a hosel flange 680 that is adjacent to interior surface 530 and that has an exterior diameter larger than the diameter of second hole 570. Hosel insert 550 can be inserted into second hole 570 until hosel flange 680 abuts second hole 570. Similar to the above embodiments, hosel flange 680 can assist in sealing second hole 570, or hosel flange 680 can act as a stopping mechanism for a mechanical fastener, or hosel flange 680 can create more bonding surface area for a weld, braze or adhesive.
Second hole 570 can comprise any shaped cross section. Second hosel portion 556 can comprise a complimentary cross section such that second hole 570 can be substantially filled by second hosel portion 556. Crown hole 540 and second hole 570 can have the same cross sectional shape and size, and first hosel portion 553 and second hosel portion 556 can have the same cross sectional shape and size. First hosel portion 553 can have a cross section that compliments the cross section of crown hole 540, and second hosel portion 556 can have a cross section that compliments the cross section of second hole 570.
Turning to FIG. 7, a front cross sectional view of a golf club head 700 is shown according to another embodiment. Golf club head 700 is merely exemplary and is not limited to the embodiments presented herein. Golf club head 700 can be employed in many different embodiments or examples not specifically depicted or described herein. Golf club head 700 can be similar to either of golf club heads 100 (FIGS. 1-3), and/or 500 (FIGS. 5-6).
Golf club head 700 has a sole portion 710, a crown portion 720, an interior surface 730, a crown hole 740, a hosel insert 750, and a sole hole 760. Crown hole 740 and sole hole 760 are passages through interior surface 730 of golf club head 700. Sole hole 760 is aligned with crown hole 740.
Hosel insert 750 is comprised of a first hosel portion 753 and a second hosel portion 756. First hosel portion 753 is configured to receive a shaft tip (not shown), and is supported by crown hole 740. Second hosel portion 756 is adjacent to first hosel portion 753 and the shaft tip (not shown), and is supported by sole hole 760. At least one of first hosel portion 753 or second hosel portion 756 is fixed by one of welding, adhering, brazing, or mechanically fixing to one of crown hole 740 or sole hole 760, respectively. Hosel insert 750 can be exposed inside of golf club head 700.
FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of hosel insert 750. Hosel insert 750 can comprise a hollow tubular body 860, a first hosel end 870, a second hosel end 880, and a barrier 890. When placed in golf club head 700 (FIG. 7), first hosel end 870 is proximate crown hole 740 (FIG. 7) of golf club head 700 (FIG. 7), and second hosel end 780 is proximate sole hole 760 (FIG. 7) of golf club head 700 (FIG. 7). Barrier 890 can be located between first hosel end 870 and second hosel end 880. Barrier 890 can abut the shaft tip (not shown) when first hosel portion 753 receives the shaft tip. Additionally, barrier 890 can separate and/or isolate first hosel portion 753 from second hosel portion 756. Hosel insert 750 can have or be devoid of voids (similar to voids 490 in FIG. 4).
FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart for a method 900, which can be used to provide, form, and/or manufacture a golf club head with a hosel insert in accordance with the present disclosure. In some examples, the golf club head with a hosel insert can be similar to the golf club heads and hosel inserts of FIGS. 1-8.
Method 900 can include a block 910 of providing a golf club head comprising a strike face and a hole. The golf club head can comprise a first material having a first density. As an example, the golf club head of block 1310 can be similar to one or more of golf club heads 100 (FIGS. 1-3), 500 (FIGS. 5-6), 700 (FIGS. 7-8).
Method 900 also can include a block 920 of positioning a hosel insert within the hole. The hosel insert can comprise a second material having a second density, where the second material is different form the first material and where the second density is different from the first density. In some embodiments, the second density can be less than the first density. As an example, the hosel insert of block 920 can be similar to one or more of hosel inserts 250 (FIGS. 2-4,), 550 (FIG. 5), 750 (FIGS. 7-8).
Method 900 can further include a block 930 for positioning a shaft within a portion of the hosel insert. As an example, the shaft of block 930 can be similar to shaft 260 (FIG. 2). Block 930 can occur before, after, or simultaneously with block 920.
