Information regarding the operating conditions of a computer system is stored in a storage which is dedicated to a failure management system. The storage is updated with the current operating conditions either periodically or upon the occurrence of predetermined events. When a first failure identification mechanism identifies a failure in the computer system, a capture mechanism interrupts the updating of the storage leaving information regarding operating conditions which contributed to the failure in the storage. This latter information can then be read out to aid in diagnosis of the failure. Since the operating condition information is stored in a dedicated storage, the information is not modified by events that take place after the failure is identified. In accordance with one embodiment, the computer system ordinarily holds state and other operating information in a set of storage devices, such as, for example, state registers. The dedicated storage device can be a shadow register or other shadow storage device for holding a separate dedicated copy of at least a portion of the operating information so that it is readily available in case a failure is detected. During operation, an updating mechanism continually transfers the information in the state registers to the shadow register until a first failure is detected. When a failure is detected, a capture mechanism controls the updating mechanism to cease transferring information from the state registers to the shadow register. The shadow register can then output its contents, e.g., for analysis, preferably under computer program control.

This invention relates generally to computer systems, and more particularly to identifying, capturing, isolating and diagnosing errors in computer system operation.
As is known in the art, a computer system can take the form of a workstation, server, personal computer, network appliance or, broadly speaking, other such general-purpose digital processing device. A computer system generally includes at least one central processing unit (CPU) that is used to execute computer instructions to perform various programming functions. The CPU communicates with other devices in the computer system through an interconnection subsystem, commonly called a bus. A system bus interconnects the CPU with main memory and can also connect, directly or indirectly, other devices of the computer system to the CPU, such as chip sets, graphic adapters, memory devices, and input/output (xe2x80x9cI/Oxe2x80x9d) devices, such as keyboards, monitors, scanners and printers.
In terms of performance, computer systems have achieved in recent years dramatically higher clock speeds with lower operating voltages. Increased clock speeds, measured usually in megaHertz (MHz), can allow computer applications to run faster and data to be transferred faster between devices. Lower operating voltages can advantageously reduce power consumption, which is important, for example, in miniaturization of integrated circuits and, in mobile computing, for extending battery operating times. Unfortunately, higher clock speeds can make accurate reception of bus signals more difficult, and lower operating voltages can make signals more susceptible to errors due to lower signal-to-noise ratios and resulting signal distortion.
Transient and other non-predictable errors in the signals within the computer system can arise from other causes as well, and often have a deleterious impact on computer system performance. Such errors can arise, for example, from manufacturers"" defects in devices connected in or to the computer system, as well as degradation over time of such devices. Errors can also arise due to non-compatibility of add-on components of the computer system, such as I/O devices and adapter cards, which are integrated into the computer system by customers, e.g., through xe2x80x9cplug and playxe2x80x9d operation. Where such devices malfunction, or simply exhibit operating parameters unanticipated by the original computer manufacturer, errors can arise. Such errors can result in lost or corrupted data, and, in extreme cases, such errors can cause system crashes.
Conventionally, the way to capture and isolate such errors has been through re-running the computer application during which the errors arose, with the devices instrumented to identify the errors, and provide error-related information to an external logic analyzer. An object of this approach is to identify the specific device that initially caused an error, i.e., that was responsible for the first occurrence of the error, also known as xe2x80x9cfirst failurexe2x80x9d. One difficulty with this approach lies in differentiating the first failure from other effects of the errors as they propagate through downstream devices of the computer system. Another drawback of this approach is that the instrumentation added to the devices for monitoring operation can affect the system, and even temporarily hide or modify a failure condition. Additional drawbacks include labor, downtime, and other costs related to the attachment of hardware instrumentation and the use of the external logic analyzer. It would be desirable to provide a technique for enabling errors arising in computer systems to be identified, captured, isolated, and diagnosed using a technique that overcomes at least a number of the difficulties of conventional approaches.
In accordance with the principles of the invention, in a failure management system, information regarding the operating conditions of a computer system is stored in a storage, which is dedicated to the failure management system. The storage is updated with the current operating conditions either periodically or upon the occurrence of predetermined events. When a first failure identification mechanism identifies a failure in the computer system, a capture mechanism interrupts the updating of the storage, leaving information regarding operating conditions which contributed to the failure in the storage. This latter information can then be read out to aid in diagnosis of the failure. Since the operating condition information is stored in a dedicated storage, the information is not modified by events that take place after the failure is identified.
More specifically, the computer system ordinarily holds state and other operating information in a set of storage devices, such as, for example, state registers. The dedicated storage device can be a shadow register or other shadow storage device for holding a separate dedicated copy of at least a portion of the operating information so that it is readily available in case a failure is detected. During operation, an updating mechanism continually transfers the information in the state registers to the shadow register until a first failure is detected. For example, this transfer can be carried out periodically or when the information in the state registers changes. When a failure is detected, a capture mechanism controls the updating mechanism to cease transferring information from the state registers to the shadow register. The shadow register can then output its contents, e.g., for analysis, preferably under computer program control.
The first failure management system can be implemented in a computer system. Conventional computer systems have a set of registers or other storage components for holding state information regarding execution of computer programs, and error flags of one or more bits indicative of error conditions. Computer systems can also be equipped with other storage components for holding other system information, such as, e.g., temperature within the computer""s housing, which may be useful to diagnose system operating errors. The first failure management system can include error logic responsive to the error flags from the storage components for generating a first failure indicating signal, which can be provided as an error notification signal output. The first failure management system can also include a shadow register chain, history queue or other shadow storage locations. The shadow storage locations receive a copy of at least a portion of the operating and error information from the storage components, and store that copy so that it is available in case of an error condition.
The control signal to which the shadow storage devices are responsive can be a special clock signal, for example, which controls shifting of the shadow register or overwriting of the history queue, so as to continue updating of the contents of that register or queue for so long as no error is detected. Upon error detection, the capture mechanism discontinues the clock signal, freezing the contents of the shadow register until such time that the contents can be provided as an output from the operating information capture mechanism.
Responsive to a control signal indicative of a first failure error, a scan controller can extract that information from the shadow storage locations and provide it as an output from the operating information capture mechanism. The scan controller can be implemented, e.g., as a service processor. A service processor is a processor that can scan the operating information in the shadow register chain and either provide that information as an output or execute an error-analysis program.
Accordingly, the invention can be used in identifying, capturing, isolating, notifying and diagnosing an error constituting the first failure in the system, and thus differentiating the first failure from other effects of that error as it may propagate through downstream devices of the computer system. The invention does not require the attachment of instrumentation or an external error analyzer because these components are preferably built into the system. Essentially, instrumentation implementing the invention can be formed directly on the same logic chip as the device that it is monitoring. Moreover, the invention can be used in automatically providing operating information, including the computer""s state as of the error condition, with significantly less labor, downtime, costs and untoward effects associated with prior art attachment of hardware instrumentation and the use of an external logic analyzer.

Method and apparatus for extracting first failure and attendant operating information from computer system devices


A buffer circuit including a first N channel field effect transistor including a source terminal connected to ground, a gate terminal connected to a source of input signals, and a drain terminal; a W channel field effect transistor having a source terminal connected to the drain terminal of the N channel field effect transistor, a drain terminal connect to a source of varying voltage, and a gate terminal connected to its drain terminal; and an inverter having an input terminal connected to the drain terminal of the N channel transistor, and an output terminal.

1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to digital circuits and, more particularly, to apparatus for providing an input buffer which operates reliably at two different source voltage levels.
2. History Of The Prior Art
Many different types of digital circuits are manufactured today. For example, digital integrated circuits are often manufactured as transistor-transistor-logic (TTL) circuits or complementary metal-oxide-silicon (CMOS) circuits. Although circuits of different types may provide identical logical functions, the logic levels and other characteristics of the circuits are usually different. It is often necessary to join circuits of one of these types to circuits of the other type and guarantee that both circuits will operate reliably. This typically requires a buffer circuit which converts input signals presented at levels convenient for one type of circuitry to those convenient for the other type of circuitry.
The design of buffer circuits is not especially complicated where each of the input and the output circuitry is expected to operate with only two digital signal levels to produce the necessary zero and one logical values. However, many modern circuits operate at more than one range. For example, many modern portable computers provide a normal power mode for carrying out the normal functions of the computer and a standby power mode in which only a limited number of the normal functions are maintained. Usually such computers include circuitry for placing the computer in the standby mode automatically after a selected period of time in order to conserve the batteries utilized to operate such portable devices. In this standby mode, for example, power may be provided to maintain information in a static random access memory so that when the computer is switched to the normal mode, data is immediately available. It is usual for digital circuitry to function with source voltages of a first high level in the normal mode and source voltages of a second lower level in the standby mode. The use of different source voltages requires that the digital buffer circuitry be capable of functioning at both levels while receiving signals adapted to be used with a different type of circuitry.
Multiple operating modes may be provided for many other battery operated digital systems. For example, automobiles provide only battery power to operate the various electrical devices which they carry. Automobiles have become more and more dependent on the use of microprocessors and other digital circuitry to carry out various functions. These microprocessors and similar modern digital circuits used in automobiles are often CMOS integrated circuits. However, these circuits often receive inputs from TTL circuitry which monitors various functions of the automobile. Consequently, buffers must be provided which are capable of transferring signals between the two types of circuits when at least one of those circuits operates at more than one operating range. Digital circuits able to function in automobiles are especially difficult to design because of the temperature extremes such circuits must undergo.

