A variator for a transmission of the toroidal-race rolling-traction type in which a multiplicity of input discs (1-4) and output discs (11-13) are arranged in coaxial sequence, all disc except the first (1) and last (4) in the sequence being formed with races (9, 10) on both of their faces. Drive is transmitted from the output discs to one (35) or several (45-47) output shafts, the output shaft or shafts preferably lying parallel to but displaced from the common axis (8) of the discs. Alternative ways of inter-relating the orientation of the torque-transmitting rollers (20), to produce single or multiple outputs of the transmission, are described. The invention offers the prospect of a variator of higher-than-normal traction-transmitting capacity but using discs of only normal size.

This invention relates to transmissions of the toroidal-race rolling-traction type, and more particularly to the variator, that is to say the ratio-varying component, of such a transmission.
As is well known to the man in the art, the essential components of such a variator include at least one input disc and one output disc, rotatable about a common axis so that a pair of discs, one of each type, face each other across an axial clearance. A part-toroidal race is formed in each input disc and another in each output disc, the two races of each disc conforming to different parts of the surface of a single, imaginary torus coaxial with the two discs. A set of variably-oriented rollers rolls in contact with both races, and an "end load" is applied axially to discs to urge the discs and rollers into contact and so enable each roller to transmit the appropriate traction from its input disc to its output disc. By changing the orientation of the rollers, so that the radius at which each roller contacts the input disc changes in the opposite sense to the radius at which contact is made with the output disc, the speed ratio transmitted between the input and output discs is varied also.
In a common known type of such a transmission, of which examples are shown in GB-C-2023753 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,248, a single and double-faced output disc lies between two input discs, the toroidal races of which face towards each other. One set of rollers transmits traction between the first input disc and one face of the output disc, and a matching set of rollers transmits traction between the second input disc and the other face of the output disc. In both cases , all the traction is transmitted through a single disc--in these examples, the output disc. This is still the case even if, as has been proposed, the design is inverted so that the two connected output discs lie to either side of a single input disc. It should also be noted that in such a transmission the axially-outermost discs will be of the same kind--that is to say both input or both output--and will therefore be without relative rotation. By avoiding the need for rotary thrust bearings, this greatly simplifies the task of applying to those discs the axial "end load" that has already been mentioned.
A problem that has faced the designers of such variators is that the required traction-transmitting capacity of the variator has dictated the size of the single disc just referred to. If a given variator has to be redesigned to increase its capacity, then that redesign must involve providing a disc that is of greater radius or otherwise of greater strength and size.
The present invention arises from appreciating the possibility of making a variator of higher-than-normal traction-transmitting capacity from discs of only normal size, by providing a coaxial sequence of at least two input discs and at least two output discs arranged in a particular way, which includes the characteristic that all the discs except the first and the last in the sequence are formed with part-toroidal races on both of their faces. The invention is thus distinguished from the known type of variator shown by way of example in FIG. 3 of patent specification EP-A-0306272 in which the output discs 26 and 27, like the input discs 21 and 22, are and can only be single-faced. The invention is defined by the claims, the. contents of which should be read as included within the specification.

Transmissions of the toroidal-race rolling-traction type


The present invention describes novel radiopharmaceuticals of formula (I): ##STR1## wherein J, K, L, and M, are amino acids or derivatives thereof and R', R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and n are as defined herein, that are radiolabeled cyclic compounds containing chelators which act as antagonists of the platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa complex, methods of using the same as imaging agents for the diagnosis of arterial and venous thrombi, and novel reagents for the preparation of the same and kits comprising the reagents.

The clinical recognition of venous and arterial thromboembolic disorders is unreliable, lacking in both sensitivity and specificity. In light of the potentially life threatening situation, the need to rapidly diagnose thromboembolic disorders using a non-invasive method is an unmet clinical need. Platelet activation and resulting aggregation has been shown to be associated with various pathophysiological conditions including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular thromboembolic disorders such as unstable angina, myocardial infarction, transient ischemic attack, stroke, atherosclerosis and diabetes. The contribution of platelets to these disease processes stems from their ability to form aggregates, or platelet thrombi, especially in the arterial wall following injury. See generally, Fuster et al., J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., Vol. 5, No. 6, pp. 175B-183B (1985); Rubenstein et al., Am. Heart J., Vol. 102, pp. 363-367 (1981); Hamm et al., J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., Vol. 10, pp. 998-1006 (1987); and Davies et al., Circulation, Vol. 73, pp. 418-427 (1986). Recently, the platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa complex (GPIIb/IIIa), has been identified as the membrane protein which mediates platelet aggregation by providing a common pathway for the known platelet agonists. See Philips et al., Cell, Vol. 65, pp. 359-362 (1991).
Platelet activation and aggregation is also thought to play a significant role in venous thromboembolic disorders such as venous thrombophlebitis and subsequent pulmonary emboli. It is also known that patients whose blood flows over artificial surfaces, such as prosthetic synthetic cardiac valves, are at risk for the development of platelet plugs, thrombi and emboli. See generally Fuster et al., J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., Vol. 5, No. 6, pp. 175B-183B (1985); Rubenstein et al., Am. Heart J., Vol. 102, pp. 363-367 (1981); Hamm et al., J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., Vol. 10, pp. 998-1006 (1987); and Davies et al., Circulation, Vol. 73, pp. 418-427 (1986).
A suitable means for the non-invasive diagnosis and monitoring of patients with such potential thromboembolic disorders would be highly useful, and several attempts have been made to develop radiolabeled agents targeted to platelets for non-invasive radionuclide imaging. For example, experimental studies have been carried out with 99mTc monoclonal antifibrin antibody for diagnostic imaging of arterial thrombus. See Cerqueira et al., Circulation, Vol., 85, pp. 298-304 (1992). The authors report the potential utility of such agents in the imaging of freshly formed arterial thrombus. Monoclonal antibodies labeled with 131I and specific for activated human platelets have also been reported to have potential application in the diagnosis of arterial and venous thrombi. However, a reasonable ratio of thrombus to blood (target/background) was only attainable at 4 hours after the administration of the radiolabeled antibody. See Wu et al., Clin. Med. J., Vol. 105, pp. 533-559 (1992). The use of 125I, 131I, 99mTc, and 111In radiolabeled 7E3 monoclonal antiplatelet antibody in imaging thrombi has also been recently discussed. Coller et al., PCT Application Publication No. WO 89/11538 (1989). The radiolabeled 7E3 antibody has the disadvantage, however, of being a very large molecular weight molecule. Other researchers have employed enzymatically inactivated t-PA radioiodinated with 123I, 125I and 131I for the detection and the localization of thrombi. See Ordm et al., Circulation, Vol. 85, pp. 288-297 (1992). Still other approaches in the radiologic detection of thromoboembolisms are described, for example, in Koblik et al., Semin. Nucl. Med., Vol. 19, pp. 221-237 (1989).
Arterial and venous thrombus detection and localization is of critical importance in accurately diagnosing thromboembolic disorders and determining proper therapy. New and better radiolabeled agents for non-invasive radionuclide imaging to detect thrombi are needed. The present invention is directed to this important end.

Technetium-99m labeled chelator incorporated cyclic peptides that bind to the GPIIb/IIIa receptor as imaging agents


A prismatic viewing plate is situated across the focal axis between an object and an imaging device such as a camera capable of acquiring only a two dimensional image of the object. A characteristic of the prismatic plate is that it presents dual images of the object to the imaging device. Characteristic of the separation between the dual images is that it is dependent upon the distance of the object from the prismatic plate. These characteristics are employed to determine a range to the object by measuring the separation between the dual images, visually or by use of one of the many available machine vision techniques. A third dimension of a surface profile also can be obtained by scanning a spot of light over the object while separately viewing the spot through the prismatic plate and measuring the separation between dual images of the light spot at various points of the scan.

In various inspection and object locating applications it is important to be able to determine the surface contours of an object in three dimensions, or the location of key features on the surface of an object in three dimensions, or the gross location of an object in three dimensions.
Existing range sensing methods include:
(1) Structured light methods--projecting a fixed pattern onto an object and looking for perturbations in this pattern, from which range information can be inferred.
(2) Triangulation--transmitting light rays from a transmitter onto the object under study and detecting reflections of the rays onto a receiver such as a line scan CCD array located some known distance away from the transmitter. The location of the reflected ray on the array is a measure of the distance between the transmitter and the point on the object from which the ray is reflected.
(3) Laser radar and time of flight--reflecting a collimated, pulsed beam of light off of a point on an object, measuring the flight time of the pulse to and from the transmitter, and determining the distance between the transmitter and the point directly from the flight time.
(4) Stereo--simultaneously viewing the object of interest by means of two or more imaging devices located some known distance apart and using the disparity in image location, from imager to imager, of a given feature on the object in order to determine the distance from the imagers to the feature.
(5) Autofocusing techniques--maximizing the sharpness of edges in an image by adjusting the focal length of the imager and using the focusing adjustment to gauge the distance between the imager and object being viewed.
It is an object of the instant invention to provide a method and apparatus for determining the distance to an object by measuring the separation of dual images of the object.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus for determining a third dimension of a surface profile by measuring the separation between dual two dimensional images of various points on the surface.
Still further, it is an object of the invention to provide simplified method and apparatus for determining the coplanarity of points on a plurality of projections of an object.
These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from the following specification, claims, and drawings.

