A liquid crystal display (LCD) device includes a data converter for processing first and second data signals, a backlight unit emitting light having a luminance, and a liquid crystal panel supplied with the light. The LCD panel has a first and second region corresponding to the first and second data signals. The data converter differently processes gray levels of the first and second data signals a and the luminance is adjusted when the first and second regions have different brightness. The LCD driving method allows presentation of different image regions on a screen, such as moving image screens and static image screens without brightness degradation.

1. Technical Field
The technical field generally relates to a liquid crystal display device, and particularly relates to a device and a method of driving a liquid crystal display device for display regions of differing brightness.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Display devices may use cathode-ray tubes (CRT). Other flat panel displays, such as liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, plasma display panels (PDP), field emission displays, and electro-luminescence displays (ELD), exist as alternatives to the CRT. In particular, LCD devices have been widely used. LCD devices may provide several advantages, such as high resolution, light weight, thin profile, compact size, and low power supply requirements.
An LCD device may include two substrates that are spaced apart and face each other with a liquid crystal material interposed between the two substrates. The two substrates include electrodes that face each other such that a voltage applied between the electrodes induces an electric field across the liquid crystal material. The light transmissivity of the LCD device can be changed by adjusting the intensity of the induced electric field to change an alignment of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal material. Thus, the LCD device displays images by varying the intensity of the induced electric field.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an LCD device according to the related art.
As shown in FIG. 1, the LCD device may include a liquid crystal panel 190, a driving circuit 100 and a backlight unit 192.
The liquid crystal panel 190 includes a plurality of gate lines GL1 to GLn and a plurality of data lines DL1 to DLm (where n and m are natural numbers) crossing each other to define a plurality of pixel regions P. In each pixel region P, a thin film transistor T may be connected to the corresponding gate and data lines, and a liquid crystal capacitor Clc may be connected to the thin film transistor T.
The driving circuit 100 may include an interface 140, a timing controller 130, gate and data drivers 110 and 120 and an inverter 150.
The interface 140 may be supplied with data signals and control signals, such as a horizontal synchronization signal (Hsync), a vertical synchronization signal (Vsync), a data enable signal (DE) and a data clock (DCLK) from an external operating system 50 and may transfer such the signals to the timing controller 130.
The timing controller 130 generates control signals and data signals using the signals transferred from the interface 140.
The gate driver 110 may enable the gate lines GL1 to GLn according to the control signals supplied from the timing controller 130, and may enable the gate lines sequentially. The thin film transistors T connected to the enabled gate line may be turned on. The data driver 120 generates data voltages according to the control signals supplied from the timing controller 130 and outputs the data voltages to the data lines DL1 to DLm. The data voltages are supplied to the liquid crystal capacitors Clc connected to the enabled gate line.
The inverter 150 generates a backlight driving voltage from a DC voltage input thereto and outputs the backlight driving voltage to the backlight unit 192.
Although not shown in FIG. 1, the driving circuit further includes a power supplier supplying voltages to components of the LCD device and a gamma reference voltage generator supplying gamma reference voltages to the data driver 120.
Some computer display windows, for example, a window for displaying a high resolution image such as a moving image and a window for displaying a low resolution image such as a standing image (a word processor) may be displayed simultaneously in a screen of the liquid crystal panel for user's convenience. FIG. 3 example windows displayed simultaneously in the screen of the related art liquid crystal panel.
However, the related art LCD device may not normally display all windows in the screen. In other words, a user may perceive that a moving image is normally displayed when the moving image is bright and a word processor is normally displayed when the standing image is darker than the moving image. In this situation, brightnesses for the different displayed images may be different.
If the backlight unit supplies a light having a luminance suitable to display one of the windows, other windows requiring a different luminance may not be normally displayed. For example, if the backlight unit supplies light of about 300 nit, a user may perceive that the moving image is normally displayed but the standing image is abnormally displayed, such as too brightly. If the backlight unit supplies light of about 100 to 150 nit, a user may perceive that the standing image is normally displayed but the moving image is abnormally displayed, such as too darkly.

Liquid crystal display device and driving method thereof


Two exemplary approaches to the acceleration of projectiles are provided. Both approaches can utilize concepts associated with the Inductrack maglev system. Either of them provides an effective means of accelerating multi-kilogram projectiles to velocities of several kilometers per second, using launchers of order 10 meters in length, thus enabling the acceleration of projectiles to high velocities by electromagnetic forces.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to Inductrack technology, and more specifically, it relates to the use of such technology for the acceleration of objects.
Description of Related Art
Prior work in acceleration of objects to high speeds by electromagnetic forces has been concentrated on the study of two approaches: (1) the Rail Gun, and (2) the Coil Gun. It is desirable to achieve higher launch velocities, without the contact-related and launcher wear problems of the prior art, as well as having higher efficiency in terms of the fraction of the it put electrical energy transferred to the projectile.

Acceleration of objects to high velocity by electromagnetic forces

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC


A connector includes a housing having an insertion section into which a connection end of a sheet-shaped connection target is inserted, and a plurality of contacts held by the housing so as to extend in an insertion direction of the connection target and be aligned along a direction across the insertion direction of the connection target, wherein each contact to be mounted by soldering on the top surface of the mounting board on a side of insertion of the connection target has at its end on the side of insertion of the connection target a surface of flat shape to be mounted on the top surface of the mounting board, and a sloping surface which is inclined at a predetermined angle of less than 90 degrees with respect to the surface to be mounted for guiding the connection end of the connection target to the insertion section.

The present invention relates to a connector and in particular, to a connector adapted to connect sheet-shaped connection targets exemplified by FPCs (flexible printed circuits), FFCs (flexible flat cables) and the like.
As a connector of this type, for example, JP 2007-122894 A discloses a connector 81 as illustrated in FIG. 9. The connector 81 is fixed on a mounting board 82. When an actuator 86 is rotated with a connection end of a sheet-shaped connection target 85 being inserted into a recessed insertion section 84 of a housing 83, it establishes electrical connections between a plurality of connection terminals formed at the connection target 85 and a plurality of contacts 87 of the connector 81, and the connection target 85 is held by the connector 81.
However, since a bottom portion of the housing 83 is positioned under the insertion section 84 and the insertion section 84 is formed on the bottom portion, in order to insert the connection target 85 into the insertion section 84 of the connector 81, a connection end of the connection target 85 needs to be advanced toward the insertion section 84 in a state that the connection end of the connection target 85 is brought up from the top surface of the mounting board 82 to a predetermined height so as to be placed at a height of the insertion section 84. Thus, it has been difficult to smoothly perform an insertion operation of the connection target 85. If the connection target 85 is advanced toward the connector 81 along the top surface of the mounting board 82, the connection end of the connection target 85 collides against the bottom portion of the housing 83, whereby the insertion thereof is blocked.
In particular, a width of the connection target 85 of sheet shape increases with increasing number of pins and accordingly, a deflection tends to occur at the connection target 85. Consequently, it makes the insertion operation of the connection target 85 difficult and troublesome.
On the other hand, in a connector 88 disclosed by JP 2011-181210 A, a plurality of contacts 91 are each mounted by soldering on a solder pad 93 of a mounting board 92 under an entrance area of an insertion section 90 into which a connection target 89 is inserted, as illustrated in FIG. 10A. With this configuration, a lower portion of the insertion section 90 is not occupied by a bottom portion of a housing 94. But, under the entrance of the insertion section 90, the contacts 91 have upright ends 95 which stand substantially perpendicular to the top surface of the mounting board 92 and accordingly, a connection end of the connection target 89 needs to be advanced toward the insertion section 90 in a state that the connection end of the connection target 89 is brought up from the top surface of the mounting board 92 to a predetermined height so as to be placed at a height of the insertion section 90, as well as the connector 81 illustrated in FIG. 9. If the connection target 89 is advanced toward the connector 88 along the top surface of the mounting board 92, the connection end of the connection target 89 collides against the upright ends 95 of the contacts 91, whereby the insertion thereof is blocked.
Aside from that, in the connector 88, slopes 96 for guiding the insertion of the connection target 89 are formed at both side ends of the entrance of the insertion section 90, as illustrated in FIG. 10B.
However, the connection target 89 needs to be inserted after both side ends of the connection end of the connection target 89 are placed on the corresponding slopes 96. In the case where the connection target 89 is inserted obliquely with respect to the connector 88 so that the connection target 89 is inserted with one of both the side ends of the connection end of the connection target 89 being solely placed on the corresponding slope 96 of the housing 94, the connection end of the connection target 89 is caused to collide against some upright ends 95 of the contacts 91 at the other of both the side ends, and the connection target 89 is thus prevented from being properly inserted into the insertion section 90.
In addition, the housing 94 is generally produced by molding a resin material with an electrical insulation property. Since, due to the limitation of fabrication technology, it is difficult to form a sharply-peaked tip with such a material, a small upright end 97 standing substantially perpendicular to the top surface of the mounting board 92 is formed at an end of each slope 96 as illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10B. Consequently, if the connection target 89 is tried to be inserted into the connector 88 along the top surface of the mounting board 92, both the side ends of the connection end of the connection target 89 collide against the upright ends 97 of the housing 94.
Furthermore, when each of the contacts 91 is soldered on the corresponding solder pad 93 on the mounting board 92, usually a solder fillet is formed and a slant constituted of a surface of the solder fillet is formed to extend from a surface of the solder pad 93 to the contact 91. However, the upright ends 95 of the contacts 91 are not necessarily all covered by the formed slants and, even if at least one of the upright ends 95 of the contacts 91 is exposed, still the connection target 89 collides against the exposed upright end 95 so that the connection target 89 cannot be smoothly inserted.
Thus, conventional connectors have a problem of difficulty in easy and smooth insertion of a sheet-shaped connection target.