Buffer circuitry for transferring signals from TTL circuitry to dual range CMOS circuitry


A contactor apparatus used in automatic testing of integrated circuits is provided. The invented apparatus, or assembly, enables the rapid automated test transition from testing a plurality of devices of a first body shape to a plurality of devices having a second body shape, where both types of devices have electrical contacts arranged within a device contact plane and according to a common grid pattern. The common grid pattern may be arranged along an X and an orthogonal Y axis, where contact points are spaced at identical intervals along each axis, e.g. a contact point at each 0.8 millimeter by 0.8 millimeter location, or where the contact points are spaced at differing intervals in each dimension, e.g. a plurality of contact points located at 0.8 millimeter lengths along the X axis and at 1.2 millimeter lengths along the Y axis.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for providing electrical signal pathways during test between an electronic device, such as an electronic module or an integrated electrical semiconductor circuit, and an automated test system. The invented assembly more particularly relates to interfacing systems that position an electrical device, the device having electrical contacts arranged within a substantially planar pattern and in a two-dimensional spacing pattern that is common to a plurality of electronic device products.
The costs of testing integrated circuit die and packaged electrical devices are significant components of the manufacturing costs of semiconductor devices. The prior art attempts to limit the costs of testing but requires the use of electrical contactors that are overly specific to particular device types. There is therefore a long felt need to provide a test contactor that may be more easily reconfigurable and/or to be useful in testing a wider variety of part numbers than the prior art allows.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus, or assembly, useful in testing an electronic device or semiconductor device by an automated test system.
An invented contactor apparatus, or contactor assembly, useful in testing a device under test with an automated test system is provided. The contactor assembly, or assembly, includes a signal distribution board, a pogo body having a plurality of pins, and a device nest. The assembly, or electrical interconnect, provides signal pathways between a set of device electrical contacts of a device under test and the pin electronics of the automated test system.
The device under test, or device, seats within the nest and makes electrical contact with the test system via the pins and the signal distribution board. The device may be a packaged or a partially packaged electronic device, such as a discrete device, a transistor or a plurality of transistors, an electronic memory, a logic device, a linear or analog device, a mixed signal device, a multi-chip module or an integrated semiconductor circuits.
The signal distribution board has a tester side, an upper side and a plurality of signal distribution traces. The traces are composed of an electrically conductive material or composite, such as copper or a copper alloy, or other suitable electrically conductive materials known in the art, in singularly or in combination. Each trace includes a tester side contact, an upper side contact and a signal distribution pathway. Each trace provides an electrical signal pathway from its tester side contact to its upper side contact via its signal distribution pathway. Each trace electrical signal pathway may include one or more passive or active electrical devices and may be bi-directional or unidirectional. The tester side contacts are located along the tester side of the signal distribution board and in a pattern that partially or completely matches a pin electronics pattern of the tester, whereby some or all of the pin electronics contacts of the tester can simultaneously make separate electrical contacts with individual tester side contacts of certain or all of the traces of the signal distribution board. The upper side contacts of the traces are located along the upper side of the signal distribution board and in a two-dimensional grid pattern. The two-dimensional grid pattern may be a partially or totally arranged according to a personality pattern, the personality pattern including a contact pattern or patterns that match a pattern or patterns of device electrical contacts of a variety of electronic device products. The device electrical contact pattern may partially or wholly match a common grid array pattern, where the personality pattern, or grid pattern, comprises the common grid pattern and the personality pattern additionally matches or repeatedly matches the device contact patterns of a plurality of functionally differing or differently shaped packaged or partially packaged devices.
In certain preferred embodiments of the present invention the personality pattern may provide or include a pattern for locating a plurality of electrical contacts in an orthogonal, two-dimensional X axis and Y axis pattern with substantially equivalent X and Y separations of 0.5 millimeter, 0.6 millimeter, 0.8 millimeter, 0.75 millimeter, 1.0 millimeter, 1.2 millimeter, or another suitable device electrical contact arrangement or location pattern known in the art.
In certain still alternate preferred embodiments the personality pattern may alternatively or additionally include a pattern for locating a plurality of device electrical contacts in an orthogonal, two-dimensional X axis and Y axis pattern wherein the separations between certain or all of the electrical device contacts are in a first spacing along the X axis, such as 0.8 millimeter, and a second spacing along the Y axis, such as 1.2 millimeter. The resulting pattern may thereby provide device electrical contacts located in a grid at every or at certain X and Y locations in a 0.8 millimeter X axis by 1.2 millimeter Y axis array, or in another suitable spacing pattern or planar array known in the art.
The pogo body houses a plurality pins, each pin having a board contact, a body and a device contact. The pins are electrical conductive and may comprise suitable electrically conductive materials or composites known in the art, such as gold, nickel, copper or metal alloys, in singularity or in combination.
The pogo body, or vertical signal frame 6, of the preferred embodiment is detachably attached to the signal distribution board by latches, screws, attachments, guide pin and receiver bushing features, ramp and pin mechanisms, or other suitable detachable attachment systems known in the art. The plurality of pins, or plurality of elongate vertical pins, of the preferred embodiment each have a board contact, an elongate body and a device contact. The vertical signal frame 6 maintains the plurality of elongate vertical pins in a substantially perpendicular orientation to the upper side of the signal distribution board. The elongate vertical pins are arranged in a pattern within or by the vertical signal frame 6 that matches a device electrical contact pattern of the device under test. The personality pattern of the preferred embodiment repeatedly matches the device electrical contact pattern whereby a plurality of devices having similar or identical device electrical contact patterns may be substantially simultaneously in electrical contact with the automated test system.
The device nest device is a mechanical component that is designed to guide the device under test into an orientation with the pogo body that enables the substantially simultaneous electrical connection of a plurality of electrical contacts of the device under test with the plurality of pins of the pogo body. In the preferred embodiment, the device nest is detachably attached to the vertical signal frame 6 and guides the plurality of electrical contacts of the device under test into electrical contact with the device contacts of the elongate vertical pins. The device nest is designed in accordance with the physical form and dimensions of the device under test and the orientation of the package or partial package of the device under test with the device electrical contact pattern of the device under test. The device nest has a frame with an aperture. The aperture is shaped within the frame to conform to the shape of the package or partial package of the device and to guide the device into electrical contact with the plurality of elongate vertical pins. The aperture is further shaped to stabilize the device within the device nest while the automated tester tests the device.
In the preferred embodiment the device under test may be a ball grid array device that has a device electrical contact pattern arranged in a substantially two-dimensional planar pattern, where individual contacts are located at regular X axis and Y axis displacements of 0.5 millimeter, 0.6 millimeter, 0.8 millimeter, 0.75 millimeter, 1.0 millimeter, 1.2 millimeter, or any suitable device electrical contact arrangement or location pattern known in the art. It is not necessary that the device under test have an electrical contact at each possible X, Y location within the device electrical contact pattern or the personality pattern.
The device nest of the preferred embodiment is designed to seat the device under test into an orientation that enables electrical connectivity between the plurality of electrical contacts of the device under test and the plurality of device contacts of the elongate vertical pins, whereby the device under test or a plurality of devices may be electrically tested by the automated test system and via the invented assembly or a plurality of invented assemblies.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Contactor assembly for common grid array devices


The pixel for use in an image sensor comprises a low-doped semiconductor substrate (A). On the substrate (A), an arrangement of a plurality of floating areas e.g., floating gates (FG2-FG6), is provided. Neighboring floating gates are electrically isolated from each other yet capacitively coupled to each other. By applying a voltage (V2-V1) to two contact areas (FG1, FG7), a lateral steplike electric field is generated. Photogenerated charge carriers move along the electric-field lines to the point of highest potential energy, where a floating diffusion (D) accumulate the photocharges. The charges accumulated in the various pixels are sequentially read out with a suitable circuit known from image-sensor literature, such as a source follower or a charge amplifier with row and column select mechanisms. The pixel of offers at the same time a large sensing area, a high photocharge-detection sensitivity and a high response speed without any static current consumption.

