An airport display method including the steps of providing data related to an airport, selecting a degree of zoom for the airport to be displayed on a displayed from a plurality of different degrees of zoom, controlling the display to display in the at least one window the airport according to a scale value representative of the degree of zoom selected in the selecting step and changing the scale value representative of the degree of zoom.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an airport display device.
2. Discussion of the Background
The complexity of certain airports, the increase in air traffic and the existence of installations that are often poorly adapted to aircraft that are increasingly large and numerous create traffic difficulties on the runways and taxiways of airports, which often give rise to lengthening of the taxiing times, and sometimes to more or less serious incidents and, unfortunately, also to accidents.
In this context, an increasingly high number of "runway incursions" is observed, that is to say situations in which an unauthorized aircraft (or another moving object such as a technical vehicle of the ground support personnel, for example) moves onto a runway which is being used at the same time in a regular manner by another aircraft in order to land or take off. Such a runway incursion is very dangerous, since it puts the lives of the occupants of both aircraft in danger.
For safety reasons, it is therefore important, or even imperative, that each pilot can observe the environment around his aircraft in the most efficient way possible.
Through the document EP-0 980 828, a system is known which is installed on an aircraft in order to assist the pilot of the aircraft during ground maneuvers. For this purpose this system includes a first video camera that generates video images of the forward landing gear and of an area around the latter, a second video camera which generates video images of the main landing gears and of the areas around the latter, and display means that are fitted in the piloting position and which display the video images generated by the first and second video cameras (which are fixed to the fuselage).
This known system therefore provides the pilot with information that enables him to make maneuvers during a taxiing operation with increased safety. In particular, by observation of the landing gears and of the areas around the latter, he can prevent a landing gear from striking an obstacle on the ground or which does not leave the runway or taxiway on which the aircraft is moving.
However, this known system does not provide any information on the whole (or at least on an extended area) of the runway or of the taxiway. Now, such a lack of information can be dangerous, particularly in poor visibility (fog, etc). In fact, another moving object, in particular another aircraft, can be on the same runway (or the same taxiway) at the same time and, due to lack of information, a situation can arise in which a collision cannot be avoided, in particular if the other moving object is moving at very high speed such as occurs during the take off or landing of an aircraft for example.
The system described in the document EP-0 980 828 also has other disadvantages, in particular the fact that the angles of view are not optimal. The result of this is that the perspective views displayed by this known system has blind spots, for example under the wings where the main landing gear of the aircraft is not seen (the position of the latter only being symbolized) and neither is the possible border of the taxiway or of the runway.
Furthermore, a display system making it possible to partially overcome the above disadvantages is known from an article by Beskenis, Green, Hyer and Johnson entitled "Integrated Display System for Low Visibility Landing and Surface Operations" which appeared in the publication "NASA Langley Technical Report," July 1998, NASA/CR-1998-208446. This display system includes, in particular, display means making it possible to exhibit on a screen mounted in the piloting position of the aircraft a map of the airport showing the runways, the taxiways and the various buildings, as well as the position of the aircraft and the traffic existing on that airport. This known system furthermore includes an actuating means allowing the pilot to choose between an overall view of the airport in planview and various perspective views of a part of the airport, which have various different degrees of zoom (that is to say different scales).
Even though it thus presents the pilot with a view of the airport with the corresponding traffic, which allows the pilot to form an idea of the real situation, this known system has several disadvantages. In particular, it is a frozen system and is not adaptable to different airports. Furthermore, the presentation of data used by this system is not very legible.
In fact, with this known system, the various displays offered are always the same no matter which airport is being used. Now, airports can of course be of very different sizes, of variable complexities and can include buildings in different quantities and sizes. Consequently, a presentation of information that is adapted to a particular type of airport (small size and few runways and buildings for example) is not generally adapted to another (very large and complex with numerous runways for example), and nothing in this known system makes it possible to take account of such different characteristics.
Furthermore, the presentation of information is not very legible, in particular because of the high number of elements (runways, taxiways, buildings, traffic, etc.) that is present on the display screen, particularly when the degree of zoom is low (a complete view of the airport for example). The legibility is also reduced by the use of different types of views: perspective views, plan views. Thus the pilot always needs a certain amount of time to understand the new display correctly when there is a change of type of view, this loss of time of course being a nuisance in certain situations.

Airport display method including changing zoom scales


A coating composition useful as a sealer comprises an epoxy resin, an aldimine or ketimine, a polyisocyanate hardener and a hydroxyl containing compound such as a polyester or acrylic polyol.

With increasing Volatile Organic Content (VOC) restrictions, it is difficult to get a balance of pot life and dry time for coatings useful in refinish paint compositions. The main problems have been that the hydroxyl functional polyols are generally high molecular weight resins, which are viscous materials and require a lot of organic solvents in order to reduce to sprayable viscosities. It is also difficult to get the VOC low enough to be compliant with environmental restrictions. By using reactive diluents in combination with the polyol and isocyanates, lower VOC can be achieved. An excellent example of this type coating is exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,086 and is assigned to BASF Corporation.
In the prior art, the use of diketimines, dialdimines, and hindered diamines as reactive diluents, helps to lower the viscosity and increase the solids, thus enabling coating compositions to reach required VOC limits. However, as more stringent VOC limits are being set, it has become necessary to try and achieve even lower VOCs. The use of low molecular weight hydroxyl functional polyols are difficult to use in order to reach these VOC limits. In addition, these polyols react too fast and a sufficient pot life is difficult to achieve.
An approach to a coating composition has been to mix epoxy/amine reactants with isocyanate reactants but the amine from the epoxy reaction reacts exceedingly fast with the isocyanate, leaving only an epoxy group and an hydroxyl group which do not react under ambient conditions.
We have now found that polyuroxy coating compositions overcome the prior art disadvantages and result in low VOC coatings that are especially useful as refinish paint compositions
The present invention is directed to novel coating compositions. In particular, the present invention is directed to coating compositions that comprise an epoxy resin, imine, (preferably ketimine), polyisocyanate and an active hydrogen containing compound. Coating compositions have been found to be excellent sealer compositions, are tintable, and are preferably applied wet on wet utilizing a basecoat/clearcoat or single stage topcoat over them.

Polyuroxy sealer prepared from epoxy resin, aldimine or ketimine and polyisocyanate


A diaphragm pump having a simple structure for effectively preventing pulsation of liquid being discharged, which includes an air chamber connected to a head-side discharge hole of the diaphragm pump and having a discharge-side discharge hole, and thereby pipes are kept from being damaged by preventing the pulsation of the liquid, and the level of noisy can be reduced to a very adequate level.

1 . Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a diaphragm, and more particularly to a diaphragm pump for effectively preventing pulsation of liquid by installing an air chamber on the side wall of the pump head, which is connected to a head-side discharge hole of the diaphragm pump and includes a discharge-side discharge hole.
2 . Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a typical diaphragm pump pumps liquid by converting rotational movement of a motor into a reciprocating movement by devices such as a cam. Since the amount of the discharged liquid from the diaphragm pump fluctuates by very small volume, the diaphragm pump is generally used for precisely instilling liquid chemicals or medicines.
FIGS. 1A to 1E are cross sectional views illustrating one embodiment of a conventional diaphragm pump. As shown in FIG. 1A, a diaphragm 110 is supported by a support ring 120 to form a pump chamber 130 in an opening area of a pump head 100. A suction hole 105 and a discharge hole 106 are located at the upper portion and the lower portion of a body 102, respectively.
The suction hole 105 and the discharge hole 106 are opened/closed by a check ball 140. Referring to FIG. 1C, an opening-side valve seat 141 having a cross-shaped groove is formed on a suction end of the suction hole 105 of the pump head 100 and an end of a discharge-side connector 160. And, a closing-side valve seat 142 having tapered shape is formed at an end of a suction connector 150 and a discharge side of the discharge hole 106 of the pump head 100.
The following describes the operation of the diaphragm pump constructed in such a manner as mentioned above.
When a motor (not illustrated) is driven to operate the pump, the rotational movement of the motor is changed to the reciprocating movement of a diaphragm shaft 111 by devices such as an eccentric cam, and thereby the diaphragm 110 is driven back and forth. FIG. 1A illustrates a state of the diaphragm being driven back, that is, a suction process, and FIG. 1B illustrates a state of the diaphragm being driven forward, that is, a discharge process.
During the suction process, due to the internal pressure, each check ball 140 of the suction side and the discharge side moves toward the center of the pump head 100. Subsequently, since there is the opening-side valve seat 141 is formed at the end of the suction hole 105 of the pump head 100, liquid is drawn to the pump chamber 130 through the cross-shaped groove. And, the discharge hole 106 is closed by the check ball 140. On the other hand, during the discharge process, each check ball 140 moves away from the pump head 100 to the outside such that the suction hole 105 is closed and only the discharge hole 106 is opened. Subsequently, the liquid in the pump chamber 130 is discharged through the cross-shaped groove formed at the discharge-side connector 160.
The advantage of such a conventional diaphragm pump in the long term is that the average amount of the discharged liquid is very constant. However, since the pumping operation is separated into the suction process and the discharge process, and it is intermittently performed, there is a fundamental problem of a pulsation of the discharged liquid, as shown in FIG. 1D.
In order to prevent such a pulsation of the discharged liquid, two or more pumps are connected in parallel and operated in different strokes, as shown in FIG. 1E. Referring to FIG. 2, another method is explained. By installing an air chamber 200 at the center of a liquid pipe passage, during the discharge process, the air in the air chamber 200 is pressurized, and thereby the amount of the discharging liquid from a discharge pipe 210 is reduced. During the suction process, due to the expansion force of the pressurized air, the liquid stored in the air chamber 200 during the discharge process is discharged through the discharge pipe 210. For reference, the unmentioned reference numeral 201 is a pressure gauge.
However, the benefit of using two more pumps being connected in parallel is significantly offset by the substantial increase in installation cost. Moreover, in the case of installing the air chamber at the center of the liquid pipe passage, it is difficult to perform the installation operation. Also, it is unsuitable to establish the air chamber when the connector of the pump or the liquid pipe passage is made of tube type. Furthermore, damages to the connector caused by the vibration of the air chamber when operating the pump are frequently occurred. Furthermore, since such methods cannot fundamentally remove the pulsation of the discharged liquid, water hammering caused by the pulsation can be generated and it may destroy pipes, especially, at high pressure.