Japan Aviation Electronics Industry, Limited


An electronic product (for example: an industrial computer) having an airflow-guiding device is disclosed, thereby preventing most of the airflow from being carried away by power supplies, wherein most of the air flow directed towards the power supplies will result in other electronic modules failing to have proper heat-dissipation. The present invention is to install metal partition plates on the inlets of air passages among the power supplies, fan modules and both sides of the electronic modules in the electronic product, wherein each of the meal partition plate is composed of a partition main body; folded plated respectively connected to two opposite sides of the partition main body; and buffer elements (for example: sponge pads) covering portions of the other two opposite sides of the partition main body.

It is a common technique to use fans in various industrial equipments for heat dissipation, especially in widely used electronic products. With the increase of various applications, the number of electronic modules installed in one single electronic product also increases. Based on the design consideration of space, the electronic modules are usually stacked vertically in a housing of an electronic product. For example, there are quite many electronic modules (such as storage controllers) existing in an industrial computer or server. For the considerations of providing sufficient power to the electronic modules and providing backup power source, the electronic product such as an industrial computer or a server frequently needs installing two or more power supplies so as to satisfy the specific requirements of the aforementioned electronic products.
On the other hand, since the number of the electronic modules is quite a few, a plurality of fan modules (such as four fan modules) have to be installed in the electronic product, thereby effectively resolving the heat-dissipation problem of the electronic modules. Generally speaking, the system fan modules in the electronic product are exposed to the ambiance so as to dissipate the heat to the ambiance, and each of the power supplies has a fan for dissipating its own heat, wherein the power supplies are located behind the system fan modules. When the fans of the power supplies and the system fan modules are working at the same time, the air pressures in the areas of power supplies are usually lower than those in the areas of other electronic modules, so that most of the airflow flows naturally into the power supplies after entering the housing of the electronic product from the ambiance, resulting in the other electronic modules lacking of airflow passing through. Thus, the heat-dissipation efficiency of the system fan modules decreases and the over-heat problem is seriously in the electronic modules. In other words, the fans of the power supplies carry away most of the airflow in the housing, thus resulting in the electronic modules failing to have effective heat-dissipation.
Commonly, a conventional technique uses a wind-shielding partition designed with a plastic member to prevent airflow from flowing into the power supplies. However, the conventional plastic wind-shielding partition costs quite a lot of molding expense, and has the difficulty of design modification. Additionally, the mechanism for assembling the conventional wind-shielding partition with the housing of the electronic product is quite complicated, so that the disassembling and assembling steps cannot be briefly done, and also the wind-shielding partition is frequently damaged thereby. Moreover, the power supplies and the electronic modules all need proper amounts of airflow flowing therein, but it is very difficult to distribute airflow flexibly with the conventional plastic wind-shielding partition, i.e. the conventional plastic wind-shielding partition has poor airflow-guiding effect.
Hence, there is a need to develop a housing of an electronic product having an air-flow guiding device, thereby promoting heat-dissipation efficiency; lowering the cost for fabricating partitions; lowering the difficulty level of processing a design change; flexibly distributing airflow to increase airflow-guiding effect; and simplifying the mechanism for assembling a metal plate partition with the housing of the electronic product, thus briefly disassembling and assembling the metal plate partition.

Electronic product having airflow-guiding device


A poke-through device includes a tubular main body sized for insertion into a hole formed through a concrete floor. A device frame is mounted in the tubular main body for mounting one or more electrical devices. An intumescent insert is mounted in the tubular main body below the device frame. A junction box assembly is mounted to a bottom end of the tubular main body. A cover assembly is configured to enclose an opening in a top end of the tubular main body. The intumescent insert is mounted in the tubular main body so as to not contact the device frame to allow intumescent material to flow around the device frame in the event of a fire.

On-floor conduits are used to convey electrical power and communication lines to floor locations that are not within the original architectural and electrical planning of a facility, such as a multi-floor concrete building. Such on-floor conduits are unsightly and may also pose a safety hazard to persons working in such area.
One technique for avoiding the use of on-floor conduits involves the drilling of a hole through the concrete floor at a desired location and the routing of power or communication lines beneath the floor and then up through the hole. Transition apparatus known as "poke-throughs" have been developed for use in such interfloor holes. To protect individuals and property, poke-through devices are subject to electrical and fire safety considerations. Among these are two fire-related requirements. First, the poke-through device cannot function as a chimney or fire-advancing flue in the event of a fire on the lower floor. Second, the poke-through cannot function as a floor-to-floor heat conduction path.
These safety requirements have largely been met through the use of intumescent material. For example, a sheet of intumescent material may be wired in place about a housing. The intumescent material reacts to expand to fill the interfloor hole in the event of fire. Furthermore, thermally insulating materials have been interposed between metallic (and therefore heat conductive) portions of the poke-through devices.


A chain saw includes a drive unit having a drive shaft, and a chain guide bar mounted to the drive unit by two bolts. The guide bar is attached to the drive unit by an insert structure which fits into a longitudinal slot of the guide bar. The insert structure can be oriented in at least two different orientations within the slot for establishing different positional relationships, respectively, between the drive shaft and a longitudinal center line of the guide bar. For example, the center line could be offset either above or below the drive shaft, or the center line could intersect the drive shaft.

The present invention relates to chain saw guide bars and in particular to an arrangement for mounting a guide bar to a chain saw housing.
Chain saw guide bars are normally attached to the machine unit of a chain saw by two threaded bolts penetrating a longitudinal slot at the rear end of the guide bar, allowing a longitudinal displacement of the guide bar which is needed when replacing a saw chain or compensating for wear of the chain.
Commonly, the guide bar is symmetric with the slot along a longitudinal center line of the guide bar, making it possible to turn the guide bar over to wear both sides of the bar equally. Behind the guide bar is a drive shaft with a drive sprocket for the chain. The bolts are often located to cause the bar center line to pass through the drive shaft, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,683,980 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,279, but it is also known to cause the center line to pass below the shaft as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,845,967, U.S. Pat. No. 2,910,100 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,059,491 to allow a larger deflection of the slack upper part of the chain. With the introduction of self-tensioning drive sprockets as shown in DE 41 37 409 or SE 469 515 it has also been suggested to cause the bar centerline to pass above the drive shaft.

Multi-position guide bar fastening for chain saw


A turbine airfoil is disclosed. The airfoil includes one of a turbine shroud, liner, vane or blade, including an airfoil sidewall having a film-cooling hole that extends between an airfoil cooling circuit and an airfoil surface. The airfoil also includes an insert disposed in the film-cooling channel having a body. The body has a proximal end configured for disposition proximate the airfoil surface and a distal end. The body is also configured to define a passageway that extends between the distal end and proximal end upon disposition in the film-cooling hole.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to gas turbine engines, and, more particularly, to a film-cooling augmentation device and turbine airfoil that incorporates the same.
Gas turbine engines generally include a compressor that pressurizes air that is then mixed with fuel in a combustor for generating hot combustion gases. Energy from these combustion gases is extracted in multiple turbine stages for powering the compressor and producing useful work, typically by powering a fan in an aircraft turbofan application, or by powering an output shaft for marine, industrial and other applications.
The combustion gases flow along and transfer heat to various components of the turbine engine. These heated components are cooled in part by a cooling system that uses a portion of the pressurized air generated by the compressor in a cooling circuit that extends to the surface of these components to provide film-cooling of their surfaces that are exposed to the hot combustion gases, or that are heated thereby. The film cooled turbine components include the combustor, nozzles, rotor disks, blades, vanes, shrouds, liners and other components.
The hot combustion gases are initially discharged from the combustor into a stationary high pressure turbine inlet comprising the first stage turbine nozzle which includes an array of circumferentially-spaced, radially-extending stator nozzle vanes that include vane airfoils which extend between inner and outer bands. The vane airfoils are partially hollow and form a part of the cooling circuit and include various rows and other patterns of film-cooling holes extending through their sidewalls for discharging film-cooling air to form a boundary layer over their outer surfaces, particularly at the leading and trailing edges of the airfoils. The other stages of the turbine also include similar nozzles and arrays of vanes.
The first stage of the turbine also includes a turbine rotor including an array of circumferentially-spaced, radially-extending turbine rotor blades that are attached to an outer portion of a supporting rotor disk. Each blade includes a partially hollow dovetail portion that is attached to a partially hollow turbine airfoil where their hollow portions form a part of the cooling circuit and include various rows and other patterns of film-cooling holes extending through the sidewalls thereof for film-cooling the outer surfaces thereof, particularly at the leading and trailing edges of the airfoil. The other stages of the turbine also include similar rotors disks and arrays of vanes.
Film-cooling holes are also found in other components of the typical gas turbine engine and are arranged in various patterns for promoting a film-cooling blanket of air over the surfaces that are exposed either directly or indirectly to the hot combustion gases. The film-cooling holes are frequently arranged in linear rows, with the rows being spaced laterally apart for distributing the film-cooling air as required for accommodating the local heat loads from the combustion gases and forming the blanket of cooling air.
A typical film-cooling hole is tubular or cylindrical and manufactured by laser drilling for example. Another form of film-cooling hole is the diffusion hole which has various configurations in the art. In the diffusion hole the outlet portion thereof diverges or increases in flow area in the downstream aft direction from the upstream inlet for reducing the discharge velocity therefrom. An exemplary diffusion hole has a trapezoidal outlet with side edges which diverge at a suitably small diffusion angle, and an inner land which blends with the component outboard surface at a shallower inclination angle than the nominal inclination angle through the inlet portion of the hole. In this way, the typical diffusion hole is effective for laterally spreading the discharged cooling air jet and locally enhancing film-cooling performance.
The configuration, quantity, and pattern of the film-cooling holes, including their cross-sectional shape, length and angle with the surface to be cooled are specifically designed for the expected heat load, which varies from component to component and over the outboard surface of an individual component. Generally, film-cooling hole design, including size, shape, pattern, location and other aspects, has as an objective reduction of the amount of film-cooling air bled from the compressor, since use of such air for film-cooling prevents its use in the combustion process and thus reduces efficiency of the engine.
The performance of film-cooling holes is affected by many factors, including their geometry including their surface area, and the local conditions in the specific components including the differential pressure or pressure ratio between the outboard and inboard sides of the film-cooling holes, and the velocity and pressure distribution of the combustion gases over the outboard surfaces.
While film-cooling holes, including diffusion holes, are useful to provide film-cooling in the manner noted above, the ability to control the pressure differential or pressure ratio between the outboard and inboard sides of the film-cooling holes and the airflow through them, as well as the amount of convective cooling of the airfoil sidewall adjacent to the hole have generally been limited to control of the characteristics of the holes themselves, such as their location, spacing, size, shape, orientation (e.g., orientation of the hole inlet to the cooling circuit and angle with the airfoil surface), number and the like, which are in turn have been limited by the manufacturing methods used to create them and other considerations, such as the overall performance requirements of the airfoil.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide improved methods of cooling gas turbine engine components from the film-cooling holes utilized therein.

