A printhead for a light emitting diode printer has a transparent substrate with a row of LED dice mounted on the substrate with their light emitting Junctions adjacent to the substrate so as to emit light through the substrate. Each die has a row of LEDs along its length and a row of connection pads at known locations for making electrical connection to the LED anodes. Metal lines are deposited on the transparent substrate at known locations. Solder bumps between the connection pads and metal lines precisely position the dice by reason of surface tension. The dice are positioned in parallel rows with alternate dice staggered from each other for electrical isolation and to avoid mechanical interference at the ends of adjacent dice. In the event placement by way of the solder bumps is insufficiently precise, an opaque layer may be deposited on the substrate with a row of windows adjacent a row of LEDs. The windows are smaller than the LEDs so as to mask edge portions and alleviate alignment requirements.

It has become desirable to employ xerographic nonimpact printers for text and graphics. An electrostatic charge is developed on the photoreceptive surface of a moving drum or belt and selected areas of the surface are discharged by exposure to a light. A printing toner is applied to the drum and adheres to the areas having an electrostatic charge and does not adhere to the discharged areas. The toner is then transferred to a sheet of plain paper and is heat fused to the paper. By controlling the areas illuminated and the areas not illuminated, characters, lines and other images may be produced on the paper.
One type of non-impact printer employs an array of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for exposing the photoreceptive surface. A row or two closely spaced rows of minute LEDs are positioned near a lens so that their images are arrayed across the surface to be illuminated. The LEDs along the row are selectively activated to either emit light or not as the surface moves past, thereby exposing or not exposing the photoreceptive surface in a pattern corresponding to the LEDs activated.
To obtain good resolution and image quality in such a printer, the physical dimensions of the LEDs must be quite small and very tight position tolerances must be maintained. Dimensional tolerances are often no more than a few tens of micrometers.
The light emitting diodes for such a printer are formed on gallium arsenide chips or dice by conventional techniques. Arrays of LEDs are formed on a large wafer which is then carefully cut into individual dice, each elongated die having a row of LEDs along its length. An exemplary die about eight millimeters long may have 96 LEDs along its length, where a printhead has 300 pixels per inch (118 pixels per centimeter). LED printheads have been designed with as many as 600 pixels per inch (236 pixels per centimeter). In an exemplary embodiment it has been necessary to cut the length of such a die to plus or minus two micrometers and the width is cut to plus or minus five micrometers.
In addition to precise tolerances for cutting the dice, there are practical problems in arranging these LED bearing dice in a straight line with the necessary precision for good image quality. Also, spacing of the dice along the line is important for maintaining approximately the same spacing between LEDs at the ends of adjacent dice as there is between the LEDs on a die. Clearly economical as well as precise assembly techniques are important.
Further, once the LEDs are positioned, electrical contact must be made to each LED for application of current to cause illumination by the LED. The individual dice are typically mounted on a metal substrate which forms a common electrical contact for the cathodes of all of the LEDs on the die. A metal line for each LED is deposited on the front face of the die to carry current to the LED anode. Each line extends to an enlarged pad to which a metal wire is bonded. The wires lead to nearby integrated circuit chips which provide power for the LEDs and quite often additional functions for the printhead. Thus, in a typical printhead thousands of wire bonds may be required.
Thus, in addition to alleviating difficulties in precise positioning of the LEDs for a printhead, it would be desirable to reduce the number of wire bonds that need be made to the LED dice during assembly of an LED printhead.


An electrical signal is processed by digitizing the electrical signal to produce a stream of digitized data in the time domain, wherein the stream has an original frequency spectrum, transmitting the stream to N signal paths (N>1), and down-converting and filtering the stream in each of the N signal paths to produce N streams of digitized data in the time domain, wherein the N streams have N frequency spectra, respectively, and the N frequency spectra cover N different portions of the original frequency spectrum, respectively.

An electronic apparatus may convert an analog input signal into a digital input signal using an analog to digital converter (ADC). This conversion may allow the apparatus to process the converted signal using digital electronic components, such as digital hardware and/or software, for example.
In certain contexts, there may be a mismatch between the sampling rate of the ADC and the processing capability of the digital electronic components. For instance, in a conventional real-time spectrum analyzer (RTSA), the ADC may sample the analog input signal at a rate that is higher than the bandwidth of an RTSA engine used to produce RTSA output signals. Consequently, the RTSA may not be able to process all of the available data in real-time.
Unfortunately, it is generally expensive to improve the processing capability of digital electronic components such as RTSA engines through conventional approaches. Accordingly, there is a general need for new approaches for improving the processing capability of these and other digital electronic components used in conjunction with high performance ADCs.

Conversion of analog signal into multiple time-domain data streams corresponding to different portions of frequency spectrum and recombination of those streams into single-time domain stream


A post-erase channel clearing procedure for double well, floating gate, non-volatile memory cells. The channel is cleared of charged particles coming from the floating gate after an erase operation in two steps. In the first step the charged particles are pushed into an upper substrate well below the floating gate but not allowed into a deeper well of opposite conductivity type relative to the upper well. After a brief time, T, the charged particles are pushed by a bias voltage into the deeper well from the upper well. This two step clearing procedure avoids device latchup that might occur otherwise.

Well voltage control after an erase operation in non-volatile memory transistors is important for preventing latchup, a condition that prevents useful operation. Generally, latchup occurs due to the presence of parasitic PN junctions, particularly when the junctions form parasitic NPN and PNP bipolar transistors. Typically a parasitic transistor is a vertical transistor formed in subsurface wells. When two parasitic transistors interact, the second one often a lateral transistor, latchup occurs. An anti-latchup invention is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,549,465 to Y. Hirano et al. In the patent, a well voltage setting circuit has a P-MOS transistor for applying an erase pulse, a first N-MOS transistor for applying a reference voltage Vss to a P-well in a shutdown sequence after erase pulse application, and a second N-MOS transistor for forcing the P-well to a reference voltage during write and read. The first N-MOS transistor has a driving capacity set to about 1/50 of that of the second N-MOS transistor, so that a time for forcing the P-well to the reference voltage is long enough to prevent occurrence of local latchup during erase.
In flash memory arrays, the channel clearing operation after a flash erase has been known to employ a special discharge circuit. Such a discharge circuit is described in published U.S. Patent Application US2004/0184321 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,714,458, both to S. Gualandri et al. These documents describe an erase discharge circuit in a flash that is coupled to an array source and a P-well bias signal and receives first and second discharge signals. The erase discharge circuit operates during a discharge cycle in a first mode in response to the first discharge signal to couple the first node to the second node and to discharge voltages on the first and second nodes at a first rate. The erase discharge circuit operates in a second mode in response to the second discharge signal to couple the first node to the second node to discharge the voltages on the first and second nodes at a second rate.
In memory devices having a P-well within a deep N-well, the channel clearing operation after an erase can present a special challenge. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,667,910 to Abedifard et al. This patent describes a flash memory device in which an erase voltage is applied to a well containing flash memory transistors. The well is then discharged toward ground, first by one discharge circuit which discharges the well until the voltage on the well is lower than a snap-back characteristic of a transistor employed in another well discharge circuit. After the well voltage is below the snap-back characteristic of the transistor, the well is discharged by the other discharge circuit.
The existence of a subsurface parasitic p-n junction in double well devices gives rise to special concerns. Forward bias on a vertical parasitic junction can cause device latchup. On the other hand, channel clearing voltages creating forward bias conditions are needed after erase pulses. An object of the invention is to devise a channel clearing bias scheme after an erase pulse which avoids forward bias conditions in parasitic p-n junctions formed by vertical subsurface wells.

Channel discharging after erasing flash memory devices


A new and distinct variety of rose plant of the dwarf Miniature Class is provided which abundantly forms attractive bicolored double orange suffused with orange-red blossoms. The growth habit is bushy. Very dense medium green glossy foliage is formed that contrasts nicely with the blossom coloration. The new variety is well suited for pot forcing under greenhouse growing conditions to form a distinctive gift plant.

Miniature Rose Plant Named xe2x80x98Meidarinxe2x80x99.
The new variety of Rosa hybrida Miniature rose plant was created by artificial pollination wherein two parents were crossed which previously had been studied in the hope that they would contribute the desired characteristics. The female parent (i.e., the seed parent) of the new variety was the product of the cross of the xe2x80x98Savamarkxe2x80x99 variety (U.S. Plant Pat. No., 5,044) and the xe2x80x98Savabearxe2x80x99 variety (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,424). The male parent (i.e., the pollen parent) was the xe2x80x98Meicofumxe2x80x99 variety (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,997). The parentage of the new variety can be summarized as follows:
(xe2x80x98Savamarkxe2x80x99xc3x97xe2x80x98Savabearxe2x80x99)xc3x97xe2x80x98Meicofumxe2x80x99.
The seeds resulting from the above pollination were sown and small plants were obtained which were physically and biologically different from each other. Selective study resulted in the identification of a single plant of the new variety.
It was found that the new variety of Miniature rose plant of the present invention possesses the following combination of characteristics:
(a) Exhibits a bushy growth habit,
(b) Forms in abundance attractive double orange suffused with orange-red blossoms,
(c) Forms very dense medium green glossy foliage, and
(d) Is well suited for pot forcing.
The new variety well meets the needs of the horticultural industry. It is particularly well suited for pot forcing under greenhouse growing conditions to form a distinctive gift plant.
The new variety can be readily distinguished from its ancestors. More specifically, the xe2x80x98Savamarkxe2x80x99 variety forms brilliant orange-red flowers, the xe2x80x98Savabearxe2x80x99 variety forms orange-brown flowers, and the xe2x80x98Meicofumxe2x80x99 variety is a Hybrid Tea with much larger flowers.
The new variety has been found to undergo asexual propagation in France by a number of routes, including budding, grafting, and cuttage. Asexual propagation by the above-mentioned methods as performed in the South of France has shown that the characteristics of the new variety are strictly transmissible from one generation to another.
The new variety has been named the xe2x80x98Meidarinxe2x80x99 variety.