Solid-state image sensors and cameras find more and more applications in areas where it is difficult to focus the incident electromagnetic or particle radiation with optical means. This is particularly true for X-rays, gamma rays, high-energy ultraviolet light (with wavelengths below 100 nm) and neutral beams of atoms. At the same time, the absolute level of incident radiation intensity is often very low, making it desirable to acquire images of this incident radiation with pixels that are at the same time highly sensitive and quite large. Such large pixels should have an area of 25 square microns or much more, e.g., up to several square centimeters, which could be of interest in X-ray applications.
The image-sensor pixels known from literature are either of the photodiode or the metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) device type, as described for example in P. Seitz, "Solid-State Image Sensing", in Computer Vision and Applications—A Guide for Students and Practitioners (B. Jahne and H. Haussecker, Eds.), pp. 111-151, Academic Press, San Diego, 2000. In such photosensors, the photocharge-detection sensitivity varies with the inverse of the pixel's capacitance. This capacitance, on the other hand, increases in direct proportion with the pixel area. For this reason, it is not possible to realize such conventional photosensors that are at the same time very large, highly sensitive and fast.
A first method to overcome this contradiction is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,233. An MOS structure is described, consisting of a highly resistive layer on top of an insulator covering a semiconductor. A voltage difference is applied to the two ends of the highly resistive layer, creating a spatially varying potential distribution at the interface between semiconductor and insulator. Incoming photons generate charges in the bulk of the semiconductor, and the photogenerated charges move to the semiconductor interface essentially by diffusion. Once they are close to the semiconductor-oxide interface, they notice the spatially varying surface potential, and they move along the electric field lines to the region with the attracting potential energy, at one end of the device. At this place a diffusion at the semiconductor surface is employed to collect the photocurrent, making use of a transimpedance circuit that keeps the diffusion at a fixed potential. Since this type of photosensor makes use of a transimpedance circuit, the complete device covers a large area. Therefore, it is only useful, in practice, for single photodetectors or, at most, for a linear array of photodetectors that offer at the same time large areas and high charge-detection sensitivity.
A method that allows the realization of two-dimensional arrays of large-area, sensitive pixels is described by P. Seitz et al. in "Smart optical and image sensors fabricated with industrial CMOS/CCD semiconductor processes", Proc. SPIE, Vol. 1900, 21-30, 1993. The so-called "charge-binning" method makes use of standard CCD technology and employs a special charge transport/accumulation technique. The CCD gates are clocked such that charge packets from different pixels are accumulated under one gate. Thus, this summed charge can be read out instead of reading out all pixel charge packets individually. In a two-dimensional CCD image sensor it is possible to employ this charge-binning method to realize two-dimensional areas of an effective photosensitive size ("super pixels") that is much larger than the one of individual pixels, and these super pixels can even have non-rectangular shape. However, this implies the use of industry-standard CCD technology for the fabrication of CCD image sensors, as well as suitable CCD clocking circuitry and schemes with the associated system complexity and high electric power consumption.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,643 describes the fast lateral transport of photogenerated charge carriers, by employing a series of CCD gates, each of which has contacts at both ends at which voltage differences can be applied. In this way, each CCD electrode exhibits a lateral drift field at the semiconductor-insulator interface. The object of invention is the architecture of a two-dimensional CCD image sensor with improved photocharge transport speed in the column and read-out line directions. As in the charge-binning approach described above, the teaching of said patent necessitates CCD clocking circuitry and clocking schemes. Again, system complexity and power consumption are rather high.
An alternate structure without clocked electrodes is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,620, describing so-called "drift detectors", which are especially used for the detection of particles and ionizing radiation. Because of the large penetration depth of this form of incident radiation, the detectors must have three-dimensional structures. They produce a lateral drift field in the center of a fully depleted wafer using electrodes and floating implants on both sides (top and bottom) of the wafer. An impinging particle creates an electron-hole cloud along its trajectory. These charge-carriers then drift sideways along the lateral electric field and are read out at the side electrode which has the highest or lowest potential, respectively. From the time between the particle impact and the arrival of the charge carriers at the read-out node one can calculate the lateral position of the particle's trajectory. Such devices are dedicated to the measurement of spatial coordinates of particle trajectories and not to demodulation purposes. Furthermore, they need a double-sided wafer-processing and the application of high voltages to fully deplete the wafer, making it impossible to fabricate them with industry-standard CMOS or related semiconductor processes.
The publication WO-2004/001354 discloses an image-sensing device and a method for detecting and demodulating modulated wavefieds. Each pixel consists of a resistive, transparent electrode on top of an insulated layer that is produced over a semiconducting substrate whose surface is electrically kept in depletion. The electrode is connected with two or more contacts to a number of clock voltages that are operated synchronously with the frequency of the modulated wave field. In the electrode and in the semiconducting substrate, lateral electric fields are created that separate and transport photogenerated charge pairs in the semiconductor to respective diffusions close to the contacts. By repetitively storing and accumulating photocharges in the diffusions, electrical signals are generated that are subsequently read out for the determination of local phase shift, amplitude and offset of the modulated wave field. This device also consumes large amounts of electric power.
EP-0,862,226 A2 describes planar structures for the detection of electromagnetic and particle radiation. In contrast to CCD structures, where an array of gate electrodes is placed on an insulating layer, it makes use of an array of diffusions in a semiconductor substrate for the lateral charge transport. In both cases, however, each gate or diffusion electrode must be wired individually, and it is connected to its own, particular voltage source. According to EP-0,862,226 A2, the preferred means for generating the different voltages is a voltage divider crated with a tapped resistor. As a consequence, the generation of these voltages requires the flow of a current and, therefore, the dissipation of electrical power. Furthermore, the silicon wafer bulk has to be fully depleted for an operation of the device. In order to deplete an average wafer thickness of approximately 300 μm, a potential difference in the order of several hundred Volts is needed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,581 describes an MOS dosimeter with floating metal gates. However, the generated charges are collected on the metal gates, not in the substrate. No dump mechanism for quickly reading out the charges is provided, nor is such a mechanism possible in the MOS dosimeter. Therefore, the dosimeter is not suitable for imaging purposes, where the pixels have to be aligned in a large array and where a fast sequence of images is required.

Image sensor with large-area, high-sensitivity and high-speed pixels


A deployment device for lining a vessel having a housing having a proximal end and a distal end opposite the proximal end, the housing defining a guidewire channel, a tube elongated along a longitudinal axis, the tube having a proximal end and a distal end spaced from the proximal end of the tube along the longitudinal axis, a sheath assembly having a hub removably coupled to the distal end of the housing, and a mesh removably coupled to the tube and positioned along the tube. The tube and the sheath assembly are configured to move along the guidewire and into the vessel through a puncture and release the mesh inside the vessel when at least one of the tube and the mesh is actuated. The device is used as a method of mitigating potential injury or harm to the integrity of the patient's vessel lining.

Percutaneous procedures often involve accessing vasculature with elongated instruments, e.g., catheters, deployed in an ordered sequence. Common vasculature access points for such procedures include the femoral artery in a patient's groin area and the radial artery in the patient's forearm, each of which provides direct access to the central vasculature system, including the central venous system. For vascular procedures entry into the femoral arteries involves using a hollow needle to poke through a patient's skin, subcutaneous tissue and targeted vessel wall, thereby creating a puncture hole through each layer. After the needle poke, a guidewire is inserted through the needle until a distal end of the guidewire passes through the puncture hole and protrudes into the vessel lumen. From this puncture, all interventional equipment is then advanced into the artery to complete the operation.
As a result of these procedures, the inner lining of the vessel wall is exposed to various surgical equipment within the vessel. The vessel wall is therefore at risk to be damaged from the placement and advancement of these instruments. Potential complications can range from micro-scratching/tearing of the vessel walls to the unintentional dislodging of calcium or clots. These issues can lead to further complications during or after the surgical procedure.

Vessel lining device and related methods


A method and device which includes the integration of a left directed lamp filament connected electrically parallel to a right directed lamp filament, wherein the filaments coils are formed in mirror image symmetrical relationship with each other to increase radiating surface skin and to balance electromagnetic signature, thereby constructively improving lamp performance.