Film-cooling augmentation device and turbine airfoil incorporating the same


A track managing unit manages data tracks stored in a predetermined data region and a freely-usable part managing unit manages freely-usable parts in the predetermined data region. A restoring unit causes the track managing unit to manage the freely-usable parts managed by the freely-usable part managing unit. Thus, parts, which once had a data deletion operation, labeled as freely-usable parts and thus managed by the freely-usable part managing unit, may then be relabeled as data tracks and thus managed by the track managing unit. As a result, data which could not be reproduced in the apparatus and method in the related art can be restored and thus reproduced. When causing the track managing unit to manage, as other tracks, a plurality of parts which have been managed by the freely-usable managing unit, the restoring unit may cause the track managing unit to manage, as another track individually, each part of the plurality of parts. Thereby, it is possible to label each part, once having a data deletion operation, as a new track and thus to effectively perform an editing operation using thus-restored data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a method which enable editing data tracks recorded in a predetermined data area by manipulating data stored in a predetermined table. In particular, the present invention relates to a disc apparatus handling a well-known MD (Mini Disc) which is a disc information recording medium, which has recently come into wide use. Through the disc apparatus, by manipulating data stored in a rewriteable UTOC region, music recorded in a rewriteable user data region may be edited. Here, the term `track` is used for meaning a succession of data such as music.
2. Description of Related Art
There are three kinds of MD, a pre-master disc which is used only for reproducing recorded data, a recordable disc which is used for both recording data therein and reproducing data therefrom, and a hybrid disc which has characteristics of both the pre-master disc and recordable disc. Each of the recordable disc and hybrid disc has a non-rewriteable TOC region, and a the rewriteable UTOC region, rewriteable user data region. The user data region is a collection of recording medium sections which may be used for recording data tracks (music in this case). The recording medium sections (simply referred to as `parts`, hereinafter) have digital audio data successively recoded therein.
The UTOC region has a header portion, a portion for storing the number of a first tune, a portion for storing the number of a last tune, a P-EMPTY (Pointer for the first EMPTY slot on the parts table), a P-FRA (Pointer for the start address of the FReely recordable Area), track-data portions (P-TNO(1), P-TNO(2), P-TNO(3), . . . P-TNO(n), Pointers for the start addresses of Track 1, Track 2, Track 3, . . . Track n (n is a natural number) ), and part-data portions (part descriptors). Each part-data portion is a portion for storing data which points to a respective part in the user data region. The part data stores addresses of particular tunes recorded on the disc and Link-P's (Link Pointers). For a part, a start address and an end address in the user region of the disc are stored, and further Link-P is stored if necessary. The Link-P is a pointer pointing to a possible subsequent part. If a tune consists of a plurality of successive parts, the Link-P is used for pointing to a part subsequent to a relevant part. If a relevant part has no subsequent part, that is, the relevant part is a last part in a tune, `0` is stored as the Link-P.
The P-FRA portion is used for managing part-data portions pointing to data-free parts (having no substantial data) and/or data-deleted parts (a deletion operation has been performed on data stored therein). The P-FRA portion stores pointer information pointing to a top of part-data portions pointing to such a freely-usable storage area as the data-free parts and/or data-deleted parts. Each of the track-data portions is a portion for storing pointer information pointing to a respective track stored in the user data region of the disc. Specifically, the track-data portions are used for managing parts having effective data stored therein. In each track-data portion, a number of a part-data portion indicating a top part of a respective tune is stored.
The disc apparatus for recording data in and reproducing data from the MD uses the UTOC information and thus may store in the MD a maximum of 255 tunes. By manipulating the UTOC information, any tunes recorded may be coupled to one another and any tune may be deleted. In such editing operations as tune deletion and tune coupling, it is not necessary to directly modify information (music data) stored in the user data region. The editing operations may be performed, through the manipulation of the UTOC information, by changing part allocation, changing part allocation after dividing a part, or the like. Thus, each time another tune is recorded, and each time recorded tunes are edited, part-data portions are consumed.
In a disc apparatus such as that described above in the related art, once a data deletion operation has been once performed in an editing operation and thus the UTOC region has been modified accordingly, although the relevant track or music data has not been actually removed from relevant parts of the user data area, relevant part-data portions automatically belong to the P-FRA. That is, in order to effectively use the user data region, in particular, parts in which data has a deletion operation performed thereon, the relevant parts in the user data region are labeled as being a `freely-usable area`. Once the relevant part-data portions have belonged to the P-FRA portion, in a normal operation sequence of the disc apparatus, it is not possible to reproduce the music data stored in the relevant parts even if other data has not been overwritten therein yet. Therefore, during an editing operation, if certain parts have erroneously had a data deletion operation performed partially or completely thereon, it is not possible to restore and thus reproduce relevant music data.
Further, in a case of recording a new tune, after relevant music data has been stored in the user data region, information of the UTOC region is modified accordingly. Therefore, when the operation is unexpectedly interrupted due to some cause such as power supply disconnection during a music tune recording operation, even if music data has been recorded in the user data region, because information of the UTOC region has not been accordingly modified yet and thus relevant parts of the user data region still belong to the P-FRA, it is not possible to reproduce the recorded music data.

Information processing apparatus and method enabling editing data tracks by using table data


A spectacle system is disclosed for shifting the field expansion property of peripheral prisms from the upper and lower peripheral visual fields toward the central visual field of a person with peripheral field loss, and particularly hemianopia, while maintaining the lateral field expansion. In terms of perceived image, the spectacle system includes image-shifting devices that shift the perceived images from the central missing visual fields toward the upper and lower peripheral visual fields. The image-shifting devices are placed out of the central visual field and do not interfere with the normal central or foveal vision of the wearer. The spectacle system can be fitted onto one or both carrier lenses of a pair of spectacles and includes at least one image-shifting device. The image-shifting device includes a plurality of image-shifting elements. In one embodiment, the image-shifting device includes a plurality of image-shifting mirror elements that are arranged to form a Fresnel-like mirrors based prism. In another embodiment, the image-shifting elements can include either a plurality of image shifting mirrors or a plurality of image-shifting prisms that are oriented such that the optical axis of each image-shifting element forms an acute angle with the horizontal visual meridian of the person wearing the spectacles.

