A method of classification of power requirements in a power over Ethernet system, the method comprising: providing a first classification voltage for a first classification cycle time, the provided first classification voltage being within a classification voltage range defined by a lower classification voltage limit and upper classification voltage limit; measuring a first current flow responsive to the provided first classification voltage; subsequent to the first classification cycle time, providing a voltage outside of the classification voltage range for a classification indexing time; subsequent to the classification indexing time, providing a second classification voltage for a second classification cycle time, the provided second classification voltage being within the classification voltage range; measuring a second current flow responsive to the provided second classification voltage; determining a classification responsive to the measured first current flow and the measured second current flow; and allocating power responsive to the determined classification.

The present invention relates to the field of power over Ethernet and more particularly to classification of power requirements for high power devices.
The growth of local and wide area networks based on Ethernet technology has been an important driver for cabling offices and homes with structured cabling systems having multiple twisted wire pairs. The ubiquitous local area network, and the equipment which operates thereon, has led to a situation where there is often a need to attach a network operated device for which power is to be advantageously supplied by the network over the network wiring. Supplying power over the network wiring has many advantages including, but not limited to: reduced cost of installation; centralized power and power back-up; and centralized security and management.
Several patents addressed to this issue exist including: U.S. Pat. No. 6,473,608 issued to Lehr et al., whose contents are incorporated herein by reference and U.S. Pat. No. 6,643,566 issued to Lehr et al., whose contents are incorporated herein by reference. Furthermore a standard addressed to the issue of powering remote devices over an Ethernet based network has been published as IEEE 802.3af-2003, whose contents are incorporated herein by reference, and is referred to hereinafter as the "af" standard. A device receiving power over the network wiring is referred to as a powered device (PD) and the powering equipment delivering power into the network wiring for use by the PD is referred to as a power sourcing equipment (PSE).
The "af" standard limits the amount of power available to a powered device to 12.95 watts, and devices demanding power in excess of the 12.95 watt power limit are not supported. In order to meet growing power demands, in particular demands for PDs drawing in excess of 12.95 watts, a task force entitled "IEEE 802.3at DTE Power Enhancements Task Force" has been formed, which is in the process of producing a higher power standard, hereinafter the "at" standard. While the task force has not yet finalized its recommendations, it appears that the proposed "at" standard will specify a higher current limit than the "af" standard, and that PSEs meeting the "at" standard are to support PDs meeting the "af" standard. Devices according to the "af" standard are hereinafter alternatively denoted low power device and devices according to the proposed "at" standard, or proposed standard, are hereinafter alternatively denoted high power devices. It is to be noted that high power devices may draw less power than an "af" device, however operation is according to the proposed "at" standard for high power devices.
The "at" standard is expected to exhibit certain interoperability conditions regards "af" and "at" equipment. For example, in the event that an "at" PD is connected to an "af" PSE, it is an objective that the "at" PD will notify the user that the power sourcing equipment is of the "af" variety, and thus unable to support full powering under the "at" standards. Similarly, an "at" PSE having an "af" PD attached thereto is expected to identify the PD as being an "af" PD, and further support powering in accordance with the "af" standard. Preferably, such mutual identification is unambiguous, and operates consistently.
In order to improve overall system power and load management, the "af" standard provides for PD classification to one of 4 potential classes. Each class exhibits a range of maximum power drawn by the PD. Unfortunately, of the 4 potential classes, class 4 is reserved for future use, and class 0 is defined as a default class in which no power requirement information is supplied by the PD. Thus, effectively only 3 power requirement classes are provided. The "at" standard is expected to provide additional classes however, as indicated, above any classification method must provide for cross compatibility and avoid ambiguity.
What is needed, and not supplied by the prior art, is a method of classification for high powered devices which in unambiguous, is compatible with prior art classification under the "af" standard and confirms to both the PD and the PSE the characteristics of the connected device.

Enhanced classification for power over ethernet

Microsemi Corp. - Analog Mixed Signal Group Ltd.


A semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The semiconductor device includes a gate stack, a first doped region, a second doped region, and a buried doped region. The first doped region has a first conductivity type and is located in the substrate at a first side of the gate stack. The second doped region has the first conductivity type and is located in the substrate at a second side of the gate stack. The buried doped region has the first conductivity type and is buried in the substrate, extended from the first doped region to the second doped region, and separated from the gate stack by a distance.

The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced rapid growth. Over the course of this growth, functional density of the devices has generally increased with the device feature size.
In order to meet the requirements for smaller sizes and higher packing densities, the IC includes a semiconductor device with different properties.

Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


The present invention is a fire suppression apparatus for mitigating a battery fire and the effects of a thermal event within a battery pack. The system comprises a fire suppressant apparatus that is incorporated into the storage modules of the lithium ion batteries. Each storage module includes a container filled with a fire suppressant that is pressurized with a compressed gas.

Advances in technology have enabled the design of long lasting and cost-effective battery powered vehicles. However, these advances are not without problems. The most advanced lithium ion batteries can fail for a number of reasons. The most catastrophic failure is when a lithium ion battery has a thermal runaway. A thermal runaway is an event that occurs when the internal reaction rate of a battery increases without control. Despite the best efforts of manufacturers, the rechargeable lithium ion battery is not stable if operated outside design parameters. As manufacturers attempt to obtain longer length out of less material, the lithium ion batteries have become more susceptible to thermal runaway. The thermal runaway can be caused by a number of situations including, but not limited to, improper battery charging, breach of a battery caused by an accident, exposure to extreme temperatures, or manufacturing defects. In such an event, a battery cell generates so much heat that the battery, including the materials used to house the battery, reaches a point of combustion.
A thermal runaway begins with a cell in the battery increasing in temperature, as the environment is unable to absorb the excess heat from the temperature increase. As the temperature further increases, a pressure within the cell also increases. More advanced batteries include a pressure safety release which may help to arrest the thermal runaway. Those batteries lacking a safety release and those batteries whose safety release cannot keep up with the thermal increase, results in the formation of perforations in the cell casing. Upon the perforation of a cell casing, the battery breach causes a thermal runaway event has the battery material is exposed to oxygen. Further, hot gas released by the breach can now breach adjoining cells or compromise the battery housing leading to additional breaches, thus a runaway event is created.
Once the runaway event takes place, it is nearly impossible to stop. The hot gases produced, namely carbon dioxide and hydrocarbon vapors, can lead to spontaneous combustion. The result is a potentially dangerous condition for lithium ion powered vehicle including any passenger within the vehicle. Further, emergency response teams are ill equipped to put out a runaway lithium ion battery fire.
What is needed in the art is a means of arresting a potential thermal runaway battery condition thereby lowering the risk of a spontaneous combustion of battery or materials in close proximity to the battery.


A turbine engine start system accepts either AC or DC and performs power conversion for multiple functions such as starting an AC synchronous generator as a synchronous motor without degradation of input power quality and with minimal generation of EMI. The system utilizes common magnetic components and common semiconductor transistors and rectifiers within its four major subcircuits. The four major subcircuits include a transformer rectifier, a boost converter, a voltage source inverter and a field excitation controller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to power converters, and more particularly to converters that start an AC synchronous generator mounted on an APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) with minimal disturbance to the AC input power quality and with minimal generation of EMI.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are a variety of power converter designs that are used to start an AC synchronous generator as a motor. The conventional power converters have been found to pollute the input source and degrade AC input power quality. The conventional designs employ two separate converters, one that starts the AC synchronous generator from an AC input source and another converter that starts the AC synchronous generator from a 24 VDC battery input or from a 28 VDC transformer rectifier unit. The use of two separate converters increases weight and decreases reliability. It is an object of the present invention to take advantage of the common components of the individual converters and to provide a start function without degradation of AC input power quality.

Turbine engine start system with improved starting characteristics


A safety device for a motor vehicle having a door window defined by a retractable transparent panel which is guided into a receiving frame, the safety apparatus comprising a window insert formed of a sheet of material; a window frame including a transparent panel, the window frame having inside and outside surfaces; a lower mounting bracket for receiving the sheet, with an edge defined to be releasably inserted in the frame; an upper mounting bracket for receiving the sheet, the upper mounting bracket attached to the inside surface of the window frame.