Method and apparatus for measuring a distance to an object from dual two dimensional images thereof


An image forming system includes: a computer for supplying image data; and a printer having a sub-tank for retaining ink to be supplied to a printing head and a system performing an on-demand supply of ink to the sub-tank. With the image forming system, during printing, the occurrence of a fuzzy image, due to ink in the sub-tank being exhausted, is prevented, and a reduction in the throughput of printing is also prevented. The computer counts, in advance, dots required for the printing of image data, and transmits the dot count, as well as image data, to the printer. The printer compares the amount of ink in the sub-tank with the required ink amount that based on the received dot counts. Only when it is determined that the remaining ink amount is insufficient, refilling of the sub-tank is performed, and thereafter, the printing of the image data is performed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming system, a print control method and a control program for a printing apparatus. The present invention is particularly appropriate for an image forming system that employs an ink jet printing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an ink supply system for supplying ink a printing head applied to an ink jet printing apparatus, there has been one which has a reservoir for reserving a predetermined amount of ink to be supplied to the printing head, and in which the ink is supplied from an ink supply source to the reservoir when necessary. Such an ink supply system is hereinafter called an on-demand supply system. The ink supply source used for this system is referred to as a main tank or a first ink tank, and the reservoir for retaining a predetermined amount of ink is referred to as a sub-tank or a second ink tank. For example, while the on-demand supply system applied for a serial scan type ink jet printing apparatus has a comparatively small sub-tank and a printing head mounted on a carriage, the on-demand supply has a comparatively large main tank located at a location other than on the carriage of the printing apparatus. Further, the supply system is so constituted that as an amount of ink in the sub-tank is reduced, the ink is replenished from the main tank to the sub-tank at an appropriate timing. Furthermore, a constitution is adopted, in which, during main scanning, by separating an ink supply path between the main tank and the sub-tank spatially, or by closing an ink channel therebetween by using a valve, for example, the first and the second ink tanks are fluidically isolated.
As a method for controlling a ink replenishment timing in the ink j et printing apparatus adopting such an on-demand supply system, there has been one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-32606 (1995). According to this method, the number of droplets (dots) are counted based on image data that has been received by a printing apparatus (an ink jet printer) prior to printing. In accordance with the resulting count value, a predicted amount of ink to be used is calculated, and the calculated value is compared with the amount of ink currently remaining in a sub-tank. When the amount of ink in the sub-tank is smaller, ink is supplied (the sub-tank is refilled).
According to a control method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-59569, before compressed image data is expanded for printing, the amount of ink required for the printing is predicted based on the compression parameters of the compressed image data. Then, the predicted amount of ink is compared with the amount of ink currently remaining in a sub-tank, and when the amount of ink remaining in the sub-tank is smaller, ink is supplied.
According to a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-32606 (1995), since the number of droplets for all the image data to be printed by the printing apparatus are added up, the image data must be expanded from various file forms to obtain a printable form before the addition-up of the number of the droplets. Thus, a considerable period of time is required. Further, in order to increase an expansion process speed, there has been either a method of employing a high-speed CPU or a method of executing a parallel process. Neither of these, however, is a preferable measure, because these methods cause arise in the manufacturing costs for a printing apparatus, a complicated configuration thereof and am increase in a size thereof. Furthermore, since data transmitted by an apparatus that serves an image data supply source to the recoding apparatus must once be temporarily expanded in a memory, a large capacity memory is also required. This factor also greatly affects the manufacturing costs and the size of the main body of the printing apparatus.
Small size and low price tend to be desired for a serial scanning printing apparatus. Generally, therefore, instead of a large memory being mounted, a memory buffer having a comparatively small capacity is provided, and a configuration which performs the following processes is employed.
These processes include:
receiving compressed data;
initiating data printing when a predetermined amount of data has been received and expanded in a buffer of a main body;
when printing for one scanning has been completed, releasing the buffer in which data for the pertinent scanning has accumulated; and
expanding, in the released buffer, newly received compressed data.
According to this printing apparatus, the number of all the dots to be printed on a current page is not determined until printing has completed. The method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-32606 (1995), therefore, in which the ink to be supplied to the sub-tank is determined after all the data for a page to be printed have been developed, is not a practical resolution.
According to the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-59569, before the expansion of all image data that are compressed by analyzing the image data parameters, the amount of ink required to print all of the image data is predicted. Thus, the predicted amount may differ from an amount of ink actually required for printing. During printing, no more ink remains in the sub tank (the ink is exhausted), a fuzzy image may be output. In order to avoid this phenomenon, when the maximum required amount of ink is predicted, the ink refilling operation from the main tank to the sub-tank is performed frequently, even though the ink sufficient for recoding remains in the sub-tank. Accordingly, the printing throughput is deteriorated. Especially when addresses are printed on multiple cards and envelopes, and when characters, such as for documents, are printed on plain paper, the amount of ink required for printing varies greatly in accordance with the type, the size, the interval and the number of characters to be printed. Therefore, it is difficult to accurately predict the amount of ink actually required for printing. This is true because, simply speaking, between a document consisting of one character and a document consisting of 100 characters, there is a difference of about 100 times in the amount of ink required for printing.

Imaging forming system, print control method and control program for printing apparatus


A device for the extemporaneous and continuous preparation of a solution for dialysis by the dissolution of several substances in powder form in water. The device includes a number of independent cartridges each containing a salt of a substance necessary for the preparation of the dialyzate, such as sodium chloride, potassium chloride, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, and sodium bicarbonate. The device includes at least one first conduit communicating with an inlet to the cartridges for introducing water into the cartridges to produce aqueous solutions in said cartridges, at least one second conduit communicating with an outlet from said cartridges for bringing the aqueous solutions to mixing point located upstream from a dialysis circuit, a first measurement device mounted on the second conduit upstream from the mixing point, for measuring the concentration of the aqueous solutions at the outlet of the cartridges, a second measurement device mounted downstream from the dialysis circuit, and at least one flow-rate regulating device for regulating the flow rate of the water to modify the concentration of the aqueous solutions in response to the information provided by the first and second measurement devices.

In order to conduct a hemodialysis session, it is necessary to use an apparatus known as a generator. In this type of apparatus, one uses a carrier fluid, which is generally purified water; the preparation of the dialyzate is done from concentrates in liquid or powder form, which are diluted in this carrier fluid.
The use of generators of this type thus requires transport of large volumes of previously prepared products to the treatment sites, along with their storage at the sites under consideration; these constraints are the source of the high operational costs.

Device for the preparation of a solution for medical use


The present invention describes a process for the synthesis of a iodinating agent, being said iodinating agent iodine chloride (ICI.) In particular, the present invention relates to a process for the electrochemical preparation of ICI, as a useful iodinating agent in the preparation of iodinated organic compounds for use as contrast agents or their precursors in the synthesis of the same.

Contrast media (or contrast agents) and their use in the diagnostic filed are widely described in literature.
In particular, iodinated aromatic derivatives are among the classes of compounds that find an application as contrast agents in diagnostic techniques which relying on the absorption of X rays by the tissues or organs (i.e. radiography, tomography). Among these aromatic iodinated derivatives it is worth mention, inter alia, Iohexol (GB 1,548,594—Nyegaard & Co. A/S) Ioversol (EP 83964—Mallinckrodt Inc.), Iopamidol (GB 1,472,050—Bracco) and Iomeprol (EP 365541—Bracco). These iodinated contrast agents are prepared by various synthetic routes described in literature, whereby some of such synthetic route comprise the poly-iodination of an aromatic intermediate, in particular a phenol or aniline derivative intermediate, by means of different iodinating agents. More specifically, EP773923 (Bracco) describes the iodination of 5-amino-1,3-benzenedicarboxylic acid with iodine chloride (ICl) in the presence of hydrochloric acid, to give the corresponding tri-iodine derivative according to the following scheme:

A substantially similar approach was also described for the iodination of 5-hydroxy-1,3-benzenedicarboxylic acid as reported, for example, in EP 782562 (Bracco). ICl can be prepared by methods known to the expert in the field, some of which contemplate the formation of a chlorinated species of I (III), typically ICl3, and the subsequent conversion of the thus obtained intermediate, by the addition of molecular I2, as schematically set forth below:

Among the possible methods to generate ICl3 it may be mentioned, for instance, the use of KClO3 by reaction with I2 in the presence of hydrochloric acid (Acta Chim. Slovo. 2000, 47, 89-90) or the preparation according to JP 1141803 (Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals) that requires the use of gaseous chlorine as initial reagent:

Although this latter route enables the production of ICl with a high degree of purity, the use of gaseous chlorine, especially in an application on an industrial scale, involves the need of strict precautions and safety arrangements because of the toxicity and hazard of that gas.
Advantageously, we have now found a process for the preparation of ICl in high yields and high purity, which does not require the use of gaseous chlorine, avoiding thereby the above mentioned drawbacks typically associated with the use of large volumes of chlorine.