Stroke, head injury and tumors commonly cause loss of peripheral vision in a condition called Hemianopia. The number of disabled stroke survivors in the United States is estimated to be more than 3 million annually. As many as one third of stroke survivors in rehabilitation have either Homonymous Hemianopia or Hemineglect.
Homonymous Hemianopia, which is considered to be a visual field defect, is the loss of half the visual field on one side in both eyes. This condition causes difficulties with general mobility (obstacle detection and navigation), as people with Homonymous Hemianopia are likely to walk into obstacles on the side of the field loss, such as furniture or objects on the floor. Many people afflicted with this condition avoid busy places for fear they will bump into other people or objects. People with Homonymous Hemianopia are prohibited from driving in 22 states (Peli E, Peli D, 2002). In many other states, they are discouraged from driving even when the laws do not prohibit driving (Tant M L et al., 2001). Accordingly, people with Homonymous Hemianopia may lose much of their independence.
Various devices such as mirrors, partially reflecting mirrors (beam splitters), prisms, and reversed telescopes have been considered and used for management of Hemianopic field defects (Fanning G J, 1972; Rossi P W et al., 1990). The purpose of such devices is to improve patients' awareness of obstacles on their blind side to improve their mobility. These devices may be classified as providing either field relocation (shifting) or field expansion. Field expansion is preferred, since the simultaneous field seen by the person is larger with the device than without. Field relocation only exchanges the position of the lost field relative to the environment. A number of devices provide field expansion, but none has proven entirely successful (Peli E, 2000).
For example, reversed telescopes increase the visual field but reduce visual acuity. These devices are cumbersome, heavy and unsightly when mounted in spectacles and rarely used for Hemianopia. Mirrors expand the field in one direction, but at the same time block vision in another. Mirrors also reverse the images, making interpretation of the visual field difficult. In addition, mirrors are cosmetically poor, and safe mounting of mirrors close to the eye is difficult. Beam splitters expand the field through diplopia (double vision), which can be very confusing, and as an additional problem, the reflected images are reversed. Beam splitters also have the same cosmetic and safety issues associated with mirrors.
Prism devices find numerous applications for Hemianopia, but only a few of these actually expand the field. The monocular prisms that have been used in the past, including a sector prism base out in front of one eye with the edge of prism placed at the pupil, or the round button used in the Gottlieb system, result in double vision. Devices employing monocular sector prisms truly expand the visual field when the patient moves his/her direction of gaze to within the field of the prism. As long as the patient's eyes are at a primary position of gaze or are directed away from the Hemianopic field, the monocular sector prism has no effect on the field of view (i.e. no field expansion). When gaze is directed into the field of the prism, field expansion results. However, it is accompanied by (central) diplopia and the confusing appearance of two different objects in the same perceived direction. Confusion in this case represents the intended beneficial effect, as it represents the appearance of an object that would be invisible without the prism. However, the central diplopia induced with the prism is unpleasant to the patient and may account for the lack of success in sustained use of monocular sector prisms by people with Homonymous Hemianopia (Gottlieb D D et al., 1996).
There are two schools of thought as to why patients generally discontinued use of these prisms after 2-3 months. Some practitioners point out that patients discontinue using them because their scanning ability increases. Some even claim that wearing these prisms results in a restoration of some of the lost visual field (Gottlieb D D et al., 1998.) However, no scientific proof of such scanning increase or restoration change has been provided. Other practitioners state that patient frustration and the difficulty of use are why the patients discard them. Thus, although a variety of image-shifting devices such as prisms and mirrors have been proposed as aids for hemianopic individuals, none has proven very effective.
One prior art method that was able to expand the visual field rather than relocate it, function in all positions of gaze, and avoid central diplopia included a monocular sector prism that is disposed in the peripheral visual field of the user (Peli E, 2000). The monocular sector prism can be placed in the superior or inferior peripheral field, or it may be placed simultaneously in both. The monocular sector prism is placed across the whole width of the lens and is effective at all lateral positions of gaze. For example, in this configuration, a prism of 40Δ shifts the image by about 20 degrees. The prism expands the field via peripheral diplopia. Peripheral diplopia is much more comfortable for the user than central diplopia since peripheral physiologic diplopia is a common feature of normal vision. The field expansion effect is unaltered by lateral eye and head movements over a wide range of movements into either side.
The purpose of a system of one or more peripheral prisms is to provide obstacle awareness within the blind field in areas that are important for general mobility. Studies of persons with Homonymous Hemianopia have concluded that the most important areas for obstacle awareness that are important for general mobility are the central visual area that includes both outer and inner central areas. The outer and inner central areas are defined as a ring with a 21-37 degree radius and a circle with a 21 degree radius respectively. Studies of mobility performance of patients with restricted peripheral fields resulting from retinitis pigmentosa also suggest that extension of peripheral field loss into the central area in a 20 degree radius and a 10 degree radius significantly impacts on mobility performance.
The visual field expansion that is produced with the current arrangement of peripheral prisms in the prior art only extends a limited amount into the outer central area of the blind hemi-field. For example, the lower prism in this system is currently fitted with the upper edge at a height that will project it to 4 meters away on the ground when viewing a fixation point at eye level. For a person having a height of 5′6″ this translates to an angle of about 23 degrees below the fixation point. Thus the effect of the lower prism, i.e. the field expansion, will only start below this point and does not reach into the inner central area. A slightly higher fitting position is possible but in any case the central area remains unaffected by the prisms
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a simple and inexpensive way of moving the area of field expansion of the blind hemi-field into areas that are important for general mobility, i.e., towards the inner central visual area, without having to alter the fitting positions of the upper and lower prism segments.

The Schepens Eye Research Institute, Inc.


A universal serial bus on-the-go (USB-OTG) power source includes a direct-current to direct-current (DC-to-DC) converter for generating a source voltage when coupled to a battery. A pulse generator generates an oscillating signal when a USB-OTG enable signal is asserted. A power supply module generates a supply voltage from the oscillating signal and the source voltage.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to power supplies used in devices such as Universal Serial Bus On-the-Go devices, integrated circuits and related methods.
2. Description of Related Art
As is known, integrated circuits are used in a wide variety of electronic equipment, including portable, or handheld, devices. Such handheld devices include personal digital assistants (PDA), CD players, MP3 players, DVD players, AM/FM radios, pagers, cellular telephones, computer memory extensions (commonly referred to as thumb drives), etc. Each of these handheld devices includes one or more integrated circuits to provide the functionality of the device. As an example, a handheld audio player may include multiple integrated circuits to support the storage and playback of audio files in order to produce an audio output that is delivered to the user through speakers, headphones or the like. Given the handheld nature of these devices, small size, low weight and long battery life can typically be important considerations in their design.
Many such handheld devices provide an interface, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface governed by the USB 2.0 specification, for coupling the handheld device to a traditional host device such as a computer, docking port, etc. In a USB On-the-Go (USB-OTG) mode, two USB-OTG devices, such as two handheld devices, can be coupled together. In this fashion, data can be exchanged between two handheld devices, with one device acting as the host and the other device acting as the peripheral. While in the USB-OTG host mode, the handheld device must be capable of supplying power, 5V and up to 8 ma, to the USB-OTG peripheral device. Prior art designs use a switched capacitor charge pump circuit to generate the supply voltage based on a battery. However, the voltage generated by these circuits drops as the battery discharges.
The need exists for a power source for supplying more stable power to external devices that can be efficiently implemented in a handheld device.

Integrated circuit, universal serial bus on-the-go power source and methods for use therewith


A method of an integrated molding by integrally pressurizing and compressing by use of means of an upper mold and a lower mold, by use of a silicone rubber. A silicone rubber has excellent resiliency, thermal resistance, separating ability from the molds and the like. By use of a silicone rubber, a working efficiency for carrying out the integrated molding can be improved and a compressing timing can be easily taken. A method according to the invention comprises steps of: uniformly coating a mixture of a foamed urethane body on a silicone rubber horizontally held; and integrally pressurizing and compressing for a certain period by an upper mold and a lower mold. The step of uniformly coating the mixture is carried out by using a spraying technique. The silicone rubber can be attached on an inner surface of the lower mold by use of means of vacuum suction. By use of a silicone rubber: a working efficiency can be improved; a running cost can be reduced; a pressurizing timing is easily taken; and a deeply pressed shape can be molded.

A technique for manufacturing a desired three dimensional molded body is well known by, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,698. In that patent, it is disclosed that a method for manufacturing a three dimensional molded body comprises the steps of: uniformly coating a liquid reactive mixture of a urethane foam; and compressing the mixture for a certain period by use of means of an upper mold and a lower mold when a gas reaction thereof has been completed but the mixture is still in a visco-elastic flowing condition. Such a conventional technique is widely applied for seats of chairs or cars, articles relevant to the apparel industry such as a T-shirt, a cap or a bag and the like.
In general, a urethane is foamed by chemically reacting a mixture which comprises mainly two liquids. The mixture often used comprises isocyanate (ISO) and polyol (POL) as main components thereof and a catalyst and water as additional components thereof. Those components produce a foamed polyurethane or a foamed polyurea by foaming the mixture thereof and are, in fact, used for an integrated molding. As mentioned in the above U.S. Patent, the chemical reaction can be divided by two chemical reactions such as a gasification reaction which produces CO.sub.2 and a solidification reaction. A foamed polyurethane is firstly expanded rapidly by the gasification reaction so that the volume thereof is expanded. When this gasification reaction is completed, the whole of the urethane is transformed into a solid condition through a gel condition. An integrated molding must be carried out when the gasification reaction thereof has been completed but the urethane is still in a visco-elastic flowing condition (this period is called as a tack free).
It is desirable to uniformly coat the foamed polyurethane over an object to be compressed. If such a coating is not uniform, a portion at which the gasification reaction is not completed will remain when compressing in an upper mold and a lower mold and a product will be cracked. Thus, in order to coat the urethane foam uniformly, a resilient sheet has been used in the art. Such a resilient sheet must be excellent in the resiliency and the durability, and this is because the foamed polyurethane is coated on the resilient sheet and is compressed together with the resilient sheet between the upper mold and the lower mold.
As disclosed in the aforementioned reference, a polyethylene film and the like is used as such a resilient sheet in the art. However, the polyethylene film is poor in stretchability. That is, once the film is elongated, the elongated film is not restored into the original state and is thinned so that the film can be broken. Also, the polyethylene film is poor in a separating ability from a mold i.e. the polyethylene sheet is not easily separated from the mold or the urethane after completing the integrated molding. Moreover, the running cost becomes higher because the durability is poor and the working efficiency is reduced because it takes a long time for replacing.
Meanwhile, as aforementioned, in fact, it is very difficult to rapidly compress in the tack free condition. The starting time of the tack free is different between a portion initially coated and a portion later coated, because the gasification reaction is started during the foamed polyurethane is uniformly coated thereon. Such a reaction time lag makes difficult to take a pressurizing timing. In particular, this time lag is considerable when coating over a wide area. Thus, a method of preheating a liquid mixture of a urethane is idealized in order to accelerate the gasification reaction by reducing the viscosity of polyurethane to shorten the coating time, however, such a hot foamed polyurethane can not be used directly to the aforementioned polyethylene film which is poor in thermal resistance.
The present invention is made in order to overcome those disadvantages of the resilient sheet used in the art.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of an integrated molding by use of a silicone rubber which is excellent in resiliency, stretchability, restoring ability into an original state and separating ability from a mold.
Another object of the present invention is to reduce a running cost and to improve a working efficiency by using a silicone rubber which has a high durability.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method of an integrated molding in which a pressurizing time can be easily taken by using a silicone rubber which has a high thermal resistance.