There has been increasing concern about violence, car jacking, and generally, the threat of firearms against people in motor vehicles. Vehicular occupants are particularly vulnerable to bodily injury or attack as a result of the relative ease of access to the occupant of a vehicle via the window of the door. Windows may easily be broken and provide little, if any, resistance to assault with a gun. This device provides a solution for the long felt need of an easy-to-use, low cost form of protection against these assaults.
Currently, an alternative for increasing the safety of a vehicle occupant is to have the motor vehicle bulletproofed by a professional service. This is reportedly an extremely expensive method requiring extensive modifications to the vehicle and costing tens of thousands of dollars. There are currently many materials and ways of achieving a bulletproof vehicle in the non-glass areas. However, the glass areas have few options for bulletproofing, principally, thick glass and glass/plastic laminates. Generally, these options are currently installed in two methods. One method is by splitting the vehicle's door and adding space to accommodate the thicker glass plus increasing the capacity of the electric motors required to raise and lower the heavier glass. This method is extremely expensive. The other method is laminating the extra thickness to the vehicle's window and not modifying the door. This leaves the vehicle's window in a permanently closed position. These options may be out of the financial range of the common person. Even law enforcement, which desperately needs protection, cannot reportedly afford the modifications.
In an aspect of the present invention, there are few, if any, devices available to restrain a child or family pet, such as a dog or cat, from exiting through an open window, other than a cage or container. For the safety and comfort of the child or pet, it is clearly beneficial to allow a constant flow of fresh air into the vehicle. Currently, the only choice for parents, or pet owners, who wish to bring safety and comfort to their children and/or pets; not confining them physically, or have concern about the amount of air flow, is to limit how far down the window is retracted; thus preventing the child or pet from exiting the window.
Automobile manufacturers are increasingly incorporating safety features into the design of automobiles, however, with respect to the windows on the automobile, the industry standard remains to simply use a window retracting into the door frame, sometimes limiting the distance of retraction. One safety feature that has been incorporated has been the use of a locking device activated by the driver that can be used to prevent passenger windows from being opened.
Cameron (U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,542) discloses a window insert that replaces, and is retained by, the vehicle's window. The window insert is fitted into the upper channel of the window frame and is retained in its place by the original window fitting into a groove running along the bottom of the insert. The window insert, because it is retained by the vehicle's window, is of limited use. The window cannot be rolled up when the insert is in place. Therefore, the driver is compelled to stop and remove the insert during inclement weather, or when it is desirable to reduce the flow of air through the insert. The bulletproof aspect of the window is more difficult to use as the insert needs extensive and complicated weather proofing to be used in any inclement weather.
Another system is discussed by Carson (U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,207). Carson discusses a vandal protective plastic sheet that requires four mounting brackets to be fastened with screws to the vehicle's window frame. This approach reportedly makes quick installation or removal impossible. However, these disclosures are unable to address the very difficult problem of year-round use in all types of weather and ease-of-use and installation. Accordingly, it would be essential for year round use to have an alternative window insert that allows the car's windows to be rolled up and down while the insert remains in place.
It is an object of the present invention to allow the car's windows to be rolled up and down while the insert remains in place.
It is another object of the present invention to allow installation or removal of the device in a short period of time.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an affordable alternative as it can be instantly used on different vehicles of the same model.
It is a further object of the present invention to utilize the relationship of the motor vehicle window to its weather stripping to provide insert support and retain the vehicle's original window weatherproofing.


A composition and method for cryopreserving cells in a non-toxic medium is described. The composition and method provide cells for cell therapy and other in vivo applications.

Lymphocytes have been studied extensively for the treatment of solid tumors and viral infections, as an adjuvant to bone marrow transplantation, and for the treatment of genetic diseases. For example, early immunotherapy studies for the treatment of melanoma and renal cell carcinoma focused on lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells or tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) (Rosenberg, 1985; Rosenberg, 1987; Rosenberg, 1988), cytotoxic T lymphocytes have been used for the treatment of AIDS (Koenig, 1995; Torpey, 1993; Trickett, 1998), and donor lymphocyte infusions are used after allogeneic bone marrow transplant to enhance graft-versus-leukemia effect and to reduce the potential for relapse (Kolb, 1997). Furthermore, genetically modified peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) have been used in clinical trials for the treatment of severe combined immune deficiency caused by adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency (Blaese, 1995), and a variety of other lymphocyte-based therapies have been proposed, including transducing lymphocytes with the herpes simplex virus (HSV) thymidine kinase (TK) suicide gene for allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (Bonini, 1997) and the introduction of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) that recognize specific melanomal antigens (Kawakami, 1998).
Cryopreservation of cells that have been expanded and manipulated ex vivo is important for the clinical application of cell-based therapies. Cryopreservation facilitates pooling of cells to reach a therapeutic dose, and facilitates safety testing of both the cell product and any agents, such as recombinant viral vectors or liposomal delivery vehicles, used to genetically modify the cells. Furthermore, as the genetic modification and/or expansion of cells for therapeutic use may require days to weeks for completion of the ex vivo culture protocol, cryopreservation facilitates the coordination of cellular therapy with donor care.
In the method most commonly used for the cryopreservation of bone marrow, peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) are resuspended in a cryopreservation medium containing 10% dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), autologous plasma and Hank's balanced salt solution (Rowley, 1994; Trickett, 1998) and cooled at 1° C./minute. A second method involves freezing lymphocytes in a 20% glycerol solution supplemented with autologous serum (Areman, 1988), resulting in increased cell viability over the standard DMSO protocol. Glycerol-based cryopreservation solutions have also been reported for hematopoietic progenitor cells (U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,764), however, glycerol has lower permeability, which increases the chance for cell loss from osmotic stresses. Although Oliver et al. (WO 97/35472) relate to a combination of arabinogalactan and cell culture media as useful as a cryopreservation medium, the data was obtained from cell lines, not primary cells.
DMSO cryopreservation involves the risk of DMSO-associated toxicity, particularly where cell transfer therapy is involved. For example, Zambelli et al. (1998) evaluated the infusion-related toxicity of transplanted cryopreserved cells and determined that the amount of DMSO present in the graft is related to the grade of toxicity. Davis et al. (1990) found that almost all patients who received cryopreserved autologous cell grafts exhibited dyspnea (83%), decreased heart rates (98%), and transient hypertension (96%), which were attributed to the infusion of DMSO. Oliguric renal failure and second degree heart block were less frequently observed. Similar results were observed in a study by Stroncek et al. (1991), who found that infusion-related reactions, principally nausea and chills, were associated with transplantation of cryopreserved bone marrow. Moreover, in pediatric patients, higher levels of nausea, vomiting, cardiac arrhythmia and hypotension are noted following transplant of cryopreserved bone marrow (Okamoto, 1993). Since most lymphocyte therapies require the infusion of multiple doses of cells on a regular basis, the toxic effects of DMSO can be cumulative.
The development of appropriate solutions is not the only issue in the development of cryopreservation protocols for lymphocytes which are used therapeutically. Recent studies indicate that in vitro culture influences the freezing response of cells. For example, studies of in vitro cultured hematopoietic progenitor cells and lymphocytes indicates that water transport and intracellular ice formation characteristics of the cells is influenced by in vitro culture (Hubel, 1999). Specifically, subzero water transport characteristics of the cells and postthaw viability were influenced by time in culture.
Thus, what is needed is a cryopreservation composition that is non-toxic and useful for achieving the desired viability rates for cryopreservation of cells for cellular therapy.

Compositions and methods for cryopreservation of peripheral blood lymphocytes


An engine ignition coil device which comprises a coil case composed of a first cylindrical case and a second case having a small tubular hole in its center portion and an upper external shoulder at its open end fitted in an open end of the first case to form a closed end of the coil case and an internal unit assembled from a primary side coil bobbin, a secondary-side coil bobbin having a high-voltage terminal holder projecting from a center of its end flange portion, a rod-shaped core, and a high-voltage terminal attached to the high-voltage terminal holder and having a contact for electrically connecting an ignition plug thereto. The internal assembly is mounted in the coil case by inserting the high-voltage terminal holder in the small tubular hole of the secondary case with a tip of the contact projected outwardly therefrom and formed integrally with the coil case by injecting melted insulating resin into the coil case. Thus, the inner assembly can be easily located and reliably fixed at a given place in the coil case with no additional member, assuring precise forming of an integral device by potting with resin.

The present invention relates to an engine ignition coil device.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-23296 discloses an open-magnetic-circuit-type engine ignition coil device that has a coil case which contains an assembly integrally molded therein by potting with melt insulating resin and consisting of a primary coil bobbin having a hollow interior with a rod-shaped core and a secondary coil bobbin coaxially laid on the primary coil bobbin, and which is further provided with an ignition-plug connector portion integrally formed on the coil case in such a way that tip of an ignition plug inserted therein can be in contact with a high-voltage terminal projecting inwardly into the connector portion of the coil case.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 5-87034 also discloses an engine ignition coil device with an incorporated igniter, which comprises a single cylindrical coil case having an open top and a closed bottom, wherein a primary coil and secondary coil bobbin having a hollow shaft with a core inserted therein is mounted and integrally molded by potting with melt insulating resin and, then, an igniter with an attached thereto heat sink is mounted in an upper portion of the open top end of the coil case, leaving the heat sink exposed outside, and integrally molded therein by potting with melted resin.
The above-mentioned prior art devices, however, involve the following problems to be solved:
The first problem is that an inner assembly of a primary coil bobbin, a secondary coil bobbin, a rod type core and a high-voltage terminal socket may be displaced from a specified position in a coil case while melted resin is poured into the coil case. This results in a problem that the tip of an ignition plug can not properly fit in a high-voltage terminal socket integrally molded in the coil case.
The assembly consisting of the primary coil bobbin, secondary coil bobbin, rod type core and high-voltage terminal socket must be fixed in the required position by using suitable additional means that may require additional parts and additional processing steps. Consequently, the efficiency of manufacturing the ignition coil device is decreased.
The second problem is that the conventional open-magnetic-circuit type engine ignition coil device has a rod-shaped core inserted in a hollow shaft of a bobbin with a primary coil and a secondary coil and, therefore, has a low output-efficiency because the magnetic flux produced can extend outwards and is reduced by iron loss while passing the cylinder head and block of the engine. Consequently, the conventional device necessarily has an increased size to assure a specified secondary output voltage.
Further, the solidified resin layer between the coil case and the inner assembly may suffer thermal-stress cracking that allows current leakage resulting in impairing the resin quality.
The third problem of the conventional device is that an igniter with a heat sink is potted only at its bottom and sides in resin layer in the open top end of a coil case and may come out of the coil case.
In the conventional device, the igniter is mounted in the case independent of a low-voltage terminal socket integrally formed with the coil case. This requires a separate step of wiring between the igniter and the low-voltage terminal, thereby reducing the assembling work efficiency.
The fourth problem is that a conventional engine ignition coil device with an ignition plug directly attached thereto is formed in a single piece and therefore must be prepared in different sizes depending upon the kinds of engines that have different sizes between a mounting seat of an ignition coil device and an ignition plug.