Miniature rose plant named xe2x80x98Meidarinxe2x80x99


The present invention is directed to a system and method that utilizes a central repository for storing and sharing Thing Description (TD) Documents with USB extensions that correspond to specific USB I/O schema. A Network Interface Module uses the USB I/O vendor and product identifications to query the central repository and download the appropriate Thing Description (TD) document for the specific USB I/O device. The Network Interface Module parses the TD document and builds the appropriate Web of Things (WoT) data architecture that establishes the interface between the network and the USB I/O device thereby allowing the USB I/O device to become an IoT device.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has been receiving much attention due to the popularity of handheld devices such as smart phones, tablets and similar devices that are used for displaying information as well as remotely controlling different electronic or electrical devices through a data network such as the Internet.
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard definition for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supplies between personal computers and their peripheral devices. For example, USB was originally defined as a peripheral bus for personal computers that unified all I/O interfaces to a single standard bus. The USB standard keeps evolving and replacing all other standard connections such as parallel printer ports, serial ports and video ports. The USB's recent update USB 3.1 significantly enhances the data speed and power supply capacity that allows USB devices to transfer data at rates up to 10GBPS and to sink up to 100 watts of power. With a well-defined interface structure, the USB can now accommodate a larger variety of electronic devices in addition to computer peripheral devices. As a result of updated USB standards, support has extended to embedded applications such as household appliances, music players, video recorders, etc. which have a USB socket to accept a USB memory stick for data storage (e.g. music, video data storage, etc.). Besides the physical connection, the USB has a unique logic architecture definition such that the communication between a personal computer (PC) and peripheral device can be setup systematically and can be extended to any kind of peripheral function. With the launch of the enhanced Power Delivery (PD), the power sink of the peripheral device can be up to 100 W thereby extending the functionality of the peripheral device. As a result of such expanded functionality, USB devices will not be restricted to only PC peripheral devices but may be applied to any kind of I/O device. For example, practically all mobile phones today use USB-C as the power and communication interface. Thus, USB interface can be chosen as the standard for a new generation of I/O devices, including devices such as household appliances, provided that the power and speed requirements are within the coverage limit of the USB interface.
Referring to FIG. 1, USB devices 101 and USB hub 103 were originally used only with personal computers 102 and corresponding device drivers in order to interface with different kinds of USB peripheral devices. In conventional systems, a device driver 204 (see FIG. 3) is required to allow the personal computer (PC) operating system 201 to drive the specific USB hardware. Each USB device uses either a unique device driver 204 or adopts the corresponding defined class driver so that the upper application layer 206 is able to use the USB I/O (see FIG. 3). As is well known in the art, the Windows OS 201 includes a Kernel Mode 202 and User Mode 203. The Kernel Mode includes the Kernel Mode Client Driver as well as USB Host Controller and Driver 205. The User Mode 203 includes the User-Mode Client Driver, the Windows API and the upper application layer 206. USB device driver 104 can be locally loaded onto the operating system or remotely loaded onto the operating system from a central repository 105 (see FIG. 2) which may be a vendor's web site. These specific drivers are required in order for the USB I/O device to operate under the hardware and operating system. USB devices are mostly built for PC applications and current defined device-classes are confined for PC applications. Adopting the USB connection technology for IoT applications will expand the variety of applications for USB I/O devices. The existing defined device-classes are not capable of covering IoT applications. Therefore, new device drivers are necessary for new USB applications. The original design of a device driver is highly dependent on the operating system (OS) such as Windows, Linux or other embedded OS. A further disadvantage is that the device driver is also dependent upon the particular version of the OS. Such a situation complicates the development and maintenance of the device drivers by the USB I/O device manufacturers. FIG. 1 shows standard connections between USB peripheral devices 101 and a main personal computer (PC) system 102 either directly or via a USB hub 103. The configuration shown in FIG. 1 is a conventional system-centric I/O configuration wherein all I/O devices are connected to and controlled by the combination of the personal computer CPU system and its operating system (OS). All I/O operation is built upon upper application layer 206 (see FIG. 3).
Typically, in conventional systems, the USB host controller learns about all of the USB device descriptors through the enumeration process. The operating system (OS) then loads the corresponding USB device drivers of the specific USB device or uses the standard class driver and establishes the communication pipes with the corresponding endpoints via the USB host controller. The USB device driver works under the operating system (OS) to establish the specific communication with the attached USB device via low-level USB system software. However, this USB device driver is dependent upon the operating system (OS) and is thus OS-centric. As a result, USB device manufacturers must follow the specification of the OS that is used. The main disadvantage of OS-dependent USB device drivers is that the user of the USB device has less autonomy regarding the choice of platform hardware and software and must follow the specification of the OS being used.
What is needed is a new and improved system and method for interfacing a USB I/O device with a network that allows the USB I/O device to function as an IoT device but which does not require specific drivers to be built for that USB I/O device and does not require modification to that USB I/O device.

Method and system for enabling USB devices to operate as internet of thing (IoT) devices based on thing description model


A tool for affixing a component to a dental implant fixture with a screw passing through the component and threaded into the implant fixture, in which the tool has two parts telescopically interfitting one within the other, the outer part being tubular for carrying the component at one end, and the inner part fitted at one end for carrying the screw positioned within the component, whereby the component and the screw within it can be carried together to the implant fixture where the outer part is used to hold the component in place while the inner part is used to drive the screw into the implant fixture.

At the present time, owing in part to its predictable success, the endosseous dental implant fixture in cylindrical form is the artificial root most frequently chosen for restoring dentition to edentulous patients. These and other forms of artificial tooth roots are conveniently designed to receive and retain, sometimes removably, a variety of intermediate components including abutments which prosthodontists use to support artificial dentition on artificial roots. The intermediate components are necessarily small parts which must be manipulated into sometimes deep posterior locations in the patient's mouth and there assembled on an existing implant fixture or fixtures into rigid and reliable structures which can withstand the forces of mastication. More and more commonly the implant fixtures have internally threaded bores for receiving small screws which are used to attach the intermediate components to the implant fixtures, and to each other. For biological reasons the implant fixtures and intermediate components are most often made of titanium and its dilute alloys, while the screws are made of the same metals or of gold, which is softer and will break first if irresistible force should accidently be applied to an assembly of implant fixtures and components. Typical diameters of implant fixtures are from about 3 mm to about 5 mm. Typical screw diameters are less than 2 mm. Typically, intermediate components have diameters in the same range as implant fixtures, and lengths short enough to be encompassed within an artificial tooth, or shorter. The problems of carrying such components to an implant fixture installed in a patient's jawbone and there affixing a component to the implant with a screw, without cross-threading the screw in the threaded bore of the implant fixture, are obvious.
Abutments and other intermediate components are made in a wide variety; some are small transmucosal components only a few millimeters long, while some are several millimeters long intended to form the core of an artificial tooth; others may extend on an axis different from the longitudinal axis of the implant fixture, for adjusting the alignment of an artificial tooth relative to its neighbors; all must be affixed to the implant fixture. To do this the dental professional must hold the component in place on the implant fixture while inserting a screw through a small hole in the component and turning the screw in the threaded bore of the implant fixture until the screw is tight and the component is firmly affixed to it. This task becomes particularly onerous when the implant fixture is installed in a posterior region in the patient's mouth.
A dental clamp for gripping a cylindrical abutment is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,221 dated Jun. 9, 1992.

Method and means for affixing a component to a dental implant


The present invention relates to pharmaceutical and medical technologies, and more particularly to novel nanobodies against pulmonary surfactant protein A (SP-A) and their preparation methods. The nanobodies of the present invention comprises an amino acid sequence having certain formula. The present invention also relates to nucleic acid sequences encoding the nanobodies, their preparation method and their applications. Immunohistochemistry and in vivo imaging show that the nanobodies of the present inventions have high lung-targeting specificity.