Method of integrated molding by use of silicone rubber


An impedance tuner having an RF transmission line, with a single lead screw extending along the RF transmission line. A plurality of movable carriages are engaged with the lead screw, wherein each of the plurality of movable carriages is configured for independent movement relative to other carriages. A motorized drive system drives the plurality of movable carriages independently along the lead screw.

Impedance tuners are often used for testing, tuning and calibration of electronic devices. Also, impedance tuners are the most common method for radio frequency (RF) and microwave (MW) amplifiers to be tested for measurement of performance. Impedance tuners can be used on load-pull and noise measurements at microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies.
An impedance tuner includes a transmission line, such as a slabline, coaxial line, or waveguide. Placement of capacitive objects such as probes along the transmission line alters the impedance or electronic profile seen by the device under test (DUT) which is connected or coupled to the tuner transmission line. The object may be placed axially along the transmission line to affect the phase, while movement of the object transverse to the transmission line will alter impedance magnitude or gamma effects. In automated tuners, motors are used to position the capacitive objects along the transmission line and transverse to the transmission line.
Multi-harmonic automated tuners incorporate multiple carriages to perform measurements on both the fundamental frequency and harmonic frequency simultaneously. The fundamental frequency is the basis for the multi-harmonic automated tuners. A harmonic frequency is a multiple of the fundamental frequency whose cycle fits within the span of the fundamental frequency cycle. An example would be the 2nd harmonic, which completes two frequency cycles within the time of one fundamental frequency cycle.
Setting different impedance points at a harmonic frequency cannot be done with the same carriage used to set the fundamental frequency impedance points. Therefore, adding additional carriages is needed. An impedance tuner with two carriages can set impedances independently at two frequencies, i.e. the fundamental frequency and a harmonic frequency. Similarly, an impedance tuner with three carriages can set impedances independently at three frequencies, i.e. the fundamental frequency and two harmonic frequencies. Each additional carriage allows one additional frequency to be tuned independently. However, adding additional carriage units will add drive unit components (i.e. motor, lead screw, lead screw nut), so manufacturing the tuner in a space confined area becomes more of a challenge. Each carriage needs to be controlled for position separately, yet accurately in ratio to the first carriage. By adding additional drive components, variables are added that may not allow the movement of one carriage to be in synchronization with another carriage.

Multi-carriage impedance tuner with single lead screw


A power tool includes: a power tool main body; a handle holder protruding from the power tool main body; a handle extending in a protruding direction of the handle holder and having an arm portion engaging the handle holder; and an elastic body carried between the power tool main body and the handle. The handle holder has a spherical convex outer circumferential face. The arm portion surrounds the handle holder and has a spherical concave inner circumferential face. The convex outer circumferential face of the handle holder is inserted and fitted into the concave inner circumferential face. The elastic body is carried between the power tool main body and the handle around the outer circumference of the handle holder in a radial direction vertical to a protruding-direction central axis of the handle holder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power tool such as a disk grinder, and more particularly to a vibration isolating handle in a power tool.
2. Background Art
In a portable power tool such as a disk grinder, it is common practice that a vibration proofing mechanism is provided in the joint between a power tool main body and a handle to attenuate the vibrations generated during operation to be transmitted from the power tool main body to the handle portion linked to the power tool main body. In the power tool having this vibration isolating handle, an elastic body is generally carried in the joint between the power tool main body and the handle to absorb the vibrations generated from the power tool main body. For instance, the power tool having the vibration isolating handle of this kind was disclosed in the following Japanese Patent No. 2534318.

Power tool having a vibration isolating handle


An electronic card connector (100) includes an insulative housing (1), a plurality of terminals (2) retained in the insulative housing, a tray (5) movable between an original position and a final position and having a notch (51) and a stepping part (52), a shielding shell (4) having an elastic part (43), and an ejecting mechanism (6). The elastic part has a holding part (432) for latching with the stepping part at a final position. The ejecting mechanism has a lever (62) including a buckling portion (624) and a spring (61) cooperated with the lever. The lever is movable forwardly against with the spring to disengage the holding part from the stepping part and to plunge the buckling portion into the notch, thereby permitting the tray together with the lever to return to the original position under a restoring force provided by the spring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an electronic card connector, and more particularly to an electronic card connector having an ejecting mechanism. This application relates to the copending application Ser. No. 14/598,179 filed Jan. 15, 2015.
2. Description of Related Arts
Taiwan Patent No. M432992 discloses an electronic card connector including a housing, an ejector, a metal shell, and a card-carrying tray. The ejector includes a cam, a slider, and a lever. The metal shell has an elastic part splitting from a top wall thereof and extending downwardly to press and stably position the inserted tray.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,814,597 discloses a card connector having an ejector designed for working with a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card. The ejector comprises a slider which moves together with a thin SIM card to be inserted or rejected, a push rod, and a pivotable lever coupled between the slider and the push rod. In order to effectuate a pivoting movement, the pivotable lever needs a large space.
An electronic card connector having an improved ejecting mechanism is desired.

Electronic card connector having ejecting mechanism


An animal waste disposing assembly includes a base that has a top side, a bottom side and a peripheral edge extending between the top and bottom sides. The base has a threaded opening extending therethrough. A cylindrically shaped post is attached to and extends away from the bottom side. The post has an aperture extending therethrough that is aligned with the opening. The post has an outer threaded surface adapted for engaging a sewer line. A cylindrically shaped cap has a lower end, an upper end and a perimeter wall. The perimeter wall is threaded and the cap has a diameter generally equal to a diameter of the opening. The lower end may be removably extended into and threadably coupled to the opening. A peripheral lip is attached to and extends upwardly from the base. Feces may be positioned in the opening and ultimately the sewer line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to feces disposing devices and more particularly pertains to a new feces disposing device for disposing of animal feces from a yard.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of feces disposing devices is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,820 describes a funnel device for attachment to a drain pipe for carrying away feces. Another type of feces disposing device is U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,989 having a generally toilet-bowl shaped construction which includes an outer housing. The feces is dropped through a chute into the toilet-bowl and the toilet bowl may then be flushed to remove the animal feces.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a device that is better designed to be attached to a sewer line which extends upwardly from a ground surface so that the device may be placed as flush as possible with the ground surface. This configuration will allow a person to place the device adjacent to a dwelling without the device taking away from the aesthetics of the dwelling. This will also allow the device to be better hidden, such as in a garden while still providing a convenient location to dispose of pet feces which would otherwise needed to be discarded into a trash bin.


Methods and compounds for treating neurodegenerative and other disorders. Included is the administering to a subject in need thereof an effective amount of a compound having binding specificity for a p75NTR receptor molecule. Enhanced survival of neural and other cells has been observed.