In a battery (2) including a battery cell formed in a flattened substantially parallelepiped shape and a terminal contacting section (222) electrically connected to the battery cell, at one end in the longitudinal direction of a face of the battery opposing to the face on which the terminal contacting section (222) is provided, a projecting portion (26) which projects in the longitudinal direction of the face is provided. Meanwhile, another projecting portion (27) which projects in the longitudinal direction of the face is provided at the other end. The projecting portions (26, 27) may have projecting lengths different from each other or may have projecting lengths and projecting thicknesses different from each other. A charging apparatus into which the battery (2) is to be installed includes an accommodating section (40) for the battery (2) which in turn includes projection accommodating portions (46 and 47) configured to individually accommodate the projecting portions (26 and 27). The accommodating section (40) includes a space for accommodating a battery (2D, 2E) wherein the battery cell has a rectangular principal face and another space for accommodating another battery (2) wherein the battery cell has a substantially square principal face, and charging terminals serve as charging terminals not only for the battery (2) but also for the battery (2D, 2E).

In recent years, together with the advancement of miniaturization and reduction in weight of electronic apparatus such as image pickup apparatus represented by a digital camera and so forth, a battery installed in an electronic apparatus is formed in a parallelepiped shape advantageous for miniaturization and reduction in weight. Meanwhile, it is necessary for an electronic apparatus to which a battery is applied to be formed from a member having rigidity sufficient to withstand a bending moment in order to prevent erroneous insertion of the battery or prevent damage to an image pickup apparatus, and this makes an obstacle to miniaturization and reduction in weight.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 28, a battery 9 disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-317689 is formed in a parallelepiped shape wherein the length of the sides in an insertion direction is set longer than the length of the sides in the widthwise direction in order to prevent erroneous insertion into an electronic apparatus while cutaway portions 91 are formed on the sides of a sheath member 90 of the battery 9 to prevent erroneous insertion with certainty and besides facilitate miniaturization and reduction in weight of the electronic apparatus into which the battery 9 is to be installed. The sheath member 90 has terminals 92 provided thereon for electrically connecting to terminals of the electronic apparatus info which the battery 9 is to be installed. The number and location of the cutaway portions 91 are determined so that an end face 93 does not have the center of symmetry. Meanwhile, a battery holder in the electronic apparatus in which the battery 9 is accommodated has an internal shape substantially same as an outer shape of the sheath member 90 and has protrusions for engaging with the cutaway portions 91 when the battery holder is accommodated. It is to be noted that, as batteries similar to the battery disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-317689, batteries disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 11-307072, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-76700 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 11-3692 are available.
The battery 9 is charged up suitably by a charging apparatus. As the charging apparatus, a charging apparatus disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 2,508,447 is applicable. The charging apparatus mentioned includes an installation section in which the battery 9 is removably installed. The installation section has terminals provided thereon for electrically connecting to the terminals 92 of the battery 9.

Battery, charging apparatus and electronic device


A variation of baccarat card game is played with six or eight decks standard 53 playing cards with one joker in each deck. It is playing as the traditional baccarat game. It provides variety optional side bets, such as, banker blackjack, banker 21, banker 17, player blackjack, player 21 and player 16 beside the main wagering areas, Banker, Player and Tie. The jokers serve as winning cards.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to card games, such as, blackjack and baccarat.
2. Description of Related Arts
The object of the game, Baccarat, is to receive a hand value close to 9. The game is designed into two major betting areas said Banker and Player with a side bet area said tie. An ace has a value of 1 or 11 in blackjack game and a value of 1 in baccarat game. Cards 2 through 9 have point values equal to their face values. (E.g. 2 of spades has a point value 2) 10s, Jacks, Queens, and Kings have a point value of zero when it is a part of component in baccarat game and a point value of ten in blackjack game.
In traditional Baccarat card game, two cards are first dealt to player's hand and two cards are first dealt to banker's hand. An additional card may be dealt depending on the total numerical value of two cards of the "Player" and "Banker" respectively. Each player invests a desired amount of money in either Banker or Player of two designed betting areas in order to start a particular round of games.
A two-card point total of 9 is called a "natural" and this is the highest value hand cannot lose. A two-card point total of 8 is also called a "natural" and this is second-highest value hand. In the event of a tie between the Player's hand and the Banker's hand neither the Banker nor the Player wins. By comparing the total numerical value of the Banker and Player, the party having a higher total numerical value will be the winning party.
The patron who invested the amount of money in the winning said Player or Banker would be paid even money from the house (casino). The patron who invested the amount of money in the winning said tie would be paid 8 to 1. There is a 5% commission has to paid to the casino when the Banker wins.
When the player stands on 6 or 7, the banker will always draw on totals of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, and stands on 6, 7, 8, and 9. When player does not have 6, 7, natural 8 or natural 9, and has to draw the third card, the banker shall always draw on the totals of 0, 1, or 2, and then follows the rules.                (a) If banker has 3 and player's third card is 8, the banker cannot draw the third card.        (b) If banker has 4 and player's third card is 1, 8, 9, or 0, the banker cannot draw the third card.        (c) If banker has 5 and player's third card is 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, or 0, the banker cannot draw the third card.        (d) If banker has 6 and player's third card is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, or 0, the banker cannot draw the third card.
The object of the game, Blackjack, is to receive the Blackjack, an Ace and a 10 or a face card said jack, queen, or king to be award 3 to 2 payout from the house (casino). The highest total point of blackjack game is 21. When both dealer and a player have a Blackjack, it results a tie hand, player does not lose or win.
Blackjack is a house bank game that patrons get dealt initially two cards. Players then have to make a decision to take a hit, stand on the numerical value his/her hand, or surrender. In order to win his or her wager, the cards in patron's hand must have a higher total point value than the total point value in the dealer's hand without going over twenty-one points.
Each patron places wager on the betting circle and initially receive two cards face up. After dealer receives two cards, one is face down (hole card), each player may select to draw additional cards in order to improve his or her hand without exceeding twenty-one, stand (not drawing any additional card) or surrender (losing half of the bet to give out his or her hand).
Dealer is required to take a hit when the two cards total value is under 17 (11 to 16) and stand on 17 or soft 17 (an ace and a 6).

Blackjack'n baccarat with jokers (B and BJ)