In the beginning of 20th century, the Nobel Prize-winning German scientist Paul Ehrlich proposed the idea of "magic bullet" for future drug development, i.e., an ideal drug that would selectively destroy diseased cells without affecting healthy cells. In the past several decades, scientists have been exploring to develop such ideal drugs.
In the 1970s, targeted drug delivery system was developed and widely used for the treatment of cancer. It was reported that targeted anti-cancer drugs accounted for more than 30% of the world's anti-cancer drug sales, and that this figure is forecasted to rise to 55% in 2025. Meanwhile, with the advancement in research, new targeted drug delivery carriers has emerged, the routes of administration has been broadened, and targeted drug delivery system has been expanded to treat many diseases other than cancer.
Developing targeted drugs for respiratory diseases is one of the hotspots of the research, which is primarily focused on the following areas:
1. Targeted treatment of airways diseases by inhalation. Starting from the earlier 1950s, inhaled corticosteroids have been used for the treatment of asthma and COPD. Since then, with improvement in inhaled drugs and devices, inhaled corticosteroids have become the main therapeutic agents for the treatment of asthma and COPD. However, inhaled drugs are mainly suitable for topical treatment of airways diseases, and are not effective against parenchyma and interstitial lung diseases due to low bioavailability.
2. Passive lung-targeting drugs through drug carriers. Currently, a variety of drug carriers such as liposomes, microparticles, microspheres have been researched for lung-targeted drug delivery. However, these passive targeting drugs have poor tissue selectivity, and cannot avoid significant residue in the liver, spleen and other organs. Therefore, they don't achieve optimal targeting effect.
The ligand-receptor or antigen-antibody binding is a special recognition mechanism of the human body, and as reported in the literature, this mechanism can achieve active drug targeting to enhance drug efficacy and reduce the side effects. For example, a composite drug made of paclitaxel liposome and a monoclonal antibody against the epidermal growth factor has anti-tumor effect that is 25 times greater that of the drug without the monoclonal antibody. Thus, to achieve ideal active lung targeting effect, it is critical to find a receptor in the lung tissue with high specificity and prepare a targeting ligand with high affinity. Studies have shown that pulmonary alveolar type II epithelial cells in the lung tissue have proliferation and secretion functions, and account for 16% of the total cells in lung parenchyma. Type II cells can synthesize and secrete pulmonary surfactant. The main components of the pulmonary surfactant are lipids (90%) and proteins (10%), and the proteins are specific pulmonary surfactant proteins (SP). SP has been named as SP-A, SP-B, SP-C, SP-D, SP-A based on the order it was discovered, and SP-A was discovered first, and has strong expression in pulmonary alveolar type II epithelial cells with abundant signals, and is rarely expressed in other tissues. Thus, SP-A is highly lung-specific, and is an ideal receptor in the lung tissue with specificity.
In addition to high affinity, an ideal targeting ligand should also have a small molecular weight, high tissue penetration, and weak immunogenicity. Antigen-antibody binding is the strongest recognition mechanism, and therefore antibody is the preferred ligand. However, although of high affinity, full antibodies have large molecular weight (with a relative molecular weight of 150,000), weak tissue penetration and strong immunogenicity, and are not ideal ligands. With the development of antibody and gene engineering technologies, antibody fragments (Fab, ScFv) now have the advantages of small molecular weight and weak immunogenicity, but they has lower stability and affinity than full antibodies.
In 1993, scientists from Belgian first reported the existence of Heavy Chain antibody (HCAbs) without the light chain in the blood of camelids. The variable domain (VHH) of the heavy chains of HCAbs has a complete and independent antigen-binding capacity, and if cloned, a single domain antibodies in the nanometer scale can be obtained, which are known as Nanobodies® (Nbs). Nanobody has many advantages as a ligand: 1) small molecular weight, strong tissue penetration, and high affinity. It has the least molecular weight among the known antibody molecules, with a molecular weight of only 15,000; its ability to penetrate tissues is significantly superior to full antibody, and its affinity with specific antigen is of nmol scale. 2) Stable structure. It can maintain high degree of stability even if stored at 37° C. for a week, under high temperature (90° C.), or under strong denaturing conditions such as being exposed to chaotropic agent, protease and strong PH value. 3) Weak immunogenicity. AS its gene has high homology with human VH III family, it has weak immunogenicity and good biocompatibility. Because of these advantages, nanobody has been studied extensively as a new antibody drug, but its use as targeted ligand for SP-A has not been reported.

Lung-targeting nanobodies against pulmonary surfactant protein A and their preparation

Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine


A powdered oil and/or fat that includes a high proportion of a medium-chain fatty-acid triglyceride, has excellent solubility and fluidity, and gives rise to little oil flotation during dissolution. The powdered oil and/or fat includes a medium-chain fatty-acid triglyceride, an octenylsuccinic acid-treated starch mixture, and a dextrin, in which the octenylsuccinic acid-treated starch mixture includes a first octenylsuccinic acid-treated starch of which the viscosity of a 10 mass % aqueous solution at 25° C. is less than 30 mPa·S, and a second octenylsuccinic acid-treated starch of which the viscosity of a 10 mass % aqueous solution at 25° C. is 30 mPa·S or more; the content of the second octenylsuccinic acid-treated starch is 12-45 mass %, inclusive, relative to the entire octenylsuccinic acid-treated starch mixture; the dextrose equivalent weight of the dextrin is 10 or more; and the content of the medium-chain fatty-acid triglyceride is 65-85 mass %, inclusive, relative to the entire powdered oil and/or fat.

Medium-chain fatty-acid triglyceride shows superior digestion and absorption properties as compared with common vegetable oils, and can be easily used as energy. Therefore, medium-chain fatty-acid triglyceride is used in the medical field for supplying energy to patients with decreased digestion and absorption functions, and for recovering physical strength of patients after operation, and for other purposes. Further, medium-chain fatty-acid triglyceride is also used in the field of food industry for providing the elderly with high-calorie meals. When medium-chain fatty-acid triglyceride is used as an additive for pharmaceutical products, food products, and the like, medium-chain fatty-acid triglyceride may be used as a liquid oil and/or fat, or may be used in a form of a powdered oil and/or fat.
Powdered oils and/or fats are used in a wide variety of fields because of the following advantages: for example, they can be more easily mixed with other powdered raw materials as compared with liquid or solid oils and fats; and further they can be easily dispersed and dissolved in water without need of emulsification. Technologies for preparing powdered oils and/or fats include those described in Patent Documents 1 to 3.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2003-73691
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. H11-318332
Patent Document 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. H06-33087

Powdered oil and/or fat, food and drink containing powdered oil and/or fat, and method for manufacturing powdered oil and/or fat


An assembly and a system for improving the cleanliness of a facility. A flexible trash receptacle uses a trash bag which is attached to the bottom of the folding seat via an extension flap and seat attachment. When the seat is in the closed position, the trash bag flexes back toward the seat to allow unobstructed passage. When the seat is lowered to the open position, the trash bag flexes forward and hangs down from the bottom of the folding seat. The extension flap allows the user to have improved access to the opening in the trash bag by distancing the opening in the trash bag from the bottom of the seat. In one embodiment, the trash receptacle is located closer to the forward edge of the folding seat by using an adhesive on the front side of the seat attachment. Optional sealing methods such as plastic zip lock seals can be used to securely close the trash receptacle when full. Also, the same adhesives used to attach the trash receptacle to the folding seat can be used to seal the trash receptacle after use. Another optional feature is the placement of advertising or other indicia on the surface of the trash receptacle.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to trash collection. In particular, it relates to disposable trash bags which are secured to a folding seat.
2. Background Art
Many types of public facilities use folding seats which enable the facility owner to achieve greater seating density while allowing easy access to seating. Folding seats, such as those discussed herein, are found in arenas, civic centers, auditoriums, theaters, stadiums, etc., and they may be designed for indoor or outdoor use. For ease of discussion, seats found in any of these varied facilities will be referred to as arena seats.
A problem associated with the high density seating provided by arena seats is the absence of a suitable place to discard rubbish. This is due to the limited space available between adjacent rows. In many public facilities, even indoor ones such as arenas or theaters, patrons will drop rubbish on the floor rather than carry it from the seating area to a conventional trash receptacle.
Prior art attempts to address this problem have concentrated on encouraging patrons to handle trash properly by using trash bags where possible. Bracket assemblies which can be attached to the rear of the arena seat in front of the patron and which have the ability to hold a trash container are known. Unfortunately, this approach has proven to be impractical for several reasons. First, the high density nature of seating in public facilities does not provide adequate room between the patron and the seat in front of a patron to comfortably accommodate a bracket assembly capable of holding a trash bag or trash container. A trash container located in front of the patron will interfere with the patrons movement, present an obstacle to the patron or others trying to move past the patron, possibly damage the patron's clothing, or get knocked off the seat back by the patron or by someone moving past the patron.
The prior art has failed to provide a system or an assembly using a trash receptacle which is inexpensive, which is easy to install and remove, which provides convenient access when desired and which is unobtrusively positioned when not in use.