Process for the preparation of a iodinating agent


A roller holder includes a number of couplers disposed between two longitudinal rods for coupling the rods together and for forming a number of compartments to receive rolling members, and two retaining devices disposed in each compartment of the roller holder and attached to the rods for retaining the rolling members in the compartments and between the rods and the couplers of the roller holder, and for preventing the retaining devices from being impacted by the rolling members, the retaining devices each include a projected portion located above the rods and a protruded portion located below the rods and the couplers for engaging with the rolling members.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a roller holder, and more particularly to a roller holder having rollers arranged in different directions for engaging between two moving members and for preventing the impact onto the roller holder and for facilitating the sliding movement between the two moving members.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical screw shafts comprise a screw member threaded into a nut member, or relatively, a nut member engaged or threaded onto a screw member, and a number of balls engaged in the threads of the nut member and the screw member for facilitating the rotational and/or sliding movement between the nut member and the screw member.
Typical linear motion guide devices or other motion guide devices also comprise two moving members, such as a track rail and a slider slidably engaged with each other, and a number of balls or rollers or rolling members engaged between the two moving members for facilitating the sliding movement between the two moving members.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,883 to Takamatu et al. disclose one of the typical endless retainer of guide devices for screw shafts or linear motion guide devices comprising an endless retainer for supporting and retaining a number of balls or rolling bodies together at predetermined intervals for rolling at an inside of two moving members or for being engaged between two moving members and for facilitating the sliding movement between the two moving members. The endless retainer includes a resin connector, and a number of interposing portions connected between two connecting portions for engaging with the ball bearing members or rolling bodies.
However, the interposing portions are connected and disposed between the ball bearing members or rolling bodies, and the ball bearing members or rolling bodies will impact onto and will scrape or scrub the interposing portions particularly when the endless retainer moves in a fast speed between the two moving members such that the abrasion or scraping between the interposing portions and the ball bearing members or rolling bodies will be greatly increased and such that the interposing portions will be quickly worn out.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,070,479 to Shirai discloses another typical rolling element string for a linear motion guide device comprising a link belt including multiple links connected in a line and each formed substantially like a ring with holding parts and having a receiving hole for a rolling element.
However, similarly, the holding parts are also connected and disposed between the rolling elements which will impact onto the holding parts when the rolling element string moves in a fast speed between the two moving members such that the abrasion or scraping between the holding parts and the rolling elements will be greatly increased and such that the holding parts will be quickly worn out or damaged.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,364,086 to Blaurock et al. discloses a further typical chain of rolling elements chain arrangement comprising a number of retainers coupled together with at least one elongate flexible element for coupling or retaining the rolling elements together.
However, similarly, the retainers are also connected and disposed between the rolling elements which will impact onto the retainers when the rolling element chain arrangement moves in a fast speed between the two moving members such that the abrasion or scraping between the retainers and the rolling elements will be greatly increased and such that the retainers will be quickly worn out or damaged.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,630 to Blaurock et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,830,378 to Michioka et al. disclose two still further typical rolling element chains or strings each also comprising a number of retainers coupled together with at least one elongate flexible element for coupling or securing or retaining the rolling elements together.
However, similarly, the retainers are also connected and disposed between the rolling elements which will impact onto the retainers when the rolling element chain arrangement moves in a fast speed between the two moving members such that the abrasion or scraping between the retainers and the rolling elements will be greatly increased and such that the retainers will be quickly worn out or damaged.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional roller holders for the screw shafts or for the linear motion guide devices.


An apparatus for and a method of inputting a function of a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, in which a grip posture of a user who holds the mobile terminal is recognized and a function corresponding to the recognized grip posture is detected. The method includes: recognizing a grip posture of a user who uses the mobile terminal; detecting a function corresponding to the recognized grip posture; and performing the detected function. Accordingly, by considering user's grip postures formed when performing the functions of a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, specific functions are respectively matched to a plurality of grip postures, a grip posture of a user who is holding the mobile terminal is recognized, and a function corresponding to the recognized grip posture is automatically performed without any operation such as an additional key input operation. Therefore, a complex input unit or input method is not required even when diverse functions are provided by the mobile terminal, and the user can easily and conveniently use the mobile terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for receiving a desired function from a user in a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for inputting a function of a mobile terminal, in which a grip posture of a user who holds the mobile terminal is recognized and a function corresponding to the recognized grip posture is executed.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically, when using a mobile terminal, a user selects a function such as making a phone call, or sending or receiving a text message, and inputs Korean characters, English characters and numbers using a plurality of buttons included in the mobile terminal.
Recent mobile terminals such as mobile phones have developed to combine the typical main functions of the mobile terminals, which include a phone call and a text message function, with another electronic machine functions. For instance, mobile phones now have various functions such as an MP3 file playing function of an MP3 player, an image recording and viewing function of a digital camera, a digital dictionary function, and a digital TV function.
An increase in functions of mobile terminals usually results in an increase in price, size and complexity, which is not desirable to users. Therefore, it is important to keep the device size as small as possible while maximizing the number of device functions.
Even when it is not difficult to add various functions to mobile terminals or miniaturize the devices for the mobile terminals with the development of technology, technical problems to be solved for providing a user interface that allows users to promptly and easily input complicated functions and control the terminal are increased. For example, a user interface that reduces key input steps necessary for performing a specific function, or easily managing, searching and playing a number of digital contents such as pictures, browsing images, music contents, e-mails, and the like is required.
For instance, to download the latest music ringtones by accessing the Internet wireless using a mobile phone, a user presses a wireless Internet access button, selects, for example, a My Phone Bell menu after accessing the wireless Internet, then selects a Ringtones menu which is a sub menu of the My Phone Bell menu, and finally selects the Latest Ringtones menu which is a sub menu of the Ringtones menu. In this case, the user needs to press buttons a total of four times.
In the case of a mobile terminal, an increase in the number of buttons for inputting a plurality of functions as described above may be impossible due to the limited size of the terminal, and can make a user input operation complicated. Moreover, when the number of buttons for key input is not increased, the number of key pressing times for selecting a specific function is increased.

Method and apparatus for inputting function of mobile terminal using user's grip posture while holding mobile terminal


A pressure control device for a vehicle tire inflating system is configured to receive compressed air via a ventilating inlet, activate at least one seal for sealing an air chamber between a stator and a rotor of a rotary feedthrough via a seal actuating outlet, and ventilate a tire at a ventilating outlet pressure via a ventilating outlet and the feedthrough. A control valve is pneumatically controllable by a control pressure, the ventilating outlet being ventilated at the outlet pressure by the control valve only when the control pressure is at least a defined minimum pressure. In response to pressure build-up at the ventilating inlet at least to the minimum pressure, the control pressure and the seal actuating pressure are built up for ventilating, but build-up of the control pressure is delayed with respect to the seal actuating pressure. Activation of a seal prior to ventilation of the ventilating outlet is possible without additional actuating channels.