Method 900 can additionally include a block 940 for at least one of brazing, welding, or adhering the hosel insert within the hole. Block 940 can occur after or simultaneously with block 930.
In some examples, one or more of the different blocks of method 900 can be combined into a single block or performed simultaneously, and/or the sequence of such blocks can be changed. In the same or other examples, some of the blocks of method 900 can be subdivided into several sub-blocks. There can also be examples where method 900 can comprise further or different blocks. In addition, there can be examples where method 900 can comprise only part of the steps described above. For instance, block 940 can be optional in some implementations. Other variations can be implemented for method 900 without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
The various embodiments recited herein provide for a relatively less dense hosel insert compared with the rest of the golf club head. These embodiments allow less mass to be used at a hosel region that maintains the proper structure for coupling a golf club head to a shaft. The mass that is saved from the hosel insert region can be used to optimize the moment of inertia of the golf club head, to optimize the center of gravity placement of the golf club head, to strengthen the strike face of the golf club head, to shift the swing weight of the golf club, and/or to modify the shape of the golf club head.
Although golf club heads with hosel inserts and related methods have been described with reference to specific embodiments, various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. As an example, different features of hosel inserts 250 (FIGS. 2-4), 550 (FIG. 5), 750 (FIGS. 7-8) can be combined together in other hosel inserts. Examples of some of such combinations and other variations have been given in the foregoing description. Other permutations of the different embodiments having one or more of the features of the various figures are likewise contemplated. Accordingly, the specification, claims, and drawings herein are intended to be illustrative of the scope of the disclosure and are not intended to be limiting. It is intended that the scope of shall be limited only to the extent required by the appended claims.
Similarly, all elements claimed in any particular claim are essential to the embodiment claimed in that particular claim. Consequently, replacement of one or more claimed elements constitutes reconstruction and not repair. Additionally, benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described with regard to specific embodiments. The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element or elements that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced, however, are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all of the claims, unless such benefits, advantages, solutions, or elements are expressly stated in such claims.
As the rules to golf may change from time to time (e.g., new regulations may be adopted or old rules may be eliminated or modified by golf standard organizations and/or governing bodies such as the United States Golf Association (USGA), the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (R&A), etc.), golf equipment related to the apparatus, methods, and articles of manufacture described herein may be conforming or non-conforming to the rules of golf at any particular time. Accordingly, golf equipment related to the apparatus, methods, and articles of manufacture described herein may be advertised, offered for sale, and/or sold as conforming or non-conforming golf equipment. The apparatus, methods, and articles of manufacture described herein are not limited in this regard.
While the above examples may be described in connection with a wood-type golf club, the apparatus, methods, and articles of manufacture described herein may be applicable to other types of golf club such as a hybrid-type golf club, an iron-type golf club, a wedge-type golf club, and/or a putter-type golf club. In other embodiments, the apparatus, methods, and articles of manufacture described herein may be applicable other type of sports equipment such as a hockey stick, a tennis racket, a fishing pole, a ski pole, etc.
Moreover, embodiments and limitations disclosed herein are not dedicated to the public under the doctrine of dedication if the embodiments and/or limitations: (1) are not expressly claimed in the claims; and (2) are or are potentially equivalents of express elements and/or limitations in the claims under the doctrine of equivalents.

