There is provided an image information process apparatus to be applied to a display for displaying bit image display data for each pixel, for enabling the display to display continuous tones in an error diffusion manner based on P bit image data, P being larger than L. This apparatus includes a plurality of adding circuits to which a plurality of P bit image data are concurrently supplied. A predetermined lower bit of an added result at respective adding circuits is used as error data supplied to the next adjacent adding circuit. An error data holding circuit holds a predetermined lower bit of an output from an adding circuit corresponding to the last column pixel in image data supplied. It then supplies the lower bit held to an adding circuit corresponding to the top front column pixel of the image data supplied. With this arrangement, a display which is capable of displaying images based on digital data of a limited number of bits displays in a pseudo manner continuous tones expressed using a higher number of bits than the limited number. In addition, performance and processing speed of image information processing are improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pseudo continuous tone process apparatus for causing a display to display continuous tones in an error diffusion manner, wherein the display displays images based on predetermined bits of image display data, and the continuous tones are displayed using a higher number of bits than the predetermined number of bits in a pseud manner. In particular, this pseudo continuous tone process apparatus utilizes finer continuous tones than the continuous tones displayable by an LCD display having a digital driver for input of a predetermined number of bits, so that the display can display images which are closer to original images.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, a high precision color liquid crystal display for a multimedia use has been developed for office automation. Such color liquid crystals each include a three or four bit digital driver with respect to each of R, G, and B colors. For instance, a color liquid crystal having a three bit digital driver can display eight levels of tones for each color, i.e., 512 colors in total. Such a display is sufficiently usable when it is used simply as a monitor for office automation. However, it is insufficient for displaying motion or still images for a multimedia use, and an increase of the number of continuous tones displayable has thus been desired.
In order to solve this problem, the following methods have conventionally been employed to increase the number of continuous tones displayable in a pseudo manner: a method wherein an undisplayable component with one pixel is diffused into its surrounding adjacent pixels in the same screen frame (inner-frame error diffusion), and a method wherein such a component is diffused into identical pixels over a plurality of screen frames (inter-frame error diffusion). In this application, "error data" signifies data for the lower bit(s) of image data, the lower bit data being unable to be displayed via the digital driver of the display in use.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a multi-continuous tone process circuit using inner-frame error diffusion, for one color among R, G, and B.
In this diagram, a latch circuit 1 sequentially receives eight bit original image data SD in synchronism with a dot clock DCLK and latches them. It then supplies the data SD into an adding circuit 2. The adding circuit 2 in turn adds the lower data SD and four bit error data EI to thereby make eight bit corrected image data HD. An error data hold circuit 3 receives the lower four bits of the corrected image data HD as error data EI according to a dot clock DCLK and holds them for subsequent use in inner-frame error diffusion. A circuit 3 outputs the error data EI to the adding circuit 2 when the original data SD for the next pixel is latched in latch circuit 1. The upper four bits of the corrected image data HD are held in an output latch circuit 4 as a result of inner-frame error diffusion and then outputted to a display as image display data DG. As outlined above, the adding circuit 2 and the error data hold circuit 3 together constitute an inner-frame error diffusion circuit. In this circuit, original image data SD is added to error data EI of a prior pixel by one dot in the adding circuit 2, so that the error data of the lower four bits of the previous pixel is sequentially diffused into its adjacent subsequent pixels. As the result of such sequential diffusion of errors, the fineness of continuous tones displayable is increased in a pseudo manner.
As described above, when four bit image display data DG for respective R, G, and B colors are supplied after being subjected to error diffusion processing into a liquid crystal display which incorporates a digital driver for four bit input, it is possible to display continuous 256.times.256.times.256 tones in a pseudo manner.
The above is an outline of a multi-continuous tone image process apparatus which utilizes inner-frame error diffusion. For more details, Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 4-307210 filed by the present applicant is available for reference.
In the aforementioned pseudo continuous tone process apparatus, error diffusion is made through adding processing in the horizontal direction. Thus, an image may influence the image on its right, resultantly affecting the entire image display data on the display panel. For displaying a moving image or an image expressed in varying densities, this pseudo continuous tone processing is advantageous, significantly improving the image quality. However, for displaying an image expressed in rather flat densities, such as the sky or a human face, image data for a discontinuous image will bring about an error which is made based on that image data, and this will eventually cause a visible trace in a displayed image on the right side of the discontinuous image, ruining the whole display quality.
Assume a case where a mouse cursor is moved on a computer screen with a flat background. The cursor seems to move as if is leaving a tail, because errors in the image data for the cursor moving in a flat density background appear far to the right from the cursor itself, changing the images there.
Further, in a flat density image, a carry-over due to error data added occurs periodically. Because of this, the position of a bright pixel and a dark pixel are coincident in each adjacent horizontal scanning line and also in respective frames. This results in the appearance of a vertical line on a display screen, deteriorating the display quality.
In order to solve this problem, image data for the present pixel is compared to that for the immediately preceding pixel.
If the difference is more than a predetermined value, it is judged that the edges of these images, namely, the previous image and the present image, do not have relevance with each other. Thus, error data which have been accumulated so far are all reset so that the previous image will not influence the present image as they are essentially different from each other.
In addition, in a flat density image, error data is reset for every certain number of pixels, the certain number being indicated by the number of bits of error data. In this event, the position of a pixel where error data is reset, that is, a reset timing is set different for every horizontal scanning line. With these arrangements, carry-over due to added error data occur in scattered places over the screen, which can prevent production of a specific pattern and residual influence of error data, resultantly improving display quality for a flat image.