Neurotrophins are polypeptides that play a role in the development, function, and/or survival of certain cells, including neurons, oligodendrocytes, Schwann cells, hair follicle cells, and other cells. The death or dysfunction of neurons and other cell types has been directly implicated in a number of neurodegenerative disorders. It has been suggested that alterations in neurotrophin localization, expression levels of neurotrophins, and/or expression levels of the receptors that bind neurotrophins are therefore linked to neuronal degeneration. Degeneration occurs in the neurodegenerative disorders Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS, among others. Degeneration of oligodendrocytes can occur in central nervous system injury, multiple sclerosis, and other pathological states.
A variety of neurotrophins have been identified, including Nerve Growth Factor (NGF), Neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), Neurotrophin-4/5 (NT-4/5), Neurotrophin 6 (NT-6) and Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). Neurotrophins are found in both precursor form, known as pro-neurotrophins, and in mature form. The mature forms are proteins of about 120 amino acids in length that exist in physiological states as stable, non-covalent approximately 25 kDa homodimers. Each neurotrophin monomer includes three solvent-exposed β-hairpin loops, referred to as loops 1, 2, and 4 that exhibit relatively high degrees of amino acid conservation across the neurotrophin family.
Mature neurotrophins bind preferentially to the receptors Trk and p75NTR, while pro-neurotrophins, which contain an N-terminal domain proteolytically removed in mature forms, interact principally with the p75NTR receptor and through their N-terminal domains, with the sorting receptor sortilin (Fahnestock, M., Michalski, B., Xu, B., Coughlin, M.D. (2001) Mol Cell Neurosci 18, 210-220; Harrington, A. W. et al. (2004) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101, 6226-6230; Nykjaer. A. et al., (2004) Nature 427, 843-848). The p75NTR receptor interacts with Trks and modulates Trk signaling, but is also independently coupled to several signaling systems, including pro-survival signals, IRAK/TRAF6/NFκB, PI3/AKT, and pro-apoptotic signals, NRAGE/JNK (Mamidipudi, V., Li. X., Wooten, M. W. (2002) J Biol Chem 277, 28010-28018; Roux, P. P., Bhakar, A. L., Kennedy, T. E., Barker, P. A. (2001) J Biol Chem 276, 23097-23104; Salehi, A. H., et al. (2000) Neuron 27, 279-288).
When administered for therapeutic use, neurotrophins exhibit suboptimal pharmacological properties, including poor stability with low serum half lives, likely poor oral bioavailability, and restricted central nervous system penetration (Podulso, J. F., Curran, G. L. (1996) Brain Res Mol Brain Res 36, 280-286; Saltzman, W. M., Mak, M. W., Mahoney, M. J., Duenas, E. T., Cleland, J. L. (1999) Pharm Res 16, 232-240; Partridge, W. M. (2002) Adv Exp Med Bio 513, 397-430). Additionally, the highly pleiotropic effects of neurotrophins achieved through action of the dual receptor signaling network increases the chances of adverse effects.
It has been suggested that the unliganded form of p75NTR is proapoptotic, and that homodimerization induced by neurotrophin binding eliminates the effect (Wang, J. J., Rabizadeh, S., Tasinato, A., Sperandio, S., Ye, X., Green, M., Assa-Munt, N., Spencer, D., and Bredesen, D. E. (2000) J Neurosci Res 60, 587-593), consistent with studies showing no effects on survival of monomeric p75NTR ligands, including monovalent Fabs (Maliartchouk, S., Debeir, T., and Beglova, N. Cuello, A. C., Gehring, K, and Saragovi, H. U. (2000) J Biol Chem 275, 9946-9956) and monomeric cyclic peptides (Longo, F. M., Manthorpe, M., Xie, Y. M., Varon, S. (1997) J Neurosci Res 48, 1-17), while related bivalent forms in each study promote cell survival. However, these monomeric ligands may not engage the receptor in the same way as the natural ligands. Though active NGF is a homodimers containing 2 potential p75NTR binding sites, recent structural evidence suggests that it engages only one p75NTR molecule, disallowing the binding of another (He, X. L., Garcia, K. C. (2004) Science 304, 870-875).
Unfortunately, technical and ethical considerations have thus far hampered the development of therapeutic agents based upon neurotrophins. For example, it is technically difficult to produce sufficient quantities of pure neurotrophins using recombinant DNA techniques. Additionally, although it is possible to utilize human fetal cells to produce neurotrophins, the ethical ramifications raised by the use of such cells (typically obtained from an aborted fetus) have all but prevented the utilization of this approach. Accordingly, there is an unmet need in the art for the development of small molecule agents with favorable drug-like features based upon neurotrophins that are capable of targeting specific neurotrophin receptors for use in the treatment of disorders or diseases.

Methods of facilitating cell survival using neurotrophin mimetics

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Regents of the University of California

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Veterans Affairs


A vertical cavity surface emitting laser includes: a substrate; and a laminated body which is provided over the substrate, wherein the laminated body includes a first mirror layer, an active layer, and a second mirror layer, in a plan view, the laminated body includes a first distortion imparting portion, a second distortion imparting portion, and a resonance portion which is provided between the first distortion imparting portion and the second distortion imparting portion and resonates light generated by the active layer, and an angle formed by a side surface of the first distortion imparting portion and an upper surface of the substrate, and an angle formed by a side surface of the second distortion imparting portion and the upper surface of the substrate are greater than an angle formed by a side surface of the resonance portion and the upper surface of the substrate.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a vertical cavity surface emitting laser and an atomic oscillator.
2. Related Art
The vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) is, for example, used as a light source of the atomic oscillator using coherent population trapping (CPT) which is one of the quantum interference effects.
In the vertical cavity surface emitting laser, a resonator generally has an isotropic structure, and accordingly it is difficult to control a polarization direction of laser light emitted from the resonator. JP-A-11-54838, for example, discloses a vertical cavity surface emitting laser which generates distortion in a resonator by a distortion imparting portion and causes double refraction to occur, so as to stabilize a polarization direction of laser light obtained by laser oscillation.
However, in the vertical cavity surface emitting laser disclosed in JP-A-11-54838, an angle formed by a side surface of the distortion imparting portion and a substrate has not been considered. Accordingly, in the vertical cavity surface emitting laser disclosed in JP-A-11-54838, stress applied to a vertical resonator is not sufficient, and thus the polarization direction of the laser light may not be stabilized.

Vertical cavity surface emitting laser and atomic oscillator


Disclosed herein is a novel process for preparing Compound A free base, 5-((2,4-diaminopyrimidin-5-yl)oxy)-4-iso-propyl-2-methoxybenzenesulfonamide, and a citrate salt of Compound A with simplified chemistry and a high overall yield: Compound A. In one embodiment, the overall yield from the starting material 2-isopropylphenol to Compound A citrate salt is greater than 50%. In another embodiment, the overall yield is greater than 60%. Also disclosed herein are novel salts and solvates of Compound A.

P2X receptor subunits are found on afferents in rodent and human bladder urothelium. Data exists suggesting that ATP may be released from epithelial/endothelial cells of the urinary bladder or other hollow organs as a result of distention (Burnstock (1999) J. Anatomy 194:335-342; and Ferguson et al. (1997) J. Physiol. 505:503-511). ATP released in this manner may serve a role in conveying information to sensory neurons located in subepithelial components, e.g., suburothelial lamina propria (Namasivayam, et al. (1999) BJU Intl. 84:854-860). The P2X receptors have been studied in a number of neurons, including sensory, sympathetic, parasympathetic, mesenteric, and central neurons (Zhong, et al. (1998) Br. J. Pharmacol. 125:771-781). These studies indicate that purinergic receptors may play a role in afferent neurotransmission from the bladder, and that modulators of P2X receptors are potentially useful in the treatment of bladder disorders and other genitourinary diseases or conditions.
Recent evidence also suggests a role of endogenous ATP and purinergic receptors in nociceptive responses in mice (Tsuda, et al. (1999) Br. J. Pharmacol. 128:1497-1504). ATP-induced activation of P2X receptors on dorsal root ganglion nerve terminals in the spinal cord has been shown to stimulate release of glutamate, a key neurotransmitter involved in nociceptive signaling (Gu and MacDermott, Nature 389:749-753 (1997)). P2X3 receptors have been identified on nociceptive neurons in the tooth pulp (Cook et al., Nature 387:505-508 (1997)). ATP released from damaged cells may thus lead to pain by activating P2X3 and/or P2X2/3 containing receptors on nociceptive sensory nerve endings. This is consistent with the induction of pain by intradermally applied ATP in the human blister-base model (Bleehen, Br J Pharmacol 62:573-577 (1978)). P2X antagonists have been shown to be analgesic in animal models (Driessen and Starke, Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol 350:618-625 (1994)). This evidence suggests that P2X2 and P2X3 are involved in nociception, and that modulators of P2X receptors are potentially useful as analgesics.
Other researchers have shown that P2X3 receptors are expressed in human colon, and are expressed at higher levels in inflamed colon than in normal colon (Y. Yiangou et al, Neuroeastroenterol Mot (2001) 13:365-69). Other researchers have implicated the P2X3 receptor in detection of distension or intraluminal pressure in the intestine, and initiation of reflex contractions (X. Bian et al., J Physiol (2003) 551.1:309-22), and have linked this to colitis (G. Wynn et al., Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol (2004) 287:G647-57); Inge Brouns et al. (Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol (2000) 23:52-61) found that P2X3 receptors are expressed in pulmonary neuroepithelial bodies (NEBs), implicating the receptor in pain transmission in the lung. Researchers have also implicated P2X2 and P2X3 receptors in pO2 detection in pulmonary NEBs (W. Rong et al., J Neurosci (2003) 23(36):11315-21).
There is accordingly a need for improved methods of making compounds that are effective modulators of P2X receptors, including the P2X3 and P2X2/3 receptors.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,858,632 and 7,741,484 disclose methodology and synthetic routes that can be used to prepare phenoxy diaminopyrimidine derivatives. However, the currently known methods have various drawbacks including complex chemistry and/or lower yield. There remains a need for improved synthetic methods for preparing phenoxy diaminopyrimidine derivatives with simplified chemistry and/or a higher yield.

Process for synthesis of a phenoxy diaminopyrimidine compound


Described herein is a system and method for determining the status of instances and update applications to reflect the updated statuses of instances, in real-time. In an embodiment, each instance may enable a service to determine the status of an instance. A core application server may load server pool configurations including a status of an instance. The status indicates the instance is live. Core application server may read a gate definition of the instance using the service enabled on the instance. Core application server may determine that a current status of the instance is virtual, based on the gate definition of the instance. The core application may a local cache of core application server to reflect that the current status of the instance is virtual and propagate to applications executed on other instances and core application server.