As is known, a traditional electrified filament is a light bulb component that emits light which is measured in lumens. The lamp filament winding is usually formed with many coils to increase the filament surface area in order to emit a desired amount of light when the filament is electrified. It is also known that a lamp filament is surrounded by a transparent or translucent jacket or envelope which maintains a vacuum around the filament. Traditionally, where a single light bulb is required to supply a large amount of light, similar filaments in varying arrangements are mounted inside the evacuated envelope, and the filaments are electrically connected in parallel.
It is also well known that when two or more coiled filaments may be arranged in a single light bulb assembly, the coils of the filaments are formed in the same direction. The coil-forming-direction is also known as the pitch direction, which can be left or right. Furthermore, the pitch creates an angle of inclination. Flat spiral filaments which generally are wound in a single plane are also known. The number of coils over a given length, or the number of rotations for a flat formed spiral architecture, typically depends upon desired performance or design constraints. Furthermore, the integration of two or more lamp filaments possessing the same pitch direction is known, and the electric energy, light output and the assemblies dimensions of such devices are also known. Each similar-pitch filament that is circuit integrated will experience mutual induction, as is also known.
Given the known technology regarding light bulb in lamp filaments, it is very desirable to provide a longer life, more energy efficient filament or light bulb. Even small increases in efficiency can give rise to large overall energy savings, given the pervasiveness of light units in the world today.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,584,438 and 4,806,834, which are both hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, describe "mirror image symmetry" wherein an electric coil forms architecture that possesses an electromagnetic signature that is balanced for the two windings.
However, in the present invention, the balance results from the left pitch angle of inclination of the first circuit canceling the right pitch angle of inclination of the second circuit, wherein the angle of the inclination relates to distortion created by the coiling. Moreover, the present invention does not require a core disposed within the coils of a filament. Furthermore, the '438 and '834 patents are directed to configurations related to transducers or inductive devices.
One object of the present invention is to constructively improve lamp performance, including improvements in the life of the filament which result from an integration of two filaments that possess a balanced electromagnetic signature.
Another object of the present invention is to increase the amount of light produced by a lamp filament for a given amount of input energy.
Another object of the present invention is to create a condition whereby the motion force caused by the electromagnetic signature of a first electrified filament is balanced by the motion force caused by the electromagnetic signature of a second filament.
The citation of any references herein should not be deemed as an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the invention.

Lamp filament and lamp filament assembly


The blood absorbence properties, e.g., free swell blood absorbence capacity and after load blood absorbence capacity of superabsorbent materials is enhanced by combining the superabsorbent materials with enhancing agents which serve to enhance the blood absorbent properties thereof. The enhancing agents can be applied to the superabsorbent materials or they can be provided on a fibrous material to be combined with the superabsorbent materials. The enhancing agents are selected from materials that include functionalities that allow them to hydrogen bond to the superabsorbent material when the enhancing agent is applied directly thereto or combined with materials to which the enhancing agents have been applied.

Superabsorbent polymers have been developed in recent years that are capable of absorbing many times their own weight of liquid. These polymers, which are also known as water insoluble hydrogels, have been used to increase the absorbency of sanitary products, such as diapers and sanitary napkins. Superabsorbent polymers are often provided in the form of particulate powders, granules, or fibers that are distributed throughout superabsorbent cellulosic products to increase the absorbency of the product. Superabsorbent particles are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,160,059; U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,784; U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,402; U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,814; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,166. Products such as diapers that incorporate superabsorbent hydrogels are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,103 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,731.
Superabsorbents have not found widespread use in superabsorbent sanitary articles, such as sanitary napkins, surgical wipes, and other articles used to absorb blood and other serous body fluids, because the superabsorbent materials do not absorb blood readily, nor do they have a high capacity for blood. The low blood absorbent capacity of the superabsorbent material means that large amounts of the superabsorbent material must be incorporated into blood absorbent articles, a factor which increases the production and materials cost for such superabsorbent articles.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,190,563 and 4,435,172 describe methods for improving the dispersability of particulate superabsorbent materials within blood. The '563 patent describes improving blood dispersability of superabsorbent materials by surface treating the material with one or more high molecular weight polyethers. The '563 patent describes that the polyethers can be used in amounts ranging from about 1% to about 35% by weight. The '563 patent describes that the polyether coated superabsorbent materials exhibited improved dispersability in blood. The '172 patent describes superabsorbent articles wherein the blood absorption rate is increased by the addition of amido compounds and non-ionic surfactants to water-soluble hydrophillic polymers. Such treated water-soluble hyrophillic polymers tend to be prone to potential risks of toxicity of the polymer and surfactants during use and after disposal (i.e., leaching of unused polymer or surfactant).
A superabsorbent for blood and serous body fluids is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,713. The disclosed superabsorbent composition includes component A, which is described as a water swellable synthetic or natural polymer or copolymer, and component B, which is described as an inorganic or organic compound that at normal temperature is present in the form of a pourable powder and is water soluble. The relatively high levels of component B described in the '713 patent contribute to processing, handling, use (from a toxicity standpoint) and disposal problems.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,784 describes an superabsorbent article for absorbing blood that includes a water soluble blood gelling agent to thicken and bind menstrual fluid within the superabsorbent article. According to the '784 patent, the blood gelling agents react with the protein present in blood or menstrual fluid, form particulate disordered structures according to the fourth class of gels defined by Flory, which are essentially completely water soluble, essentially completely linear, and which when placed in water will not form a Class 4 gel without the presence of blood protein. Such water soluble gelling agents are susceptible to the same risks as the water-soluble hydrophillic polymers discussed above with respect to the '784 patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,009 describes polycarboxyl group containing superabsorbents wherein neutralization of said carboxyl groups with potassium or lithium is described as providing a polymeric composition specifically adapted to absorb proteinaceous fluids, such as blood.
It would be advantageous to provide a superabsorbent material and composition which can be used in sanitary superabsorbent articles, such as sanitary napkins, and surgical wipes, which have a blood absorbent capacity and blood retention properties that would make them suitable choices for improving the blood absorbency of such articles. It would further be advantageous to provide such superabsorbent materials in a manner that is compatible with existing methods of producing such materials and incorporating them into absorbent articles. It would also be advantageous to provide such superabsorbent materials that do not suffer from the drawbacks of prior materials for absorbing serious fluids, such as blood.

Method and compositions for enhancing blood absorbence by superabsorbent materials


A stand alone venting apparatus for an enclosed space that converts open door and closed door emissions of a steam and hot air oven into cooler air and condensate, the apparatus comprising an expansion chamber, a condensing chamber and a chilling chamber. A capture hood is provided for capturing the open door emissions. An emissions inlet is provided for capturing the closed door emissions. The condensing chamber includes condensing tubes with each tube containing an interior and an exterior. The open door emissions are directed over the exterior of the condensing tubes and the closed door emissions are directed within the interior of the condensing tubes. The expansion chamber and chilling chambers work with the condensing chamber to further cool and condense the emissions. All emissions may be re-circulated back into the enclosed space without requiring ductwork to vent outside the enclosed space.

In commercial foodservice operations, supermarkets and other confined-space food preparation environments; food cooking and heating equipment can create undesirable air conditions when not properly vented. Untreated exhaust emissions from the equipment can be unacceptably warm, include smoke, grease and particulates that are unpleasant and unhealthy. In order to insure a healthy and safe environment for confined spaces, regulatory agencies monitor the installation of equipment and require that emissions generated from heating and cooking equipment be treated to acceptable levels before exhausting.
To ensure air quality, food exhaust emissions are usually treated with ventilation boxes (vents or hoods) that are suspended over all equipment and the emissions removed by ductwork to the exterior of the building. These ventilation systems are very expensive. They require extensive ducting and penetration through building structures. Grease and particles may buildup on the interior of the ductwork, requiring further expensive cleaning, which if not done adequately on a regular basis may result in fires.
Recently there have been developments in localized appliance venting whereby exhaust emissions are adequately treated and re-circulated back within a building structure. One such example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,522,770 to Colburn et. al. These appliances require that smoke, particulates, odor and grease be adequately removed from the air to a suitable level in order to return the air back into the building in a condition where the air is safe, healthy and pleasant. These appliances have saved a great deal of money and inconvenience compared to earlier solutions; however, they only work with certain types of food treatment equipment.
The use of steam cooking equipment utilizing both hot air and steam (combination ovens) has seen a dramatic increase in the last decade. These steam cooking appliances are versatile, have reduced processing times and produce healthy food. They are generally larger than standard ovens, but they can also exist as countertop equipment. The appliances are often used in locations other than central kitchens due to their flexibility and stand-alone functionality. They are also often used in multiple locations throughout a facility. This presents a challenge when trying to implement traditional venting that has ductwork to the outside of the building. The installation of that ductwork can be prohibitively expensive when trying to install the ducted venting at remote and multiple locations throughout a facility. In addition to emissions of grease, volatile oils, water vapor, odor, heat and sometimes smoke that is seen in a traditional oven, these appliances also emit a large amount of steam that requires treating and a drain for condensate. The steam must be condensed to water when vented from the oven and the condensed water must be cooled to less than 82° C. before reaching drain piping. Grease, smoke and odor from the air and steam must be removed before returning air to the enclosed environment. A further complication for these combination ovens is that the steam, hot air and particulates vent from multiple outlets; a sealed exhaust outlet connected to the oven and a different location when the door is opened. A venting solution must adequately capture and treat emissions from both of these exhaust locations.
This present patent application provides for an apparatus that converts hot air and steam emissions into cooler air and condensate. The apparatus is also capable of treating emissions from multiple exhaust sources.