A pallet trolley includes: a frame having two ends, the frame defining a longitudinal axis; a handle assembly attached to the frame; a first wheel assembly attached to the frame at one end; and a second wheel assembly attached to the frame at the other end, the first and second wheel assemblies are oriented to allow the pallet trolley to roll in a direction other than parallel to the longitudinal axis of the frame. A method of moving a pallet includes: providing a pallet trolley having first and second wheel assemblies; locating the first and second wheel assemblies under a pallet; lowering the pallet onto the trolley; and moving the pallet on the trolley and a fork truck.

Pallets have long been used as a platform upon which freight is loaded. The pallet provides openings that allow the forks of a fork truck to enter the pallet and thereby lift the pallet and load of freight together. Many pallets are rectangular in shape and while not all the sides are necessarily of the same length, they may be similar in length. Fork trucks excel at lifting and moving such pallets.
However, some pallets are designed for elongated loads. Such pallets have two sides much longer than the other two sides. These pallets have two relatively short ends and two long sides. Fork trucks often lift and move such pallets by inserting the forks in one of the short ends and then attempt lift the pallet and load by raising the forks. Sometimes that pallets are so heavy and long, that the unsupported end of the pallet will sag significantly when the pallet is lifted and moved. Such sagging may result in the pallet being more difficult to move than a typical load. The pallet may need to be lifted higher than what is typically desired in order for the sagging end to clear the ground or other low obstacles. In extreme cases, sagging of the unsupported end of the pallet may cause handlers to partially unload the pallet before movement of the pallet for fear of breaking the pallet during a movement operation.
An apparatus and method of moving long pallets is desired to alleviate the difficulties mentioned above and other difficulties when moving and lifting long pallets.

Trolley and method for moving long pallets


Modifying Xpath queries dynamically during an ongoing Xpath evaluation. A modification request comprising at least one Xpath query in response to an input is received in an ongoing Xpath evaluation on an online stream of XML messages. A current generation of Nondeterministic Finite Automaton (NFA) is generated and the branches starting from the root node are identified according to the modification request. The identified branches are copied and modified to create a new generation of NFA. New generation of NFA is used for subsequent Xpath evaluations.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the invention relate generally to information processing and more particularly to modification of Xpath queries in Xpath evaluation.
2. Prior Art
The continuing growth of the Internet has led to more and more data being exchanged over the Internet. Internet web sites and web pages are written in a code known as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) code. HTML documents refer to a mode of displaying a document and are nothing but documents containing hyperlinks. However, HTML documents represent neither the logical structure nor the interrelationships of the data contained within such documents.
To address this shortcoming of HTML documents, Extensible Markup Language (XML) has evolved. XML is a standard for creating markup languages which describe the structure and interrelationships of underlying data contained within an HTML document. Thus, XML is not a single, predefined markup language rather a metalanguage (a language for describing other languages). In day to day commerce situations, an enterprise can use XML to define its business items. For example, items such as goods, prices, customers and so on can be defined using XML. Thus, XML in essence functions like a database of item records in a business scenario.
There are several ways in which XML documents can be processed and data retrieved therefrom. Languages such as XPath, XSLT and XQuery allow performing queries to XML documents to process such documents and locate information contained therein. XPath refers to a standardized language used for mining data from XML documents. XPath treats an XML document as a logical ordered tree and describes how to locate specific elements (and attributes, processing instructions, etc.) in an XML document.
In traditional approaches to XML processing, a Document Object Model (DOM) is followed. In DOM approach, a DOM parser converts the XML document to a tree format and stores this DOM tree in memory. While this approach works in case of smaller documents, it has severe limitations when it comes to processing of larger XML documents especially because the size of the document to be stored is usually 7-10 times the size of the original XML document. Thus, in case of large documents, following the DOM approach is a constraint in terms of memory, time, cost and application performance.
In order to address the challenges posed by DOM approach, alternative approaches such as Simple API for XML (SAX) have evolved. SAX refers to presenting the document as a serialized stream of events. In other words, SAX is event driven and relies on a programmer to specify a particular event. Upon the happening of such specified event, XML processing happens.
An XML filtering system comprises of an Xpath parser and a filtering engine. The XPath parser receives the Xpath queries, parses them and sends the parsed results to the filtering engine which is then converted into an internal representation. During XML processing, an online stream of XML messages are passed through a filtering engine which in turn matches XML documents to user inputted XPath queries and routes the matched XML documents according to XPath queries.
Various filtering approaches are known today, for example, 'X-filter' and 'Y-filter' algorithms.
According to Y-filter algorithm, a collection of Xpath queries form an Xpath query group which can be applied to the stream of incoming XML messages and can deliver results. Y-filter algorithm combines Xpath queries into a single Nondeterministic Finite Automaton (NFA) and exploits the commonality among the Xpath queries by merging common prefixes of the Xpath query paths such that they are processed at most once. NFA refers to the intermediate data structures generated by parsing Xpath queries. In general, before handling the XML SAX events, the XML filtering system parses the Xpath queries and generates NFA. An arriving XML document is parsed and the events (SAX based events) raised by the XML parser callback the handlers and drive the transitions in the NFA. Advantages of scalability in the approach and query path sharing are achieved by using automata-based filtering approaches.
Typically, in XML filtering systems, a need arises to modify Xpath queries in the Xpath query group when an Xpath evaluation is going on. This situation may occur when a user wants to modify Xpath queries in real-time and he or she wants the modified Xpath query group to be used for the Xpath evaluation. In conventional XML filtering systems, it is not possible to modify an Xpath query when an Xpath evaluation is occurring without interrupting the ongoing XPath evaluation. These conventional XML filtering systems allow modification of Xpath queries only when there is no Xpath evaluation occurring, i.e. an Xpath query can be added to or deleted from a running filtering engine only when the filtering engine is not actively engaged in processing an XML document. This property of the conventional XML filtering systems makes modification of Xpath queries impractical in a real-time environment.
Hence, there is a need to provide a method and system for modifying Xpath queries without interrupting an ongoing Xpath evaluation in a real-time environment.


A functional device fabrication apparatus is provided for forming a wiring pattern or an electronic device on a substrate using paper or paper-based material by depositing solid content of a solution on the substrate. The functional device fabrication apparatus includes a jet head. The jet head jets the solution including electronic function material onto the substrate as dot patterns. The jet head includes a device for dispensing a droplet of the solution from the jet head. A drive signal applied to the device is configured to cause the droplet jetted by the device to have a specific shape before impacting a face of the substrate.