Golf clubs with hosel inserts and methods of manufacturing golf clubs with hosel inserts


A lens, suitable for directing radiation, comprises an array of planar reflecting elements or slats. Each reflecting element is of non-uniform extent or surface area t and/or is of non-uniformly spacing d from adjacent elements. The elements may be parallel or non-parallel. Each element is positioned such that the ratio of spacing d.sub.n to extent t.sub.n is determined by the angle of incidence on the nth element .gamma..sub.n as is given by the relationship (a) where d.sub.n is the spacing between the nth and (n+1)th adjacent elements of the lens, t.sub.n is the length of the nth element and M is the magnification of the lens.

The specification of International patent application No PCT/AU93/00453 discloses a range of radiation control devices (including radiation deflectors, concentrators and lenses), each of which is formed by an array of substantially identical reflecting elements. In addition, it is noted in the specification of International patent application No PCT/AU93/00453 that an array of elongate reflectors can be used for one-dimensional focusing (line focusing) of radiation, and that two such arrays of reflectors, crossed at right angles, will form the equivalent of an array of reflecting channels, with each channel having a rectangular cross-section (which is a square cross-section when the reflectors of each array of parallel reflectors have the same spacing). Thus a two-dimensional focusing array or lens can be constructed using two arrays of reflector strips or slats.
One advantage possessed by optical devices formed by an array of reflecting slats--including the "90.degree. crossed-slats" lens referred to above--is that the surfaces of the elongate reflectors can be polished and examined for flaws before the arrays of reflectors are assembled to form the optical device. This feature, as also noted in the specification of International patent application No PCT/AU93/00453, permits the reflective surfaces of the slats to be coated in a manner which ensures that those surfaces are selectively reflective at predetermined wavelengths.
The present inventor has also shown that this type of 90.degree. crossed-slats lens has an additional advantage over the devices previously used to focus x-radiation (and other radiation having a wave-like character) onto a focal zone. The additional advantage is a significant increase in the "intensity gain" of the lens or focusing device. In this field, the gain, G. of a lens or focusing device is defined by the relationship: ##EQU1## where I.sub.d is the intensity of radiation in the focal spot or zone of the device and I.sub.o is the intensity of radiation at the same location in the absence of the focusing device.

The Australian National University of Acton


Providing continuous backup of a storage device includes subdividing the storage device into subsections, providing a time indicator that is modified periodically, and, in response to a request to write new data to a particular subsection of the storage device at a particular time, maintaining data being overwritten by the new data according to the particular subsection and according to a value of the indicator at the particular time. The subsections may be tracks. Maintaining the data being overwritten may include constructing a linked list of portions of data for each of the subsections. The portions of data may have variable sizes. In response to two data write operations to a particular subsection at a particular value of the indicator, data being written for each of the two data write operations may be combined if data for the second data write operation is a subset of data for the first data write operation. Providing continuous backup of a storage device may also include restoring the storage device to a state thereof at a particular point in time by writing the maintained data to the storage device. Writing the maintained data to the storage device may include constructing subsections of the data by combining separate portions thereof corresponding to the same subsection.

1. Technical Field
This application relates to computer storage devices, and more particularly to the field of selectively maintaining and modifying portions of data stored on a computer storage device and corresponding to particular points in time.
2. Description of Related Art
Host processor systems may store and retrieve data using a storage device containing a plurality of host interface units (host adapters), disk drives, and disk interface units (disk adapters). Such storage devices are provided, for example, by EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass. and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,939 to Yanai et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,394 to Galtzur et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,147 to Vishlitzky et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,208 to Ofek. The host systems access the storage device through a plurality of channels provided therewith. Host systems provide data and access control information through the channels of the storage device and the storage device provides data to the host systems also through the channels. The host systems do not address the disk drives of the storage device directly, but rather, access what appears to the host systems as a plurality of logical volumes. The logical volumes may or may nor correspond to the actual disk drives.
Data backup services may be used to protect against data loss. Such services may be performed periodically (e.g., once or twice a day). When data on the main system is lost, it may be recovered from the backup media.
There are a number of drawbacks to such data backup services, including the fact that it is only possible to recover data that corresponds to data that was saved at a periodic backup. For example, if data is backed up at 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. daily, then a user is not able to recover data from, say, 11:00 a.m. If a user desires the 11:00 a.m. version of the data, the best he or she can do is obtain a copy of the backed up 9:00 a.m. version of the data and then perform steps to construct the 11:00 a.m. version of the data (e.g., by manually reconstructing the data).
One solution to this problem is to perform backups more frequently. However, increasing the frequency of backups increases the storage requirements for backup data and increases the overhead and complexity of the backup data. Ideally, it is desirable to allow obtaining data from any previous time by having a system with continuous or near continuous backups that does not have the increased storage requirements or complexity associated with increasing the frequency of backups.


A treatment device includes a flexible sheath; a control wire that can move axially within the flexible sheath; a first treatment member connected to a distal end of the control wire; a second treatment member connected to a distal end of the first treatment member; and a protection member that covers the second treatment member depending on the mode of operation. When the treatment device is in a first treatment mode, the second treatment member projects from a distal end of the protection member. When the treatment device is in a second treatment mode, the first treatment member projects from the distal end of the flexible sheath, and the protection member covers the second treatment member.