Apparatus for converting hot air and steam emissions into cooler air and condensate


A housing of a joint of a collaborative robot, where at least part of the material of the housing is configured to include a plurality of lattice structure units. Since the at least part of the material of the housing is configured to include the plurality of lattice structure units, the weight of the joint may be reduced with respect to a completely solid housing. Further disclosed is the joint of the collaborative robot.

A collaborative robot has the characteristics of being safe, flexible, convenient to use and the like, and therefore, the collaborative robot has wide application prospects in the future industrial field. As a key component of the collaborative robot, the performance of a joint has a great influence on the performance of the collaborative robot. Weight is an important performance index of the joint, and lightweight optimization of the weight of the joint may significantly reduce the weight of the collaborative robot. Therefore, how to realize the lightweight of the joint is an important problem to be solved in joint design.

Joint of collaborative robot, and housing therefor


A victim retrieval apparatus for use with a vehicle. In some embodiments, the rescue basket comprises one or more wheels. The articulating head of the boom comprises a rotatable pulley for receiving the rescue line and is able to allow the vehicle to be parked in any position necessary while rescuing the victim. A knot-passing pulley enables a safety line (with emergency brake device) to be coupled to the basket thereby ensuring the safety of the victim in the basket at all times. The rescue basket comprises a remote control for controlling the winch speed that is able to be located at the winch itself, or be of a hand-held nature and attached at the rescue basket instead of at the vehicle if visual contact is problematic.

When a vehicle exits a roadway or other terrain, over-bank or cliff accidents occur. Victims are found down the embankment or cliff and in need of extrication and retrieval/rescue. These rescues are able to be particularly difficult because rescuers must be able to quickly and safely reach the victim without injury. The injured must be carefully retrieved in order to prevent further injury during retrieval. Rescue vehicles and personnel arriving on scene utilize a Z-Pulley System which is anchored to the vehicle using knots or a chock attached to the proximal end of the rope of the Z-Pulley System and is inserted into the spokes on the fire engine wheel or coupled directly to the fire engine itself. The Z-Pulley system can also be coupled to a tree or other stanchion. Rescues with the Z-pulley system setup are time consuming, require up to eight (8) responders, and provide at best a slow, bumpy ride up as rescuers negotiate the often dangerous terrain on foot while attempting to steady the basket containing the victim with sheer muscle.

Victim retrieval system, method and apparatus


A fishing lure retriever wherein the lure includes a leader connecting the lure to a fishing line. The retriever comprises a base member and a cap member fixed to the base member, the cap and base member defining a slot for receiving the fishing line and sliding on the fishing line when the line is taut. One end of the retriever has means being engaged by a retrieval cord, the other end of the retriever being open and including a latch pivotally mounted against a spring in the base. The latch is adapted to be depressed inwardly of the retriever in order to receive the fishing line, and the latch is further depressed against the spring when it engages the leader of the lure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fishing lure retriever.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fishing lure retrievers are known. The typical fishing lure retrievers include a weighted retriever device which is adapted to slide on the fishing line to engage the lure or the leader. When the retriever device has been engaged, a separate cord attached to the retriever device is pulled to forcibly disengage the lure from its entrapped position. U.S. Pat. No. 3,375,602 issued Apr. 2, 1968 to J. M. Clark et al is an example of such a device.


A structure of a sunroof deflector may include a roof panel which is disposed at a ceiling of a vehicle, and has an opening portion that is openable and closable by a sunroof glass; a sunroof frame, a deflector bracket disposed between a rainwater drainage portion and a sealing weather strip, a first deflector which is accommodated in the deflector bracket to be slidable upward and downward, selectively protrudes to an outside of the opening portion, and has a first catching portion formed to a rear surface of an upper end thereof; a second deflector which is accommodated in the deflector bracket to be slidable upward and downward, selectively protrudes to the outside of the opening portion, and has a second catching portion that is formed to a front surface of a lower end thereof and protrudes to be selectively caught by the first catching portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure of a sunroof deflector that is mounted outside a sealing weather strip of a vehicle, and more particularly, to a structure of a sunroof deflector which includes hard type first and second deflectors that are accommodated in a deflector bracket, which is disposed between a rainwater drainage portion and a sealing weather strip, to be slidable upward and downward, and may protrude to the outside of an opening portion of a roof panel.
2. Description of Related Art
An opening portion may be formed in a roof panel of a vehicle in order to discharge air inside the vehicle to the outside and allow air outside the vehicle to flow into the vehicle, and a sunroof may be mounted in the opening portion to be openable or closable.
Particularly, recently, a panoramic sunroof, in which most of the roof panel of the vehicle is manufactured using glass, and a part of the roof panel is selectively opened and closed, is being widely used for the purpose of allowing openness and enhancing aesthetic design.
The virtue of this panoramic sunroof allows a large amount of natural sunlight into the vehicle when the vehicle is driven or stopped, and the driver may enjoy driving the vehicle by opening the panoramic sunroof when the vehicle is traveling.
In general, a deflector, which serves to change a direction of wind, which is generated when the vehicle travels, upward to prevent the wind from flowing into the vehicle through the opening portion when the vehicle travels in a state in which the opening portion is opened, is installed at a front side of the opening portion formed in the roof panel.
The deflector is operated in a manner in which the deflector is tilted upward by a separate electrically-powered device or in a manner in which the deflector is tilted upward by elastic force of a spring, which has compressed the deflector, at the same time of opening the sunroof glass.
The aforementioned deflector of the panoramic sunroof is widely classified into an outside type deflector in which a deflector is positioned inside a rainwater drainage portion that is formed outside a sealing weather strip attached to a sunroof frame of the vehicle, and an inside type deflector in which a deflector is positioned in the sealing weather strip.
The outside type deflector may be quickly lifted upward when the sunroof glass is opened, and thus advantageous in blocking drone noise. Further, the outside type deflector is also advantageous in terms of a length at which the sunroof glass is opened, in comparison with the inside type deflector.
As illustrated in FIG. 1A, a sunroof deflector in the related art which is disposed outside a sealing weather strip has a structure in which a fabric type deflector 4 is accommodated in a rainwater drainage portion 3 that is installed at a front side of a sealing weather strip 2 attached to a sunroof frame 1 of a vehicle, a lower end of the deflector 4 is coupled to a fixing plate 5, and a deflector beam 6 is coupled to an upper end of the deflector 4.
However, as illustrated in FIG. 1B, according to the structure of the sunroof deflector in the related art, since the deflector 4 is accommodated in the rainwater drainage portion 3 disposed outside the sealing weather strip 2, there is a problem in that the fabric type deflector 4 becomes frozen and adhered due to inflow of moisture during cold weather in a state in which the deflector 4 becomes folded, and as a result, the deflector 4 cannot be smoothly tilted upward.
In a case in which a hard type deflector is used instead of the fabric type deflector in order to resolve the aforementioned problem, a deflector having a low height is inevitably mounted due to a limitation of an accommodating space in the sunroof frame, and as a result, there is a problem in that drone noise, which is generated by resonance caused by air inside the vehicle and vibration of air, in a low-frequency range, passing through the opening portion of the sunroof when the vehicle travels at a low or medium speed, is increased.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.


IPv6 traffic may be carried through an MPLS IPv4 network without the use of IPv6-over-IPv4 tunneling. An IPv6 packet is sent through the MPLS IPv4 network through a label switched path (LSP). The IPv6 packet is encapsulated with a label stack associated with the LSP. A second level label is used in the label stack (in addition to the label associated with the LSP). This second level label provides important benefits.