Collections of computing resources such as databases, application servers, rack nodes, or the like, are often used to host applications for various clients. Each collection of computing resources may be referred to as an instance. In the event an instance has reached its capacity or is no longer able to process or store data, the instance becomes a virtual instance that is now defunct and the data hosted by the virtual instance may be transferred into a new instance. The applications which need to access the now virtual instance need to be updated to reflect the updated configuration so that the applications access the new instance.
Conventionally, when updating the status of an instance, a core application server's configuration would need to be updated. This requires the core application to be restarted causing a significant amount of downtime. This time-consuming process is not desirable for meeting the time-critical and time-sensitive requirements for the application config changes to be deployed to the desired fleet of production instances. This process may also be expensive for clients and customers hosting their applications on the instances.
In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical or similar elements. Additionally, generally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.

System and method for updating applications with current instance configurations in real-time


A bottle opener for removing bottle caps and for capturing and storing the removed bottle caps. The housing of the opener includes an opening for the insertion of the sealed bottle top and cap. A cap opening device is affixed within the housing opposed the housing opening for receiving the bottle top and cap and for removing the cap from the bottle top. The housing opening is at least partially obstructed by a swiping member, such as an elastomeric material, that permits entry and withdrawal of the bottle top but that prevents the exit of the removed bottle cap.

The bottle opener industry has long been seeking to solve the problems associated with the removal of bottle caps from the bottles, while at the same time capturing, collecting, storing and disposing of the bottle caps in an efficient and economical manner. During the process of opening bottles prior to disposing of the bottle caps, the bottle caps randomly fall on the counter or the floor awaiting independent retrieval for disposal.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,116,306 issued in 1938 for a bottle opener that also functioned to capture and store the removed caps. That device utilized a pivotally mounted decapper that extended outwardly from an enclosure to remove a cap from a bottle and then was pulled inwardly by spring tension to release the cap into a storage volume. The removed cap was held against the decapper by a magnet until the decapper struck a stop that limited its pivoting motion. Such devices are complex, unreliable and expensive to manufacture, and they are not portable.
A much simpler device is described in the 1952 U.S. Pat. No. 2,588,687 wherein a bottle opener with a cap receiver is affixed to a vertical wall such that the removed cap falls by gravity into a receptacle. While simple and reliable, this device is not portable.
A portable cap removing and collecting device is described in the 1955 U.S. Pat. No. 2,728,250. That device utilizes a permanent magnet in conjunction with a sliding lifting hook device which slides beyond a receptacle mouth when the device is upended to remove a cap from a bottle, and then slides back into the receptacle via gravity when the device is uprighted with the removed cap remaining affixed to the hook device by magnetic attraction. A pivotally mounted, retractable, weighted stop member is provided at the mouth of the receptacle to keep the inventory of removed caps from escaping the receptacle when the device is again upended to remove the next cap. The stop device fully closes the mouth to retain the removed caps when upended and fully opens the mouth when uprighted to allow free passage of the removed caps into the receptacle without any obstruction that might otherwise dislodge the cap from the magnet. Here, again, such devices are complex, unreliable and expensive to manufacture.
Finally, in 1986, a relatively simple portable cap collecting opener is described for twist-off caps in U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,242. That device includes a cylindrical member at one end for grabbing and retaining twist-off caps. Optionally, at an opposed end, the device is provided with an opener for removing pry-off bottle caps. Unfortunately, the device functions to capture only the twist-off caps, but it provides no means for retaining the removed pry-off caps.
Thus, further improvements are needed to satisfy the long-standing need for a simple and portable device capable of removing and collecting all types of bottle caps, including pry-off caps.

Bottle opener and bottle cap collecting and disposing device


A method and system for playing a media sample representing a full media selection on a wireless handset and, in turn, requesting the full media selection to be sent to a client station other than the wireless handset. The method and system provides for a user of a wireless handset to receive one or more media samples from a media content provider, such as a media server. The user can then request one or more full media selections from the media server, and the media server can, in turn, e-mail to the user a hyperlink for each full media selection selected by the user. The user can then invoke the hyperlink to access a full media selection at a client station other than the wireless handset.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to distribution of media, such as music or video, for instance. More specifically, it enables a user to sample media at a wireless handset, such as a mobile station, and, if desired, to then receive a full version of the media at another computing device. Further, the user might elect to receive the full version of the media through a less-expensive distribution channel such as a networked personal computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wireless handset, such as a mobile station, can receive media content from a media content provider by connecting to a media server. Once connected to the media server, the wireless handset might receive media content from the media server. For example, the wireless handset might receive a video file that the wireless handset can play on its display screen. Simultaneously, the wireless handset might receive audio that the wireless handset can play on an audio speaker and that accompanies the video file. The media server might also send other media content, such as audio-only files, still images, or video games, for example, to the wireless handset. The wireless handset might play media content using a media player application.
It may not always be desirable or cost-effective, however, to send entire media content, for example, an entire song, to the wireless handset. It can be time consuming and/or expensive for a user to receive entire media content at a wireless handset. Further, a user might not find it convenient to receive entire media content at that user's wireless handset.
Thus, there exists a need to provide a better way to select and receive media content.

Method and system for distribution of media


The present invention relates to a method for growing diamond on a diamond substrate by chemical vapor deposition. The inventive method comprises alternatingly contacting at elevated temperature said diamond substrate with a gas having the formula C.sub.n X.sub.m and then with a gas having the formula C.sub.l Z.sub.p. X and Z each form single bonds with carbon. X and Z also are reactable to form ZX or a derivative thereof. The Z--X bond is stronger than the C--X bond and also is stronger than the C--Z bond. In the formulas, n, m, l, and p are integers. If C.sub.n X.sub.m and C.sub.l Z.sub.p do not react in the gas phase, then a gas mixture of them can be used to grow diamond instead of the alternating exposure of one and then the other.

The present invention relates to diamond workpieces and more particularly to their fabrication based on chemical vapor deposition technology.
Its hardness and thermal properties are but two of the characteristics that make diamond useful in a variety of industrial components. Initially, natural diamond was used in a variety of abrasive applications. With the ability to synthesize diamond by high pressure/high temperature (HP/HT) techniques utilizing a catalyst/sintering aid under conditions where diamond is the thermally stable carbon phase, a variety of additional products found favor in the marketplace. Polycrystalline diamond compacts, often supported on a tungsten carbide supports in cylindrical or annular form, extended the product line for diamond additionally. However, the requirement of high pressure and high temperature has been a limitation in product configuration, for example.
Recently, industrial effort directed toward the growth of diamond at low pressures, where it is metastable, has increased dramatically. Although the ability to produce diamond by low-pressure synthesis techniques has been known for decades, drawbacks including extremely low growth rates prevented wide commercial acceptance. Recent developments have led to higher growth rates, thus spurring recent industrial interest in the field. Additionally, the discovery of an entirely new class of solids, known as "diamond like" carbons and hydrocarbons, is an outgrowth of such recent work.
Low pressure growth of diamond has been dubbed "chemical vapor deposition" or "CVD" in the field. Two predominant CVD techniques have found favor in the literature. One of these techniques involves the use of a dilute mixture of hydrocarbon gas (typically methane) and hydrogen wherein the hydrocarbon content usually is varied from about 0.1% to 2.5% of the total volumetric flow. The gas is introduced via a quartz tube located just above a hot tungsten filament which is electrically heated to a temperature ranging from between about 1750.degree. to 2400.degree. C. The gas mixture disassociates at the filament surface and diamonds are condensed onto a heated substrate placed just below the hot tungsten filament. The substrate is held in a resistance heated boat (often molybdenum) and heated to a temperature in the region of about 500.degree. to 1100.degree. C.
The second technique involves the imposition of a plasma discharge to the foregoing filament process. The plasma discharge serves to increase the nucleation density, growth rate, and it is believed to enhance formation of diamond films as opposed to discrete diamond particles. Of the plasma systems that have been utilized in this area, there are three basic systems. One is a microwave plasma system, the second is an RF (inductively or capacitively coupled) plasma system, and the third is a d.c. plasma system. The RF and microwave plasma systems utilize relatively complex and expensive equipment which usually requires complex tuning or matching networks to electrically coupled electrical energy to the generated plasma. Additionally, the diamond growth rate offered by these two systems can be quite modest.
Atomic hydrogen is required, regardless of the particular CVD technique utilized. Atomic hydrogen can be generated in numerous ways. Each way serves as a pathway to develop a new CVD diamond growth process. It has been postulated that atomic hydrogen serves several critical roles in CVD diamond growth, namely: 1) stabilization of the diamond surface; 2) reduction of the size of the critical nucleus; 3) "dissolution" of carbon in the gas; 4) production of carbon solubility minimum; 5) generation of condensible carbon radicals in the gas; 6) abstraction of hydrogen from hydrocarbons attached to the surface; 7) production of vacant surface sites; and 8) etching of graphite. Atomic hydrogen can carry out these functions because of favorable relationships between energies for carbon--carbon, carbon-hydrogen, and hydrogen--hydrogen bonds. A direct substitute for atomic hydrogen has not been proposed in the art.