In recent years, various elements in a field of light emitting devices/media and light processing device/media using minute fine particles/ultra fine particles have been studied. In order to apply such fine particles to various elements, high density integration obtained by depositing films or layers that include fine particle material on a solid substrate becomes a key factor. For example, thin films formed of highly integrated fine particles have been reported.
Thin films of inorganic compounds having desirable orientation can be formed with known methods, such as a molecular beam epitaxy method (MBE), a cluster ion beam method, an ion beam irradiation vacuum deposition method, a chemical vapor deposition method (CVD), a physical vapor deposition method (PVD), and a liquid phase epitaxy method (LPE). Thin films of organic compounds can be formed with known methods, such as a Langmuir Blow jet method (LB method). In general, dot particles may be obtained by allowing materials sublimed in high vacuum with a vacuum apparatus (e.g., MBE method) to form particles on a solid substrate in a self-organized manner.
The foregoing methods, however, have difficulty in controlling space between dot particles or size distribution of dot particles, and require greater cost for obtaining desired dot particles.
In view of such drawback, a liquid jet methods that is, a technique of forming a film of a material including fine particles by using liquid jet head are being proposed. For example, in one related art, an emulsion including nanoparticles is coated on a solid substrate by an inkjet coating technique, to form a thin film formed of ultra fine particles (nanoparticles) on the solid substrate.
Other than such liquid jet method, some conventional known methods for fabricating a circuit board are described below:
(1) A method of forming a copper wiring pattern has been proposed in which the copper wiring pattern is formed where a copper-clad laminate is covered with resist, is then exposed to form a circuit pattern with a photolithographic method, is then dissolved to remove unexposed resist, and is then etched at its resist-removed portions.
(2) In addition, a method of forming a conductive pattern has been proposed in which the conductive pattern is formed where a ceramic substrate is applied with a conductive paste for printing a desired circuit pattern by using a screen printing technique, and is then thermally processed in a nonoxide atmosphere for sintering metal fine particles in the conductive paste.
(3) Further, a method of forming a copper wiring pattern has been proposed in which the copper wiring pattern is formed where an insulating substrate, being formed with a thin conductive layer by deposition of conductive metal, is covered with resist, is then exposed to form a circuit pattern with a photolithographic method, is then dissolved for removing unexposed resist, and is then etched at its resist-removed portions.
Nevertheless, the foregoing conventional known methods may not be suited for forming fine patterns. Therefore, a method of forming fine patterns employing inkjet techniques has been proposed. In one exemplary method, a wiring patterns or a circuit board is fabricated by an inkjet method, in which a circuit pattern is directly drawn onto a substrate by applying metal paste. This method may simplify a fabrication process of fine patterns, have no necessity of waste fluid disposal, and require less manufacturing cost.
Although various methods using inkjet method have been proposed as above mentioned, there remains a need for improved methods of applying inkjet techniques for forming various devices and substrate patterns.

Functional device fabrication apparatus and functional device fabricated with the same


When welding optical fibers retained to form a fiber ribbon the end portions of the fibers are imaged by a lens system on a surface comprising CCD-elements in a camera. Since two such pictures must be made in approximately perpendicular directions in order to determine the positions of the fiber ends, the optical axis when capturing such a picture must be located obliquely to a plane through the end portions of the fiber ribbons. The oblique position of the object in the picture results in that the magnification of the end portions of the fibers will be different for different fibers and thereby also the background illumination will be different and the contrast in a captured image will vary in the different portions of the picture, which show different fibers. In order to achieve a homogenous background illumination a light source is placed in the radiation path behind the end portions (of the object) as seen from the camera and between the light source and the object a diaphragm, which is designed as a non-circular aperture, for example having the shape of a semicircle or a symmetric trapezoid. In order to even more improve the background illumination a light scattering plate is arranged between the diaphragm and the object.

In order to measure, in a fiber ribbon welding device, various geometrical quantities such as fiber gap, fiber diameter, offset laterally between the exterior sides of the fibers and between the cores of the fibers, etc., of the fibers to be welded to each other the positions of the fibers in the xyz-coordinate system of the device must be determined. In order to make it the ends of the fibers must be observed in two different directions or equivalently two pictures must be taken in two such directions. These directions must then be placed obliquely in relation to a plane through the end portions of the fiber ribbons, most preferably in directions of about 45.degree. to this plane, so that the two directions have an angle of about 90.degree. to each other, in order to obtain the largest possible information on the positions of the fibers. In the imaging operation then thus the very object, i.e. the end portions of the fiber ribbons, is located obliquely, having some parts located more distant from and other parts at a shorter distance from the opening of a lens system which is included in the camera, by means of which such a picture is usually made. It causes in turn a varying magnification in the picture captured by the camera and thereby a varying light intensity in the picture. The varying light intensity in the picture is particularly embarrassing as to the generally used light background, which gives difficulties when measuring on all of the picture field and when adjusting the camera in order to obtain a maximal sensitivity in regard of the determination of the position of the outlines of the ends of the different fibers in relation to each other in one single picture.
Systems for achieving a more uniform incoming light intensity to different devices are known from for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,442,414 and 4,391,521 and from the published British patent application No. 2 226 145.

Illumination for imaging optical fiber ribbons


A sunshade device for a vehicle includes: a plurality of sunshade panels mounted in an inner opening of a vehicular roof along a longitudinal direction of the vehicle and arranged in line in a closed state of the sunshade panels; a pair of front and rear sliders each provided at both side portions of each sunshade panel; a pair of guide rails for guiding a liner sliding movement of the front and rear sliders; a drive source connected to a forefront sunshade panel; and a connecting mechanism for detachably connecting adjacent sunshade panels such that each of the sunshade panels is cooperatively opened and closed. Upon opening the sunshade panels, a rear-side sunshade panel is lifted up so that a front-side sunshade panel positioned in front of this rear-side sunshade panel moves under and is superposed below the rear-side sunshade panel.

The present invention relates to a sunshade device which is mounted in an inner opening of a vehicular roof.
A sunshade device is known, for example, by Japanese Patent No. 3115646. This sunshade device comprises: a plurality of sunshade panels mounted to be freely opened/closed in an inner opening of a roof of a vehicle along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle so that in a closed state they are arranged in line along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle; front and rear sliders provided in the side surfaces of each sunshade panel; guide rails for guiding the linear sliding movement of the front and rear sliders; a drive source connected to the forefront sunshade panel; and a connecting mechanism for detachably connecting adjacent two sunshade panels. The sunshade panels are stacked one on top of another at the rear part of the guide rails.
In this Japanese Patent No. 3115646, an engagement portion provided on a front-side sunshade panel and a guide portion urge downward a pressed-down guide portion formed on a rear-side sunshade panel, to thereby superpose and retract the front-side sunshade panel on top of the rear-side sunshade panel.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 8-118959 also discloses a mechanism for stacking a plurality of sunshade panels one on top of another. Referring to the figures of this application, a front-side guide shaft 29 and a rear-side guide shaft 30 provided on a rear slide sunshade 18 are slid down to a front-side branch 40 and a rear-side branch 41, respectively, extending diagonally and downward from the guide rail 38, so that the rear slide sunshade 18 is positioned in a lower position.
Further, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 11-348567 also discloses a similar guide link mechanism in a slide lifter-type roof structure for vehicles. This slide lifter-type roof structure includes slide covers corresponding to the sunshade panels, and a guide pin corresponding to the guide shaft, which passes through a guide slit corresponding to the guide rail.
On the contrary to the above construction disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3115646 wherein the rear-side sunshade panel is pressed down and retracted, another construction may be proposed to lift up the rear-side sunshade panel while the front-side sunshade panel is positioned and superposed below the rear-side sunshade panel. Such a construction is advantageous because the height space between the guide rails and the roof outside panel of the vehicle can be used as a retracting space for sunshade panels so that the height of the interior space at the rear side of the cabin can be assured as large as possible.
The present invention seeks to provide a sunshade device for a vehicle, in which the rear-side sunshade panel is lifted up so that the front-side sunshade panel moves under the rear-side sunshade panel to thereby superpose and retract the rear-side sunshade panel on top of the front-side sunshade panel, and which is simple in structure and excels in reduction in manufacturing cost.


Isolated human monoclonal antibodies which bind to human CD38, and related antibody-based compositions and molecules, are disclosed. Also disclosed are pharmaceutical compositions comprising the human antibodies, and therapeutic and diagnostic methods for using the human antibodies.