The present invention relates to data communication networks and more particularly to systems and methods for facilitating interoperation between currently deployed Internet infrastructure and newer Internet infrastructure employing next generation protocols.
To accommodate the explosive growth of the Internet, a very large number of network nodes have been configured to employ IP (Internet Protocol). These nodes range from user workstations to very high throughput core routers. There have been successive versions of IP but as of the filing date of the present application, the predominant variant of IP deployed in the field is IPv4.
In recent years, many service providers have deployed IPv4 core networks that employ a forwarding mechanism referred to as MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching). Such networks are referred to herein as MPLS IPv4 networks. MPLS employs labels, rather than the contents of the IP packet to make forwarding decisions at each intermediate node. At each hop, an output interface and a substitute label are selected based on the received packet label. This provides advantageous flexibility in the deployment of new beneficial routing schemes. For example, the use of MPLS facilitates traffic engineering to shift traffic from congested paths to paths with excess capacity, fast re-routing around failed links or nodes, and large-scale virtual private network (VPN) deployment.
The Internet engineering community is planning and implementing a shift from IPv4 to IPv6. Advantages of IPv6 include an enormous expansion in the available address space to accommodate both greater ubiquity of Internet-enabled devices as well as less reliance on cumbersome network address translation schemes which have been utilize to conserve addresses. IPv6 also provides highly useful auto-configuration capabilities.
Service providers wish to offer IPv6 connectivity through their core networks while minimizing expense and configuration difficulties. Immediately replacing the core network infrastructure with MPLS IPv6 equipment is economically unviable for many service providers. Upgrading MPLS IPv4 routers to support both IPv4 and IPv6 raises challenges in the areas of hardware incompatibility with IPv6 forwarding requirements, network management, stability, and commercial availability of appropriate software.
Thus, a need arises to forward IPv6 traffic over the MPLS IPv4 core so that service providers can offer IPv6 services without any upgrading or reconfiguration of their core network. One proposed solution is to employ some type of tunneling mechanism (e.g., IPv6-over-IPv4) where each IPv6 packet is encapsulated into an IPv4 packet which in turn is encapsulated into MPLS. Using this type of encapsulation over MPLS, however, brings several drawbacks. There is extra overhead resulting from the added header information. Furthermore, establishing numerous static tunnels requires additional configuration and storage of state information while use of dynamic tunnels requires support of specific software mechanisms, activation/configuration of these software mechanisms and furthermore involves constraints on IPv6 addresses to be allocated.
Another proposed solution has been developed for forwarding IPv6 packets across an MPLS IPv4 network without employing IPv6-over-IPv4 tunnels whereby IPv6 packets are directly encapsulated in MPLS IPV4 LSPs. This approach is not admitted prior art and is described in the co-filed application entitled "IPv6 Over MPLS IPv4 Core". Realization of this approach requires addressing certain operational characteristics of MPLS networks.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Two label stack for transport of network layer protocols over label switched networks


Feedstock is delivered perpendicular to the line of applied glue in an automated gluing machine, thereby simplifying operation and better accommodating other in-line factory or assembly processes. The machine comprises an input nip for receiving the head end and the tail end of a sheet stock in overlapping registration, with the tail end being longer than the head end. A clamp mechanism holds the overlapping sheet stock in position while a glue applicator applies glue to one side of the tail end. An output nip holds the glued side of the tail end against the head end, and apparatus is provided for ejecting the sheet stock once the tail end has been glued to the head end. The glued stock may be ejected back toward the operator or away from the operator and through the machine, enabling the machine to be placed in-line with other machines for a continuous directional or linear flow.

While automatic gluing machines for cardboard boxes and cartons do exist, feed stock is delivered in parallel with the glue line. As such, the longer the glue line, the larger such machines tend to be, increasing the footprint of the equipment, if not the cost.
One attempt at a smaller footprint is described in Published U.S. Application No. 20120028776, entitled Automated Gluing Device. The device includes a support structure upon which a gluing apparatus and a support plate assembly are mounted. The support plate is configured for supporting and aligning a gluable item for gluing and assembly by the gluing apparatus. The gluing apparatus includes a first clamp configured for selectively and securely holding a first portion of the gluable item on the support plate, a glue dispensing nozzle fluidly coupled to a glue supply, and a folding apparatus configured for folding the first portion of the gluable item onto a second portion of the gluable item after glue has been applied. The gluing device is sized and configured to fit within a relatively small area so that the device can be placed in close proximity to other box processing devices. The gluing device is adapted to glue a box blank when the box blank is folded so the glue tab is positioned on an edge of the box blank, thereby eliminating the need for a large frame in order to apply glue to the glue tab.
Gluing devices like the one just described lack various features that impart versatility, including the ability to eject the glued stock in forward or reverse directions.

Apparatus for automatically gluing head and tail ends of stock material


A vane-type throttle valve assembly including a body having a passage therethrough and a pivotable shaft transverse of the passage and supporting a vane for variably restricting the flow of material through the passage. The shaft is disposed in opposing bores in the valve body. Each bore includes an access slot. The valve is assembled by inserting an integrated shaft and vane into the passage, engaging the ends of the shaft into the access slots, and translating the shaft ends in the access slots until the ends of the shaft are positioned in the bores. The shaft is retained in the bores by bushings inserted from outside the valve body. In a currently preferred embodiment, the access slots are formed over an angle from an axis of the bores, and the shaft ends are entered into the bores by rotating the shaft and vane about the passage axis.

Vane-type valves are used in a wide variety of applications, for example, as throttle valves for internal combustion engines. In a typical vane valve assembly, a valve body includes a passage, which may be cylindrical although not necessarily, for conveyance of a material such as a gas or liquid. A pivotable shaft is disposed in the valve body and extends across the passage. A vane, also known as a butterfly or throttle, is mounted on the shaft and can partially- to fully-close the passage by rotation of the pivotable shaft to variably control the rate of flow of material through the valve body.
Assembling a vane valve presents well-known logistical problems. For example, in an older prior art valve, the shaft without the vane is mounted into bushings in bores in the body, and the vane is subsequently attached to the shaft. Because the shaft is preferably round in those portions within the bushings, the shaft typically must be either slotted or flatted within the passage to receive the vane. Further, the vane typically is attached to the shaft by screwed fasteners which require anti-rotation devices such as lock washers to guarantee that the vane does not dislodge from the shaft in use, all of which adds to the complexity and expense of a vane valve.
It is known to form the shaft and vane as an integrated unit by molding of plastics, either by forming the shaft itself of a plastic or by overmolding a plastic vane onto a metal shaft. This approach eliminates the interface complexity of fasteners and lock washers between the shaft and the vane, thus reducing manufacturing cost, but at the same time creates new problems in valve assembly. The shaft, now carrying the vane, cannot be inserted directly into the bores in the body as was previously possible. In one known solution, the vane is formed in a slip fit on the shaft, permitting the shaft to be entered into the bores from within the valve passage; however, this approach requires that the vane be secured to the shaft by some means after the shaft is installed.
What is needed in the art is a simple and inexpensive method and apparatus for installing an integrated vane and shaft into a valve body.
It is a principal object of the present invention to simplify the assembly of a vane-type valve having an integrally formed shaft and vane.

Method and apparatus for assembling a vane-type valve


A method for manufacturing microlens comprises the steps of: coating a photosensitive polymer onto a first substrate to form a polymer film having a first surface in contact with the first substrate and a second surface; heating the polymer film; exposing the second surface of the polymer film to form a mold layer with at least one through hole; pressing and abutting the mold layer onto a second substrate and heating the photosensitive polymer within the mold layer to a temperature higher than a glass transition temperature of the photosensitive polymer for the photosensitive polymer to be melted and flow through the at least one through hole, attach onto the second substrate, and form at least one microlens on a surface of the second substrate; and performing an exposure to the at least one microlens and solidifying the at least one microlens.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of manufacturing a microlens, more particularly to a method of manufacturing a microlens array.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since microlens arrays are used extensively in optoelectronic industries for applications related to flat panel display, optical communication coupling, and near-field optical storage technologies, the microlens array manufacturing technology has become one of the major industrial developments.
A conventional method of manufacturing a microlens array is disclosed in R.O.C. Publication No. 463058 entitled "Batch production of sphere microlens array," and comprises the steps of: coating a first polymer onto a substrate; coating a second polymer onto the first polymer, wherein the first polymer has a glass transition temperature (Tg) greater than that of the second polymer; processing the first polymer and the second polymer by yellow light lithography to form two identical patterns on the first polymer and the second polymer; heating the substrate to a working temperature, wherein the working temperature is higher than the glass transition temperature of the second polymer and lower than the glass transition temperature of the first polymer for performing a reflow of the second polymer; maintaining the working temperature to adjust the appearance of the second polymer through a surface tension of the second polymer until the second polymer forms the shapes of sphere microlenses; and finally performing a cooling process to fixedly form the sphere microlenses. U.S. Pat. No. 5,298,366 for a "Method for Producing a Microlens Array" also implements a similar way of obtaining a microlens array.
Another conventional method of manufacturing a microlens array is disclosed in R.O.C. Pat. No. I289683 entitled "Manufacturing method of microlens arrays," and comprises the steps of providing a mold layer with a plurality of grooves, a resin and a substrate; performing a material feeding process to feed the resin into the plurality of grooves of the mold layer; performing a transfer process to transfer the resin in the plurality of grooves onto the substrate, wherein the surface tension of the resin on the substrate forms a structure with a curved surface; and finally performing a solidification process to solidify the resin with the curved surface on the substrate and form the microlens array.
In general, the aforementioned conventional method of manufacturing a microlens array has the following drawbacks. The manufacturing processes disclosed in R.O.C. Pat. No. 463058 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,298,366 both require repeated exposures and photoresist removals over the substrate, and thus cannot manufacture microlenses in mass production continuously. The manufacturing efficiency is therefore very low. The manufacturing method still uses a developer used in the yellow light lithography for removing an unnecessary portion of the photoresist, causing a waste of the first polymer and the second polymer, and incurring a high manufacturing cost. Furthermore, the conventional manufacturing method can produce only microlenses of spherical lenses but not those of aspherical lenses with a high add-on value.
The manufacturing procedure disclosed in R.O.C. Pat. No. I289683 requires a step of turning the plurality of grooves of the mold layer upward to perform the material feeding procedure each time after the transfer procedure is completed. Such requirement reduces the overall efficiency of manufacturing the microlens substantially and increases inconvenience in the use of the mold layer. In addition, the conventional manufacturing method requires a LIGA electrocasting or laser etching method to manufacture the mold layer having the plurality of grooves in advance, and thus leads to inconvenience to the manufacture of the microlens. Both of the above-mentioned drawbacks increase the productions costs.
Moreover, regarding lens deformation caused by electric field, a method is disclosed in a US Pub. No. 2009/0027778, entitled"Deformable Optical Element, Methods of Making and Uses Thereof" A deformable optical element including an elastically deformable lens and electrical contacts directly attached to the elastically deformable lens is presented. A voltage can be applied to the electrical contacts, so as to deform the deformable optical element by forcing opposite sign charge onto the electrical contacts. However, this method can only be implemented by the fixedly attached electrical contacts for the voltage to apply to the deformable optical element, and it is obviously difficult to fixedly mount these electrical contacts onto the elastically deformable lens while the elastically deformable lens is tiny.
Obviously, the aforementioned conventional methods of manufacturing microlens arrays required improvements.