A system for detecting airborne agents. The system can include a laser source that provides laser pulses of at least two wavelengths, a transmitter that transmits the laser pulses, and a coupling mechanism configured to remotely couple the laser pulses between the laser source and the transmitter. The system can include a receiver receives both elastically backscattered signals from airborne agents and fluorescence signals from the airborne agents. The system can include a telescope both transmits a collimated laser beam of the laser pulse from the transmitter to a far field and receives the elastically backscattered signals and the fluorescence signals from the far field. The system can include a detection system having at least one of a backscatter optical detector that detects the elastically backscattered signals and one or more fluorescence optical detectors that detect the fluorescence signals in selected spectral band(s) from the airborne agents.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable light detecting and ranging (LIDAR) system used, for example a for long-range detection of biological weapon (biological warfare agent) aerosol clouds. As such, the present invention can provide early warning for field personnel, providing time for personnel to prepare for the arriving aerosol clouds.
2. Discussion of the Background
Remote stand-off detection of chemical/biological (chem/bio) agents is considered to be a critical necessity in early warning systems enabling maximum survivability of personnel in the battlefield and other sensitive areas. Pulsed elastic backscatter lidar operating in the visible, as described by Lee, et al, "Micro Pulse Lidar for Aerosol & Cloud Measurement", Advances in Atmospheric Remote Sensing with Lidar, pp 7-10, A. Ansmann, Ed., Springer Verlag, Berlin, 1997, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, and near IR, as described by Condatore, et al, "U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command Counter Proliferation Long Range—Biological Standoff Detection System (CP LR BSDS)", Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 3707, 1999, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, have demonstrated the high sensitivity and long-range (up to 50 km) capability to detect aerosol clouds. Consequently, aerosol lidar is a chosen technique for long-range detection of bio-warfare aerosols. However, single wavelength aerosol lidars, as currently employed, do not provide discrimination between biological weapon (BW) agent aerosols and other natural or interferent aerosol clouds. The capability to differentiate can be augmented by using multiple wavelength and/or multiple polarization elastic scattering signatures. However, the elastic scattering technique lacks the required specificity for deterministic application of the data in the battle field.
Aerosol lidar is an ideal complement to uv fluorescence lidar, as demonstrated by Wilson, et al, "Development of IR and UV Lidar systems for standoff detection of airborne biological materials" Final Report, Contract DAAA15-91-C-0138, STC Technical Report, 1993, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, which discloses a UV laser that excites fluorescence from the biological constituents of the aerosol and measures the fluorescence signature of the biological constituents to provide specificity for discrimination between bio-aerosols and other naturally occurring or interfering aerosols. Since atmospheric absorption at UV wavelengths is high and fluorescence cross-section of the target particles is small, even the use of a high energy laser source with a large aperture telescope only enables conventional fluorescence lidar to achieve a range coverage of three to four kilometers. Jezek and Cannaliato, "Biological Standoff Detection", Joint Workshop on Standoff Detection for Chemical and Biological defense, pp. 26-30, October 1998, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, have been actively developing both long range and short range sensor systems. Long-range biological standoff detection system LR BSDS, as described in Condatore, et al, "U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command Counter Proliferation Long Range—Biological Standoff Detection System (CP LR BSDS)", Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 3707, 1999, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, is based on elastic scatter aerosol lidar. Short range biological standoff detection system SR BSDS, as described in Suliga, et al, "Short Range Biological Standoff Detection System (SR-BSDS)", Fourth Joint Workshop on Standoff Detection for Chemical and Biological Defense, Sep. 15, 1998, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, is based on fluorescence and aerosol lidar.
Current chem/bio defense detection systems can provide a rapid indication of a possible BW attack by utilizing multiple independent technologies to provide separate lines of data, which are less likely to be wrong at the same time, thus reducing false alarms. However, present technologies, owing to the complexity and laser power levels required for fluorescence and aerosol lidar, are limited in range and not well suited for an in-the-field, portable early warning detection system.


To form a new structurally suspended slab or to raise an existing slab for a structural foundation, structural supports are placed in the ground. The structural supports are attached to lifting assemblies, which are also installed in the slab. Actuation of the lifting assembly allows the slab to be raised and/or lowered, thereby forming a suspended slab over a void of a desired size. Existing slabs may be repaired using similar techniques.

This invention relates generally to structural foundations, and in particular to height-adjustable, structurally suspended slabs for structural foundations.
Structural foundations for residential and light commercial construction are typically designed as either "slab-on-grade" or as "structurally suspended slabs." Slab-on-grade designs, in which a foundation is constructed and supported directly on the ground, is very cost effective but is also heavily dependent on soil strength and soil stability. Slab-on-grade is also very maintenance intensive and, due to a variety of issues, has historically resulted in a significant amount of litigation. Suspended slabs, on the other hand, are isolated from soil movement and/or problematic soils because they do not sit directly on the ground, but they are very costly relative to slab-on-grade foundations. Suspended slabs involve over-excavating a site and constructing extensive, temporary form work and/or using void boxes to create a void or space between the foundation and the soil. The concrete is poured over the temporary form or void box and allowed to set. This process is labor intensive, adds significantly to construction time and costs, and has no provision for future adjustments of the foundation's height.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Height-adjustable, structurally suspended slabs for a structural foundation


An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus comprises a probe having a plurality of transducers for performing transmission/reception of ultrasonic waves; a selection circuit for sequentially selecting the transducers for performing transmission/reception of ultrasonic waves; and an A/D converter for converting a reception waveform signal from the transducer selected by the selection circuit into a digital waveform signal. The apparatus also includes a memory for storing the digital waveform signal converted by the A/D converter in correspondence with the selected transducer; and a read control circuit having a wavefront locus address generator for generating a wavefront locus data corresponding to time-of-flight data between each point in an ultrasonic scanning region and respective transducers to synthesize a wavefront converging on a point in the ultrasonic scanning region (including points which are not located on lines normal to the radiating surfaces of the transducers). The apparatus also includes an output unit for outputting the wavefront locus data to the memory as a read address in order to read waveform samples along the wavefront; and a synthesis circuit for synthesizing the waveform samples read from the memory by a read address from the read control circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus capable of displaying a living body tomographic image generated on the basis of an ultrasonic echo signal which is received by transmitting an ultrasonic wave into a living body.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus is commonly used which radiates an ultrasonic pulse to a portion in a living body to be diagnosed. The apparatus receives a reflected wave from the tissue of the living body and processes the reception signal of the ultrasonic echo signal to obtain a living body tomographic image. This apparatus can obtain a tomographic image without exposing a patient to X-rays when an X-ray photograph is taken, unlike an X-ray diagnosis apparatus. For this reason, the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus is used for diagnosis in situations such as obstetrics-gynecology and the like.
In an ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus of this type, it has been known to obtain a tomographic image in a living body using a method called a synthetic aperture method. For example, this apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,960, International Patent Disclosure Number WO89/04143.
In the synthetic aperture method, ultrasonic transducers arranged in an array are changed over, and the transmission and reception of the ultrasonic wave are repeated by the selected ultrasonic transducer.
The ultrasonic waves are received by the respective ultrasonic transducers and converted into electric waveform signals. The electric waveform signals are digitized and stored in the form of time-sequential signals in a waveform memory, wherein each of the time-sequential signals represents the ultrasonic waveform in the sound-ray direction which is normal to the radiating surface of corresponding transducer.
Amplitude data is sampled and summed across the stored waveforms along a wavefront locus converting onto a desired focal point, to be synthesized into a reflection amplitude from the focal point. In this synthesis processing, the wavefront locus consists of time-of-flight data between the focal point and respective transducers.
In such an ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus using the synthetic aperture method, reception focusing can be freely performed throughout an imaging region. For this reason, an ultrasonic tomographic image having a high spatial resolution can be obtained.
The conventional ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus using a synthetic aperture method is designed to be adapted to various shapes and arrangements of array transducers such as linear shapes, concave shapes or convex shapes. Since each of these array transducers has its own direction and density of sound-ray distribution, the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus performs a coordinate transforming process and an interpolation process at a digital scan converter (DSC). However, in order to perform such a coordinate transforming process and interpolation process in real time, a large and complex hardware arrangement is disadvantageously required. In addition, since interpolation is performed in accordance with a ratio of spatial distances from neighbor pixels in a conventional interpolation process, the image is still vague especially in a portion of coarse sound-ray distribution.
For an endoscopic application, the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus is often required to be adapted to an ultrasonic probe for mechanical radial-scanning use. It is also necessary to perform a coordinate transforming process and an interpolation process. As a result, the cost increases, and the apparatus increases in size because a complex processing circuit is required.

Ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus including simple digital scan converter


According to one embodiment, a bicycle support apparatus and method is provided. The bicycle support apparatus can support a bicycle in a horizontal or vertical direction. The bicycle support apparatus can also be secured to any horizontal, vertical, or any angular face. Still further, the bicycle support apparatus can be mounted onto a moveable object, such as an automobile. Slideably secured to an elongated member of the support apparatus is a bicycle fork securement member and a bicycle bottom bracket pad. The securement member secures the fork of the bicycle, and the bicycle bottom bracket rests on the pad. Such securement can be vertically, horizontally, stationary, or moveable configurations.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a bicycle having a pedal by which a user can be transported via turning the pedal and, more particularly, an apparatus and method for supporting a pedaled bicycle to a moveable or stationary item.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following descriptions and examples are given as background only.
There are several different types of bicycles available on the market. The bicycle to which the present support apparatus and method is tailored is that of a lightweight bicycle and, more specifically, a bicycle having pedals for manual propulsion. The bicycle support apparatus is constructed of lightweight material. Therefore, its use is limited to a lightweight, pedaled bicycle, and not a heavy motorized bicycle, such as a motorcycle.
There are numerous types of bicycle support apparatuses available on the market. Those apparatuses range from ones that support a pedaled bicycle, either on a movable object, such as an automobile, or on a stationary object, such as a wall, floor or bench. However, generally speaking, conventional bicycle support apparatuses are not ones that can be mounted on both a movable or stationary object. Nor can conventional bicycle support apparatuses be easily carried between a moveable or stationary mount. Further, typical bicycle support apparatuses cannot easily be placed into a collapsed, low-profile configuration in which a user can easily carry between, store when not in use, or deploy from a collapsed configuration onto moveable or stationary mounts.
Therefore, a need exists for a bicycle support apparatus and method that is lightweight to support a pedaled bicycle, and can support such a bicycle either on a movable or stationary item. Moreover, a further need exists in having a support apparatus that can collapse onto itself for ease of transport from, for example, a moveable object, such as a hitch on an automobile to a stationary object, such as a floor, wall, or bench—and vice-versa. Still further, a need exists for having a bicycle support apparatus that can be mounted on a horizontal or vertical surface, when placed in a stationary position so as to accommodate various types of surfaces on which a user can operate on or clean the bicycle.