Colon cancer is the second biggest cancer killer in the United States, claiming nearly 50,000 lives a year. Colon cancer usually starts from a benign colon polyp (an adenoma), a small clump of cells that forms on the lining of the colon. About 15 to 25% of people have at least one colon polyp by age 50 (when screening for colorectal cancer typically starts), and up to half of the population will develop colon polyps in their lifetime.
Although most colon polyps are harmless, some can develop into colon cancer, which is often fatal when found in its later stages. It is estimated that about 5% of all adenomas would eventually develop into cancer if not removed. When detected, polyps should be removed in order to examine the tissue to determine whether the growths are cancerous, precancerous, or benign. This can prevent colon cancer.
Currently, the main endoscopic techniques that are available for the removal of colon polyps include endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD).
EMR is performed with a snare to capture the target tissue. Saline can optionally be injected into the submucosal space to elevate the lesion and facilitate its removal. An electrosurgical current is then passed through the snare in order to transect the tissue that has been grasped. If the lesion is larger than 15 to 20 mm, it typically has to be removed in a piecemeal fashion.
By contrast, ESD is performed by injecting fluid into the submucosa and creating an incision around the perimeter of the lesion, and then carefully dissecting the lesion from the deeper layers. Various specialized instruments (ESD knives) are used to dissect the tissue. Generally speaking, ESD is recommended for removing lesions that have a high likelihood of invading the superficial submucosa and for lesions that cannot be removed by EMR due to fibrosis in the submucosal space or post-EMR recurrences.
ESD allows en bloc resection (resection of a lesion as a whole mass) of any type of lesion regardless of size. Removing the entire lesion in a single piece allows for accurate histologic assessment and reduces the likelihood of recurrence (to less than 1%). However, ESD is technically more demanding than EMR and requires advanced endoscopy skills. Furthermore, ESD is a longer procedure associated with a higher perforation rate compared to EMR.
To overcome these difficulties with ESD, modified endoscopic procedures have been introduced, such as ESD with snaring and EMR with circumferential incision. These hybrid procedures involve initial incision around the tumor (circumferential incision) akin to the ESD procedure, followed by snaring the tumor using the EMR technique. Accordingly, there is a need for two types of instruments to complete the procedure: a cutting device (e.g., a knife) and a snare. The treatment instruments (e.g., knife and snare) must be interchanged with one another during the procedure, which complicates the endoscopic surgical operation and raises the possibility of contamination each time one of the instruments is changed out.
Accordingly, there is a need for a diathermic endotherapeutic device that allows for interchange between more than one instrument during a procedure without requiring complete removal of an instrument when that instrument is not in use. To avoid unintended trauma to the tissue, only one instrument should be exposed at any given time.


An imager with a two dimensional array of sensors processes illumination data from a subset of the sensors located within a selected region of the image to determine imager settings prior to acting upon a full frame of data. In this manner imager settings can be quickly determined by transferring and examining only the segment of the sensor array data.

Imaging scanners, or "imagers," are increasingly replacing the laser scanner many uses. This is because the imagers offer more features than laser scanners such as the ability to read two-dimensional barcodes and capturing images such as checks and identification documents. However, when processing one-dimensional barcodes, a laser scanner can often outperform an imager, especially a high-resolution imager. This is because of the additional time required for the imager to capture and process an entire image. The speed of the imager is also impacted by processing measures that are taken to improve the quality of the image so that it can be decoded. For example, many imagers include an automatic exposure time and gain control features that may require the capture and analysis of multiple images to achieve an appropriate setting prior to passing the image on for decoding. A description of the automatic exposure and gain control features can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,354,977 and 6,729,546 assigned to Symbol Technologies, Inc. and incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.


A method may include providing an outer panel that may have a flange that defines at least one planar section. The flange may be heated at the at least one planar section, and the flange may be bent about the at least one planar section.