Tire inflating systems in motor vehicles render it possible to change the tire pressure of tires on wheels of the vehicle from inside the vehicle even when the vehicle is moving. As a consequence, the tire pressure can be adjusted such that the road resistance of the tires, the wear and tear on the tires and the drive energy necessary to drive the vehicle are minimized on any road surface and/or in any loaded state of the vehicle. As a consequence, the service life of the tires is increased and the fuel consumption of the vehicle is reduced. All in all, the use of a tire inflating system consequently reduces the running costs for the vehicle.
A tire pressure regulation system and/or a tire inflating system is disclosed in DE 199 50 191 C1, in which one, two or also several lines can be fed through the rotary feedthrough in the wheel hub. The rotary feedthrough comprises at least one chamber that is delimited by one annular body arranged on the stator side and by one annular body arranged on the rotor side in a concentric manner with respect to the axis of rotation of the wheel. The chamber is in particular an annular chamber.
The stator-side annular body and/or stator and the rotor-side annular body and/or rotor are spaced from one another by a movement gap. If compressed air is to be transferred from the stator to the rotor and as a consequence to the wheel, the movement gap must be sealed on both sides of the chamber. This sealed arrangement is achieved by seals and/or sealing rings that can be activated pneumatically and/or can be controlled by way of a control line. If the pressure in the tires is to be changed, the seal is initially activated by way of the control line. Then, in a second step, the pressure in the tires is changed by way of the rotary feedthrough. After venting the chamber by the rotary feedthrough, it is necessary to vent the control line in order to deactivate the seal, so that the seal does not suffer any unnecessary wear and tear as a result of friction of the rotor, which is rotating with respect to the stator and also with respect to the seal.
One disadvantage of the known tire pressure regulation system in accordance with DE 199 50 191 C1 is that, in addition to the line that is fed through the rotary feedthrough, an additional control line is fed to the wheel hub and/or to the rotary feedthrough, for which it is necessary to control an additional control pressure in order to switch the seal. The control and provision of a pressure of this type is generally achieved in a laborious manner by means of electromagnetically controlled valves.
A rotary feedthrough for a medium that can be fed through under pressure is disclosed in DE 10 2007 027 147 A1, in which this medium, in particular compressed air, is likewise transferred from a stator to a rotor. A seal is pressed against the rotor by means of the pressure of the compressed air that is fed through the rotary feedthrough from the stator, thus bridging a gap. As a consequence, the seal lies on the rotor in the case of compressed air being fed through the rotary feedthrough, whereas if compressed air is not fed through, the seal lies free. However, compressed air can escape through the gap between the stator and the rotor if the pressure of this compressed air is not sufficient to press a piston against a seal to such an extent that this seal reshapes and lies against the rotor. This can be the case for a short time period during the build-up and release of pressure.

Pressure control device for a tire inflating system with a rotary feedthrough, and tire pressure changing method


In the present battery apparatus for a vehicle, a temperature detecting plate 30 is fixed outside a casing 10 accommodating a plurality of secondary batteries 20. The casing 10 is provided with ventilation holes 15 for cooling the secondary batteries 20 between the secondary batteries 20 and the temperature detecting plate 30. The temperature detecting plate 30 fixes temperature sensors 50 on an insulation substrate 31. The insulation substrate 31 has air holes 33 communicated with the ventilation holes 15 of the casing 10, and a communicating portion 34 is provided between the air holes 33. The temperature sensor 50 is fixed to the communicating portion 34, and thereby the temperature sensor 50 is located so as to have access to a surface of the secondary battery 20 via the ventilation hole 15.

The present invention relates to a battery apparatus for driving a motor that drives a vehicle such as automobile, and more particularly to a battery apparatus including a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the battery.
Since a battery apparatus for automobile is charged and discharged with large amounts of current, the temperature of the secondary battery may rise to relatively high depending on the condition of use. For this reason, it is necessary to detect the temperature of the secondary battery for controlling the charging and discharging. For achieving this, conventional battery apparatuses for vehicle have a PTC which serves as a temperature sensor attached to the surface of a battery module made up of serially connected secondary batteries. In the PTC, when the temperature of the battery exceeds a preset temperature, electric resistance thereof dramatically increases. The PTC is attached to the surface of each secondary battery, and serially connected with each other. The above battery module draws a lead wire for the temperature sensors connected with the PTCs.
The temperature sensor such as PTC fixed to the surface of the battery module is able to detect the secondary battery with accuracy. However, in the process of producing the battery module, a temperature sensor is fixed to the surface of every secondary battery, and lead wires of the respective temperature sensors are connected in serial, resulting in a drawback that the production of the battery module takes a lot of labor. In addition, since the temperature sensors are fixed to the battery module, the cost for producing the battery module increases. In addition, the battery module needs to be replaced when the secondary battery breaks down. At this time, it is impossible to replace only the secondary battery, but the temperature sensor should be replaced together, which leads a drawback that the repairing cost increases.
This drawback can be eliminated by disposing a temperature sensor to a casing which fixes the battery module. However, it takes a lot of labor to dispose a temperature sensor to a casing which accommodates a plurality of battery modules so as to enable accurate detection of the temperature of each secondary battery. Furthermore, there is another drawback that it is difficult to allow each temperature sensor to access to the surface of the secondary battery with accuracy.
The present invention was devised to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks. It is an important object of the present invention to provide a battery apparatus for vehicle in which a plurality of temperature sensors can be disposed in close to the respective secondary batteries so that accurate detection of temperature can be achieved readily and easily.


A system and method for transmitting an optical signal. The system includes a first optical transmitter capable of transmitting a first optical signal under one or more first operating conditions, and the first optical signal corresponds to a first wavelength. Additionally, the system includes a second optical transmitter capable of transmitting a second optical signal under one or more second operating conditions, and the second optical signal corresponds to a second wavelength. Moreover, the system includes an optical multiplexer coupled to the first optical transmitter and the second optical transmitter and capable of generating a multiplexed optical signal, a detection component configured to determine at least whether the first optical transmitter satisfies one or more predetermined conditions, and a tunable optical transmitter capable of transmitting a third optical signal. The third optical signal corresponds to a third wavelength.

The present invention relates in general to telecommunication techniques. More particularly, the invention provides a system and method for providing failure protection. Merely by way of example, the invention is described as it applies to optical networks, such as Wavelength Division Multiplex Passive Optical Networks, but it should be recognized that the invention has a broader range of applicability.
Recently, the demand for broadband access operations has increased rapidly. In order to meet the demand for high-bandwidth and high-capacity access, the industry often chooses the optical access communication network. However, the cost for some of the important components of the optical access communication network is relatively high. Thus, the industry is seeking ways to build a cost-effective optical network. Research on Passive Optical Network (PON) technology also has become increasingly popular. For example, the industry has witnessed the emergence of the ATM-based Passive Optical Network (APON), the Broadband Passive Optical Network (BPON), the Passive Optical Network based on Ethernet (EPON), the Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON), the Wavelength Division Multiplex Passive Optical Network (WDM-PON), and Optical Code Division Multiple Access Passive Optical Network (OCDMA-PON) and other optical networks.
Generally speaking, the Passive Optical Network is, for example, this type of a system: a service provider's Central Office (CO) and remote nodes are connected through a fiber optic trunk. The remote nodes are located near user locations and connected to Optical Network Terminals (ONTs) of the consumer side through a distributed fiber-optic. Since passive optical components are disposed in the remote nodes, thus, the PON often allows tremendous reduction in administrative levels and maintenance costs.
FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram for a conventional WDM-PON system. As shown in FIG. 1, multiple wavelengths provided by a CO are transmitted to a remote node (RN) through a single fiber optic, each wavelength λi is transmitted to each ONTi through the wavelength division function of the RN, and the corresponding ONT can send uplink data and receive downlink data with the distributed wavelengths.
FIGS. 2(A) and (B) are simplified diagrams showing conventional failure of a laser transmitter and a laser receiver respectively. As shown in FIGS. 2(A) and (B), once a transmitter i or a receiver i fails, the channel i would consequently become unusable. A solution to this problem is to use a protection method.
For example, a conventional protection method uses an optical channel protection (OCP) module for transmission and an OCP module for reception in a WDM system. Hence the transmission system and the reception system each have at least a protection channel in addition to working channels. When one working channel fails, the WDM system sends a changeover request, and in response, the signals are changed over from the assigned working channel to the assigned protection channel. When the working channel failure is repaired, signals of the assigned protection channel are restored back to the working channel.
Hence it is highly desirable to improve techniques for providing failure protection.

System and method for providing failure protection in optical networks


A flow arrangement (10, 12) for use in a well through one or more underground reservoirs, and where the arrangement (10, 12) is designed to throttle radially inflowing reservoir fluids produced through an inflow portion of the production tubing in the well, the production tubing in and along this inflow portion being provided with one or more arrangements (10, 12) Such an arrangement (10, 12) is designed to effect a relatively stable and predictable fluid pressure drop at any stable fluid flow rate in the course of the production period of the well, and where said fluid pressure drop will exhibit the smallest possible degree of susceptibility to influence by differences in the viscosity and/or any changes in the viscosity of the inflowing reservoir fluids during the production period. Such a fluid pressure drop is obtained by the arrangement (10, 12) comprising among other things one or more short, removable and replaceable flow restrictions such as nozzle inserts (44, 62), and where the individual flow restriction may be given the desired cross section of flow, through which reservoir fluids may flow and be throttled, or the flow restriction may be a sealing plug.