A dry or semi-dry sausage product is provided which includes up to 15% by weight of an added particulate protein component. The added protein component is in addition to the protein present in the meat used in the sausage mixture and serves to improve the performance of the resulting product, particularly after the sausage has been heat treated at high temperatures during processing to eliminate pathogens which may be present in the ingredient mix. The added protein component is typically a denatured or hydrolyzed protein and can include one or more of meat stock, milk protein hydrolyzate, yeast extract, hydrolyzed yeast, autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, hydrolyzed animal protein and cooked meat.

The present invention relates in general to sausages and, more particularly, to dry and semi-dry sausages and their preparation.
Dry and semi-dry sausages are generally classified as those sausages which have a relatively hard or chewy texture and have been fermented by allowing growth of selected bacteria during processing. The fermentation causes an accumulation of lactic acid and other byproducts which impart a tangy flavor to the sausage. Pepperoni, genoa, and hard salami are examples of popular dry sausages.
Production of most sausages is a very time-consuming process. In a typical process for preparing dry sausage, raw materials such as boneless chucks, beef trimmings, and regular lean pork are chopped and/or ground and then mixed with curing salts, seasonings and a starter culture of lactic acid producing bacteria. The mixture is stuffed into casings and the product is placed in fermentation rooms under controlled conditions to allow growth of the lactic acid producing bacteria. The bacteria causes fermentation of carbohydrates to produce the lactic acid which gives the sausage its characteristic flavor. The lactic acid also serves to lower the pH of the meat proteins toward their isoelectric point. This is particularly desirable because the meat proteins are less able to bind moisture as they approach their isoelectric point, thereby facilitating subsequent drying of the sausage.
Once the dry sausage is released from the fermentation room, it is typically placed in a drying room at temperatures in the range of 50.degree. F. to 75.degree. F. and relative humidities of 55 to 85% until the desired ratio of moisture to protein is achieved. In many instances, water in amounts up to 30 to 40% of the initial weight of the sausage must be removed over a period of several weeks or longer before the predetermined moisture to protein ratio is reached. Although more rapid drying such as by using higher temperatures would be desirable in order to reduce the processing time, the drying process must be conducted in a uniform and gradual manner in order to ensure a quality product. Rapid drying can cause hardening of the sausage casing which, in turn, can retard removal of moisture from the interior of the sausage.
Subjecting the sausage to high temperatures during drying or other processing steps may also adversely affect the suitability of the finished product for certain applications. For example, pepperoni slices used as pizza toppings should not cup or curl at the edges during cooking of the pizza because of the tendency for liquid to pool in the cupped slices and the likelihood that the edges will burn or dry out. Use of high temperatures during processing of the pepperoni is one factor which has been determined to contribute to cupping of the pepperoni slices.
In addition to the extended time periods required to properly dry sausages, governmental regulations require that dry and semi-dry sausage which are not cooked during processing be heat treated by holding the sausage for predetermined time periods at preselected temperatures. These times and temperatures are selected to ensure destruction of microorganisms such as trichinae which may be present in the meat and can lead to serious illness or death in humans. The time period required for drying is shortened by the use of higher temperatures and can be instantaneous when the product's internal temperature reaches approximately 145.degree. F. The use of these high temperatures during processing, however, can be detrimental to the performance of the final product when used for certain purposes such as pizza toppings. As a result, a need has developed for a sausage which can be processed at elevated temperatures without adversely affecting the performance of the resulting product.


The absorption chamber of an absorption-type air-conditioning apparatus is formed as a vertically oriented cylinder having an inner surface on which absorption liquid is dispensed for absorbing water vapor or coolant vapor. A guide structure is installed at the inner surface of the cylinder to lead the absorption liquid to the inner surface of the cylinder and to spread the absorption liquid over substantially all of the inner surface of the cylinder. The guide structure may be in the form of a mesh lath rolled into a cylindrical shape and installed against the inner surface of the cylinder or a helical coil installed against the inner surface of the cylinder and having a plurality of grooves formed on an outer surface of the coil to allow a portion of the absorption liquid flowing on an upward-facing surface of the coil to flow vertically downward to portions of the inner surface of the cylinder.

In a conventional absorption-type air conditioner, an absorption chamber is formed from a pipe which is installed vertically, and an absorption liquid is provided to flow downwardly from the top of the pipe along an inner surface of the pipe. The absorption liquid absorbs water vapor or coolant vapor contained within the pipe. This arrangement allows the absorption chamber to have a large area for interface between the water vapor or coolant vapor and the absorption liquid, relative to the size of the absorption chamber. Consequently, a relatively compact absorption chamber is possible.
However, in the absorption chamber provided according to conventional practice, the entire inner surface of the pipe is not used effectively because the absorption liquid tends to flow straight down the inner surface of the pipe under the influence of gravity. Further, the absorption liquid flows down the entire length of the pipe in a short period of time and therefore does not effectively absorb the water vapor or coolant vapor. As a result, the conventional absorption chamber structure has a low cooling efficiency. Moreover, the cooling efficiency of the conventional absorption chamber is further reduced by the fact that a large portion of the absorption liquid does not contribute to the absorption of the water vapor or coolant vapor. This is because the rather straight path of flow of the absorption liquid causes little mixing or stirring within the absorption liquid. The water vapor or coolant vapor is absorbed at the surface of the absorption liquid, but the lack of stirring or mixing within the absorption liquid prevents most of the absorption liquid from coming in contact with the water vapor or coolant vapor as the absorption liquid flows downwardly through the pipe. In an attempt to improve the efficiency of this apparatus, it has been proposed to provide a pump to recirculate the absorption liquid back to the top of the pipe. However, this approach tends to make the structure rather complex, and adds requirements for controlling the pump, so that the cost of the apparatus is increased.

Absorption liquid spreading structure for interior of absorption chamber in air conditioner