The present invention does not require control and path switching by terminal station equipment and prevents the deterioration of signal quality when a cable failure occurs. A wavelength diverging device connected with three or more stations monitors an uplink signal received from each station, and when detecting the absence of an uplink signal received from any station, outputs dummy light instead of the absent signal, performs multiplexing/de-multiplexing for the dummy light and an uplink signal received from a station excluding said any station, and outputs the multiplexed/de-multiplexed signal. All of said processes are performed within the wavelength diverging device.

As an optical network system including three or more stations according to wavelength multiplexing in wavelength multiplexing optical transmission, an optical network system using a wavelength branching apparatus (or diverging device) having optical adding/dropping functions (OADM: Optical Add Drop Multiplexer) has been proposed. Due to the OADM, a signal can be arbitrarily inserted (added) or extracted (dropped) in units of wavelength of light.
In addition, unlike a fiber branching apparatus, in the wavelength branching apparatus having the OADM, in order to perform the wavelength adding/dropping, a signal band in one optical fiber is divided for communication among three stations. In this case, there is a problem in that, if a cable fault occurs in an arbitrary branch, a quality of a signal communicating between remaining two branches is deteriorated. This problem will be described in detail. In a case where a cable fault occurs, a signal which is to be originally inserted is not multiplexed. Therefore, the number of channels of main signals is decreased. Since a power of a relay is almost constant, a decrease in number of channels of main signals leads to an increase in channel power. In addition, there is a problem in that transmission characteristic according to a nonlinear effect of a transmission line is deteriorated due to the increase in channel power.
Various techniques have proposed in order to prevent the deterioration in signal quality according to the cable fault.
For example, in a technique disclosed in PTL 1, a dummy light beam for compensating for optical level is disposed in a transmission band (for example, a band L1 in the case of communication between A and B); an interval of cable disconnection is detected from each of terminal station apparatuses A, B, and C in the entire network system; the dummy light beam which is optimized in terms of signal quality is controlled.
In a technique disclosed in PTL 2, the deterioration in signal quality is prevented by switching an uplink signal and a downlink signal by using a matrix switch during cable disconnection.

Diverging device with OADM function and wavelength division multiplexing optical network system and method therefor


An image processing apparatus and an image processing method, and a storage media thereof which enable an image read-out by a scanner to be enlarged with arbitrary scale factor in a horizontal scanning direction and a vertical scanning direction. An analog signal which corresponds to an enlarged image obtained by changing scanning speed in a vertical scanning direction according to scale factor is inputted to an A/D converter to be converted into digital image data, before to be supplied to a line memory. The image data is read-out synchronized with a thinned-out pulse outputted from a horizontal scanning thinned-out pulse generator to be outputted synchronized with one-pixel pulse. A vertical scanning enable signal generator thins-out vertical scanning pulse according to scale factor in the vertical scanning direction, before outputting signal indicating whether the image data corresponding to one line outputted from the line memory is effective while thinning-out the vertical scanning pulse according to the scale factor in the vertical scanning direction.