The invention has been developed to prevent or reduce several problems occurring in a hydrocarbon reservoir and its horizontal well(s) when subjected to production-related changes in the reservoir fluids. Among many things, these production-related changes lead to fluctuating production rates and uneven drainage of the reservoir. More particularly, this invention seeks to remedy problems associated with production-related changes in the viscosity of the reservoir fluids.
At the upstream side of a horizontal well the production tubing is placed in the horizontal or near-horizontal section of the well, hereinafter simply termed horizontal section. During production the reservoir fluids flow radially in through orifices or perforations in the production tubing. The production tubing also may be provided with filters or so-called sand screens that prevent formation particles from flowing into the production tubing.
When the reservoir fluids flow through the horizontal section of the production tubing, the fluids are subjected to a pressure loss due to flow friction, and the frictional pressure loss normally is non-linear and is increasing strongly in the downstream direction. As a result, the pressure profile in the fluid flow in the production tubing will is non-linear and is decreasing strongly in the downstream direction.
At the onset of production, however, the fluid pressure of the surrounding reservoir rock often is relatively homogenous, and it changes insubstantially along the horizontal section of the well. Thus the differential pressure between the fluid pressure of the reservoir rock and the fluid pressure inside the production tubing is non-linear and is increasing strongly in the downstream direction. This causes the radial inflow rate per unit length of horizontal section of the production tubing to be substantially larger at the downstream side (the "heal") than that at the upstream side (the "toe") of the horizontal section. Downstream reservoir zones therefore are drained substantially faster than upstream reservoir zones, causing uneven drainage of the reservoir.
During the early to intermediate stages of hydrocarbon recovery, and especially in crude oil recovery, this situation may cause water and/or gas to flow into downstream positions of the horizontal section and to mix with the desired fluid. This effect is referred to as so-called water coning or gas coning in the well. This particularly applies to wells having extensive horizontal length, the length of which may be in the order of several thousand meters, and in which the frictional pressure loss of the fluids within the horizontal section is substantial. This situation causes technical disadvantages and problems to the production.
Uneven rate of fluid inflow from different zones of the reservoir also cause fluid pressure differences between the reservoir zones. This may result in so-called cross flow or transverse flow of the reservoir fluids, a condition in which the fluids flow within and along an annulus between the outside of the production tubing and the wellbore wall in stead of flowing through the production tubing.
Due to said recovery related situations and problems, flow control devices may be used to appropriately choke the partial flows of reservoir fluids flowing radially into the production tubing along its horizontal inflow portion, and in such a way that the reservoir fluids obtain equal, or nearly equal, radial inflow rate per unit length of the well's horizontal section.

Flow control device for choking inflowing fluids in a well


A storage device that is communicably connected to a host computer includes a plurality of disk units for storing data from the host computer. Each of the disk units includes a plurality of hard disks and is connected to one of a plurality of ports. A plurality of disk unit control units control the plurality of disk units, and each of the disk unit control units includes a memory for temporarily holding data from the host computer. A plurality of control signal transmission cables transmit control signals from the disk unit control units to the disk units. At least one of the control signal transmission cables is connected to at least two of the disk unit control units and transmits different control signals to at least two of the disk units. This enables device miniaturization and reduced costs for the storage device without a drop in reliability, even when a variety of devices are mounted in a highly dense configuration.

Conventionally, in a storage device, port control logic circuits (5031 to 5034) of respective ports (ports 0 to 3) and drivers (5051 to 5054), all of which are mounted on a disk control substrate 501, and receiver drivers (5151 to 5154) and port control circuits (5171 to 5174), all of which are mounted on respective disk drive substrates (5131 to 5134) on respective backboards (5111 to 5114) of a disk drive unit 5091, are connected by respective port-control signal cables (5071 to 5074), as shown in FIG. 1. Further, respective port control logic circuits (5031 to 5034) and respective drivers (5051 to 5054), receiver drivers (5211 to 5214) and port control circuits 5231 to 5234), all of which are mounted on respective disk drive substrates (5191 to 5194) on respective backboards (5111 to 5114) of a disk drive unit 5092, are connected via drivers (5251 to 5254) and separate port control signal cables (5271 to 5274), all of which are mounted on respective disk drive substrates (5191 to 5194). Further, as shown in FIG. 2(a), four of each of an FC signal connector 529 and a port control signal connector 531 are arranged alternately along one edge of the disk control substrate 501.
Furthermore, in the case of the conventional storage device detailed above, a plurality (two in FIG. 3) of disk control substrates 5531, 5532 are mounted in the disk control unit 551, as shown in FIG. 3, and a total of eight port control logic/FC control logic circuits (5551 to 5558) are mounted on each of the disk control substrates (5531, 5532) respectively so that there are four ports on each substrate. Next, the respective port control logic/FC control logic circuits (5551 to 5558) and individual disk drive substrates (5611 to 5618), which are arranged on respective backboards (5591 to 5594) in a disk drive unit 557, are connected by two types of cable, which are Fiber Channel Interface FC signal cables (hereinafter abbreviated to 'FC signal cables') (5631 to 5638) and port control signal cables (5651 to 5658). Here, the port control signal cables (5651 to 5658) are cables for transmitting logic level signals required for controlling and monitoring the Fiber Channel Interface LSI and logic level signals required for monitoring the fault status of the parts and power supplies that constitute the disk drive unit 557.
However, in the case of the storage device with the above constitution, the width region (mounting width) on the disk control substrate 501 that is required to connect the port control signal cables (5651 to 5658), which is occupied by a plurality (four in FIG. 2) of port control signal connectors (531) that are arranged in a row on the disk control substrate 501, is approximately 50 mm and comparatively large, as shown in FIG. 2(b). For this reason, when port control signal connectors (531) for four ports are mounted on the same disk control substrate 501, substantially the whole edge of the disk control substrate 501 is then used. This is because a space of about 32 mm is required in order to move a pair of connector lock levers 531a of the port control signal connector (531) shown in FIG. 2(b) along the surface of the disk control substrate 501 when attaching or detaching the port control signal cables (5651 to 5658). Therefore, the number of respective port control logic/FC control logic circuits (5551 to 5558) mounted on the respective control substrates 501 is subject to restrictions and, hence, the mount number of the port control logic/FC control logic circuits (5551 to 5558) cannot be increased by exceeding the restricted number.
In addition, in the case of the storage device with the above constitution, port control signal cables (5651 to 5658), which connect the respective port control logic/FC control logic circuits (5551 to 5558) and the disk drive substrates (5611 to 5618) (mounted on the disk drive unit 557), are required for each port, and each port control signal cable (5651 to 5658) is wired on each disk drive substrate (5611 to 5618). Moreover, when the mount number of HDD (hard disk drives) is maximized in the disk drive unit 557, the disk drive substrates (5611 to 5618) and HDD are mounted with high density. Therefore, the distance between the respective disk drive substrates (5611 to 5618) is then short, meaning that the port control signal cables (5651 to 5658) and FC signal cables (5631 to 5638) are intertwined within a short interval. As a result, the port control signal cable of port 0, for example, is wrongly connected to the connector of another port, which means the problems of the device not operating normally readily occurs.
As is clear from the above description, conventionally, the number of port control logic/FC control logic circuits (5551 to 5558) that can be mounted on the disk control substrate (501) is restricted by the port control signal connectors, and, even with high integration of the port control logic/FC control logic circuits (FC control logic control LSI) (5551 to 5558) mounted on the disk control substrate (501), there is the problem that the number of controlled ports cannot be increased. In addition, because, in the disk drive unit (557), the same cables are wired in very close positions in accordance with the increase in the number of cables and the high density mounting, there is the problem that, as described above, an erroneous connection is easily made. Further, within a storage device with an increased number of connected cables, a space for wiring and fixing the cables is required, and there is therefore the problem that the storage device cannot be miniaturized. Further, there is also the problem that it is difficult to reduce the costs of the storage device due to the above-mentioned problems.

Storage device having plural disk units and plural disk control units connected by control signal transmission cables that carry different control signals


A press machine includes: a learning-model generating unit that uses one data from among data collected from sensors, as an objective variable, and uses data other than the one data as an explanatory variable to perform machine learning to generate a learning model for the one data, the generation being performed for all the data; a predicted-value calculating unit that inputs an actually measured value of data other than one data from among the data collected from the sensors, into the learning model for the one data to calculate a predicted value of the one data, the calculation being performed for all the data; a degree-of-abnormality calculating unit that calculates a degree of abnormality based on a difference between an actually measured value and a predicted value of the data; and a degree-of-abnormality outputting unit that outputs the calculated degree of abnormality.

The present invention relates to a press machine and a method for monitoring an abnormality of a press machine.
JP-A-2017-19016 discloses a mold abnormality prediction system that uses an AE sensor for detecting an elastic wave generated in a machining portion of a mold and a press load sensor for detecting a press load to predict occurrence of abnormality of the mold.
The mold abnormality prediction system described above only predicts the occurrence of a specific abnormality (abnormality of a mold) from among various abnormalities that may occur in a press machine, and is difficult to comprehensively predict occurrence of abnormalities.