Multiple myeloma is a B cell malignancy characterized by the latent accumulation in bone marrow of secretory plasma cells with a low proliferative index and an extended life span. The disease ultimately attacks bones and bone marrow, resulting in multiple tumors and lesions throughout the skeletal system.
Approximately 1% of all cancers, and slightly more than 10% of all hematologic malignancies, can be attributed to multiple myeloma (MM). Incidence of MM increases in the aging population, with the median age at time of diagnosis being about 61 years.
Currently available therapies for multiple myeloma include chemotherapy, stem cell transplantation, Thalomid® (thalidomide), Velcade® (bortezomib), Aredia® (pamidronate), and Zometa® (zoledronic acid). Current treatment protocols, which include a combination of chemotherapeutic agents such as vincristine, BCNU, melphalan, cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, and prednisone or dexamethasone, yield a complete remission rate of only about 5%, and median survival is approximately 36-48 months from the time of diagnosis. Recent advances using high dose chemotherapy followed by autologous bone marrow or peripheral blood mononuclear cell transplantation have increased the complete remission rate and remission duration. Yet overall survival has only been slightly prolonged, and no evidence for a cure has been obtained. Ultimately, all MM patients relapse, even under maintenance therapy with interferon-alpha (IFN-α) alone or in combination with steroids.
Efficacy of the available chemotherapeutic treatment regimens for MM is limited by the low cell proliferation rate and development of multi-drug resistance. For more than 90% of MM patients, the disease becomes chemoresistant. As a result, alternative treatment regimens aimed at adoptive immunotherapy targeting surface antigens on plasma cells are being sought.
CD38 is an example of an antigen expressed on such malignant plasma cells, and is expressed in a variety of malignant hematological diseases, including but not restricted to multiple myeloma, B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia, B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia, Waldenström macroglobulinemia, primary systemic amyloidosis, mantle-cell lymphoma, pro-lymphocytic/myelocytic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia, follicular lymphoma, NK-cell leukemia and plasma-cell leukemia. Expression of CD38 has been described on epithelial/endothelial cells of different origin, including glandular epithelium in prostate, islet cells in pancreas, ductal epithelium in glands, including parotid gland, bronchial epithelial cells, cells in testis and ovary and tumor epithelium in colorectal adenocarcinoma. Diseases, where CD38 expression could be involved, include but is not restricted to broncho-epithelial carcinomas of the lung, breast cancer (evolving from malignant proliferation of epithelial lining in ducts and lobules of the breast), pancreatic tumors, evolving from the b-cells (insulinomas), tumors evolving from epithelium in the gut (e.g. adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma) In CNS, neuroblastomas express CD38. Other diseases include carcinoma in the prostate gland, seminomas in testis and ovarian cancers.
Normally, CD38 is expressed by hemopoietic cells, and in solid tissues. With regard to hemopoietic cells, the majority of medullary thymocytes are CD38+, resting and circulating T- and B-cells are CD38−, and activated cells are CD38+. CD38 is also expressed on approximately 80% of resting NK cells and monocytes, and on lymph node germinal center lymphoblasts, plasma B cells and some intrafollicular cells. CD38 can also be expressed by dendritic cells. A significant proportion of normal bone marrow cells, particular precursor cells, express CD38. In addition, 50-80% of umbilical cord blood cells is CD38+ and remains so in human blood for the first two to three years of life. In addition to lymphoid precursor cells, CD38 is also expressed on erythrocytes and on platelets.
With regard to solid tissues, CD38 is expressed in the gut by intra-epithelial cells and lamina propria lymphocytes, by Purkinje cells and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain, by epithelial cells in the prostate, β-cells in the pancreas, osteoclasts in the bone, retinal cells in the eye, and sarcolemma of smooth and striated muscle.
Functions ascribed to CD38 include both receptor mediation in adhesion and signaling events and (ecto-) enzymatic activity. As an ectoenzyme, CD38 uses NAD+ as substrate for the formation of cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR) and ADPR, but also of nicotinamide and nicotinic acid-adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP). cADPR has been shown to act as second messenger for Ca2+ mobilization from the endoplasmatic reticulum. In addition to signaling via Ca2+, CD38 signaling occurs via cross-talk with antigen-receptor complexes on T and B cells or other types of receptor complexes, e.g. MHC molecules, and is in this way involved in several cellular responses, but also in switching and secretion of IgG1.
Anti-CD38 antibodies are described in the literature, for instance in Lande R, et al., Cell Immunol. 220(1), 30-8 (2002), Ausiello C M, et al., Tissue Antigens. 56(6), 539-47 (2000), and Cotner T, et al., Int J. Immunopharmacol. 3(3), 255-68 (1981). CD38 has a number of functions, which may or may not be activated by a molecule binding to CD38. For instance the mouse anti-CD38 antibody IB4 has agonistic properties in relation to CD38. IB4 is shown to induce T cell activation as indicated by Ca2+ mobilization in Jurkat cells (Zubiaur M, et al., J. Immunol. 159(1), 193-205 (1997), to induce significant proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), to induce release of significant IL-6 levels and to induce release of detectable IFN-γ levels (Lande, Zubiaur Morra, Ansiello supra).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Antibodies against CD38 for treatment of multiple myeloma


A CAM cell array for storing a logical address is divided into first to third CAM sections. A first partition switch circuit intervenes between a zeroth piece of sense line connected to a sense circuit and a first piece of sense line for the first CAM section. The sense circuit is a circuit for selecting a RAM cell array in which a physical address to be read out is stored. A second partition switch circuit intervenes between the first piece of sense line and a second piece of sense line for the second CAM section. A third partition switch circuit intervenes between the second piece of sense line and a third piece of sense line for the third CAM section. By controlling switching operation of respective partition switch circuits according to page size, optimum length of the sense line is utilized, thus achieving a high-speed address translation.

This invention relates to a semiconductor memory device having associative memory cell arrays, and particularly relates to a semiconductor memory device suitable for high-speed address translation.
A virtual storage has been known as one of memory management configurations in a 32-bit microprocessor and the like. In the virtual storage, a logical address space (virtual address space) is required to correspond to a physical address space (real address space). For making the correspondence, a paging method is chiefly adopted. According to the paging method, the logical address space and the physical address space are respectively divided into set sized pages to determine the correspondence between the page number of the logical address space and that of the physical address space. For instance, in case where a logical address space to be accessed with a 32-bit logical address (VA[31:0]) is divided into 4 KB (kilobyte) sized pages, the upper 20 bits (VA[31:12]) of the logical address are dealt with as an index indicating the page number of the logical address space, and the lower 12 bits (VA[11:0]) are regarded as a relative address in the page, i.e., a displacement. The page number (VA[31:12]) of the logical address space is translated into the page number (index) of the physical address space by an address translating device, commonly called a TLB (tranlation lookaside buffer). The physical address space are accessed by a combination of the page number of the physical address space and the displacement (VA[11:0]).
An associative memory, i.e., a CAM (content addressable memory) is incorporated in a TLB. In the TLB keys are searched in parallel, which leads to a high-spaced performance of the correspondence of page numbers. A basic structure of the conventional TLB of this type is disclosed in "A 40 MIPS (PEAK) 64-bit Microprocessor with One-Clock physical Cache Load/Store", ISSCC DIGEST OF TECHNICAL PAPERS, pp. 42-44, February 1990 by Miyake, J. et al., and the like. The TLB has a plurality of entries composed of a combination of CAM cell arrays and RAM (random access memory) cell arrays. Each CAM cell array has bit lines for supplying a logical address (index part only), one word line (CAM word line) for selecting a write entry, and one sense line for comparing operation (conformity detection). Each RAM cell array has bit lines composing a single port for read/write of a physical address (index part only), and one word line (RAM word line) for selecting read/write entries. The word line of each RAM cell array is asserted by a logical sum of a signal on the word line of the corresponding CAM cell array and a signal on the sense line thereof.
In the conventional TLB, a fixed bit length of the CAM cell array in each entry is available. While, in the paging method, the page size is desirable to be changeable. There is a case where the page size is desired to be changed according to the scale of a program. Especially, when a plurality of tasks are processed in parallel in a workstation, page sizes occasionally differ with tasks. In such a case, conventionally, it is necessary to write dummy bits into the CAM cell arrays by a software.
In a detail, in case where one of four page sizes, 4 KB, 256 KB, 16 MB (megabyte) and 4 GB (gigabyte) is to be selected, the TLB must include CAM cell arrays for the longest index to specifying a page with a minimum page size. When the 256 KB or 16 MB page size is selected, the index of a 14-bit or 8-bit length (VA[31:18] or VA[31:24] has only to be dealt with, while the lower 18 bits or the lower 24 bits (VA[17:0] or V[23:0]) of the 32-bit logical address (VA[31:01] ) are regarded as a displacement. With the 4 GB page size, the 32-bit logical address (VA[31:0] ) is entirely regarded as a displacement, and the page number of the logical address space and that of the physical address space are in a correspondence of one to one. On the other hand, with the minimum page size, 4 KB, it is required to deal with the longest index (VA[31:12]) of 20 bits. Therefore, the TLB should have CAM cell arrays each having 20 CAM cells.
In this case, when the page size is set to 4 KB, all CAM cells in each CAM cell array are effectively used. Each CAM cell array stores 20-bit index (VA[31:12]) at assertion of the CAM word line, and asserts the sense line according to a result of comparing the stored index with a 20-bit index newly given on the bit lines. As a result, a RAM cell array belonging to the same entry as a hit CAM cell array is selected, thus obtaining a desired physical address. However, when the page size is set to 256 KB, for example, the number of effectively used CAM cells are only 14 out of 20, and the dummy bits each having set value must be written into the remaining six CAM cells, because the same comparing operation is carried out in the six CAM cells as in the other CAM cells.
In the above conventional TLB, the RAM word line is asserted by a logical sum of the CAM word line and the sense line in each entry, thus a sense circuit for driving the RAM word line according to the state of the sense line is complicated. This hinders from a high-speed operation of the TLB.
Further, since the above conventional TLB is provided with a single read/write port for a physical address in each of the RAM cell arrays, it is liable to cause a malfunction of an unexpected write into the RAM cell array. The logical address (index part only) is given onto the bit lines of the CAM cell arrays at the comparing operation. When two or more CAM cell arrays store respectively logical addresses which are approximate to each other, with difference in signal delay time of each bit line, a plurality of sense lines are asserted concurrently, with a result that a plurality of the RAM cell arrays are selected. Hence, the physical address read out from a certain selected RAM cell array is written into another RAM cell array which is selected at the same time. Thus, a correct physical address in the latter RAM cell array is mis-rewritten.
Moreover, in the above conventional TLB, since the available bit length of the CAM cell array in each entry is fixed, even when one of the page sizes other than minimum page size (256 KB, 16 MB, 4 GB in the above example) is applied, the comparing operation is carried out in all CAM cells prepared for the minimum page size. Thus, the wiring of the sense line of each CAM cell array is occasionally long unnecessarily and each sense line has large wiring capacitance. This prevents a high-speed comparing operation in the CAM cell arrays, and in its turn, prevents a high-speed operation of the TLB. In addition, an electric power is unnecessarily dissipated for precharging the sense line.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Methods of microgrid communications and connection transitions are provided. The methods include methods of operating recloser and/or switch systems. The methods of operating recloser and/or switch systems include transmitting a communication from a recloser and/or switch system of a microgrid to an inverter of the microgrid to trigger a control state change of the inverter. Related methods of operating inverters are also provided.