Automotive closure panel assemblies can sometimes have an inner panel and an outer panel that are held together after a hemming process where a flange of the outer panel is typically folded over an edge of the inner panel. Usually the flange is folded about an already existing bend, or is folded against a die that provides a hard die radius. But sometimes it is not desirable or possible to fold the flange about an existing bend, and other times it is not convenient to fold the flange against a die.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of making an automotive closure panel assembly


A computer-implemented method for evaluating the startup performance of a remote computing system may comprise: 1) commanding the remote computing system to power on using an out-of-band remote-management protocol, 2) determining when the remote computing system becomes responsive to an in-band remote-management protocol, and then 3) calculating the amount of time that elapsed between when the remote computing system was commanded to power on and when the remote computing system became responsive to the in-band protocol. Similarly, a method for evaluating the shutdown performance of a remote computing system may comprise: 1) commanding the remote computing system to shut down using an in-band remote-management protocol, 2) determining when the remote computing system has powered off using an out-of-band remote-management protocol, and then 3) calculating the amount of time that elapsed between when the remote computing system was commanded to shut down and when the remote computing system powered off.

The amount of time required for a computing system to power on, power off, or reboot depends greatly on the number of applications, services, or drivers loaded or running on the computing system. In order to evaluate the shutdown or startup performance of a computing system, an administrator may measure the startup and shutdown times of a computing system using local tools that are installed on, specifically designed for, and dependent on the operating system running on the computing system.
Unfortunately, because these local tools are unable to respond to incoming requests when the computing system's operating system is in the process of starting up or shutting down, administrators lack the means for remotely evaluating the startup and shutdown performance of remotely-managed computing systems.

Systems and methods for evaluating the performance of remote computing systems


In a digital display device, a packet based method of driving selected pixel elements by way of associated data latches included in a column driver is disclosed. For each frame lines in a video frame, a number of video data packets are provided directly to the column driver at a link rate and each of the number of data latches are populated with appropriate video data based upon video data packets within a line period τ. Selected pixel elements are driven based upon the video data.

I. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to display devices. More specifically, the invention describes a method and apparatus for using driving LCD panel drive electronics.
II. Overview
Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) have begun to supersede Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) based monitors in the monitor and television applications markets due in part to the fact that LCDs have several advantages compared to CRT based technology. These advantages include smaller size (60% less than comparable CRTs), lower power consumption (50%), lighter weight (70% less than CRT), no electromagnetic fields, and longer service life.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional active matrix liquid crystal display device 100 that includes a liquid crystal display panel 102, a data (or a column) driver 104 that includes a number of data latches 106-1 through 106-n suitable for storing image data, a gate driver 108 that includes gate driver logic circuits 110, a timing controller unit (also referred to as a TCON) 112, and a memory 114 suitable for storing image data included in or coupled to the TCON 112. In some cases, the memory 114 takes the form of a frame memory capable of storing an entire video frame or in other cases, the memory 114 takes the form of a line buffer capable of storing a single line of video data. In either case, the image data is stored in the memory 114 in such a way as to be available to be transferred to the latches 106 one frame line at a time within a period of time referred to as a line period τ. As shown, a pixel clock generator unit 116 also included in or coupled to the TCON 112 is used to convert video data delivered at a link clock rate to the required pixel clock rate.
Typically, the TCON 112 is connected to a video source 128 (such as a personal computer, TV or other such device) suitably arranged to output a video signal (and, in most cases, an associated audio signal). During operation, the TCON 112 sends video data one pixel at a time by way of a multidrop bus 130 to be stored in a correspondingly enabled one of the data latches 106. For example, if the display panel has 1024 pixels per line then there are 1024 latches per line (it should be noted that in the case of a full color display, each pixel is formed of 3 subpixels, Red, Green, and Blue and therefore there are a total of 1024×3=3072 data latches) each of which is connected to the multidrop data bus 130. When the TCON 112 is loading the video data, a first latch receives a latch enable signal and stores the appropriate pixel data, after which a second latch receives the latch enable signal and stores the appropriate pixel data and so on until all 3072 latches have been enabled and stored the appropriate pixel data one at a time. In this way, for each frame line, the TCON 112 must send the all pixel data to the appropriate one of the 3072 data latches within the line period τ. Once all the video data for a particular frame line has been received and latched, the video data is then available to drive selected ones of a number of picture elements 118 included in the LCD array 102 used to form the displayed image.
Therefore, in order for the TCON 112 to provide the correct pixel data to the correct data latch, the TCON 112 must provide a handshake enable signal between each data latch 106 that must propagate from the leftmost data latch 106-1 to the rightmost data latch 106-n in such a way that all video data for a particular frame line is stored with the line period τ. Since even the rightmost data latch 106-n must be driven by the TCON 112, the number of pixels per line is limited by the ability of the TCON 112 to adequately drive the rightmost (and therefore most distant) data latch 106-n. The large number of components (3072 in the case of an 1024 RGB display) coupled to the large multidrop bus 130 presents a severe challenge to the TCON 112 to preserve signal integrity. Since signal integrity is crucial to the proper operation of the display 100, the data rate is typically reduced thereby severely limiting the resolution of the display 100 since all data for a single frame line must be transferred to all data latches 106 within a single line period τ which is typically about 20 microseconds.
One approach to solving this problem is to increase the size of the multidrop bus 130 that unfortunately also increases the line capacitance making it difficult to optimize the transmission of the data on the bus. Other approaches (such as reduced swing differential signaling or RSDS) use multiple busses with 2 pixels per clock instead of a single multidrop bus and a single pixel per clock. Although this approach reduces the drive capability required for the TCON 112, it has the unfortunate result of substantially increasing the complexity of the TCON driving circuitry (as well as doubling the number of pins). For example, in the case of 24 bit color, the RSDS approach would require 24 transmission lines in addition to a dedicated clock line greatly increasing the complexity of the LCD column driver 104.
Therefore a high speed, high bandwidth approach to driving an digital display is needed.