An optical pickup apparatus is provided with two light sources; an objective lens for focusing light originating from each light source on an optical recording medium; a light separation optical element for transmitting or reflecting the light originating from each light source; a collimator lens for converting the light originating from each light source into a generally parallel beam; an upward-directing mirror for changing the optical path of the light originating from each light source by reflecting it; reflectors disposed between the light separation optical element and the respective light sources, for reflecting parts of light beams emitted from the light sources, respectively; photodetectors for detecting light beams reflected from the reflectors, respectively; and an APC circuit for controlling the power of the light beam emitted from each light source in accordance with a detection output of each photodetector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical pickup apparatus for recording or reproducing information on or from an optical recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
High output power semiconductor lasers are used as light sources of optical pickup apparatuses, in particular, ones capable of writing information to an optical recording medium. In such a high output power semiconductor laser, the reflectance of each of anti-reflecting coatings of the front and rear faces of a laser chip of the semiconductor laser is changed by changing its thickness. Therefore, the quantities of light beams that are emitted from the front and rear faces of the laser chip are different from each other. This makes it impossible to detect light that is emitted from the rear face by providing a light detecting device inside a semiconductor laser package and control the power of light that is emitted from the front face on the basis of a detection result.
For the above reason, in an optical pickup apparatus that is equipped with a semiconductor laser having a high output power, it is necessary to monitor the power of light that is emitted from the front face of a laser chip by providing a light detecting device for monitoring the optical output power of the semiconductor laser outside a semiconductor laser package and inside the optical pickup apparatus.
Among the conventional optical pickup apparatuses in which a light detecting device (front monitor) for monitoring the power of light emitted from the front face of a laser chip the semiconductor laser is provided outside a semiconductor laser package and inside the optical pickup apparatus is the following (e.g., refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 8-102080 (1996)).
FIG. 33 shows an example of optical output power monitoring of a conventional optical pickup apparatus 1 that is equipped with two light sources having different wavelengths.
The conventional optical pickup apparatus 1 is equipped with a first light source 2 and a second light source 3 that emit light beams having different wavelengths. A light beam emitted from the first light source 2 is converted into a generally parallel beam in passing through a first collimator lens 4, reflected by a beam splitter 5, reflected by an upward-directing mirror 6 so as to enter an objective lens 7, and focused on the information recording surface of an optical recording medium 8 by the objective lens 7. A light beam reflected by the optical recording medium 8 again passes through the objective lens 7, is reflected by the upward-directing mirror 6, passes through the beam splitter 5 and a half-mirror 9, and is detected by a photodetector 11 via a spot lens 10. A light beams emitted from the second light source 3 is converted into a generally parallel beam in passing through a second collimator lens 12, is reflected by the half-mirror 9, passes through the beam splitter 5, is reflected by the upward-directing mirror 6 so as to enter the objective lens 7, and is focused on the information recording surface of the optical recording medium 8 by the objective lens 7. A light beam reflected by the optical recording medium 8 travels along the same path as the above-described light beam emitted from the first light source does, and is detected by the photodetector 11.
A first front monitor 13 for monitoring the optical output power of the first light source 2 is disposed on the opposite side of the beam splitter 5 to the first light source 2, and detects a light beam that is emitted from the first light source 2 and passes through the first collimator lens 4 and the beam splitter 5. The first front monitor 13 outputs a detection result to a control means 15. The control means 15 controls the power of the light beam that is emitted from the first light source 2 is accordance with the detection output of the first front monitor 13.
On the other hand, a second front monitor 14 for monitoring the optical output power of the second light source 3 is disposed on the opposite side of the half-mirror 9 to the second light source 3, and detects a light beam that is emitted from the second light source 3 and passes through the second collimator lens 12 and the half-mirror 9. The second front monitor 14 outputs a detection result to the control means 15. The control means 15 controls the power of the light beam that is emitted from the second light source 3 is accordance with the detection output of the second front monitor 14.
In the conventional optical pickup apparatus 1 having the above configuration, the first front monitor 13 and the second front monitor 14 are disposed on the opposite side of the beam splitter 5 and the half-mirror 9 to the first light source 2 and the second light sources 3, which raises a problem that the apparatus 1 requires a large installation capacity and has a large size.
FIG. 34 shows an example of optical output power monitoring of another conventional optical pickup apparatus 20. The conventional optical pickup apparatus 20 is similar to the above conventional optical pickup apparatus 1, and hence components of the optical pickup apparatus 20 having corresponding components in the optical pickup apparatus 1 are given the same reference numerals as the latter. In the optical pickup apparatus 20, a hologram laser is used in place of the beam splitter 5 and the hologram laser 5 separates two light beams having different wavelengths from each other.
In another conventional optical pickup apparatus 20, a single front monitor 13 is provided and monitors the optical output powers of both of the first light source 2 and the second light source 3. A light beam emitted from the first light source 2 passes through the hologram laser 5 and is detected by the first front monitor 13. A light beam emitted from the second light source 3 is reflected by the hologram laser 5 and detected by the first front monitor 13. The first front monitor 13 outputs a detection result to the control means 15. The control means 15 controls the optical output power of the first light source 2 and the second light source 3 in accordance with the detection output of the first front monitor 13.
Although another conventional optical pickup apparatus 20 is smaller in the number of parts and hence is smaller in the size of the apparatus than the conventional optical pickup apparatus 1, the former has a problem that the accuracy of the optical power control is lower than in the latter. In general, the ratio between the quantity of transmission light and the quantity of reflection light in the hologram laser 5 is set so that the quantity of light used for recording or reproduction and that used for the optical output power monitoring become about 90% and about 10%, respectively. The quantity of light used for the optical output power monitoring, that is, the quantity of light that is emitted from the first light source 2 and transmits the hologram laser 5 or the quantity of light that is emitted from the second light source 3 and reflected by the hologram laser 5, varies by 10% to 20% depending on the characteristics of the hologram laser 5. It is virtually impossible to realize a beam splitter having such a light separation characteristic as not to cause such a light quantity variation, resulting in a problem that it is difficult to control, with high accuracy, the output power of light that is, emitted from the light source 2 or 3 in the above-described manner.
A semiconductor laser that is one kind of light source provided in an optical pickup apparatus outputs laser light, which is used for recording or reproduction of information on or from an optical recording medium. A semiconductor laser chip that is provided in the semiconductor laser and emits light changes in output power due to a variation in the ambient temperature, a variation with age, etc. The output power of the semiconductor laser chip is kept constant by controlling its drive current with an automatic power control (APC) circuit. Among the methods for keeping the output power of a semiconductor laser chip with the APC circuit are a rear monitoring method and a front monitoring method.
In the rear monitoring method, slight light that is emitted from the semiconductor laser chip in a direction (hereinafter referred to as "rear direction") that is opposite to a direction in which light is emitted from the semiconductor laser chip to reach an optical recording medium is used for an output power control. Light that is emitted in the rear direction is detected by a power control light detecting means that is provided in the semiconductor laser, and the APC circuit controls the output power of the semiconductor laser to a constant value by supplying it with a signal for controlling a drive current of the semiconductor laser chip in accordance with a detection output of the power control light detecting means.
However, the quantity of light emitted in the rear direction is smaller than that of light emitted in such a direction (hereinafter referred to as "front direction") as to reach the optical recording medium for recording or reproduction of information on or from the optical recording medium, and is insufficient to control the output power of the semiconductor laser chip.
The ratio of the quantity of light emitted in the rear direction to that of light emitted in the front direction is not necessarily stable. As a result, the rear monitoring method has a problem that the optical output power of the semiconductor laser cannot be controlled with high accuracy.
On the other hand, in the front monitoring method, light that is emitted in the front direction is detected by a monitoring photodetector and the APC circuit controls the output power of the semiconductor laser to a constant value by controlling its drive current in accordance with a detection output of the photodetector. Since, as described above, the quantity of light emitted in the front direction is larger than in the rear direction, to increase the accuracy of the output power control, in general, the front monitoring method is employed dominantly.
FIG. 35 is a simplified system diagram showing the configuration of a still another conventional optical pickup apparatus 31. Light that is emitted from a semiconductor laser chip 33 of a semiconductor laser 32 is converted into parallel light by a collimator lens 34 and enters a beam splitter 35. The beam splitter 35 has, at a prism junction surface 36, a reflection film that transmits 95% of incident light and reflects 5% of it. Therefore, most of incident light is transmitted toward an optical recording medium 40 and the remaining light is reflected toward a power control light detecting means 37.
Light that has passed through the beam splitter 35 is polarized by a quarter-wave plate 38, bent by 90° toward the optical recording medium 40 by an upward-directing mirror 39, and focused by an objective lens 41, whereby a light spot having a prescribed size is formed on the information recording surface of the optical recording medium 40 and information recording or reproduction is performed. Light that has been reflected by the optical recording medium 40 passes through the objective lens 41, bent by 90° by the upward-directing mirror 39, polarized by the quarter-wave plate 38, and input to the beam splitter 35. The beam splitter 35 reflects, 100%, toward a light detecting means 42, the light reflected from the optical recording medium 40. Resulting reflection light is focused by a focusing lens 43, given astigmatism by a cylindrical lens 44, and detected by the light detecting means 42, whereby information on the optical recording medium 40 is read.
Light that has been reflected by the beam splitter 35 toward the power control light detecting means 37 is condensed by a condenser lens 45 and detected by the power control light detecting means 37. An APC circuit 46 controls the output power of the semiconductor laser 32 to a constant value by supplying it with a signal for controlling a drive current of the semiconductor laser chip 33 in accordance with a detection output of the power control light detecting means 37.
To provide a semiconductor laser in which the load on a semiconductor laser chip and the power consumption are reduced and that has a high output power that is necessary in recording information on an optical recording medium, it is necessary to efficiently utilize, for an output power control on the semiconductor laser, light that is emitted from the semiconductor laser chip.
FIG. 36 is a simplified system diagram showing the configuration of a still another conventional optical pickup apparatus 47. The optical pickup apparatus 47 is a conventional optical pickup apparatus that efficiently utilize, for an output power control, light that is emitted from a semiconductor laser chip. Since light that is emitted from the semiconductor laser chip 33 is diverging light, there exists light 48 that goes outward instead of entering the collimator lens 34. Part of the outgoing light 48 is detected by a power control light detecting means 37. An APC circuit 46 controls the output power of the semiconductor laser 32 to a constant value by supplying it with a signal for controlling a drive current of the semiconductor laser chip 33 in accordance with a detection output of the power control light detecting means 37.
However, such a still another conventional optical pickup apparatus 47 has the following problem. Since the power control light detecting means 37 utilizes light that is emitted from the semiconductor laser chip 33 and goes outward instead of entering the collimator lens 34, the quantity of light that can be detected by the power control light detecting means 37 is very small. That is, the detection light quantity is too small for the APC circuit 46 to control the output power of the semiconductor laser chip 33 with high accuracy; the reliability of the output power control is low.
FIG. 37 is a simplified side view showing the arrangement of a conventional optical pickup apparatus 51 using the front control method. The operation of the conventional optical pickup apparatus 51 will be described below. Light that is emitted from a semiconductor laser 52 is converted by a collimator lens 53 into generally parallel light, which enters a beam splitter 54. The beam splitter 54 is configured so as to transmit 95%, for example, of light that is emitted from the semiconductor laser 52 and received via the collimator lens 53 and to reflect the remaining light (5%). That is, 95% of the received light passes through the beam splitter 54 and goes toward an optical recording medium 61 and the remaining light (5%) is reflected by the beam splitter 54 toward a monitoring light detecting means 56.
The 5%-light reflected by the beam splitter 54 is condensed by a condenser lens 55 and shines on the monitoring light detecting means 56. The monitoring light detecting means 56 outputs, to the APC circuit 57, an electrical signal corresponding to a detection light quantity. The APC circuit 57 controls the power of output light of the semiconductor laser 52 to a constant value by supplying it with a drive current of the semiconductor laser 52 in accordance with the electrical signal supplied from the monitoring light detecting means 56.
On the other hand, the 95%-light that has passed through the beam splitter 54 is polarized by a quarter-wave plate 58 in passing through it, directed by an upward-directing mirror 59 toward the optical recording medium 61, and focused on the information recording surface of the optical recording medium 61 by an objective lens 60 to as to form a light beam spot having a prescribed size. The light beams focused on the information recording surface of the optical recording medium 61 is reflected by the optical recording medium 61, again passes through the objective lens 60, is reflected by the upward-directing mirror 59, passes through the quarter-wave plate 58, and enters the beam splitter 54. The beam splitter 54 is configured so as to reflect almost 100% of the light reflected from the optical recording medium 61. The light reflected from the beam splitter 54 is focused by a focusing lens 62, given astigmatism by a cylindrical lens 63, and applied to a light detecting means 64. A tracking error signal and a focusing error signal for operation controls and an information signal (RF signal) are generated on the basis of the reflection light coming from the optical recording medium 61 that is detected by the light detecting means 64.
For recording or reproduction of information by an optical pickup apparatus (particularly for the information recording), a high optical output power is needed to attain high accuracy and quality. Further, to reduce the load on the semiconductor laser and the power consumption, it is necessary to efficiently utilize the power of output light of the semiconductor laser. However, 5% of the quantity of light that is emitted in the front direction for information recording or reproduction is used for the output power control. As such, the conventional optical pickup apparatus 51 has a problem that the efficiency of utilization of light is low.
To solve the above problem, a conventional optical pickup apparatus is available in which light that is emitted from a semiconductor laser is detected directly (front monitoring). FIG. 38 is a simplified side view showing the arrangement of another conventional optical pickup apparatus 65 using the front monitoring method. The conventional optical pickup apparatus 65 is similar to the above conventional optical pickup apparatus 51, and hence components of the optical pickup apparatus 65 having corresponding components in the optical pickup apparatus 51 are given the same reference numerals as the latter and will not be described.
In another conventional optical pickup apparatus 65, light 66 that is emitted from the semiconductor laser 52 and goes off the optical axis without passing through the collimator lens 53, that is, the light 66 that is not used for information recording or reproduction, is detected directly by a monitoring light detecting means 56. The monitoring light detecting means 56 outputs, to an APC circuit 57, an electrical signal corresponding to a detection light quantity. The APC circuit 57 controls the output power of the semiconductor laser 52 to a constant value in accordance with the electrical signal supplied from the monitoring light detecting means 56. In the optical pickup apparatus 65, no part of light that is emitted from the semiconductor laser 52 for information recording or reproduction is divided and used for the output power control and hence the efficiency of utilization of the light emitted from the semiconductor laser 52 can be made high.
However, in the conventional optical pickup apparatus 65, since the monitoring light detecting means 56 directly detects only a very small part of light that diverges outside the outer periphery of the collimator lens 53, the detection light quantity is small and the electrical signal that can be used for controlling the output power of the semiconductor laser 52 is very weak. Therefore, the output power control on the semiconductor laser 52 by the APC circuit 57 cannot be performed with sufficient accuracy or stability, raising a problem that the reliability of the output power control is low.