A microgrid is an energy system that may include distributed energy resources and loads that are capable of operating in concert with, or independently of, a main power grid. Coordinating the microgrid with changes in status of the main power grid, however, may be slow and imprecise. An imprecise or untimely transition of equipment of the microgrid with respect to a status change of the main power grid may damage the equipment of the microgrid.


The invention relates to a process for operating a condensing boiler in which the fuel is a Fischer-Tropsch product which boils for more than 90 wt % between 160 and 400° C. and contains more than 80 wt % of iso and normal paraffins, less than 1 wt % aromatics, less than 5 ppm sulfur and less than 1 ppm nitrogen and wherein the density of the Fischer-Tropsch product is between 0.65 g/cm3 and 0.8 g/cm3 at 15° C.

Condensing boilers are described in EP-A-0789203. This publication describes a gas fired condensing boiler. These boilers are called condensing boilers because the gases produced by combustion are cooled inside the apparatus until the water vapor contained therein condenses, so as to recover the latent condensation heat and transfer it to the water to be heated, which flows through said boilers. This latent heat is sometimes also used to pre-heat the combustion air. A problem associated with these condensing boilers is that the liquid condensate by-products of the combustion must be contained and channeled away for disposal. Furthermore, heat exchanger materials must be capable of withstanding the corrosive liquid condensate by-products. Steps should also be taken to ensure that the burner and igniter systems, along with other system elements such as sensors, are not fouled by moisture or condensation.
Normally, condensing boilers use natural gas as fuel. For example in The Netherlands, which is equipped with a wide spread natural gas grid, many households use a condensing boiler for domestic heating in combination with warm water supply. The wide application of these condensing boilers is due to the attractive energy efficiency of these apparatuses and the presence of the natural gas supply grid.
A disadvantage of these apparatuses is that they cannot be easily applied in regions where no natural gas grid is present. A solution to this problem is to use a liquid fuel. Liquid fuels can be easily transported to and stored by the end user. A disadvantage of the use of liquid fuels is however that the condensing boiler and/or the associated chimneys have to be made from different, more corrosion resistant, materials. For example EP-A-699872 describes a condensing boiler wherein use is made of carbon materials to avoid corrosion. DE-A-3434415 describes another heating device wherein flue gasses are cooled against combustion air in a heat exchanger made of corrosive resistant material. DE-A-3238762 is another example of a heating device wherein a corrosive resistant material is used for this purpose. These solutions are a disadvantage for the manufacturer of condensing boilers because it would result in two types of boiler apparatuses, namely one operating on gas and one operating on liquid fuel. Moreover the apparatus using a liquid fuel would be more expensive due to the different more corrosive-resistant material required.
It would be useful to provide a process for operating a condensing boiler for regions not equipped with a natural gas supply grid.

Process for reducing corrosion in a condensing boiler burning liquid fuel


An electric push-button switch (10) includes a housing (22), a push-button (12). The push-button switch (10) further includes a symbol lighting arrangement to illuminate a transparent region (16) of the push-button (12). The transparent region (16) symbolizes the functional unit to be operated by the push-button switch (10) or an actual function of the functional unit. The push-button switch (10) further includes a function lighting arrangement to indicate the operating status of the functional unit. The symbol lighting arrangement comprises a first light source (32), and the function lighting arrangement comprises a second light source (34) and an off-partitioned light conducting section to a light outlet area (18) which is integrated into the push-button (12). Both lighting arrangements are accommodated in a structural space defined by the housing (22).

Push-button switches in motor vehicles are able to be found easily in the dark when a symbol on the operating surface of the push-button is illuminated by a symbol lighting arrangement. Generally, the symbol is illuminated when the headlights of the vehicle are switched on. With some push-button switches, it is efficient to inform the vehicle occupant of the current switching status of the push-button switch, e.g. as to whether a functional unit is switched on or off. An additional function lighting arrangement can be provided for this, having a outlet area in the push-button which is illuminated separately from the symbol lighting only as a function of the operating status of the functional unit which is to be operated.
In EP-A-1 107 268 a push-button switch is shown, which is part of a switch unit having several key switches. The push-button switch includes a housing and a push-button. The push-button switch further includes are symbol lighting arrangement to illuminate a transparent region of the push-button. The transparent region symbolizes the functional unit to be operated by the push-button switch. The push-button switch further includes a function lighting arrangement to indicate the operating status of the functional unit. The symbol lighting arrangement comprises a first light source and the function lighting arrangement comprises a second light source and an off-portioned light conducting section to a light outlet area. The light conducting section is integrated into the push-button. An incandescent bulb arranged outside the housing of the switch unit serves both for external "floodlight illumination" of the switch unit and also to illuminate the function symbols of the individual push-buttons. For this, the light of the incandescent bulb is directed via light conductors back into the housing and to the respective function symbols. This design is inefficient, however, for individual push-button switches and requires additional structural space. In addition, this solution is not suitable for applications in which an external illumination of the push-button switches could be felt to be intrusive.
It is an object of the invention to provide a compact electric push-button switch with efficient symbol and function lightings.

Electric push-button switch with lighting arrangement

TRW Automotive Electronics & Components GmbH & Co. Kg


A forward-drive apparatus for a bicycle comprises a drive transferring portion 40 including a pedal 20 fixed to a pedal shaft 22 of a bicycle and for transferring the drive force to a drive sprocket 30 connected by means of a chain to a rear wheel; a drive switching portion 50 for enabling the drive force generated from the drive transferring portion 40 to rotate the rear wheel in a forward or idle state; and a drive coupling portion 60 for enabling the forward or idle rotation of the drive sprocket 30 according to the operation of the drive switching portion 50 and for working the bicycle in a forward or idle rotation according to the selection of a lever during the back-pedaling of the bicycle, thereby relieving user's fatigues preventing the loss of the physical energy and enabling the well-muscled movement of legs in every-day life.

The invention is related to providing a forward-drive apparatus for a bicycle for working the bicycle in a forward or idle rotation according to the selection of a lever during the back-pedaling of the bicycle, thereby relieving user's fatigue, preventing the loss of the physical energy and enabling the well-muscled movement of legs in every-day life.


A method including producing a first audio output from a first device; and producing an electromagnetic field from a coil of the first device. The electromagnetic field includes information for at least partially producing a second audio output from a second device. The information is configured to provide a relationship between the first and second audio outputs such that when the first audio output is a first acoustic sound, for the first acoustic sound to be configured to acoustically couple with second acoustic sound from the second device which based upon the second audio output, or when the first audio output is not acoustic sound, for the first audio output to be output from the first device for a headset of at least one first user.

Technical Field
The exemplary and non-limiting embodiments relate generally to inductively coupled systems, methods, devices and computer programs and, more specifically, relate to using inductive coupling to improve quality and loudness of audio output of inductively coupled devices.
Brief Description of Prior Developments
Portable devices, such as mobile phones for example, provide various functionalities; through which many use cases may be provided to an end user. For example, playing a music file or FM radio where the audio files could be reproduced using an integrated hands-free sound generation or alternatively (and privately) using a headset connection. The end user may store and play these audio files whenever desired. The end user is also able to share/transfer these files between portable devices (such as a personal computer, a mobile phone, etc.) using well-known solutions such as a Bluetooth (BT) connection, multimedia messaging, a wired connection, swapping memory card, emails, etc.
Many portable devices include internal hands-free speakers. The loudness of hands-free speakers may be important; especially in areas where the noise levels are high (e.g., urban areas, etc.). Various approaches attempt to improve playback characteristics, for example, use of signal processing and integration of larger transducers, external accessories with passive amplification, etc. Small speaker components have limitations, such as perceived inadequate loudness for example. Buying and carrying an external accessory just for improving loudness is clearly not a desire for most users.