Press machine and method for monitoring abnormality of press machine


Disclosed is a cartridge module of hollow fiber membranes, which can be easily mounted on and dismounted from a module mounting frame, and allow a process for removal of the inter-membrane clogging to be performed in an effective and simple manner. The cartridge module is mainly characterized in that a water collecting header has an opened first collected water outlet, which is located at the upper portion of the front surface of the water collecting header and can be opened and closed; and a closed second collected water outlet, which is located at the lower portion of the front surface of the water collecting header and can be opened and closed. The inter-membrane clogging can be very simply removed by dismounting, turning upside down, and remounting the cartridge module.

Hollow fiber membranes are generally provided in the form of "module" which can be readily and easily installed to a filtration facility. A hollow fiber membrane module has multiple strands or bundles of hollow fiber membranes, and various manifolds. The manifolds support and fix the multiple strands or bundles of hollow fiber membranes, and collect filtrates which permeate through pores of each hollow fiber membrane.
Such a hollow fiber membrane module is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. Hei 7-155564, and Hei 7-178321, and Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2000-0050208. Further, a cartridge module of hollow fiber membranes, which can be easily mounted on a module mounting frame, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,325,928 B1.
The important objects to be accomplished in designing a hollow fiber membrane module are "high degree of integration", "easiness of mounting and dismounting", and "easiness of cleaning". The high degree of integration means that the maximized surface area of hollow fiber membranes is provided in a certain volume of module-occupying space. The easiness of mounting and dismounting means that troublesome manual working-efforts required to dismount and mount the hollow fiber membrane module from and on the module mounting frame is minimized. The easiness of cleaning means that a process for removal of the inter-membrane clogging of the hollow fiber membrane module which occurs during the operation of a filtration facility, is easily performed.
In the conventional hollow fiber membrane modules, the high degree of integration, the easiness of mounting and dismounting, and the easiness of cleaning were improved, but there still exists much room for improvement. Particularly, the further improvement in the aspect of the easiness of cleaning is needed.
The inter-membrane clogging phenomenon will be described below in detail. In the case in which the hollow fiber membrane module is submerged into wastewater containing high-concentration suspended solids, the suspended solids are deposited on and between the hollow fiber membranes. Thus, the effective surface area of the hollow fiber membranes which can be used for water permeation is reduced. This phenomenon is called "inter-membrane clogging". As the inter-membrane clogging advances, the quantity of permeated water remarkably decreases, thus, the lifetime of the hollow fiber membrane module being shortened.
In order to relieve the inter-membrane clogging phenomenon, the following method is typically used. The hollow fiber membranes are shaken from the bottom of the hollow fiber membrane module through aeration of air, formation of a turbulent flow, generation of an ultrasonic wave or vibration, or the like during operating the filtration facility, so that the suspended solids deposited on and between the hollow fiber membranes are continuously removed. However, even if such a method is used, the inter-membrane clogging grows up to an unallowable level after the long-term operation.
Due to the recent development of methods for producing hollow fiber membranes, the lifetime-shortening of the hollow fiber membrane itself caused by deterioration of the material constituting the hollow fiber membrane has been much improved. Thus, if the inter-membrane clogging is removed, the hollow fiber membrane module can be reused several times. However, if the process of removing the inter-membrane clogging is very complicated, and takes much time and cost, the reuse of the hollow fiber membrane module is rather ineffective. For example, in order to remove the inter-membrane clogging, the clogged-portion of the hollow fiber membrane was treated by physical methods such as showering, and then, the hollow fiber membrane module was submerged and shaken again. However, such a conventional process took much time, but the removal level was not sufficient to reuse the hollow fiber membrane module.

Cartridge module of hollow fiber membranes


There is provided a window regulator in which there is no need to provide a bracket for fixing a stopper and which can surely support an impact caused when the stopper abuts a carrier plate. The window regulator includes: a carrier plate, a guide rail, a direction changing member, a drive unit, a raising wire, and a lowering wire, where the drive unit has a drum, a motor for driving the drum and a housing, and the housing has a drum housing portion for housing the drum, a guide rail connecting portion to be connected to the guide rail, a stopper which abuts the carrier plate when the carrier plate reaches its lower limit position and prevents the carrier plate from further lowering therefrom, and a stopper supporting portion provided below the stopper in the lowering direction of the carrier plate.

The presently disclosed embodiment relates to a window regulator to be provided to doors and the like of a vehicle.
Conventionally, in a window regulator, a stopper for restricting the movement of a carrier plate by abutting on the carrier plate so that the carrier plate does not lower a predetermined distance or more, is provided.
JP09-025764A discloses a stopper structure of a window regulator, in which a stopper member is fixed to a lower bracket mounted on a lower end of a guide provided along an raising and lowering direction of a door glass.
Further, JP2005-232864A discloses a door window regulator structure, in which a stopper is provided on a bracket supporting a lower end of a rail guiding raising and lowering movement of a carrier plate.


Radiant energy sensor is protected from severe environments with a radiant energy sensor assembly that off-sets the sensor from the environment. The sensor assembly includes a radiant energy sensor, a pair of reflective walls facing one another, one of the walls having a transmissive aperture for receiving radiant energy over a wide angle of incidence, an entry, the other wall having a transmissive aperture for passing energy from behind the wall to the sensor, an exit, with the walls having the reflection characteristics such that the radiant energy entering the entry aperture at any angle is always reflected to the exit aperture. The reflective walls may be paraboloids or Fresnel surfaces in geometry.

Sensors are used to view objects and/or ambient conditions in varied environments and often under severe conditions. Millimeter wave, visible and infra-red sensors are used to guide supersonic missiles through the atmosphere to intercept reentry vehicles. Radiometers are required to assess radiation heat transfer of aerobrake vehicles as the vehicle re-enters the atmosphere. In high temperature manufacturing processes, plasma furnaces, rocket engines and the like heat flux, radiation characteristics, and temperature are required to be observed and measured. Sensor's are also used to observe nuclear explosions and become exposed to gamma rays and particles, high intensity light and infra-red radiation.
Severe environments place constraints on sensor design and the apertures through which the sensor's view or measure conditions. To protect the sensors from damage, special techniques have been used: Cooled, high temperature windows, protective shrouds and special cooling techniques have been used, all of which incur increased cost, add weight, and detract from the sensor's performance. Further, time dependent temperature changes and gradients in the sensor's protective observation window changes the window's refractive index, causing image distortion and dispersion.
Current requirements for protecting sensors in interceptor vehicle application, while permitting a wide field of regard, on the order of tens of degrees or so, and modest fields of view, on the order of degrees necessitates complex arrangements of high temperature high strength transparent windows formed of costly specialized materials, special relay mirrors located between the window and sensor, and/or special cooling techniques to protect the windows and sensor from exceptionally high aerodynamic heat flux and pressure. In particular, the coolant and coolant flow control systems represent a substantial fraction of the weight of the interceptor; and the volume required to house the cooling and flow control system adds substantially to the mass, size and cost of the interceptor. Coolant flow over the observation window induces turbulence and refractive effects that degrade the image.
One technique devised to provide protection for the sensor is to modify the nose cones structure to form a deep depression or well in the fore section of the nose cone. The sensor is placed at the bottom of that well. As a consequence the heating of the sensor that occurs from the friction of onrushing air is reduced. That technique requires the sensor to be placed along the longitudinal axis of the nose cone. It is less effective and may be ineffective when used in a non-symmetric orientation and at non-zero angles of attack. Because the sensor is deeply embedded in the nose cone, the sensor's field of view is necessarily limited and the space vehicles overall length and, hence, mass is necessarily larger than otherwise. Because the nose cone geometry is modified for the foregoing technique, concerns develop as to the effects on aerodynamic control, thermal control and protection of the nose cone tip region and must be addressed.
Another technique proposed is to employ a "jettisonable" shroud to protect the sensor during atmospheric flight. When the space vehicle attains a sufficiently high altitude, the shroud is jettisoned, typically with an explosive device, uncovering the sensor. The sensor is then used at near-vacuum condition, where heat and pressure are insignificant. At best, this technique is believed to be impractical. For endoatmospheric interception, the technique is ineffective.
An object of the invention is to protect a radiant energy sensor from damage as could be caused by sensing applications in harsh environments.
Another object of the invention is to provide the sensor apparatus for use in missiles capable of providing images whose quality is not degraded by thermal effects or require levels of coolant characteristic of the prior sensors in that application.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a support structure of simple construction for mounting a sensor that permits the sensor to be displaced or offset from the environment being sensed so as to at least partially isolate the sensor from such environment and, thereby protect the sensor from physical damage, without adversly affecting the integrity of readings supplied by the sensor.
As further background, U.S. Pat. No. 3,657,284 granted Mar. 7, 1972 to Elings and Landry discloses an optical display device in which a small colored marble reposed in a cavity appears as a real image of the marble located in a position above the device, giving the illusion that the marble is positioned where it is not and allowing one to run one's hand through a seemingly solid object to one's amusement. To accomplish that illusion the cavity walls are defined by two parabaloid mirrored surfaces, the upper or top surface at which the image appears containing a central aperture, and the focus of the upper paraboloid being coincident in position with the vertex of the bottom wall, on which the marble is positioned. The foregoing novelty device showed a structure as would produce a real image of an object confined in the cavity to the outside to astonish and serve to amuse the lay person.
The present invention builds upon the principles inherent in the foregoing discovery in a novelty device that is unrelated to sensor apparatus, and provides a unique sensor support structure that offsets the position of the sensor and thereby protects the sensor from physical damage or degradation from the environment being sensed, and thereby provide a new and useful sensor apparatus.