Trash collection for folding seat facilities


Various embodiments provide techniques for generating a style profile in which items are recognized in image data, analyzed for their attributes, and categorized based on those attributes. In various embodiments, computer vision techniques can be used to analyze the image data and subsequent image data to update the generated style profiles. The style profiles may be associated with a person, event, or the like and provide users with items having similar characteristics or attributes, which may be available for purchase in an electronic marketplace. The style profiles may be updated by analyzing user interaction with the provided items and by receiving additional image data. Additionally, recommendations may be provided based on search queries that identify certain events or style profiles.

Advancements in electronic commerce (e-commerce) technology have made it more and more convenient for consumers to purchase apparel items. Not only has e-commerce enabled consumers to browse catalogs of an ever-increasing number of retailers, but it has also enabled peer-to-peer marketplaces, which allows users to post items for sale that can be purchased by other users. Moreover, consumers may further be exposed to more and more options of apparel items, for example through media outlets or social media. Consumers may be interested in apparel items worn by certain persons, but may have difficulty identifying the items in a textual search.


Disclosed herein is a process for producing a color filter, which comprises the steps of forming a resin layer on a substrate, pre-curing the resin layer, exposing the resin layer, developing the resin layer to form black matrices between which space areas are defined, heating the black matrices under reduced pressure and separately applying inks to the space areas.

1. Field of the Invention
With the advancement of personal computers, particularly, the advancement of portable personal computers in recent years, the demand for liquid crystal display, particularly, color liquid crystal display tends to increase. It is however necessary to reduce the cost of the color liquid crystal display devices for further spreading them. There is an increasing demand for reduction in the cost of color filter substrates particularly given much weight from the viewpoint of the cost.
2. Related Background Art
As a process for producing a color filter substrate at low cost, it has been proposed to first form light-screening black matrices on a glass substrate and separately applying inks to space areas between the black matrices by an ink-jet system to form a color filter. With respect to this process, in order to successfully fill the inks in the space areas between the black matrices, which correspond to respective pixels, a material hard to wet with the inks and easy to repel the inks are investigated as a material for the black matrices.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-35917 has proposed a process in which black matrices are formed with a material having a contact angle with inks of at least 20.degree., and the inks are applied to space areas between the black matrices. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-35915, it has also been proposed to use a material having a contact angle with water of at least 40.degree. as a material for black matrices. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-347637, it has been proposed to select materials for a substrate, inks and black matrices, the critical surface tensions of which shall be lined up in the order of "the substrate surface>the inks>the black matrix surface", and be preset in such a manner that that of the black matrix surface is lower than 35 dyn/cm, that of the substrate surface is not lower than 36 dyn/cm, and the inks have a difference in the critical surface tension by at least 5 dyn/cm from both substrate surface and black matrix surface. In all these proposals, it has been proposed to contain a fluorine compound or a silicon compound in materials for the black matrices to impart a high ink repellency to the materials.
Besides, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-121702, it has been proposed to form banks having a hydrophilicity opposite to a substrate and to pour inks in spaces between the banks. However, detailed description as to materials is not made.
By imparting the ink repellency to the black matrices like these examples, it is possible to repel any inks flown off on the black matrices back to the space areas between the black matrices. Therefore, the problem that the inks are not successfully filled in the space areas corresponding to the respective pixels has been solved.
The above prior art examples are such that light-screening partitions (black matrices) are formed with a material different in critical surface tension from materials (inks) for a color filter, and the inks are applied to space areas between the partitions.
However, the materials described in these examples involve a problem in the following respects.
In the case of black matrices formed of a resin composition mainly containing a photosensitive resin, a non photosensitive resin, a black color-imparting material and an ink repellent (water repellent), the resin components and ink repellent in the resin composition, from which the black matrices are formed, are evaporated upon post-baking, which is a final step for forming the desired black matrix pattern, to thinly attach to the surface of a substrate. Therefore, the surface of the substrate also comes to exhibit an ink repellency, and inks applied to the substrate are hence difficult to adhere thereto and do not fully spread over the portions of the substrate surface corresponding to the space areas between the black matrices, resulting in a color filter which has blank areas (white portions) or irregularities or shows a tendency for the colored portions to separate from the substrate.

Production process of color filter, color filter produced thereby and liquid crystal display device using such color filter


A method and apparatus are provided for accessing a dynamic memory device. The method comprises receiving a command from a controller to access a memory, receiving, from the controller, at least one of burst length information and latency information in association with the command to access the memory; and providing data to or from the memory in response to the command based on at least one of the burst length information and the latency information.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to dynamic memory devices, and, more specifically, to a dynamic memory device adapted to be accessed with an adjustable burst length, column address strobe (CAS) latency, and/or write latency.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, there are at least two types of data transfers to and from memory. A first type includes a data transfer for a main client that requires large amounts of data to be transferred to and from the memory. A second type of data transfer is for a peripheral client that typically requires small amounts of data to be transferred to and from the memory.
To allow greater flexibility for data transfers, many of today's dynamic memory devices, such as Synchronous RAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM devices (DDR SDRAM), Rambus™ DRAM (RDRAM) and the like, are usually designed to operate at various latency levels and burst lengths. For example, a semiconductor memory device may perform a latency and burst operation with latency 1, 2, and 3, and variable operation modes of burst length 1, 2, 4 and 8. The latency level and the burst length for a given mode of operation of the semiconductor memory device are commonly defined by a programmable mode register.
CAS latency is the delay that may be measured in clock cycles, between the presentation of a READ command and the availability of the first bit of the output data. For example, if latency is set at 3, data is output from the memory 3 clock cycles after a read command or signal is applied to the memory.
The term "burst length" refers to a number of column locations that can be accessed from the memory in which the read and write accesses to memory are burst oriented. In a burst operation, a column address is provided after a row address, and data from continuous column addresses thereafter is output at high speed in synchronization with a clock signal. For example, if burst length is set at eight (8), a semiconductor memory device outputs, for example, eight (8) bits of data in synchronization with the clock signal based on a starting column address. Typically, if a starting column address is provided from an external source, the next seven (7) column addresses are generated internally by a column address generation circuit.
While a semiconductor memory device may be capable of supporting multiple modes of operation (i.e., different latency levels and/or burst lengths), as a general matter, the operation mode of the memory device cannot be altered without reprogramming its mode register. Changing the operation mode of the memory device, however, may be a time consuming process, as the reprogramming must be loaded (or reloaded) when all memory banks are idle and no bursts are in progress. Furthermore, the memory controller must wait a specified amount of time before initiating a subsequent operation after the mode register has been programmed or reprogrammed to a desired state. Additionally, in conventional memory devices, the operation mode of the memory device cannot be altered substantially concurrently with an access command (e.g., read command and write command). This may result in power wastage, as multiple commands may be needed to change the operation mode of the memory device and to access the contents of the memory device.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing, the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.

Method and apparatus for accessing a dynamic memory device by providing at least one of burst and latency information over at least one of redundant row and column address lines


Methods and systems are described relating to dual-mode based digital background calibration of pipelined ADCs, for gain variations and device mismatches. Errors caused by gain insufficiency, nonlinearity, and capacitor mismatches are corrected by operating one ADC in two circuit configurations. These two modes are so arranged that their digital outputs differ in the presence of gain nonlinearity, gain insufficiency, and capacitor mismatches. The output difference is measured by randomly choosing one of the two operation modes at each sampling clock and digitally correlating the resulting digital output sequence. The measured output difference, which represents ADC errors, is used to remove the errors.

In pipelined analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), the major sources of error include gain insufficiency, gain nonlinearity and capacitor mismatches. When digital background calibration of pipelined ADCs is performed, typically the first step is to extract, in background, quantitative information about the error sources or the errors themselves. The second step is to use the extracted information to correct the errors.
While the second step in the digital background calibration of pipelined ADCs, namely correcting the errors using the information extracted in background, is generally simple and straightforward, a lot of research effort is spent on developing new, improved ways of executing the first step, namely extracting quantitative information about the error sources and/or errors.