A component for a gauge comprising a bourdon tube having a first end and a second end. A socket is joined to the first end of the bourdon tube and a closure member is joined to the second end of the bourdon tube. At least one of the bourdon tube and the closure member comprises a copper nickel alloy and/or the socket comprises a nickel silver alloy. In addition, a low temperature soldering material, such as a tin-bismuth soldering material, was used to affix the socket to the bourdon tube and the closure member to the bourdon tube. Preferably, the components contain substantially no free copper. Such a component resists corrosion, especially corrosion formed when certain fluids are used with such components.

This invention relates generally to gauges and, more specifically, to a component of a gauge that resists corrosion.
The bourdon tube, as invented by E. Bourdon in U.S. Pat. No. 9,163, is a tube having a flat cross section, e.g., an elliptical or rectangular cross section, which is bent in a coil form (e.g., spirally or helically wound) or a xe2x80x9cCxe2x80x9d shape (e.g., xc2xe of a circle). One end of the bourdon tube is stationary and has an open inlet which communicates with a source of pressure. The other end of the bourdon tube is sealed and allowed to move freely in proportion to the difference in pressure between the interior and exterior of the tube. As the pressure within the tube increases, the tube tends to straighten, resulting in a greater deflection. The amount of deflection of the free end of the tube is translated, mechanically or electrically, into a calibrated output indication of pressure.
Many factors must be considered in bourdon tube design to meet the requirements of the application. Factors that affect bourdon tube performance include pressure range, spring rate, corrosion-resistance to the external environment, repeatability, hysteresis, over-pressure, and ambient temperature effect. The bourdon tube shape, size, and material are selected for the particular application.
A particular concern is the corrosion resistance of the bourdon tube to internal fluid. The bourdon tube is typically made of a metallic material, for example, copper alloys, nickel alloys, or stainless steel.
One problem associated with copper alloys bourdon tubes is dealloying. Dealloying is a corrosion process in which the more active metal is selectively removed from an alloy, leaving behind a weak deposit of the more noble metal. Copper-zinc alloys containing more than 15% zinc are susceptible to a dealloying process called dezincification. In the dezincification of brass (a dark yellow alloy of copper and zinc), selective removal of zinc leaves a relatively porous and weak layer of copper and copper oxide. Corrosion of a similar nature continues beneath the primary corrosion layer, resulting in gradual replacement of sound brass with weak, porous copper. To address this problem, it is known to add inhibitors to admiralty brass in an attempt to reduce corrosion. Unfortunately, the addition of inhibitors in admiralty brass do not prevent dezincification in harmful soldering processes, such as at high temperature (e.g., 700xc2x0 F.) and processes using acidic flux.
Other copper alloys are also susceptible to dealloying. Copper-tin alloys are susceptible to a dealloying process known as desstannification. Green discloration results when a bourdon tube of the prior art is placed in contact with ISOVUE 370 solution (C17H22I3N3O8), often used in certain medical applications and manufactured by Bracco, Inc. of Princeton, N.J. For example, copper iodite, Cu(IO3)2, and/or copper iodite basic, Cu(OH)IO3, are formed as a reaction between the copper and ISOVUE 370 solution. One additional source of green discoloration is copper acetate, Cu(C2H3O2)2.H2O, which results from a reaction of copper and organic flux (i.e., acetic acid). In addition, a reaction between copper and standard flux (i.e., hydrobromic acid) can produce copper bromate, Cu(BrO3)2.6H2O.
Another problem associated with bourdon tubes containing copper is the formation of a green patina, Cu2CO3(OH), on copper and its alloys. This process is caused by the reaction between exposed metal and air containing moisture and carbon dioxide:
The majority of green solid substance of copper alloy gauges is related to the formation of green patina. Copper oxide on the internal surfaces of the bourdon tube accelerates the formation of green patina. Gauges containing ISOVUE 370 are commonly used, for instance, to measure pressure of a fluid during angioplasty. The formation of green discolorant is undesirable during such use.
There is a need, therefore, for a component for a gauge which is resistant to corrosion. More specifically, there is a need for a component for a gauge which is resistant to dealloying and which is resistant to the formation of green discolorants, particularly in the presence of ISOVUE 370 solution which is typically used during angioplasty.
To meet these and other needs, and in view of its purposes, the present invention provides a component for a gauge, such as a pressure gauge, which is resistant to corrosion, including dealloying and the formation of green discolorants, such as copper iodite, copper bromate, and green patina. The invention provides a component for a gauge comprising a bourdon tube having a first end and a second end. A socket is joined to the first end of the bourdon tube and a closure member is joined to the second end of the bourdon tube. At least one of the bourdon tube and the closure member comprises a copper nickel alloy or the socket comprises a nickel silver alloy. The copper nickel alloy of the bourdon tube is preferably identical to, but may be different from, the copper nickel alloy of the closure member.
In one embodiment of the invention, the bourdon tube and/or closure member comprises 65-95%, preferably 70-90%, and most preferably about 70% copper and 5-35%, preferably 10-30%, and most preferably about 30% nickel. In another embodiment of the invention, the socket comprises copper, nickel, and zinc. Preferably, the socket comprises copper, nickel, zinc, manganese, and lead.
In yet another embodiment, the socket is joined to the first end of the bourdon tube by a low temperature tin-bismuth soldering material. In another embodiment, the closure member is joined to the second end of the bourdon tube by a low temperature tin-bismuth soldering material.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, but are not restrictive, of the invention.


A lift assist device for a slide-out room includes a base and a floor support having a fixed portion, a deflecting portion, and a biasing member disposed between the base and the deflecting portion. When the slide out room is in an extended position, the weight of the room deflects the deflecting portion, thereby compressing the biasing member. As the slide-out room is being retracted from the extended position, the biasing member decompresses, thereby facilitating lifting of the slide-out room.

It is known in the art provide a recreational vehicle (RV) with one or more slide-out rooms. Such slide-out rooms may be extended through a wall of the RV to expand the interior space thereof when the vehicle is parked, and retracted into the vehicle when the vehicle is in transit or not in use.
The floor of such a slide-out room necessarily is situated above the floor of the RV when the slide-out room is retracted. Some known slide-out room operating mechanisms are configured to simply extend and retract the room laterally through the wall of the vehicle, without moving the slide-out room vertically with respect to the RV. Accordingly, such operating mechanisms place the floor of the slide-out room at a greater height than the floor of the RV when the slide-out room is extended. This may be undesirable both functionally and aesthetically.
Other known slide-out room operating mechanisms are configured to lower the slide-out room when extended so that the floor of the slide-out room is flush with the floor of the RV when the slide-out room is extended. Similarly, such slide-out room operating mechanisms are configured to raise the slide-out room when retracted so that slide-out room may be drawn into the RV without interference.

Lift assist device for flush floor slide-out room


Disclosed is an information protection system of an on-line service provider connected with customers' telephones through a telephone network for protecting important personal information of the customers from being leaked by tapping the customers' telephone lines, which includes an IVR system for collecting the customers' information-input patterns based on the customers' information-input signals received from the telephones and transmitting colored signals similar to the customers' information-input signals through the telephone network to the customers' telephone lines, and a control device for generating respective the colored signals similar to the customers' information-input signals based on the customers' information-input patterns, the colored signals being delivered to the IVR system. The IVR system transmits the colored signal to the customer's telephone line to scramble the customer's personal information being inputted. An echo canceller is provided to recover the customers' personal information from the scrambled information. An information-input pattern analyzer is provided to analyze the information-input pattern data to determine the customers' respective mean information-input patterns.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information protection system of an on-line service provider connected with customers' telephones through a telephone network, which provides a means for scrambling DTMF (Dial Tone Multiple Frequency) signals inputted by the customers so as to protect the important personal information of the customers from being leaked by tapping the customers telephone lines.
2. Description of the Related Art
DTMF tones are generated when pushing the keypad buttons of a touch-tone type telephone. DTMF is based on an international convention of technological standard. The keypad or dial pad of a telephone consists of 16 digit buttons indicating respectively ten numerals of 0 to 9 and other symbols of *, #, A, B, C, D, among which the symbols A, B, C, D do not usually appear in the commonly used telephone. The digits represent respectively certain composite frequencies each composed of one of the low frequencies of 697, 770, 852 and 941 Hz and one of the high frequencies of 1209, 1336, 1477 and 1633 Hz. For example, pushing the button indicating number 1 generates a mixed frequency composed of a low frequency 697 Hz and a high frequency 1209 Hz, which frequency is recognized by the switchboard as number 1.
Referring to FIG. 1 for illustrating a conventional interactive voice response (IVR) system, a customer contacts the IVR system 30 by a telephone 10 connected to a telephone network in order to receive on-line services. In this case, he must input citizen's registered number, bank account number, credit card number, various identification numbers, bank account secret number, on-line banking secret number, security card secret number, OPT secret number, and registered electronic key by generating DTMF signals through the telephone keypad. However, the conventional IVR system has an inherent drawback that the customer's private telephone line may be secretly tapped by another person to intercept the DTMF signals. The tapped DTMF signals are transmitted through an RF transceiver 91, 92 to be recorded by a recorder. The recorded DTMF signals are then analyzed by using a spectrum analyzer 93 to discover the values of the DTMF tones. Thus, the intercepted personal information may cause a great damage to the customer.