Sensor assembly with dual reflectors to offset sensor


A hard disk drive that includes a disk that contains at least one signal and a head that is coupled to the disk. The disk drive also contains a circuit that includes a data sampler that generates a plurality of data samples from the signal, a harmonic sensor coupled to the data sampler and a spectral power accumulator coupled to the harmonic sensor. The harmonic sensor accumulates the data samples. The circuit includes a window generator that determines a window length of the data samples accumulated by the harmonic sensor. The spectral power accumulator accumulates the windows of sample data accumulated by the harmonic sensor. The sample data accumulated by the spectral power accumulator can be accessed by a processor that performs a spectral analysis of the data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to performing a spectral analysis of a signal in a hard disk drive.
2. Background Information
Hard disk drives contain a plurality of magnetic heads that are coupled to rotating disks. The heads write and read information by magnetizing and sensing the magnetic fields of the disk surfaces. Data is written by applying a current to a write element of the heads. The write current is set in accordance with various parameters such as overshoot duration. Likewise a read element has a defined bias voltage that is set at an optimal value.
The heads are separated from the disk surfaces by air bearings. The air bearings minimize contact between the heads and disks to reduce component wear. The air bearings are described in terms of a flying height. The magnetic field strength is inversely proportional to the flying height. An increase in flying height will cause a decrease in the magnetic field sensed or used to write information on the disk.
It has been found that analyzing the read signal to determine harmonics at specific frequencies can be useful in determining and optimizing certain operating parameters such as the write current, bias voltage and flying height control. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,784,296 issued to Baker et al. describes a harmonic sensor that is used to accumulate sampled data taken from a read signal of a disk drive. A spectral analysis is then performed on the accumulated sampled data to determine various harmonics at certain signal frequencies. The effective bandwidth of the harmonic sensor becomes very narrow when there are long sample sequences. The sensor becomes more sensitive to sample frequency when accumulating long sample lengths. Such sensitivity can lead to errors if the samples are not taken at the correct time.

Timing insensitive method and apparatus for spectral analysis in a disk recording system


An illumination device includes a light source and a columnar light guide including: an incident surface provided at least one longitudinal end of the light guide and allowing light emitted from the light source to enter the light guide therethrough; a diffusing surface which forms one side surface of the light guide extending along an optical axis of the incident light entering the light guide through the incident surface and has a row of light diffusion patterns provided to diffuse the incident light; and an exit surface located opposite to the diffusing surface, extending along the optical axis, and allowing light diffused by the diffusing surface to exit the light guide therethrough. The light diffusion patterns have a prismatic shape rising toward the exit surface and are provided on the diffusing surface from D1/2×8 or greater distance from the incident surface where D represents the diameter of the light guide.

The present disclosure relates to illumination devices with a light guide and image reading devices with a light guide and particularly relates to a technique in which light having entered the light guide through the incident surface thereof is diffused toward the exit surface of the light guide.
In image reading devices, such as a scanner, image reading is performed by applying light to an original document from which an image is to be read and receiving, at a light-receiving element, reflected light from the original document. In recent years, from the viewpoint of energy saving, downsizing, and so on, there emerge, as illumination devices for applying light to an original document from which an image is to be read, those employing a line light source in which a light source formed of a light-emitting element, such as an LED (light emitting diode), is combined with a light guide configured to guide light emitted from the light source. A plurality of light diffusion patterns are provided in a row on a surface (diffusing surface) of the light guide opposite to an exit surface thereof through which light exits the light guide. The light diffusion patterns are configured to diffuse light having entered the interior of the light guide to allow linear illumination light to exit the light guide toward the original document from which an image is to be read.

Illumination device and image reading device


A thermal ribbon cassette includes a take-up spool and a supply spool rotatively mounted in the cassette housing. The spools are aligned to respective aperture in the rear wall of the housing. The housing has a print head opening located between the supply spool and the take-up spool dividing the cassette into the respective supply side and the take-up side. The thermal ink transfer ribbon supply is wrapped around the supply spool and extending to the take-up spool. An encoder post is rotatively mounted to the rear wall to the supply side of the cassette aligned to an aperture in the rear wall. A first drag post is fixably mounted to the rear wall on the supply side of the cassette and a feed post is fixably mounted to the rear wall on the supply side of the cassette just prior to the print head opening. A drag clutch is provided for preventing the supply spool from turning in the non-feed direction and for providing a predetermined amount of drag to the supply spool. The coefficients of friction and the relative location of the encoder post, drag post and feed post maintain the supply of the thermal ribbon taut.

The present invention relates to thermal printing systems and, more particular, to a thermal printing transfer ribbon cassette.
It is of particular interest to apply thermal printing techniques to postage meter printing and like applications. In order to apply thermal printing techniques to postage meter indicia printing there are basically two printing options. The first is to use a full matrix thermal print head to print the entire postage indicia simultaneously. A second option is to use a line matrix thermal print head. The use of a line matrix thermal print head for postage meter printing applications is preferred due to the reduced cost as compared against a full matrix thermal print head.
In order to use a line matrix thermal print head, it is considered advantageous to use thermal ribbon cassette in combination with a rotating platen. Generally, a suitable configuration includes a postage meter base having an envelope transport which include a rotatively driven platen. The line matrix thermal print head and thermal ribbon cassette are mounted to the base such that an envelope is captured between the platen roller and the thermal ribbon with the thermal print head serving as a backing. The platen roller applies a biasing force such that rotation of the platen roller cause the envelope to travel in the print direction.
In a novel thermal printing postage arrangement, the platen action is used to drive both the envelope and cassette ribbon past the thermal print head in this manner the opportunity for print smearing is minimized. In this configuration it is necessary to assure that the print ribbon remains taut in order to derive a thermal print divorced of any smears. Conventionally, the thermal ribbon cassette employes a spring loaded wheel which traps the ribbon against a stationary member. However, the conventional design can produce ribbon wrinkle.

Thermal transfer ribbon having ribbon follower


The invention is directed to a method of treatment for pain, the method comprising administering to a mammal in need of such treatment a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of formula I, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.