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method, and storage media thereof. More to particularly, this invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method, and storage media thereof in which image can be enlarged in the horizontal scanning direction and in the vertical scanning direction with arbitrary scale factor by rendering the scanning speed of the vertical scanning direction variable.
FIG. 1 is a configuration view showing a configuration example of a multi-gradation image reduction processor for reducing an image in the conventional scanner. An A/D converter 28 converts an analog signal supplied from a photoelectric conversion element into a digital multi-image data. A horizontal scanning thinned-out pulse generator 30 thins out one-pixel pulse 25 according to reduction factor to output as an output image transfer clock 24. A horizontal scanning enable signal generator 31 generates a horizontal scanning enable signal 33 for specifying effective pixel in the direction of horizontal scanning from both of a vertical scanning pulse 21 and the one-pixel pulse 25. A vertical scanning enable signal generator 32 thins out the vertical scanning pulse 21 according to reduction factor to output a vertical scanning enable signal.
FIG. 2 is a timing-chart showing the timing of signal of the conventional multi-gradation image reduction processor shown in FIG. 1. As shown in the timing-chart, the A/D converter 28 converts the image before reduction in every one-pixel into an output image 23 (output image 77 of FIG. 2) consisting of multi-gradation digital value. Subsequently, the horizontal scanning thinned-out pulse generator 30 thins-out the one-pixel pulse 25. The thinned-out pulse is taken to be the output image transfer clock 24 (thinned-out pulse 78 of FIG. 2) for next stage of image processing (for instance, processor for performing gamma correction or binarization). Whereby, this configuration realizes reduction of the image.
Further, formerly, the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. SHO 59-229549 discloses method for providing scanner capable of obtaining enlarged image. Combination is performed between dilation in the horizontal scanning direction according to movement of zoom lens of optical system and dilation in the vertical scanning direction of alteration of movement speed of the carriage.
In such the method, when it is intended to obtain an enlarged image with arbitrary scale factor, it is necessary to equip a mechanical section for moving the zoom lens accurately according to required scale factor, and a mechanical section for altering continuously movement speed of the carriage.
However, when the movement speed of the carriage is to alter continuously in wide range, if the stepping motor is used, the pulse frequency is to alter continuously, thus there is the problem that a control circuit thereof becomes complicated.
Further, the stepping motor has large vibration. For instance, when the stepping motor is driven with pulse frequency of one/(integer number) or pulse frequency of (integer number) times greater of natural vibration number of the mechanical section, the mechanical section resonates, with the result that there is the problem of influencing bad influence to the image obtained.
In the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 3-198470, in order to achieve these problems, the method for reducing the vibration is proposed. The method for reducing the vibration is that it is intended to reduce the range of the pulse frequency in such a way that it causes the drive system of the stepping motor to be altered according to the enlargement factor. However, in this method, it is necessary to alter the pulse frequency continuously in some degree of range, thus it is incapable of being avoided influence of resonance completely. Also, there is the defect that drive circuit thereof becomes complicated.
A device by which those problems are overcome and realization of low cost is achieved is used practically as the well known technique. The device is that the scale factor in the horizontal scanning direction is fixed, and also the movement speed of the carriage is fixed. In the device, the image data is stored in a semiconductor memory once, at the time of read-out, the pixel just before in the horizontal scanning direction is inserted and the line just before in the vertical scanning direction is inserted, thereby the enlarged image is realized.
However, there are problems to be solved as following:
The first problem is that for instance, as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. SHO 59-229549, combination between the method according to movement of optical lens and the method according to alteration of movement speed of the carriage brings the device into complicated, thus it is difficult to constitute the device at the low cost.
Because high accurate mechanism is necessary for moving zoom lens, and speed of the motor for movement of the carriage should be controlled according to the scale factor (for instance, at the time of enlargement of 200%, motor speed is to reduce to 50% of the same scale of 100%, or at the time of 141%, motor speed is to reduce to 71% of the same scale of 100%), therefore the circuit for controlling motor becomes complicated. Further, in case of usage of the stepping motor for the sake of movement of the carriage in order to constitute the device cheaply, mechanism for suppressing vibration becomes necessary because the stepping motor is accompanied with large vibration. Furthermore, when carriage movement speed is variable over the wide range, vibration source occurs in various kinds of frequency elements, it becomes more difficult to suppress vibration.
The second problem is that the stepping motor becomes vibration source of various kinds of frequency elements although the method disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 3-198470 is executed in order to improve the first problem. Because even though the method of the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 3-198470 is executed, it is necessary to render the pulse frequency variable continuously within some degree of the range.
The third problem is that the above described well known method brings picture quality into deteriorated at the time of enlargement. Because an enlargement processing in the multi-gradation image greatly enlarges the size of the image memory. For that reason, the image memory is compelled to realize by a binary image which is binarization-processed with the technique of the error diffusion and/or the dither method.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention, in order to overcome the above-mentioned problems, to provide an image processing apparatus and an image processing method, and a storage media thereof which equips a scanner capable of enlarging of a multi-gradation image with arbitrary scale factor.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, there is provided an image processing apparatus which scans a manuscript in order to read-out an image of the manuscript comprising a storage means for storing an image data corresponding to one line in a horizontal scanning direction, a first generation means for generating prescribed reference pulse, a second generation means for generating a thinned-out pulse obtained in such a way that the reference pulse is thinned-out with a prescribed rate, a read-out means for reading-out the image data stored in the storage means according to either the reference pulse or the thinned-out pulse, an output means for outputting the image data read-out by the read-out means according to either the reference pulse or the thinned-out pulse, a first changeover means for changing to be supplied either one between the reference pulse and the thinned-out pulse to the read-out means a second changeover means for changing to be supplied either one between the reference pulse and the thinned-out pulse to the output means a control means for controlling scanning speed in vertical scanning direction according to scale factor in the vertical scanning direction, and a thinning-out means for thinning-out the image data stored in the storage means in every one line unit according to scale factor in the vertical scanning direction.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, there is provided an image processing apparatus, wherein the control means permits the scanning speed in the vertical scanning direction to be slow down to enlarge the image in the vertical scanning direction, on the other hand, the thinning-out means carries out a thinning-out of the image data enlarged by the control means in every line unit in order to reduce the image in the vertical scanning direction, thus enlarging the image with arbitrary scale factor.
In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, there is provided an image processing apparatus, wherein a scanning in the vertical scanning direction is carried out by a stepping motor being operated synchronized with prescribed reference clock, and said control means consists of a frequency demultiplier which divides down the reference clock.
In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, there is provided an image processing apparatus, wherein the scanning in the vertical scanning direction is carried out by a stepping motor being operated synchronized with prescribed reference clock, and the control means controls the stepping motor by the reference clock in such a way that the stepping motor rotates in every angle of xcex8/N degrees (N is the M-th power of 2 (two), M is 0 or arbitrary natural number) on the supposition that the angle of xcex8 is an angle which the stepping motor rotates in every one clock of the reference clock.
In accordance with a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, there is provided an image processing apparatus, wherein the image processing apparatus further comprises a generation means for generating a signal to specify an effective pixel of the image data corresponding to one line stored in the storage means according to the scale factor in the horizontal scanning direction.
In accordance with a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, there is provided an image processing apparatus, wherein the storage means is an FIFO memory which reads-out the image data stored therein in the stored order.
In accordance with a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, there is provided an image processing apparatus, wherein the image data is an image data of multi-gradation, and the storage means stores therein the image data of multi-gradation.
In accordance with an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing method which scans a manuscript to read-out an image of the manuscript comprising the steps of, a storage step for storing an image data corresponding to one line in the horizontal scanning direction, a first generation step for generating prescribed reference pulse, a second generation step for generating a thinned-out pulse obtained in such a way that the reference pulse is thinned-out with a prescribed rate, a read-out step for reading-out the image data stored in the storage step according to either the reference pulse or the thinned-out pulse an output step for outputting the image data read-out in the read-out step according to either the reference pulse or the thinned-out pulse a first changeover step for changing reading-out of the image data in the read-out step according to which one between the reference pulse and the thinned-out pulse a second changeover step for changing output of the image data in the output step according to which one between the reference pulse and the thinned-out pulse a control step for controlling scanning speed in vertical scanning direction according to scale factor in the vertical scanning direction, and a thinning-out step for thinning-out the image data stored in the storage means at the storage step in every one line unit according to the scale factor in the vertical scanning direction.
In accordance with a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage media for storing therein an image processing method as a program which is capable of being executed the image processing method that an image processing method which scans a manuscript to read-out an image of a manuscript comprising the steps of, a storage step for storing an image data corresponding to one line in the horizontal scanning direction, a first generation step for generating prescribed reference pulse, a second generation step for generating a thinned-out pulse obtained in such a way that the reference pulse is thinned-out with a prescribed rate, a read-out step for reading-out the image data stored in the storage step according to either the reference pulse or the thinned-out pulse, an output step for outputting the image data read-out in the read-out step according to either the reference pulse or the thinned-out pulse, a first changeover step for changing reading-out of the image data in the read-out step according to which one between the reference pulse and the thinned-out pulse, a second changeover step for changing output of the image data in the output step according to which one between the reference pulse and the thinned-out pulse, a control step for controlling scanning speed in vertical scanning direction according to scale factor in the vertical scanning direction, and a thinning-out step for thinning-out the image data stored in the storage means at the storage step in every one line unit according to the scale factor in the vertical scanning direction.
As described above, in the image processing apparatus and the image processing method, and the storage media thereof according to the present invention, the image data corresponding to one line in the horizontal direction is stored in the image processing apparatus, the image processing apparatus generates the prescribed reference pulse and the thinned-out pulse obtained in such a way that the reference pulse is thinned-out with prescribed rate. The stored image data is read-out according to either the reference pulse, then the read-out data is outputted according to either the reference pulse or the thinned-out pulse. The scanning speed in the vertical scanning direction is controlled according to the scale factor in the vertical scanning direction, and the stored image data is thinned-out in every one line unit according to the scale factor in the vertical scanning direction.
The above and further objects and novel features of the invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description when the same is read in connection with the accompanying drawings. It should be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for purpose of illustration only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.

Image processing apparatus and image processing method, and storage media thereof


A secondary drying process is disclosed for removing residual solvent from drug-containing particles that have been formed by solvent-based processes, the secondary drying process utilizing a combination of vacuum, agitation, and a stripping gas.

Processes that utilize a liquid or solvent are routinely used in the preparation of solid pharmaceutical compositions. Recently it has been discovered that some pharmaceutical compositions made by a spray-drying process can enhance the aqueous concentration and bioavailability of low-solubility drugs. For example, EP 0 901 786 A2 to Curatolo et al. discloses forming solid amorphous dispersions of low solubility drugs and the polymer hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose acetate succinate by spray-drying. WO 03/000238 A1 to Babcock et al. discloses forming adsorbates of a low-solubility drug onto high surface area substrates using a spray-drying process. Such dispersions and adsorbates, which contain non-crystalline drug, provide concentration enhancement of the drug relative to crystalline drug alone.
Following formation in a spray-drying apparatus, such solid amorphous dispersions and adsorbates typically have a residual solvent content of no more than about 10 wt % and often no more than about 5 wt %. Since a desirable residual solvent content in such drug-containing particles is on the order of 1 wt % or less for purposes of drug stability and purity, secondary drying following spray drying is often required to achieve such a low residual solvent content. Another characteristic of such materials formed by spray drying is that they tend to be small (less than 500 μm) and have low-density (specific volume greater than about 1.5 cc/g).
Various dryers have been suggested for removing the residual solvent from pharmaceutical compositions, including tray dryers, fluidized-bed dryers, microwave dryers, belt dryers, and rotary dryers. See WO 01/68092 A2 and WO 03/000238 A1. However, while such secondary dryers can be effective and are commercially available, all have drawbacks. For example, tray dryers require a substantial amount of time to remove the residual solvent to the required levels and are prone to non uniformity of dried product. Fluidized-bed dryers produce a gas stream that is very dilute in the solvent, making solvent recovery inefficient, and often give relatively low product yields, particularly when the materials to be dried are very small, low-density particles. Such low-density particles are difficult to dry efficiently in a fluid bed, since the particles may become entrained in the drying gas and become trapped in the drying gas outlet filter. This leads to low product yields. Rotary dryers, which consist of a rotating drying chamber, are typically used for drying small amounts of material and require a substantial amount of time to remove the residual solvent to the required levels.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a relatively quick, energy-efficient and safe secondary drying process for producing drug-containing particles with low residual solvent concentrations.