System for protecting personal information of a customer when receiving on-line services from a service provider


Synchronization between command and address signals commonly coupled to a plurality of memory devices to be operated in parallel and a clock signal coupled to the memory devices is achieved, while suppressing an increase in the clock wiring length. A semiconductor device has a data processing device mounted on a wiring substrate and a plurality of memory devices accessed in parallel by the data processing device. The data processing device outputs the command and address signals as a first frequency from command and address terminals, and outputs a clock signal as a second frequency from a clock terminal. The second frequency is set to multiple times of the first frequency, and an output timing equal to or earlier than a cycle starting phase of the clock signal output from the clock terminal can be selected to the command and address signals output from the command and address terminals.

The present invention relates to a technique to optimize a connection configuration of a plurality of memory devices and a data processing device for controlling the same on a wiring substrate, and an output phase relationship between a clock signal and a command and address signal which the data processing device supplies to the memory devices. For example, the present invention relates to a technique effectively applied to a semiconductor device in the form of a mother board having a DDR (Double Data Rate) 2-SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) compliant with JEDEC STANDARD No. 79-2D and a memory controller mounted therein.
Patent Document 1 (Japanese patent laid-open No. 2007-213375), which is the previous application by the present applicant, discloses a semiconductor device in the form of a mother board, wherein a memory controller is on-chip mounted along both side edges of a corner portion of a data processing device in the form of an SOC, and a memory device is arranged opposite to the corresponding both side edges, respectively. This specification discloses a configuration in which two DDR2-SDRAMs are arranged as the memory devices and the data processing device simultaneously accesses these memory devices. In particular, while a command and address signal is supplied in parallel from the data processing device to the memory devices via a common substrate wiring, a clock signal is separately supplied to the memory devices via separate clock wirings.


Disclosed is a method for correcting a facial region detected from image data for photoprinting of improved image quality. The method includes an image data input step of inputting the image data to an image processing device; facial region detection step of extracting a skin color region from the inputted image data and detecting a planar face or a rotated planar face from a face-existing candidate region; a region division step of dividing the facial region detected in the facial region detection step; a correction step of extracting a distortion data value from the region divided in the region division step and conducting correction; and a photoprinting step of visually outputting the image data finally corrected in the correction step. Various types of distortion of the facial image is effectively corrected before it is printed by a photoprinter so that the image quality is improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image data processing method for printing digital facial images of improved quality, and more particularly to a facial region detection device and a correction method for photoprinting, which is a type of image processing technology for detecting and separating a facial region from inputted image data and conducting various kinds of distortion and color correction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As generally known in the art, digital imaging systems have been widely used recently, and they can not only conduct compression and storage, but also improve and modify image quality through image processing.
When digital images are to be printed by a photoprinter based on the processing by a digital imaging system, color distortion or any other undesirable factors existing in facial images are preferably removed so that the printed facial images have better quality than what is supported by the performance of the photoprinter itself.
Such image processing systems for photoprinters have been extensively studied by various corporations manufacturing printers and cameras. Conventional technologies in this regard are commonly characterized in that a facial region is separated based on the skin color distribution and typical facial patterns, and the separation process is followed by color correction, which primarily aims at correcting the red-eye effect, lips, skin color, hair color, etc.
However, the prior art has a problem in that, when the face has been rotated in the image data, the face is not correctly detected. In addition, although the red-eye effect and the darkening of skin color by backlight are corrected, no correction is conducted with regard to the reflection caused by flashing or lighting. When images are stored at a high compression ratio with low image quality, the block boundaries are created.

Facial region detection device and correction method for photoprinting


In one embodiment, an integrated circuit includes a flash memory array with at least first and second subarrays, or sectors, of memory cells. The subarrays have a set of shared bitlines and separate sets of word lines. A bitline driver circuit is coupled to the set of shared bitlines, a first row driver circuit is coupled to the set of word lines of the first subarray, and a second row driver circuit is coupled to the set of word lines of the second subarray. The first and second row driver circuits are operable to enable the memory cells of the first subarray to be erased independently of the memory cells of the second subarray. The two row driver circuits are further operable to enable the memory cells of the second subarray to be erased independently of the memory cells of the first subarray.

As is well known, flash memory cells are often used for non-volatile storage of data. Large numbers of flash memory cells may be grouped together in an array and provided with associated circuitry to implement a flash memory device. Such flash memory devices may be employed, for example, to store configuration data of a programmable logic device (PLD) such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), or other device.
Flash memory arrays typically must be erased through a bulk erase operation. In this approach, all flash memory cells of the array are simultaneously provided with appropriate erase voltages which remove stored charges from floating gates of the associated flash memory cells. Unfortunately, this approach does not permit the selective erasing of groups of flash memory cells. As a result, if data values in one group of flash memory cells are to be updated, then all flash memory cells of the array must be erased and reprogrammed. Such processes can be unduly cumbersome to users of flash memory devices.
One approach to providing selective erasing of flash memory cells involves the use of separate flash memory arrays. In this approach, each of the separate flash memory arrays may be bulk erased independently from the others. However, in order to facilitate independent erasure of the arrays, each separate array must be implemented as an independent array with its own associated row driver and bitline decoder circuitry in association with the read and write data paths. This additional circuitry can increase the space required to implement the separate flash memory arrays. In particular, the duplicative bitline decoder and data path circuitry required for each flash memory array can consume significant amounts of integrated circuit area. In many applications, the inefficiencies caused by such space requirements can outweigh benefits gained from the ability to independently erase the separate flash memory arrays.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved flash memory array structure that provides independently-erasable groups of flash memory cells that overcomes the deficiencies of prior approaches identified above. In particular, for example, there is a need for a flash memory device that provides sector-based erasing without requiring significant integrated circuit area committed to dedicated bitline decoder and data path circuitry.

Flash memory array with independently erasable sectors


In some embodiments, the present invention is directed to a computer system which includes: a specifically programmed server, where the server includes a plurality of modules configured to perform at least: electronically and periodically obtaining, over a computer network, media data from a plurality of computer systems of media data sources, where the media data is associated with a plurality of media airings of a plurality creatives; electronically and periodically obtaining web tracking transaction data from a computer system of a web tracking electronic source; where the web tracking transaction data including web tracking metrics for web originated activities; where web originated activities include web orders placed in response to the offer associated with the creative; for each web order record in the transactional web data: attributing, by the specifically programmed server, a particular web order to a particular media airing; and displaying a real time updatable web attribution report.

For example, in the realm of Direct Response Television (DRTV), a marketer makes an offer to the viewer to purchase or to inquire about a package of products or services, or to pledge a donation, by visiting a specific URL through individual broadcast airings of a paid commercial program of 28:30 in length (infomercial) or a commercial message of varying lengths equal to or less than five minutes.

Database driven computer systems and computer-implemented methods for processing real-time attribution of web originated activities to media agency records and tracking thereof


Ophthalmic lens comprising: a primary zone on a first face; a secondary zone on the first face between said primary zone and the peripheral edge of the lens; first and second regions forming a partition of the secondary zone, which are contiguous and alternate with a pitch. A spectacle eyeglass obtained from said lens produces a first ophthalmic correction in the primary zone and in the first regions, and a second ophthalmic correction in the second regions different from said first ophthalmic correction. An active system of vision comprises an occultation device comprising: a selection device for selecting the wearer's viewing state; an optical occultation system to occult alternatively a first group and a second group according to the wearer's viewing state selected by the selection device, the first group comprising at least the primary zone and the first regions, and the second group comprising at least the second regions.