CVD diamond by alternating chemical reactions


A card for testing print heads includes a first layer having a first height and longitudinal length and a second layer located on top of the first layer having a second height and longitudinal length smaller than the first length. Also, a method of determining ink drop velocity including providing such a card, and printing a line including a plurality of dots thereon. A first of the dots is located on the first layer and a second of the dots is located on the second layer. Finally, the method includes determining a first relative distance between the first and second of the dots along the print direction, determining a second relative distance between the top surfaces of the first and second layers, and calculating the ink drop velocity as follows: V*(RD1/RD2), wherein V is the print velocity, D1 is the first relative distance, and D2 is the second relative distance.

Ink jet printers are well known in the art, and are utilized in many different printing applications. For example, the metering/printing modules of many current mailing machines utilize ink jet printing technology to print evidence of postage, such as postal indicia that include a 2-D barcode. Generally, an ink jet printer includes one or more arrays of nozzles (sometimes referred to as orifices), a supply of ink, a plurality of ejection elements (for example, expanding vapor bubble elements or piezoelectric transducer elements) corresponding to the nozzles and suitable driver and control electronics for controlling the ejection elements. Typically, the one or more arrays of nozzles and the ejection elements along with their associated components are referred to as a print head. It is the activation of the ejection elements that causes drops of ink to be expelled from the nozzles. The ink ejected in this manner forms drops which travel along a flight path until they reach a print medium such as a sheet of paper, an envelope or the like. Once they reach the print medium, the drops dry and collectively form a print image. In addition, it is known that when drops of ink travel along a flight path after being ejected, they typically break up into a main drop and one or more smaller drops known as satellites, all of which land on the print medium. Typically, the ejection elements are selectively activated (energized) or not activated (not energized) to expel or not expel, respectively, drops of ink as relative movement is provided between the print head and the print medium so that a predetermined or desired print image is achieved.
In order to improve the operation and performance, various types of testing and analyses are performed on the ink jet print head and the images printed by an ink jet print head. Two important characteristics related to the operation of an ink jet print head are drop velocity and satellite velocity, which are the velocities at which drops and satellites, respectively, travel after being ejected from a nozzle of an ink jet print head. By studying operating characteristics of an ink jet print head, such as drop velocity and satellite velocity, print quality and print head performance can be improved by, for example, designing inks, nozzles and/or firing pulses in a manner that minimizes the production of satellites, adjusting the voltage applied to a nozzle to eject an ink drop, and choosing a particular well performing ink. In addition, it is often necessary to test the performance of a particular ink jet print head to determine whether it meets the requirements of a particular printing application.
Conventional equipment for measuring drop velocity and satellite velocity includes complex optical and electronic equipment that is very expensive and difficult to calibrate. Examples of such equipment are the Drop Watcher testing machine manufactured by Imaging Technology International Corporation of Boulder, Colo., and the Genie testing machine manufactured by VisionJet, a subsidiary of Xennia Technology Limited of the United Kingdom. The Genie product is a sophisticated laser based droplet measurement system that captures precise, quantitative data on a series of individual droplets, through which a thorough understanding of the performance and reliability of the ink jet print head may be determined.
Because of the high cost and complexity of these types of equipment, they are impractical to use for many applications. Thus, there is a need for a simple and inexpensive method and apparatus for testing the operation and performance of an ink jet print head.

Test card for ink jet printers and method of using same


A safety needle device comprising a needle hub, an attachment mechanism arranged at the distal end for attaching the safety needle device to a medicament container, and a coaxially arranged needle attachment member. The safety needle device also comprises an injection needle comprising a proximal pointed injection end and a distal pointed non-injection end arranged to penetrate a septum of a medicament container, the injection needle being attached inside the needle hub and extending through the needle attachment member. A rotator arranged to rotate on the hub, the rotator arranged with an annular wall provided with a central passage, such that the needle attachment member of the needle hub extends through a central passage of the rotator. A needle shield surrounds the rotator and slidably arranged with respect to the hub and the rotator.

Accidental needle sticks from used and thereby contaminated needles expose both hospital personnel and other persons that come in contact with people that self-medicate to the risk of infection from blood-borne diseases.
Even though the majority of injection devices used is the normal syringe the use of pen needle injectors is becoming more and more popular since they provide the possibility of an easy and convenient self-administration of drugs. The pen-type injectors are also becoming the only choice for certain types of drugs because they are not delivered in ordinary single use syringes.
In order to reduce the risk of accidental needle sticks, many pen injectors have been arranged with needle shields that are capable of covering said needle after injection. These needle shields may be useful but they add to the complexity and number of components of the injector. Further, if the injector is designed to deliver multiple doses, then the needle has to be replaced after each injection. This adds to the risk of accidental needle sticks and if the injector is arranged with a needle cover, this will be in the way when the needle is to be replaced.
Injections where a liquid is expelled into the human body are usually performed either as intramuscular injections i.e. injections into the muscle tissue, or as subcutaneously injections i.e. injections into the subcutaneous tissue lying between the cutis and the muscle tissue. When performing intramuscular injections, long injections needles are used. The outside diameters of injection needles are indicated by a "G" and a gauge number increases with thinner needles. Thus the outside diameter of a G 23 is 0.60 mm and of a G 2 0.50 mm. Long injection needle has a diameter of 23 G for a 25 mm long injection needle and 25 G for a 16 mm long injection needle. It has for some years been known to provide long injection needles with safety protective devices in order to prevent accidental needle stick injuries. Such safety protective devices are e.g. known from EP 409 180 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,940. These known safety protective devices comprises a number of telescopic sleeves, which telescopic sleeves slides into each other in order to expose an injection needle covered by the telescopic sleeves when not in use. However, some medicines have to be injected subcutaneously i.e. in the subcutis lying between the cutis and a muscle membrane which cover the underlying muscles. When performing subcutaneous injections, short and thin injections needles are used and these short needles have also safety protective devices, wherein the combination of the short needle and the safety protective device is known as a safety pen needle.
A few safety pen needle solutions have been developed in order to minimize the risk of accidental needle sticks.
One such solution is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 7,462,168. Therein is described a safety pen needle with a passive safety shield system. It comprises a central hub to which an injection needle is attached, where the needle is provided with an injection end and a non-injection end, and where the latter is intended to penetrate a septum of a medicament container when mounted. Outside the hub a sleeve is slidably arranged and further a shield is slidably arranged to the sleeve in a kind of telescopic manner. The sleeve and the shield are both urged in the proximal direction by a compression spring. When the injection is performed the shield is pushed into the sleeve, which in turn slides in relation to the hub, thereby exposing the injection end of the needle. When the shield is fully depressed in relation to the sleeve, it becomes locked to the sleeve and they move in tandem during continued penetration. When the device is removed after injection, the sleeve and shield are moved in the proximal direction by the compression spring until tabs on the sleeve enter lock out recesses on the hub such that the sleeve and thus the shield are locked and the needle is protected. Further the safety pen needle according to U.S. Pat. No. 7,462,168 comprises a safety system for the non-injection end of the needle. It comprises a non-injection end shield slidable in relation to the hub. A protrusion on the hub cooperates with tracks on the shield to first allow the shield to be pushed into the hub when mounted on a medicament container and then to lock said shield in an extended position when removed from the container, where the tracks have a first straight part and a latter inclined part with a depression for locking the shield. However, probably functioning correctly in covering the needle, the safety pen needle according to '168 comprises a lot of interacting components in order to obtain the desired function, which makes the design rather difficult to manufacture and thereby rather costly.
Another solution is found in EP1289587B1 which discloses a disposable double pointed safety pen needle having a needle hub to which a thin needle cannula is permanently fastened and which needle hub can be mounted onto a syringe comprising a dose setting and injection mechanism and a cartridge containing a liquid medicine to be injected subcutaneously into a human body. The needle hub is provided with a safety shield guided on the outside surface of the needle hub. The safety shield is urged in a direction away from the needle hub by a spring located between the needle hub and the safety shield. The safety shield has a number of protrusions guided in guiding tracks on the outside surface of the needle hub. The guiding tracks are designed such that the safety shield during injection is displaced towards the needle hub by a translation movement and after injection is longitudinally moved away from the needle hub by the spring and locked in an irreversible position where the safety shield covers the needle cannula and prevents accidental needle stick injuries. Since the shield is in contact with an injection site and the shield is moved by a translation movement, i.e. a rotationally longitudinal displacement, the contact between the shield and the injection site i.e. the skin of a patient, is affected by a friction which may result in an ineffective function of the safety pen needle.
A further solution is known from US 2005 065 476 A1 which discloses a safety needle assembly comprising a cylindrical housing adapted to be attached to a medical injection device, a needle cannula attached to the housing, a shield telescopically movable relatively to the housing for movement between a distal position where the shield covers the distal end of the needle cannula and a proximal position where at least a part of the distal end of the needle cannula is exposed, a spring located inside said housing urging the shield in the distal direction, and a locking element longitudinal having locking protrusions and being moved simultaneously with the shield relatively to the housing during use. However, US 2005 065 476 A1 also discloses that since the locking element is provided as a separate element located between the spring and the shield and moved simultaneously with the shield, the locking protrusion can be guided during the longitudinal movement of the locking element thereby eliminating the need for tracks or cams.