This invention is directed to a method of use for the treatment of pain in a mammal, comprising the administration of a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of formula I, of a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
Pain has been defined as an unpleasant feeling often associated with a physical injury or illness, but in medical terms pain is typically regarded as a symptom of an abnormal, underlying condition. The duration of pain may be acute or chronic, and it may have subtle or disabling effects on patients. The causes of pain are also many and varied, arising from external (i.e., traumatic injury) or internal (e.g., surgical pain, diabetes, cancer) causes. Many patients obtain some relief using currently available medications, whether over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription. Yet despite all the options, there is still a segment of the population who remain permanently disabled by their pain. Even the most effective narcotic medications available may not reduce the pain to tolerable levels and, in fact, may often induce severe side effects that must also be managed carefully.
Clinically, pain is associated with a variety of diseases and disorders including cancer, traumatic nerve damage, diabetic neuropathy and spinal cord injury, which are generally perceived by patients to be chronic and debilitating. The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) recently organized a task force of experts to define chronic pain for a recent issue of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD) (see R-D Treede, et al, "A Classification of Chronic Pain for ICD-11" (2015); Pain, 156(6):1003-1007). The major categories in the new classification include chronic pain from cancer, post-traumatic nerve damage, diabetic neuropathy, chronic primary pain, fibromyalgia, post-surgical pain, chronic visceral pain and musculoskeletal pain.
Whereas moderate pain is often treated with analgesics (for neuropathic pain) or anti-inflammatory drugs (for inflammation induced pain, e.g., in arthritis), morphine and related opiate analgesics are the most effective and, therefore the most widely prescribed drugs for the treatment of chronic, severe pain. However, opiates are frequently overprescribed and potentially dangerous when misused or abused by patients, leading to dependency. They may also be associated with side effects including dysphoria, sedation, gastrointestinal disturbances and death.
Opioid receptors are found in the Central Nervous System (CNS) of mammals, particularly humans, and are included in the broader class of G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs). They have been characterized, based on their functional reactivity to specific agonists and antagonists, as delta (δ), kappa (κ) and mu (μ) subtypes. These opioid receptors are highly distributed in the CNS in areas associated with pain, including the cerebral cortex, amygdala, hypothalamus and spinal cord.
Kappa Opioid Receptors (KOR) are also expressed in the peripheral nervous system and activation of these receptors by selective agonists has been shown to produce a reduction of pain and inflammation in animal studies designed to model human pain (TW Vanderah, (2010) Clinical Journal of Pain, 26:S10-S15), (F Simonin, et al, (1998) EMBO Journal, 17:886-897).
However, activation of central KORs may also be associated with significant dysphoria, which can promote addiction in patients, as well as heightened anxiety and restless behavior. It is predicted that selective KOR agonists that do not cross the blood-brain-barrier (BBB) could provide a significant advantage in the treatment of severe pain without the associated CNS effects observed with some potent opiate analgesics currently in use. KOR activation by specific agonists such as the highly selective KOR agonist Salvinorin A have produced "spaciotemporal dislocation rather than hallucinatory behavior that is frequently dysphoric" (Y Feng, B L Roth (2004) Life Sciences 75:2615-2619).
Of particular interest to MediSynergics, LLC (MS) as a drug research company is the discovery of new, safe therapies for reducing pain, particularly in light of the increasing number of deaths in the US from the opioid crises and the misuse of potent analgesics like oxycodone. Narcotic medications are designed to regulate opioid receptors in the body, but their abuse is of particular concern because long-term misuse has been associated with and increasing prevalence of addiction and other side effects (e.g., respiratory, constipation) that can severely impact quality of life for patients.
Recently, there has been increased awareness of the potential for compounds which function as Sigma-1 receptor ligands. The structure and functions of this "receptor", which structurally and functionally appears to be a "chaperone protein", have been described in a variety of publications (e.g., G Duncan L Wang, (2005) Experimental Eye Research, 81:121-122; J L Ortega-Roldan, F Ossa, J R Schnell (2013) Journal of Biological Chemistry, 288(29): 21448-21457: FP Monnet (2005) Biology of the Cell, 97:873-883 (doi:10.1042/BC20040149); Ishikawa M, Hashimoto K (2010) Journal of Receptor, Ligand and Channel Research, 3:25-36).
A small but growing number of drug researchers have proposed the Sigma-1 (61) receptor subtype as a unique, prime target for treating such diverse human disorders as pain, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke and cancer. Studies with laboratory animals and human trials (e.g., using Esteve's E52862) have confirmed that some of these investigational drugs are capable of significantly reducing such diverse pain conditions as diabetic neuropathy, chemotherapy-induce neuropathy in cancer patients and neuropathy following spinal cord injury to manageable levels. There is little evidence reported of serious abuse potential with these compounds.
More recently, the Sigma-2 (σ2) receptor has also been identified and characterized (J Sahn, G L Meija, P R Ray, S P Martin, T J Price, "Sigma 2 Receptor/Tmem97 Agonists Produce Long Lasting Antineuropathic Pain Effects in Mice" ACH Chem Neurosci (2017) 8(8): 1801-1811). Compounds with Sigma-2 activity are also reported to be potentially useful for neuropsychiatric disorders (e.g., schizophrenia) and a variety of cancers ("Sigma-2 Receptor"; URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigma-2_receptor).
Specifically, compounds which function as antagonists of the Sigma-1 receptor are of particular interest. S. Castany, et al, have studied the effects of MR309 on reduction of neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury in mice (S Castany, G Gris, J Vela et al, www.nature.com, "critical role of sigma-1 receptors in central neuropathic pain-related behaviors after mild spinal cord injury in mice" Scientific Reports (2018), 8:3873; doi:10.1038/s41598-018-22217-9). N Paniagua, et al, have also reported on the successful blockade by E-52862 of Sigma-1 receptors, resulting in reversal of neuropathic and vascular signs in a ZDF rat model (N Paniagua, R Giron, G Goicoechea, et al, "Blockade of sigma 1 receptors alleviates sensory signs of diabetic neuropathy in rats", European Journal of Pain (2017), 21:61-72). Clinically, J Bruna, et al, have recently reported the results from human studies using MR309 to moderate Oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy in patients with colorectal cancer (J Bruna, S Videla, A Argyriou, et al, "Efficacy of a Novel Sigma-1 Receptor Antagonist for Oxaliplatin-Induced Neuropathy: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase IIa Clinical Trial". Neuropathy (2018) 15-178-189). Extensive reviews of the use of Sigma-1 antagonists have also recently been published (J Vela, M Merlos, C Almensa "Investigational sigma-1 receptor antagonist for the treatment of pain", Expert Opinion Investigational Drugs (2015) 24(7):883-896: D Zamanillo, L Romera, et al, "Sigma 1 receptor: A new therapeutic target for pain" European Journal of Pharmacology (2013) 78-93.
The market opportunities for discovery of a well-tolerated, effective and non-addictive treatment for pain are tremendous. Purdue Pharma's OxyContin sales grew from $48M US in 1996 to nearly $1.1B US in 2000 as a result of very aggressive marketing. By 2004, it had become one of the leading drugs of abuse in the US. A recent report (MarketWatch, January 2019) evaluating the global pain market predicted a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for pain therapy of 3.4% —to $85.5B US by 2026. Major players in this sector include large pharma (Pfizer, J&J and Lilly) as well as smaller biopharma companies including Teva and Mylan. The report further cites estimates of up to 100 million patients in the US alone who suffer from chronic pain. With an increasing prevalence of some diseases, especially cancer, the market is expected to continue to expand. New approaches to pain management beyond opiate chemotherapy are expected to compete with currently available medications, especially if they demonstrate reduced addictive, abuse and overdose liabilities.
A breakthrough treatment for chronic pain, with minimal or no addictive liabilities could garner a huge market. Many patients in this cohort are incapable of contributing fully to the economy in terms of useful employment. They often become burdens to the medical community and their families with respect to medical care. The loss of life due to addiction and abuse of opiate treatments is incalculable. Reducing these liabilities could help to get such needed medications to those who truly need them.
The present invention relates to the use of novel cycloalkyl-diamines of structural formula I and to their pharmaceutical compositions in the treatment of pain disorders. Many of the compounds disclosed in this application exhibit significant affinity as Sigma-1 ligands.
MediSynergics, LLC has previously disclosed the use of cycloalkyl-diamines (i.e., derivatives of ketamine) for a variety of human and animal disorders. These include parasitic diseases such as trypanosomiasis ("Cycloalkyl Diamines; U.S. Pat. No. 9,126,891, issued Sep. 8, 2015), psychiatric disorders such as depression and schizophrenia ("Cycloalkyl-diamines for CNS Disorders", U.S. Pat. No. 9,283,196, issued Mar. 15, 2016), cancer ("Anti-cancer Cycloalkyl Diamines", U.S. Pat. No. 9,345,673, issued May 24, 2016) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS ("Cycloalky-diamines for Neurodegenerative Disorders", U.S. Pat. No. 9,381,170, issued Jul. 5, 2016).

Cycloalkyl-diamines for the treatment of pain


One embodiment of the invention is a button for engaging an electrical switch comprising: a button post that transmits a vertical motion of the button to the electrical switch, an alignment post that registers against the electrical switch and reduces lateral motion of the button, and at least two runners that connect the button to a frame and includes reinforcement that stiffens the vertical motion of the button.

A button set is an interface between a user and an electrical switch. For example, a user would push a desired button of the button set, which would then engage the electric switch. FIG. 1 depicts a prior art example of a button set 10 which comprises a plurality of buttons 11. FIG. 1 depicts a bottom view of the button set 10. In other words, the portion that the user would push is underneath button 11 and is not shown. Each button includes two runners 14 that connect the button 11 to the header or frame 15. Each button also includes a button post 12 that engages an electric switch (not shown) and a stop post 13 that stops the downward movement of the button 11. The button 11 moves until the stop post 13 engages the surface of the PC Board on which the switch is mounted (not shown). This prevents damage to the button and/or the electric switch.
The button set 10 of FIG. 1 typically has a 'cheap' feel. The button set has too much registration (clearance or slop) that the user has to move the button through until the electric switch is engaged. This may occur when the user contacts a portion of the button that is not co-linear with the button post. Thus, the bottom demonstrates a lot of unproductive movement—movement that is not depressing the electrical switch. Some of this unproductive movement is lateral, instead of vertical. This lateral movement may cause misalignment of the button post 12 and the electric switch, such that activation may not occur or activation may require more button travel. Moreover, the buttons typically have 'dead spots', or portions that when pushed or depressed, do not activate the electric switch. These factors diminish the value of the product and contribute to the cheap button feel.

Button having stiffer vertical motion and reduced lateral motion

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.