Using packet transfer for driving LCD panel driver electronics


Environmentally-polluting nitrocresol values are removed from admixtures of nitroaromatic compounds comprised thereof, notably the media of nitration of aromatic compounds by reacting same with aqueous HNO.sub.3 /H.sub.2 SO.sub.4, by first intimately contacting such nitroaromatic compound admixtures with an oxidizing agent comprising hydrogen peroxide, javelle water, or mixture thereof, and thereafter with a neutralizing agent; the nitroaromatic aromatic compounds thus purified are conveniently catalytically hydrogenated into aromatic amines.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the purification of admixtures of nitroaromatic compounds produced via the nitration of aromatic compounds using nitric acid in the presence of sulfuric acid.
This invention especially relates to the removal of nitro-substituted cresols from admixtures of nitroaromatic compounds comprised thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Nitroaromatic compounds, in particular aromatic compounds containing two nitro groups, are conventionally prepared via a two-step process. In the first step, the aromatic reactants are contacted with a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acids. The reaction mixture is then decanted and, in a second step, the organic phase containing the mononitrated aromatic compounds is contacted with a nitric acid/sulfuric acid mixture to produce the corresponding aromatic compounds which are substituted with two nitro groups.
The mixture from the second operation, however, contains objectionable byproducts, in particular cresols, especially those which are substituted with three nitro groups (hereinafter designated the "nitrocresols").
These nitrocresol byproducts must be separated from the nitroaromatic compounds before the latter can be subjected to any further reactions. In a process for the preparation of aromatic amines from the nitroaromatic compounds indicated above, for example, the nitrocresols are known to poison the catalysts employed for the reduction of the nitro groups into amine groups.
One known technique for separating the nitrocresols from the nitroaromatic compounds is to treat said mixture with a base and with water, whether simultaneously or successively, to transform the nitrocresols into salts, and to then separate out the organic phase, which principally contains nitroaromatic compounds, from the aqueous phase which contains the salts of the nitrocresols.
The difficulty with this particular technique is in the fact that the aqueous effluent contains amounts of nitrocresol salts which are too large and exhibit a very high chemical oxygen demand. As a result, effluents containing such salts cannot be discharged untreated to waste.
It is thus necessary to chemically or biochemically treat such effluents to reduce the amount of nitrocresol salts discharged, or to incinerate same. This, of course, significantly adds to the cost of the operation.

Purification of mixtures of nitroaromatic compounds by removing nitrocresols therefrom