Dual-mode based digital background calibration of pipelined ADCs for gain variations and device mismatches

President and Fellows of Harvard College


An image scanner arrangement having a scanner, a document feeder scanning portion and a flat scanning bed. A single white plate is provided between the document feeder scanning portion and flat bed. Before scanning, the scanner scans the white plate to provide image data for testing. If this image data contains white pixels not less than 90%, a controller determines that a lamp of a light source of the scanner illuminates appropriately. After confirming that the light source is in a good condition, the scanning starts. The single white plate is utilized regardless of scanning being performed with the document feeder scanning portion or the flat scanning bed.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image scanning apparatus incorporated in, for example, a copier, a facsimile apparatus or a copier-facsimile system, and more particularly to an image scanning apparatus which can effectively determine whether a lamp of a light source of the image scanning apparatus is functioning appropriately.
2. Background Art
A certain type of copier-facsimile system includes not only a flat bed scanner (FBS) for scanning one sheet of an original document at a time by placing the original document on a scanning table but also an automatic document feeder (ADF) for successively scanning a plurality of documents by stacking the documents on a paper feed tray.
When the document is scanned by the flat bed scanner, the document is stationarily placed on the scanning table. With the document being fixed by a cover placed over the document, a light source and a plurality of mirrors of a scanning unit are moved under the scanning table upon actuation of an associated motor. The scanning unit moves from a scanning start position under a front end of the scanning table to a scanning end position under a rear end of the scanning table. A light is being radiated to the document from the light source through the scanning table while the scanning unit is moving, and a reflected light is scanned by an image pick-up element such as CCD via the mirrors and lens. CCD outputs black and white binary image data according to the scanned image.
On the other hand, the automatic document feeder successively feeds the documents over the scanner automatically from the paper feed tray. The scanner is not moved during scanning. An image on each document is scanned by CCD when it passes over a translucent plate. A mirror is positioned just below the translucent plate so that CCD can obtain the image reflected by this mirror.
Before scanning the document by the flat bed scanner, a lamp checking is performed to the light source of the scanning unit every time a user presses a start key. The lamp checking is scanning of a white plate. As illustrated in FIG. 7 of the accompanying drawings, which schematically indicates a scanning bed 31 and a white plate 43a' as viewed from the top, the white plate 43a' is located at a position P5 next to the flat bed 31 in a sub-scanning direction or outside a scanning start position P3 of the scanner. The lamp testing is necessary because brightness or luminance of the light source eventually drops below an appropriate value due to aging or the like. Scanning of the white plate is self diagnosis or examination conducted before scanning. Data relating to one line of the document scanned is converted to binary data, and if there are white pixels more than a predetermined value (e.g., 90%), it is determined that the lamp of the light source emits an appropriate light an good condition. Then, the document scanning is initiated. When a plurality of documents are scanned using the automatic document feeder, another white plate placed above the translucent plate (not shown in FIG. 7) is scanned to examine the lamp of the light source. Therefore, the image scanning apparatus which includes both the flat bed scanner and the automatic document feeder has two white plates for lamp testing.
Since one of the white plates 43a' is located beyond the scanning start position P3 of the scanner or outside a scanning table area but inside the image scanning apparatus in the subscanning direction of the scanner (or direction in which a carriage supporting the light source moves), the length of the scanning apparatus in the sub-scanning direction is elongated by at least the length of the white plate 43a'. Thus, it is difficult to reduce the size of the scanning apparatus. In addition, since two white plates are required, the number of components is large and construction of the apparatus is complicated. Moreover, the carriage first has to move to the lamp check position P5, which is next to the scanning start position P3 in a direction opposite to the scanning direction of the scanner (the scanner moves from the scanning start position P3 to a scanning end position P4 or from the FBS front end to the FBS rear end in FIG. 7) every time a sheet of document is scanned by the flat bed scanner. Accordingly, a user must wait for a while after pressing a start key until the scanning really starts.

Image scanning apparatus with light source condition testing


A method of producing a number of pressure sensors includes joining a plurality of support bodies to a metal component, the metal component forming a diaphragm, applying a thin-film coating to produce the sensor elements, and finally dividing the metal component provided with the thin-film coating and the support bodies into a plurality of pressure sensors, each having a single one of the support bodies so that the number of pressure sensors formed corresponds to the plurality of the support bodies.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved method for producing pressure sensors comprising diaphragms and to diaphragms for said pressure sensors.
2. Prior Art
The invention relates to a diaphragm for a pressure sensor as generically defined by the preamble to the main claim.
In conventional metal diaphragms, especially for high-pressure sensors, the entire diaphragm, including the support elements, is preferably made in one piece of stainless steel. Because of the stringent demands made in terms of the properties of the diaphragms, production of the one-piece metal part requires complicated work steps such as turning, grinding, lapping and polishing to a high gloss. To further complete the diaphragm with sensor elements, a thin-film coating on the metal diaphragms is necessary in many cases.
The diaphragm according to the invention is advantageous because the diaphragm face can be made separately and economically as a part comprising a special steel band, and the required properties are assured in a simple way. For diaphragm thicknesses of approximately 0.4 to 1 mm (and optionally even greater), thickness tolerances of  less than 5% of the diaphragm thickness should be adhered to. The surface quality on the top side should have a value of Rz less than 0.1 xcexcm.
To make it simple to positionally fix the metal diaphragm, the diaphragm part stamped out of the special steel band has a fixation lug on its outside.
The diaphragm of the invention can also advantageously be produced in a group blank production process, in which a single sheet-metal part can include a plurality of support bodies and thus a plurality of diaphragms. The requisite production processes for the thin-film coating can advantageously be applied to all the diaphragm faces of the special steel band simultaneously.
Further advantageous embodiments are defined by the dependent claims.

Apparatus and method of producing pressure sensors and diaphragms for said pressure sensors


In an electric power transmission device which transmits electric power between a primary coil and a secondary coil, a resonant frequency of the secondary coil side is arranged to become higher than a frequency of an oscillation signal of the primary coil side, so that a capacitance can be made small and the coupling coefficient of the primary coil and the secondary coil can be made high. Thus, efficiency of power transmission from the primary coil side to the secondary coil side can be improved.

In recent years, there has been a sharp rise in demand for portable compact electronic equipment, such as a small-sized headphone stereo, combination camera/video tape recorder and mobile communication terminal. These portable compact electronic equipment are equipped with rechargeable and high capacity secondary batteries as their power source and are charged by using a prescribed charger.
One type of the charger device is a contact type. This contact type charger has a spring-loaded point of contact. By contacting a point of contact of the portable compact electronic equipment side to the point of contact to electrically connect them, and then the charging current is supplied to the secondary battery built in the portable compact electronic equipment to form the electric path.
However, in these chargers, the point of contact may be oxidized or contaminants may be build up on the point of contact with time. These oxidation and contaminants cause the disconnection on the part of these contact points and hinder the supply of charging current to the secondary battery.
To avoid such problems, a charger using the noncontact type charging system has been considered. As the noncontact type charging system, a system of supplying the charging current from the charger to the secondary battery by the electromagnetic induction can be considered.
More specifically, a primary coil is provided on a terminal of the charger side and a secondary coil is provided on a terminal of the portable compact electronic equipment, and the primary coil and the secondary coil are brought close. When an electric current is fed to the primary coil under this condition, the primary coil generates the magnetic flux. At this point, if the current to be fed to the primary coil is turned ON or OFF at established intervals, the magnetic flux to be generated by the current induction varies with time. In the secondary coil side, an inducted electromotive force is generated by the electromagnetic induction due to the linkage of the magnetic flux which varies with time. The primary coil generates alternating current of which the direction of current is reversed according to the ON/OFF of the primary coil side as inducted current with the inducted electromotive force as a power supply. Thus, the noncontact type charger conducts charging by supplying the inducted current to be generated in the secondary coil to the secondary battery as the charging current.
With this arrangement, by bringing the primary coil of the charger side and the secondary coil of the portable compact electronic equipment side close, the electric power will be transmitted from the primary coil side to the secondary coil side using the magnetic contact by the electromagnetic induction, and thereby the noncontact type charger can be obtained.
In the charger constructed as described above, the primary coil and the secondary coil are built in the charger side and the electronic equipment side respectively, and by transmitting the power by the electromagnetic induction from the primary coil to the secondary coil, the noncontact power transmission can be conducted.
However, in this case, as the distance between the primary coil and the secondary coil is lengthened (in the case of magnetic permeability of the air), a coupling coefficient between the primary coil and the secondary coil becomes worse and the amount of linkage of the magnetic flux generated in the primary coil to the secondary coil decreases. Therefor, in the electric power transmission device, it is difficult to increase the degree of coupling between the primary coil and the secondary coil such as the general transformer.
Accordingly, the electric power transmission device described above has a problem that the efficiency in the power transmission becomes low due to the power loss by weak coupling.

Equipment and method for transmitting electric power


The Calotropis Procera extracts as anti-ulcerative colitis agents include extracts of Calotropis procera obtained by a method comprising the following steps: (a) providing a plant material derived from Calotropis procera, (b) drying the plant material, (c) pulverizing the plant material to provide a fine powder; and (d) extracting the plant material by percolation using 95% aqueous alcohol in a container to obtain an alcoholic extract. A method of treating ulcerative colitis comprises administering a therapeutically effective amount of an alcoholic extract of C. procera to a patient in need thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to traditional medicinal plant extracts, and particularly to Calotropis Procera extracts as anti-ulcerative colitis agents useful for the treatment of ulcerative colitis.
2. Description of the Related Art
Calotropis procera is a wild growing plant of the Asclepiadaceae family. Different parts of the plant are used in the treatment of various diseases in folk medicine, and their effects were confirmed by scientific experiments. Various studies have demonstrated biological activities of C. procera. There are reports of inflammatory responses, analgesic, anti-microbial larvicides, nematicides, anticancer, and weak antipyretic activities. There are also studies of contraceptive activities reported in rats. In addition, this plant showed potential hepatoprotective, antioxidant, and antibacterial activities.
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease that primarily affects the colonic mucosa and sub-mucosa. The most common symptoms of UC are ulcers and inflammation of the inner lining of the colon that lead to symptoms of bloody diarrhea, passage of pus, mucus, and abdominal cramping during bowel movements. Currently, there is no effective therapy to cure the disease, but the mainstream treatment depends on the reduction of the symptoms. The treatment depends on the severity of the disease. Therefore, treatment is adjusted for each individual.
In the discovery of new anti-ulcerogenic drugs, special interest has been directed to natural plant products based upon traditional medicine (TM). Therapies based on natural products (plants & herbs) derived from TM have proved to be clinically effective and relatively less toxic than existing pharmaceutical drugs because they reduce the offensive side effects of pharmaceutical drugs.
Thus, extracts of Calotropis Procera extracts as anti-ulcerative colitis agents solving the aforementioned problems are desired.