An image reading device includes transparent plate member, reading portion, support member, and adjustment mechanism. The transparent plate member is an elongated plate extending in a second direction perpendicular to a first direction, and is in contact with a reading surface of a document sheet when the document sheet is moved in the first direction during an automatic document sheet reading. The reading portion is disposed below the transparent plate member. The support member supports a lower surface of the transparent plate member at two support points separated in the second direction. The adjustment mechanism biases an extension end portion, extending outward from one of the support points, of the support member in a downward direction opposite to the supporting direction of the support member, and adjusts a distance between the transparent plate member and the reading portion by changing a biasing force applied to the extension end portion.

The present disclosure relates to an image reading device having an automatic document sheet reading function, and in particular relates to an adjustment mechanism and an adjustment method for adjusting a distance between a transparent plate member and a reading portion, wherein the transparent plate member is an elongated plate and is in contact with a reading surface of the document sheet when the document sheet is moved during an automatic document sheet reading.
The image reading device is provided with a reading portion that includes a reading sensor such as a CIS in which a plurality of imaging elements are arranged in a main scanning direction, a light-emitting element such as an LED that irradiates light toward an imaging target, and optical parts such as a lens and a mirror. Conventionally, in an image reading device having an automatic document sheet reading function, a document sheet is read in such a manner that the reading portion is disposed below a contact member (transparent plate member) that is in the shape of an elongated plate, and then the document sheet is moved in the state where a reading surface of the document sheet faces the upper surface of the contact member. This allows an image on the reading surface to be read while the document sheet is moving.
In addition, the image reading device is provided with a document sheet table glass on which the document sheet is placed such that an image is read from the document sheet in a stationary state. As an example of this type of image reading device, there is known a device in which the document sheet table glass is supported in such a manner that the height of the center of the document sheet table glass between support points can be adjusted by adjustment screws.

Adjustment for automatic document sheet reading with image reading device


A display emitting apparatus that irradiates an optically transparent display unit with Ultraviolet rays of light from below to cause luminescent layers provided on the display unit to emit colored rays of light to provide a highly colorful and very ornamental display (FIG. 1).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to UV (Ultraviolet) ray emitting apparatus and electronic apparatus employing UV ray emitting elements for use in wrist watches, portable telephones and carmeters.
2. Background Art
Some wristwatches have parts such as faces and hands covered partially, for example, by printing with a light-energy storage paint such as a luminous paint. The light-energy storage paint receives external light in a bright place to store corresponding energy and emits as light the stored energy in a dark place.
According to such wristwatches, we can know a present time in a dark place since the light-energy storage paint emits light based on the stored energy. However, we cannot cause the paint to emit light whenever we desire. Furthermore, since the paint only emits light the wristwatches can not provide highly colorful and sufficiently ornamental effects.

Ultraviolet ray emitting apparatus and electronic apparatus using ultraviolet ray emitting elements


A database management system that manages data in a database includes a query optimizer that performs query optimization based on statistics related to data in the database. The query optimizer incrementally updates the statistics. The query optimizer organizes the statistics related to the data in the database into a statistics tree structure having a root node corresponding to global statistics, internal nodes corresponding to summary statistics of descendant nodes, and leaf nodes corresponding to disjoint data ranges in the database. The query optimizer performs statistics tree transformation operations on the statistics tree structure. The transformation operations transform the statistics tree structure into a form that at least partially minimizes the system resources needed to update the statistics. The query optimizer updates the statistics corresponding to those nodes of the statistics tree structure where a change has occurred in the disjoint data ranges.

Query optimizers are used to select valid and efficient execution plans for database queries. The query optimizers typically use statistics about the data included in the database. Since the data in the database may change over time, keeping the statistics up-to-date is important so that the query optimizer is able to generate an efficient execution plan. However, existing methods for updating statistics do not allow for efficient ways to incrementally update the statistics.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.

Incremental maintenance of range-partitioned statistics for query optimization


A system and method are provided for determining document relevance determination to a selected category for a document contained within a linked network of documents. The network may be represented by a network map including nodes representing documents and edges representing links between the documents. The method may include identifying each node in the network map known to belong to the selected category, identifying each node known to be outside of the selected category, and identifying nodes having an unknown category. The method may also include assigning a category rank based on the node category identification, identifying each link from each node and each link to each node, and assigning link weights based on the identified links. The method may additionally include determining node relevance to the selected category based on the assigned category rank and the assigned link weights. An origination domain and a destination domain for each link may be determined such that link weights are assigned for both incoming and outgoing links for each node.