The invention relates to the field of active optical elements, in particular to carry out an ophthalmic lens. In particular, the invention relates to the field of ophthalmic lenses which are adapted to correct two different visions, for example near vision and far vision. It is the case for presbyopic wearers who need a first ophthalmic correction for near vision and a second ophthalmic correction for far vision which is different from the first ophthalmic correction.
It is a common practice in the art to use multifocal lenses for improving comfort to presbyopic wearers. Nevertheless, traditional multifocal lenses, such as bifocal and trifocals, suffer from a number of disadvantages. There is a desire to improve the performance and cosmetic appeal of multifocal lenses. As an example, many traditional multifocal lenses have a visible discontinuity separating each vision zone. Blended multifocals can reduce the visibility associated with these abrupt discontinuities but generally at the cost of rendering the blend zones optically unusable due to high levels of distortion and/or astigmatism. Traditional progressive lenses can provide multiple vision zones with invisible boundaries and no image breaks but these lenses typically have narrow vision zones and are associated with large amounts of unwanted astigmatism.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,976,158 B2 describes another type of ophthalmic lenses which procure, for a wearer, corrections adapted for his foveal vision and for his peripheral vision. The eyeglass has a central zone that produces a first correction and a peripheral zone. The peripheral zone is divided into first and second contiguous regions. The first and second regions alternate and are dedicated to obtaining two respective ophthalmic corrections for the wearer of the finished eyeglass produced from the lens. Thus, the first and second regions are dedicated to obtaining respectively a first and a second correction, the second correction differing from the first correction. Furthermore, the first correction provided by the first regions is identical to that produced in the central zone. According to the invention, the first ophthalmic correction is determined for correcting the foveal vision of the wearer of the finished eyeglass and the second ophthalmic correction is determined for correcting the peripheral vision of this wearer. These two ophthalmic corrections differ from each other.
However, it may be difficult for a wearer to get used to this type of lenses that integrate two different ophthalmic corrections.
Other known solutions in the art introduce active optical system in order to solve these problems.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,883,207 describes multifocal lenses having one or more multifocal inserts comprising one or more diffractive regions. A diffractive region of a multifocal insert provide a constant optical power or a progression of optical power, or any combination thereof. A diffractive region of a multifocal insert is positioned to be in optical communication with one or more optical regions of a host lens to provide a combined desired optical power in one or more vision zones.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,233 A describes a liquid crystal active lens having, in combination, a fixed-focal-point lens having a high index of refraction and a phase modulation element comprising two-dimensionally arranged fine pixels, and having power and being capable of electrically controlling the lens characteristics as a function of space. An electrically controlled optical system is realized without having a moving portion. Owing to the combination of the liquid crystal element for modulating space phase and the high-power lens of a fixed focal length, it is possible to electronically control the focal length and to electronically control the lens in a spatially split manner.
These active optical systems are very complex and difficult to implement.
In consequence, there is a need, and particularly for presbyopic wearers, for a simple active system of vision integrating two different ophthalmic corrections which does not present problems of wearer adaptation and with no image breaks as in bifocals and trifocals lenses.
So, the invention is directed to an active system of vision integrating two different ophthalmic corrections and improving comfort to a wearer. The method carried out by the active system of vision and the active system of vision itself are simple to implement.

Active system of vision and associated method for improving visual comfort to a wearer

ESSILOR INTERNATIONAL (COMPAGNIE GENERALE D'OPTIQUE)


A first logic state is at a first output voltage level at a first output of a level shifter that selects a first negative regulation voltage level in response to the first logic state. A negative supply voltage begins at first potential and decreases to the first negative regulation voltage level. The first output voltage level decreases as the negative supply voltage decreases. The first output of the level shifter is switched from the first logic state to a second logic state in response to the negative supply voltage reaching the first negative regulation voltage level. The second logic state is provided at a second output voltage level that selects a second negative regulation voltage level for the negative regulation voltage. The first output of the level shifter remains at the second logic state but is reduced in voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to electronic circuits and more specifically to negative voltage generation in electronic circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
Negative voltages are utilized in electronic circuits. For example, a negative voltage is utilized in a programmable memory for erasing non volatile memory cells. Generating negative voltages for electronic circuits may present challenges for circuit designers in that the gate oxide of devices used to generate the negative voltages are susceptible to being over stressed.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a prior art level shifter. Level shifter 101 includes inverters 103, 107, 111, and 116, NAND gates 105, 109, and 114, P-channel transistors 115, 117, 119, and 121, and N-channel transistors 123 and 125. P-channel transistors 115, 117, 119, and 121, and N-channel transistors 123 and 125 form a latch circuit 113.
In operation, level shifter 101 takes a voltage at its input (IN) and latches the same logic state at its output (OUT). In one example, the IN signal has a voltage signal range of 0 to 3.3V and OUT signal has a voltage signal range of Vneg to 3.3 Volts. After the value is latched, the Vneg voltage is lowered from 0 volts to a negative value (e.g. −4 Volts) while maintaining the logic state of the output. After the voltage level has been lowered, a protection mode (PM) signal is asserted which causes the output of inverters 111 and 116 to both be driven to the voltage level of their low voltage rails (e.g. 0 Volts). With the assertion of the PM signal, the "high" logic voltage level of the output (OUT) drops from 3.3 voltage to 0 Volts (the value of the low voltage negative rail of inverters 111 and 116) while still maintaining the logic state. Afterwards, Vneg is reduced to a lower voltage level. With this circuit, once Vneg is lowered, the output cannot change logic states.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates identical items unless otherwise noted. The Figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.


The invention relates to a finger prosthesis comprising a base element, which is formed to receive forces and torques and can be provided with an elastic covering to achieve a natural appearance. Furthermore, the invention relates to a hand prosthesis comprising a chassis and a finger prosthesis arranged on it.

The prior art discloses finger prostheses and hand prostheses with finger prostheses that have a metallic core, which is either formed in one piece or constructed from a number of components that correspond to the phalanxes of the finger and are connected to one another in an articulated manner. The finger prostheses are arranged on a chassis in an articulated manner and can be moved by means of actuators, so that the gripping movement can be replicated. An example of a one-piece construction of a finger prosthesis is described in US 2004/0015240 A1.
Mechanically more complex finger prostheses provide, in addition to the swiveling about the metacarpophalangeal joint, a bending of the finger prosthesis about at least one additional finger joint. Such a configuration is described for example in US 2005/0021154 A1.
To give the finger or hand prosthesis an appearance that looks as natural as possible, a rubber covering in the form of a hand is slipped over the mechanical construction, providing not only a protective function for the mechanical components but also a cushioning and the visual appearance resembling a natural hand. Such a covering is complex to produce, difficult to pull over the mechanical components and corresponds only relatively poorly to the feel of a natural hand.


There is provided with a method of manufacturing an electrostatic adsorptive belt. A portion for forming an electrode pattern on a first resin layer is irradiated with an ultraviolet laser beam. A region including the portion for forming the electrode pattern on the first resin layer is oxidated. The electrode pattern if formed on the first region layer by plating. A second resin layer is formed on a surface of the first resin layer on which the electrode pattern is formed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrostatic adsorptive belt and a method of manufacturing thereof, an assembly, and a conveyance system.
2. Description of the Related Art
To convey a printing medium in a printing device or the like, an electrostatic adsorptive belt which adsorbs a medium by an electrostatic adsorptive force and conveys it is used. The electrostatic adsorptive belt can be fabricated by forming a conductive layer having a desired pattern on a resin base and covering the conductive layer with a resin insulating layer. A power supply is connected to the conductive layer to charge the surface of the insulating layer, and the electrostatic adsorptive belt adsorbs a medium by the charges.
As a method of manufacturing an electrostatic adsorptive belt, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-218776 has disclosed a method of adhering copper foil to a vinyl chloride resin, applying a resist in accordance with a desired pattern, etching the copper foil, and further adhering a vinyl chloride resin plate.

Electrostatic adsorptive belt and method of manufacturing thereof, assembly, and conveyance system


A postal meter is contained in a kiosk. The kiosk also contains a postage meter secure classifier; and a modem link, which communicates with a data center, that is located at a different location. The secure classifier records every time postal funds are dispensed by the postal meter and classifies the postal transactions of the postage meter into various categories, which are then stored in funds registers memory. The modem link communicates with the secure classifier and the data center, during a postage meter refill, by exchanging funds and information so that proper rebates will be applied to the kiosk owner. Thus, the data center may also be used to supply additional funds or refills to the postage meter contained within the kiosk.

Postal kiosks are known devices whereby one is able to frank and then post mail in a convenient fashion. Such kiosks are designed to receive the mail, weigh the mail, inform the user as to the amount of postage due and upon user acceptance and payment dispense the postage. Most kiosks have convenience items such as currency and coin acceptors and coin changes. Recently, credit card slots and credit card charging mechanisms have been added to kiosks.
Current postal kiosks dispense postage by using special postal manufactured blank stamp stock and a dot matrix printer to fill in the postal amount or postal value desired by the user of the kiosk. To insure the fiscal integrity of the blank stamp stock, the United States Postal Service is currently holding each kiosk owner to value each unaccounted for stamp at $99.99. This frequently causes the kiosk owner many problems. For instance: the kiosk owner has to account for every stamp; the kiosk owner has to secure the stamps against theft or damage; and the kiosk owner has to account for stamps used during testing and maintenance of the kiosk. The foregoing process is expensive and error prone.
In order to partially compensate kiosk owners for providing the above service to the public, the United States Postal Service has been offering discounted postage, that varies with postal value, to the owner of the kiosk. Originally, this postal discount was for mechanical vending machines that dispensed stamps. Currently, the postal discount applies to franking machines. A postal meter or franking machine does not need to use United States Postal Service preprinted blank stamp stock. Thus, the inclusion of a postage meter or franking machine in a kiosk will solve the problems enumerated above. However, franking machines treat customers postage as a lump sum and do not store the postal transactions into various categories so that postal discounts may be calculated. Thus, a franking machine may not be simply included in a kiosk without some modification.

System for discounting postage for a postage kiosk containing a franking machine