Calotropis procera extracts as anti-ulcerative colitis agents


In a control apparatus for a hydraulically operated vehicular transmission having a plurality of speed stages to be established by a selecting operation of a plurality of hydraulic clutches, when a command to downshift to G(N-2) is issued in the course of downshifting to G(N-1) and a flag FTBD is set to 1, a control is performed to accelerate the time of completion of the downshifting control to G(N-1). When that oil temperature in the transmission which is detected by an oil temperature sensor is lower than a predetermined value, the setting of FTBD to 1 is prohibited. Therefore, at the time of low oil temperature, the downshifting to G(N-1) is performed in an ordinary manner. At the time of starting of the downshifting control from G(N-1) to G(N-2), the hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic clutch for the speed stage G(N-1) is sufficiently increased. A smooth downshifting to G(N-2) can thus be smoothly performed without the occurrence of excessive engine racing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control apparatus for a hydraulically operated vehicular transmission having a plurality of speed stages to be established by a selecting operation of a plurality of hydraulic engaging elements. In this specification, the term "vehicular transmission" means a transmission for a vehicle such as a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
As this kind of control apparatus, there is conventionally known one having means for controlling stepwise speed changing for downshifting one stage at a time such that during downshifting control to one speed stage which is one stage lower, upon receipt of a downshifting command to another speed stage which is one stage lower than said one speed stage, a start of downshifting control to said another speed stage is delayed until the downshifting control to said one speed stage is completed.
In this kind of control system for stepwise speed changing, downshifting to a two-stage lower speed stage which is required by the driver of the vehicle, e.g., from the fourth speed stage to the second speed stage, is performed in two downshifting operations of fourth speed.fwdarw.third speed and third speed.fwdarw.second speed. It has therefore an advantage in that speed change shocks are reduced and that the control system can be simplified. On the other hand, since the downshifting is performed one step at a time, the time for speed changing becomes longer than the one in which downshifting is performed directly to the two-stage lower speed stage. Therefore, it sometimes causes the driver to feel that the time lag in the switching of the driving force is large.
As a solution, the applicants of the present invention earlier proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 253633/1996 the following. Namely, there is provided means for switching a control mode which performs a control to accelerate the time of completion of the downshifting control to one speed stage upon receipt of a downshifting command to another speed stage which is one stage lower than said one speed stage, the downshifting command being issued during the downshifting control to said one speed stage. The downshifting to said one speed stage is thus completed earlier in order to shorten the time of completion of downshifting to said another speed stage.
When the temperature of oil in the transmission is low, the viscosity of the oil becomes high. Therefore, a longer time is required from the time when a control signal has been issued to the time when actual hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic engaging element changes to the hydraulic pressure according to the control signal. As a result, if a control to shorten the time of completion of the downshifting to said one speed stage is performed, the downshifting control to said another speed stage is started before the hydraulic pressure of the hydraulic engaging element to be engaged at the time of downshifting to said one speed stage has sufficiently be increased. The engine will consequently give rise to an excessive racing to thereby cause large shocks.
In view of the above point, the present invention has an object of providing an improvement over the earlier proposed apparatus, in which the occurrence of shocks at the time of low oil temperature can be prevented.

Control apparatus for hydraulically operated vehicular transmission


A brake and wheel for in-line roller skates having multiple slip disks (30a to 30ad) which are placed on retainer ring (40). Slip disks (30a to 30ad) being made of flexible plastic material, and retainer ring (40) being made of low friction plastic material. Retainer ring (40) being snapped closed once slip disks (30a to 30ad) are in place. A right rim (20) and a left rim (50) are placed abutting each other. The rims are joined in the circular hollow of assembled retainer ring (40) and slip disks (30a to 30ad) by screws (10a to 10c).

1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of in-line roller skates, and more particularly provides an improved in-line skate wheel which can also be used for braking.
2.Description Of The Prior Art
In-line roller skates use two or more wheels arranged in a single vertical plane. The primary components of an in-line skate are the boot, the frame to hold the wheels, the wheels, and the brake. The in-line skate is designed to replicate the technique of ice skating. A significant number of consumers use in-line skates as an off-season training device. Their popularity has increased to the point that a number of in-line hockey leagues have been started.
In-line roller skates commonly use a cylindrical brake pad attached to the rear of one of the in-line skates. The pad is typically made of rubber. The skater tilts the brake foot up to stop, pivoting the skate about the most rearward wheel. He then exerts pressure on the brake with his heel while bending the opposite knee and leaning forward at the waist. Such a system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,523 to Olson (1990)
This method of braking requires a long distance to stop. The lengthy stopping distance may lead to accidents. Even though popularity of in-line skates has been increasing, a significant portion of consumers are reluctant to purchase in-line skates as a result of the braking problem. Beginners are especially prone to accidents which result from the inability to quickly stop.
Another method of braking is called the T-Stop. While maintaining balance on one skate, the skater extends the other skate out and slightly behind. The braking skate is oriented perpendicular to the front skate. The skater then drags the inside edge of the wheels by pressing down with her rear leg.
The T-Stop is a more advanced method of stopping, requiring a greater skill level. As such, it is difficult for a beginner to learn. If done improperly it can cause an unwanted change in direction. In addition, the stopping distance is still not as desirable as consumers would prefer.
As a result, inventors created improvements to the cylindrical brake. U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,058 to Olson (1991) shows a cylindrical brake assembly with lateral arms that reinforce and stabilize the side rails of the frame. U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,736 to Olson (1991) shows a brake pad which is retained to the brake housing by an interacting tongue and slot system. The system causes the pad to be tightly forced into the housing during braking.
Both the above improvements are variations on the previously mentioned cylindrical brake pad. The stopping distance is still longer than desired by consumers. In addition, none of the above brakes simulates the stopping motion of an ice skate. Since an in-line skate is designed to replicate ice-skating movement, this is an undesirable feature.
Roller skates are similar to in-line skates. They share many of the same braking issues. U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,973 to McCormack (1976) depicts a toe mounted brake for roller skates. This brake produces a prolonged stop.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,451 to Scheck (1978) shows a brake for roller skates which is activated by a hand operated brake grip. This brake is difficult to manufacture, requires the use of the skater's hand, and significantly alters the appearance of the skate. In addition, it protrudes from the outline of the body of the skate. This protrusion may lead to objects being snagged on the brake
U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,895 to Edwards (1981) introduces a roller skate brake which is activated by a rear mounted lever which contacts the skaters calf. The skater activates the brake by leaning backward. The brake is difficult and complicated to manufacture. It is also difficult and cumbersome for the skater to engage the brake with the calf as it is not a natural movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,781 to Riggs (1981) shows a brake for roller skates which is controlled by a hand activated device attached to the skater's outer thigh. This brake is difficult to manufacture. In addition, it requires the use of the skaters hands which is awkward. The brake also significantly changes the physical appearance of the skate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,726 to Ziegler (1984) shows a rear mounted braking wheel. The skater must pivot the skate rearward about the rear wheels to activate the brake. This method is complicated to manufacture and produces a lengthy stop.
In addition, none of the above brakes can be easily added to an existing pair of skates, thus reducing the potential number of customers.

Combination brake and wheel system for in-line roller skates and the like


A gravity-feed flow rack apparatus for multiple articles with rack modules arranged vertically.. The rack apparatus include main module, front and rear auxiliary modules having article conveyance skid rails, insert joint for joining said modules, tiltable stopper means for serially advancing articles on said module, and control means performing control of desired operation condition of the rack apparatus.. The rack apparatus may be a constructionally changeable in desired number and spaces of the rack modules in which flexible change is desired.

1). Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gravity-feed flow rack apparatus in automobile and electric industries, and more particularly to a rack apparatus for providing modular construction which is typically arranged in vertically multi-stage arrangement.
2). Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, various rack apparatuses have been proposed which are typically configured in fixed frame and carrier rack construction, such as that of Japan Utility Model Publication No. 20804/1992, and others.
The apparatus includes plurality of carrier rack is provided in vertical multi-stages to a side frame, a carrier frame adapted to move an article stored thereon is of inclination forward to engage to carrier rack, and a stopper plate at front end thereof for receiving article.
A slide base having a stopper plate and a first actuation means at front end and lower rear end is arranged under each carrier rack, and a piston rod end of the first actuation means is secured by a bracket member fixed under each carrier rack, a stopper means having a sloped surface is integrally, oppositely affixed to a lower position of the carrier rack. A link arm linkages using a second actuation mean for lifting a following article on the carrier frame at a front bottom thereof is provided behind a bracket member.
A first-in article onto the carrier frame is allowed to slide down forwardly to the slide base by an actuation of the first actuation means, and the following article which slides down onto the carrier frame allowed with a prevention to slide down between the stopper means and the link arm lifting by an actuation of the second actuation means.
Such apparatus appears inconvenient in that the construction must be flexibly changeable to adapt to permit the storing and dispensing of different size articles so that it suits the needs of the user.
When a frequent change of the article's kind and size are required, unused spaces of the carrier rack and the dispensing port may still remain in same place because of the constructional change of the carrier rack of the apparatus has a disadvantages of an excess labor and time.
A problem with such apparatus incorporating such unused space of the carrier rack and dispensing port is its lower workability and productivity.
Although such apparatus have helped to achieve dispensing of articles easily by providing the slide base at the apparatus front ends, there appears to be a vertical surface of the frame rear ends, the effect of which is inconvenient with regard to the loading activity of articles.
Such apparatus provides the rack frame forming of a square shaped construction and the stopper plate of the slide base form a sharp angle, thereby a problem may occur as a work man engages the apparatus may risk injury, and result in lower productivity.
Further, the apparatus includes a stopper means, link arm linkages using the second actuation means for preventing the following article advances, the providing a limit switch detecting the articles presentation incorporated with the actuation means. Therefore, a problem with the apparatus is their structural complexity, and difficult to affect cost saving.
To regulate serially advancing articles, the apparatus includes a control unit for regulating the slide base movement, and allows advancing the next following articles by pressing a push button after dispensing first articles from the apparatus front ends. Such a device however has proven ineffective and operability to use.
Still further, is the use of a constant inclined carrier frame such that it facilitates the article to slide downwardly.
Unfortunately, differences in flow properties of utilized articles results in operation thereof in a different flow rate.
The present invention has been proposed to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of conventional rack apparatus.


An inorganic fibrous shaped refractory article having a high bio-solubility which is capable of exhibiting a desired heat resistance without containing expensive ceramic fibers, alumina powder and silica powder can be provided at a low production cost and with a low product price. An inorganic fibrous shaped refractory article includes 2 to 95 mass % of rock wool, 2 to 95 mass % of inorganic powder having a needle-like crystal structure and 3 to 32 mass % of a binder. Preferably, in the an inorganic fibrous shaped refractory article, the inorganic powder having a needle-like crystal structure has an average length of 1 to 3000 μm and an aspect ratio of 1 to 1000, and more preferably the inorganic powder having a needle-like crystal structure is wollostonite powder or sepiolite powder.

Conventionally, in an industrial furnace, a firing furnace, a heat-treatment apparatus or the like, as a lining material or a heat-insulating material for a ceiling, a wall or the like inside of a heating chamber, a relatively heavy refractory material such as brick has been used. In recent years, an inorganic fibrous shaped refractory article formed mainly of inorganic fibers has come to be used (see Patent Document 1 (JP-A-2001-192278), for example).
An inorganic fibrous shaped refractory article contains inorganic fibers, a binder for binding the inorganic fibers, and an inorganic filler which is optionally added. As the above-mentioned inorganic fibers, in order to improve the heat resistance as well as to reduce the density of the shaped article, ceramic fibers such as alumina silicate fibers have been used. As the above-mentioned inorganic filler, alumina powder or silica powder has been used in order to improve heat resistance.
However, since the ceramic fibers such as the alumina silicate fibers or the inorganic fillers such as alumina powder or silica powder are expensive, there is a technical problem that the production cost and the product price of the inorganic fibrous shaped article are increased.
Further, in an apparatus for casting aluminum, magnesium or the like, when a plurality of the above-mentioned inorganic fibrous shaped articles are combined to be used as a lining material of a member which contacts a molten material, such as a drainpipe, a molten material holding furnace and a ladel, a paste-like inorganic fibrous unshaped refractory composition is used in spaces between the combined articles (joint) or the like. Since this paste-like inorganic fibrous unshaped refractory composition is obtained by adding a liquid solvent to the same materials as those of the inorganic fibrous shaped refractory article, there is also a technical problem that the production cost and the product price are increased.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Inorganic fibrous molded refractory article, method for producing inorganic fibrous molded refractory article, and inorganic fibrous unshaped refractory composition


A conductive paste including: (A) a silver powder; (B) a glass frit; (C) an organic binder; and (D) a powder containing copper, tin, and manganese.

There is known conductive paste having metal particles dispersed in a vehicle of an organic binder and a solvent. Conductive paste is used for formation of a conductor pattern for a printed circuit board, formation of an electrode for an electronic part, and the like. Such conductive paste may be roughly classified into a resin curing type and a firing type. Conductive paste of the resin curing type is conductive paste having conductivity secured by making metal particles contact with each other due to curing of a resin. Conductive paste of the firing type is conductive paste having conductivity secured by sintering metal particles with each other due to firing.
As the metal particles contained in the conductive paste, copper powder and silver powder, for example, are used. Copper powder is advantageous in excellent in conductivity and more inexpensive than silver powder. However, copper powder is prone to be oxidized in an air atmosphere, so that it is disadvantageous in that, after forming a conductor pattern on a substrate, for example, a surface of the conductor pattern has to be coated with a protective material. In contrast, silver powder is advantageous in that it is stable in an air and that a conductor pattern may be formed by firing in an air atmosphere while it is disadvantageous in that electromigration is prone to occur.
As a technique to prevent electromigration, Patent Document 1 discloses conductive coating that has silver powder, as a main conductive material, characterized by containing from 1 to 100 parts by mass of powder of manganese and/or manganese alloy based on 100 parts by mass of silver powder. Patent Document 2 discloses conductive paste characterized by containing a binder resin, Ag powder, and at least one metal or metal compound selected from the group of Ti, Ni, Sn, and Sb.
However, the conductive paste disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 is insufficient in the adhesion to a substrate and the soldering heat resistance, and there used to be a practical problem when it is used for formation of a conductor pattern on a substrate.
Then, as a technique to improve the soldering heat resistance of conductive paste, Patent Document 3 discloses conductive paste characterized by that silver powder is coated with a material containing a first metal component to inhibit sintering of silver and a second metal component to promote sintering of silver.
However, while the conductive paste disclosed in Patent Document 3 has improved soldering heat resistance to a certain extent, sintering of silver is inhibited, so that there used to be a problem of decreasing the conductivity of a conductor pattern obtained by firing the conductive paste. In addition, since a step of coating a surface of silver powder with a metal material is required, there used to be a problem of complex production steps.


The present invention relates to medical devices that can be placed in bodily conduits. The invention particularly relates to balloons and catheters using such balloons for administering treatments to widen constricted passages, deliver therapeutic agents, deliver endoprosthesis' or perform other medical procedures. The balloon catheter can include an expandable balloon disposed adjacent a distal end of an elongated catheter shaft. The balloon can be constructed of a novel absorbable biomaterial.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical devices that can be placed in bodily conduits. More specifically, the invention relates to balloons and catheters using such balloons for administering treatments to widen constricted passages, deliver therapeutic agents, deliver endoprosthesis' or perform other medical procedures.
2. The Relevant Technology
Balloon catheters are well known for their utility in medical procedures. Typically, balloon catheters have a balloon fastened at least at one end around the exterior of a hollow catheter shaft. The hollow interior of the balloon is in fluid flow relation with the hollow interior of the shaft. Fluid under pressure can be supplied to the interior of the balloon through the shaft to expand the balloon against an obstruction.
Presently catheter balloons may be classified as compliant, semi-compliant, or non-compliant balloons. Compliance can be defined as the increase in diameter from nominal balloon pressure to rated burst pressure. Non-compliant balloons have less increase in diameter, than semi-compliant balloons, which in turn have less increase in diameter than compliant balloons.
Compliant balloons expand and stretch with increasing pressure within the balloon, and are made from such materials as polyethylene or polyolefin copolymers. Non-compliant balloons, made from such materials as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyamides, remain substantially at a preselected diameter as the internal balloon pressure increases beyond that required to fully inflate the balloon.
Compliant balloon materials provide a degree of softness to the balloon which aids its passage through, e.g., blood vessels with minimal trauma. Known compliant balloon materials also can display good abrasion and puncture resistance at thicknesses typically used for medical device balloons. However, as mentioned above, they do not remain at the desired diameter with increasing pressure. Such compliant balloons also lack sufficient hoop strength to achieve high dilating forces.
A non-compliant balloon, that is one remaining at a preselected diameter regardless of increasing pressure, is often desirable. Typical non-compliant balloon materials do not exhibit the same degrees of softness and abrasion resistance as the compliant balloons.
It would be desirable, for many treatment conditions, to have a dilatation balloon exhibiting the combined characteristics of softness, abrasion and puncture resistance, hoop strength, and the ability to maintain a preselected diameter as the internal pressure within the balloon is increased. The balloon described herein was developed to address that need.