In recent years, computer search systems have become heavily utilized and various search systems compete to provide relevant and rapid results. Since user satisfaction depends upon both speed and relevance, search system developers strive to improve search system speed and performance.
Currently, search engines formulate an estimate of a document's relevance to any arbitrary query. Search engines strive to show relevant documents and eliminate irrelevant documents. The ordering of documents by relevance in a searchable index improves the performance of the search system. With currently implemented search systems, when implementing a searchable index, the search engine assumes that documents beyond a certain point will become less relevant.
One known relevance determination technique for determining the relevance of an information source involves counting the number of links or citations contained within the information source. This technique may be useful in a network containing relatively uniform types of information sources. In such a uniform system, it may be reasonable to assume that an information source often cited by other information sources is of greater relevance than a less frequently cited information source.
This technique may be implemented by incorporating all information sources in a network in a graph. If the graph represents information sources, such as documents on the world wide web, a node may be provided to represent each document and an edge may represent each hyperlink between two documents. Initially, every node may be assigned an equal weight. Based on how many links connect one node to another, weights shifts. After multiple iterations, shifting of weights will be complete and prior relevance of a node can be determined. When an edge points to a node having no outlinks, its weight will be re-distributed back into system of linked documents as a whole by a junk vector or reset vector. The default junk vector may assign a weight equal to (1/number of sources in the system) to each node.
The above-identified algorithm does not consider document content in its relevance determination. Accordingly, in the context of the World Wide Web, due to such factors as spam and web page proliferation, the algorithm has become less effective. Web page proliferation has included a large increase in category specific pages. Accordingly, in order to improve on results and to consider the proliferation of category specific web pages, a system has been developed that pre-seeds category specific pages before running the page rank algorithm. For instance, the system might initially rank some page categories, for example sports, news, or politics, higher than other pages and subsequently execute the above-identified algorithm. This system can find prior rank of given document based on category.
A problem with these existing solutions is their purely forward-looking nature. Existing solutions move forward and consider outgoing links from a node, but do not look backwards in the linked network or consider incoming links. Furthermore, existing solutions fail to take advantage of known information in order to categorize documents. For example, existing solutions fail to consider whether links move from one domain to another. Furthermore, existing solutions fail to filter out undesirable items belonging to pre-selected categories, such as for example pornography and hate information sources. Thus, a solution is needed for determining initial relevance of a document with respect to a given category while considering contextual information such as category and domain.

System and method for determining initial relevance of a document with respect to a given category


A vehicle airbag device in which an airbag is deployed by gas emitted by an inflator. The airbag has a pocket part, which is formed in a lower surface of the airbag and passes over an upper end of an obstacle. An introduction tube for introducing gas emitted by the inflator into the airbag extends into the airbag. When the airbag is deploying, but an obstacle prevents the airbag from doing so, a distal end part of the introduction tube will be blocked off, and the gas will be released to the exterior through a gas release part.

An airbag device generally has an airbag for protecting an occupant, and an inflator for expanding the airbag.
However, an airbag device is known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-160600, wherein an airbag is deployed, a child seat is restrained, impact on the child seat is alleviated, and a child occupant is retrained so that when the child seat has been installed in the occupant seat so as to be facing backward, the safety of the child will be heightened in the event of a collision. The airbag device will be described below with reference to FIG. 13 hereof.
An airbag device 200 shown in FIG. 13 is provided to a passenger seat 206. The airbag device 200 has an airbag 201; an inflator 202 for expanding the airbag 201; a case 203 for accommodating the airbag 201 and the inflator 202; a lid 204, which is provided to the case 203, and which is broken when the airbag 201 deploys; and a pocket part 205, which is formed in the airbag 201, and which accommodates a backrest part 208 of a child seat 207 when the child seat 207 is installed in a passenger seat 206.
However, according to the airbag device 200, the child seat 207 is not a component that is unique to the vehicle; therefore, a variety of child seats 207 may be attached to the occupant seat 206. For example, when the child seat 207 has a high backrest part 208, the airbag 201 may not be able to pass over the upper end of the backrest part 208. At this time, the backrest part 208 of the child seat 207 will be pushed backwards by the airbag 201, which is an undesirable arrangement.


A jewelry mounting includes a base having front and rear surfaces. The front surface is provided with means permitting the mounting of an article of jewelry or other ornament usable on an earring or pendant. The rear surface includes a pivotable mounting for an ear post. The base also includes side walls to which are pivotably mounted two hoops. When the device is being used as an earring, the hoops lie in opposite directions to one another coplanar with the base. When the device is being used as a jewelry pendant, the hoops are pivoted orthogonal to the base and, in that orientation, comprise bails through which a jewelry chain may be threaded. The piece of jewelry or ornament may include a rear surface including a slot that receives the ear post when the ear post is pivoted down. The slot frictionally retains an end of the ear post to retain the ear post and hoops in the position at which the device may be used as a pendant. In one embodiment of the present invention, the hoops are manually moved from one orientation to another. In another embodiment, torsion springs are provided to bias the hoops from a position at which they lie in a common plane toward a position at which they lie in parallel planes. A latching mechanism is provided for each hoop to lock them in the position at which they lie in a common plane and the inventive device is used as an earring.

The present invention relates to embodiments of a convertible jewelry mounting.
As jewelry becomes more and more expensive, a need has developed for enhanced versatility in jewelry mountings so that, for example, an earring may also be used as a necklace pendant. Were a mounting available to accomplish this feat, a consumer could purchase one piece of jewelry that could be used for two separate purposes.
The following prior art is known to Applicant:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,757 to Boening discloses a jewelry support including a pin designed to support an article of jewelry as a brooch as well as an opening and a hook with a bail that may receive a chain to allow support of the article of jewelry as a pendant. The present invention differs from the teachings of Boening as contemplating an earring convertible for use as a pendant and wherein the post and bails thereof are pivotable to alternate orientations based upon the particular use to which the article of jewelry is being put.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,175 to Razza discloses a convertible brooch in which a pair of earring elements may be connected together to create a brooch. The present invention differs from the teachings of Razza as contemplating an earring convertible for use as a pendant and wherein the post and bails thereof are pivotable to alternate orientations based upon the particular use to which the article of jewelry is being put.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,641 to DiDomenico discloses a pin adaptor for pierced earrings. The adaptor, in essence, bends the earring post at a right angle downwardly so that an article of clothing may be penetrated to support the earring as a pin. The present invention differs from the teachings of DiDomenico as contemplating an earring convertible for use as a pendant and wherein the post and bails thereof are pivotable to alternate orientations based upon the particular use to which the article of jewelry is being put.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,844 to Panzer discloses a pin to pendant converter in which a pin includes a ring usable as a bail to receive a necklace chain therethrough. The present invention differs from the teachings of Panzer as contemplating an earring convertible for use as a pendant and wherein the post and bails thereof are pivotable to alternate orientations based upon the particular use to which the article of jewelry is being put.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,608 to Berkowitz discloses a multi-use jewelry piece which includes a setting for holding first and second display objects and a pair of hoops connected to the setting that may be manipulated so that the setting can be used as an earring or pendant. The present invention differs from the teachings of Berkowitz as contemplating an earring convertible for use as a pendant and wherein the post and bails thereof are pivotable to alternate orientations based upon the particular use to which the article of jewelry is being put.


A module for an optical wavelength division multiplexing communication includes semiconductor lasers emitting lights of wavelengths, a support member on which the semiconductor lasers are mounted, an optical fiber to which the lights emitted from the semiconductor lasers are incident, and a component that positions the optical fiber with respect to the support member and fixes the optical fiber thereto.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical multiplexer equipped with a semiconductor laser device and applied to optical communication fields. More particularly, the present invention relates to an optical wavelength division multiplexing module equipped with a surface emitting semiconductor laser device and a communication system using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
The wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) communication system has been developed in which light signals having different wavelengths are combined or multiplexed and are then transmitted over a single optical fiber, so that an increased optical transmission capacity can be obtained. A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (hereinafter, simply referred to as VCSEL) is suitable for the optical source of the optical wavelength division multiplexing.
A conventional optical WDM communication module is equipped with multiple VCSEL chips of different wavelengths housed and arrayed in a metal case. Laser lights of different wavelengths emitted from the VCSEL chips are combined in a single optical fiber via optical components such as a collimating lens and a condenser lens. A module on the receive side separates the multiplexed lights from the optical fiber into individual lights on the wavelength basis, and senses the separate lights of the respective wavelengths by means of light-receiving elements or the like.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No.11-340565 (Document 1) discloses, in FIG. 1, an optical coupling element and an optical coupling device. Lights emitted from an emitting part 11 of a surface-emitting type single-color VCSEL array 10 are collimated by a lens array 20 including multiple lens parts 21. The lights thus collimated are coupled in an optical fiber 40.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 6-97578 (Document 2) discloses a multi-wavelength semiconductor laser array for WDM in which the oscillation frequency is varied by changing the cross section of the laser waveguide integrated on a single substrate so that the array can oscillate with the multiple wavelengths.
However, there is a problem to be solved in the optical WDM communications using the VCSEL as the optical source. The device disclosed in Document 1 needs the collimating lenses 10 (lens array 20) and the condenser lens 30 to couple the lights from the source array 10 in the optical fiber, and thus needs optical alignment of two kinds of lenses as shown in FIG. 1 of Document 1. It is therefore necessary to precisely adjust the components. This increases the cost.
The technique disclosed in Document 2 changes the cross section of the waveguide or the resonator to thus vary the oscillation frequency. However, the wavelength can be changed within only a narrow range, and there is difficulty in widening the variable wavelength range. This allows only limited applications to the optical source in WDM communications. The optical WDM can be categorized into DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) and CWDM (Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing). The DWDM is used for relatively expensive communications that employ wavelengths at short intervals and use many laser devices. The CWDM is used in relatively less-expensive, short-distance communications that employ wavelengths at long intervals and use four to eight laser devices. The CWDM requires the intervals equal to at least 20 nm. However, it is difficult to realize the wave intervals as long as 20 nm by the optical source described in Document 2, which is not suitable for CDMW.

Optical wave length division multiplexing module and communication system using the same