A modular body structure and a method for assembling a body structure in a vehicle includes fitting a pillar having first and second ends between a roof rail and a lower support such that the first end is disposed below a top of the roof rail. The pillar is fastened to the roof rail and the lower support with first threaded fasteners by friction drilling holes through the pillar and the roof rail and the lower support.

Pickup trucks are motor vehicles with a front passenger area, often referred to as a cab, and an open top rear cargo area, often referred to as a box. The box usually has a substantially flat bed from which two sidewalls and a forward interconnecting headboard extend upwardly therefrom. Pickup trucks may also employ a bottom hinged door, commonly referred to as a tailgate, hinged at the rear edge of the bed and closable to provide a fourth wall for the cargo area. Cabs and boxes may be separate assemblies or part of the same unibody structure. Pickup trucks are popular largely because the box allows them to be utilized in so many different ways, including carrying a variety of types of cargo and towing various types of trailers.
Traditionally the majority of body structures on pickup trucks have been formed from steel alloys. Through years of experience, pickup truck designers have learned how to engineer steel truck body parts that withstand the variety of demanding pickup truck applications. The current regulatory and economic environments have increased the importance of making pickup trucks more fuel efficient as well as functional and durable. One way to reduce the fuel consumption of a vehicle is to reduce vehicle structure weight.
Aluminum alloys typically have a higher strength to weight ratio than steel alloys. Consequently, replacing steel with aluminum offers the potential for weight reduction; however, the elastic modulus of aluminum is generally lower than the elastic modulus of steel. In addition, fabrication techniques and methods of joining parts that work well for steel parts may not work well for the same aluminum part. Because of these and other differences, simple material substitution does not necessarily produce an acceptable design.
Aluminum alloys are generally identified by a four-digit number, the first digit of which typically identifies the major alloying element. When describing a series of aluminum alloys based on the major alloying element, the first number may be followed by three x's (upper or lower case) or three 0's (zeros). For example, the major alloying elements in 6xxx or 6000 series aluminum alloy are magnesium and silicon, while the major alloying elements of 5xxx or 5000 and 7xxx or 7000 series is magnesium and zinc, respectively. Additional numbers represented by the letter 'x' or number '0' in the series designation define the exact aluminum alloy. For example, a 6061 aluminum alloy has a composition of 0.4-0.8% Silicon, 0-0.7% Iron, 0.15-0.4% Copper, 0-0.15% Manganese, 0.8-1.2% Magnesium, 0.04-0.35% Chromium, 0-0.25% Zinc, and 0-0.15% Titanium. Different alloys provide different trade-offs of strength, hardness, workability, and other properties.
There are also five basic temper designations that may be used for aluminum alloys, which are: F, as fabricated; O, annealed; H, strain hardened; T, thermally treated; and W, as quenched. The temper designation may be followed by a single or double digit number for further delineation. For example, aluminum with a T6 temper designation has been solution heat treated and artificially aged, but not cold worked after the solution heat treatment, or such that cold working would not be recognizable in the material properties.
As noted above, one of the benefits of using aluminum alloys is their high strength to weight ratio; however, such alloys tend to be more expensive than traditional steel alloys. Therefore, to the extent that higher cost alloys are used in a vehicle, such as a truck, it would be desirable to have a modular construction to allow replacement of components on a more individualized basis. One portion of a vehicle that could benefit from such a construction is in regard to the pillars which extend between a roof rail and a lower support such as a rocker. Conventional pillars may wrap around one or both of the roof rail or rocker, and may be, for example, welded in place. In case of damage to a pillar, conventional designs may require replacement of the rocker supports and even the entire roof rail structure. Therefore, a need exists for a modular vehicle body structure that facilitates replacement of such pillars without the need to replace all of the other structures to which they are attached.

Vehicle body structure and method for assembling same


The electrostatic chuck 101 where pairs of electrodes 3a/3b, 4a/4b and 5a/5b to which voltages are applied are embedded in the main body 1, and where a substrate 110 is placed and held on the surface of the main body 1, includes a first electrode group constituted of one pair or more of electrodes 3a/3b arranged in a center region 41 inside the main body 1, and a second electrode group constituted of one pair or more of electrodes 4a/4b and 5a/5b arranged in outer peripheral portions 42 and 43 surrounding the center region 41.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrostatic chuck and a substrate fixing method using the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to an electrostatic chuck which holds, and fixes, a substrate subject to a treatment in a vacuum processing apparatus such as a charged particle beam exposure apparatus, and to a substrate fixing method using the electrostatic chuck.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With regard to a low pressure processing apparatus, such as a deposition apparatus by use of low pressure CVD and sputtering, an etching apparatus and an electron beam exposure apparatus, which performs a process under a low pressure, electrostatic chucks have been used as means for holding a substrate to be processed in many cases.
An electrostatic chuck to be used in a deposition apparatus has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Official Gazette No. Tokkai 2001-77184 (hereinafter referred to as "Patent Literature 1"). FIG. 1 of Patent Literature 1 shows the inside of the main body 21 of the electrostatic chuck 20. A positive electrode 23 is provided in the entire surface of the left half plane, and a negative electrode 24 is provided in the entire surface of the right half plane. A substrate 111 with a uniform thickness on which an insulating film and the like are going to be formed is placed and held on the electrostatic chuck 20, as shown in FIG. 6 of Patent Literature 1.
Incidentally, Japanese Patent Laid-open Official Gazette No. Tokkai 2001-118776 (hereinafter referred to as "Patent Literature 2") and Japanese Patent Laid-open Official Gazette No. Tokkai Hei. 10-50584 (hereinafter referred to as "Patent Literature 3") have respectively disclosed electrostatic chucks which are used in charged particle beam exposure apparatus, although neither of these electrostatic chucks hold a substrate which was going to be processed. Each of these electrostatic chucks holds a mask substrate, which has a partially thicker portion and a partially thinner portion, and whose thinner portion has already been patterned. The electrostatic chuck according to Patent Literature 2 opens in its center portion corresponding to the thinner portion 107 of the mask substrate 101 which has been placed, and arc-shaped electrodes 103 and 103′ or half ring-shaped electrodes 503 and 503′ are embedded in a belt-shaped peripheral portion corresponding to the thicker portion of the mask substrate 101, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 of Patent Literature 2. The electrostatic chuck according to Patent Literature 3 opens in its portion corresponding to the thinner portion 1b of the mask 1 which has been placed, and electrodes 4a are embedded in grid shape in its portions 2a and 2c corresponding to a thicker beam 1a and a frame 1c of the mask 1.
In general, a low pressure processing apparatus including the electrostatic chuck according to Patent Literature 1 can process not only a substrate with a uniform thickness, but also a mask substrate (a membrane mask substrate) which have a partially thicker portion and a partially thinner portion, while operating as a single apparatus.
For example, in a case where a membrane mask substrate is fabricated by use of an electron beam exposure apparatus including an electrostatic chuck which is similar to that disclosed in Patent Literature 1, a resist film is formed in a plane surface of a substrate which has a partially thicker portion and a partially thinner portion. The substrate is placed on the electrostatic chuck in a way that the back surface of the substrate, on which the resist film has not been formed, and which is the back surface of the thicker portion of the substrate, is brought into contact with the substrate placement surface of the electrostatic chuck. Then, voltage is applied to the electrodes in order to electrostatically adsorb, and fix, the substrate to the substrate placement surface of the electrostatic chuck. Subsequently, a resist film on a portion where the thickness of the substrate is thinner is exposed to light, and the resist film is developed. Accordingly, a resist pattern is formed in the substrate. Thereafter, the substrate is transferred from the exposure apparatus to an etching apparatus in a low pressure atmosphere by use of transfer means such as a robot. An opening is formed in the portion where the thickness of the substrate is thinner by using the resist pattern as a mask, and thereby a mask substrate is fabricated.
However, in a case where an electron beam exposure apparatus including the electrostatic chuck similar to that disclosed in Patent Literature 1 is applied to the membrane mask substrate, electrostatic attraction also acts in the portion where the thickness of the membrane mask substrate is thinner, since an electrode of the electrostatic chuck exists below the portion where the thickness of the membrane mask substrate is thinner. For this reason, it is likely that the portion where the thickness of the membrane mask substrate is thinner will deflect so that the flatness of the surface is deteriorated. Accordingly, it is likely that the precision in light exposure will be lowered.
For the purpose of avoiding the problems, there is a case that uses an electrostatic chuck similar to that disclosed in Patent Literature 2 including arc-shaped electrodes or half ring-shaped electrodes, which causes electrostatic adsorption force to act only on the portion where the thickness of the membrane mask substrate is thicker in order to fix the membrane mask substrate. In this case, however, it is likely that electrostatic adsorption force to the substrate with a uniform thickness will become insufficient, since an area where the membrane mask substrate is adsorbed to the substrate placement surface of the electrostatic chuck is small in spite of the relatively heavy weight of the substrate.
Alternatively, electrostatic chucks may be changed, when deemed adequately, depending on difference in shape of substrates, while those electrostatic chucks are used in the same single apparatus. However, the changing of the electrostatic chucks causes considerable inconvenience, thus lowering the throughput.

Electrostatic chuck and substrate fixing method using the same