A pseudo continuous tone process apparatus having the above function is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 6-310817 filed by the present applicant.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of the above -pseudo continuous tone process apparatus.
Latch circuit 11 sequentially receives eight bit original image data GD in synchronism with a dot clock DCLK and latches them. Receiving image data UGD from latch circuit 11, an operation circuit 12, which is an eight bit adding circuit, adds them and four bit error data ED from the error control circuit 13. The upper four bits of an eight bit image data outputted from operation circuit 12 are supplied to latch circuit 14 according to a dot clock DCLK and held therein before being outputted as image display data HD into a digital driver for four bit input of an LCD display. The lower four bits, on the other hand, are supplied to latch circuit 15 as error data EN to be added to image data for the next pixel. The error data EN held in circuit 15 is supplied to error control circuit 13. Image judgement circuit 16 compares respective image data GD sequentially supplied, to thereby detect an image edge, an image pattern, or the like. A detected result is supplied via a signal SEL to error control circuit 13.
Error control circuit 13 is responsible for the following operations; receiving error data EN from latch circuits 15 and outputting it to operation circuit 12 so that the operation circuit 12 carries out general error diffusion processing; resetting error data EN at a different pixel position for every horizontal scanning line; and preparing error data to be added using the error data of the lower four bits of image data GD, based on the assumption that the image data GD are maintained as the image data before an image boundary and outputting the error data prepared to the operation circuit 12.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the structure of an error control circuit 13. Horizontal counter 27, a four bit counter reset by a vertical synchronous signal VSYNC, is used for detecting the present horizontal scanning line position so as to change a reset pixel position for every horizontal scanning line. To detect the present horizontal scanning line position, the counter 27 counts horizontal synchronous signals HSYNC. According to the counter value of horizontal counter 27, decoder 28 outputs data of a predetermined value. That is, it outputs data of sixteen different values for changing a reset pixel position depending on the position of a horizontal scanning line in question. The dot counter 29 is preset to a valve output from decoder 28 using horizontal synchronous signal HSYNC. Dot counter 29 is a four bit counter for incrementing a preset value according to a clock signal CLK which is synchronous to image data GD. This dot counter 29 issues a reset signal RES when all the bits of its output become "1," that is, the counter value becomes "15." Upon issuance of a reset signal RES, reset circuit 20 cuts off the error data EN of the immediately preceding pixel and instead outputs data "0" to the selection circuit 21. With data "0" supplied as errors data EN, diffusion of error data which have been accumulated thus far is reset.
Error generation circuit 22 prepares error data ED to be added to the present image data GD, based on the counter value of dot counter 29 and error data GDE of the present image data GD to be processed. To be specific, it multiplies the dot counter 29 value plus one by the error data GDE. Thus, the obtained error data ED is the one which has been computed based on the assumption that the present image data GD was continuous to the previous image data, even if in actual fact it was not. The error data ED prepared is supplied to selection circuit 21. Selection circuit 21, switched under control of a signal SEL from image judgement circuit 16, generally selects error data EN which has passed through latch circuit 15 and reset circuit 20, and outputs it to the operation circuit 12. However, if an image boundary is detected and a signal SEL is accordingly outputted, selection circuit 21 instead outputs error data ED which was prepared by error generation circuit 22 to the operation circuit 12.
In the following, resetting of error data EN and error generation in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B. FIG. 4A shows a reset pattern, in which the horizontal numbers are the numbers of pixel positions, and the vertical numbers are line numbers and preset data values. Error data EN are reset at pixels with * in this diagram. Obviously, repetition patterns are formed over a 16.times.16 pixel area as horizontal counter 26 and dot counter 29 are both of four bits. Error resetting is held for every sixteen pixels such that reset positions are displaced by three pixels between adjacent horizontal scanning lines. FIG. 4B shows by # positions where carry-over occurs (i.e., operation circuit 12 gives a carry-over to the upper four bits;) with error data EN "8" when the reset pattern shown in FIG. 4A is applied.
For instance, when horizontal counter 27 shows a counter value "1" according to a horizontal synchronous signal HSYNC, decoder 28 outputs data "14," which is then preset into dot counter 29. If one clock signal CLK is applied in the above condition, dot counter 29 turns its counter value into "15", issuing a reset signal RES. In short, error data is reset at a pixel position "1." Thereafter, dot counter 29 increments its counter value for every input of a clock signal CLK as "0, 1, 2 . . . ". In other words, the dot counter 29 value shows a distance expressed in pixels from a reset position to the present pixel. For example, if the dot counter 29 value is "5", for the pixel "7", it is assumed that the image data GD for the pixel "7" is maintained as that of the previous pixel before the image boundary, error data to be added to this image data GD becomes a six-fold value of the error data GDE of this image data GD. Therefore, error generation circuit 22 calculates error data ED to be added by multiplying a dot counter 29 value plus one by error data GDE. In cases where there is an image boundary between pixel positions "6" and "7", the image data GD for the pixel "7" is added to error data ED which was computed based on the assumption that the image data GD was maintained as that of the previous pixel. As a result, the carry-over pattern shown in the pixel "7" column in FIG. 4B is obtained, improving the display quality of an image near the boundary.
Although a single reset pattern is used in the above, a plurality of reset patterns according to error data GDE of image data GD may be prepared in actual fact. In such cases, the same number of decoders 28 and dot counters 29 as the number of reset patterns are provided so that an output of an appropriate dot counter 29 is selected depending on the value of error data DGE. For the details, refer to Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 6-310817.
When a conventional pseudo continuous tone process apparatus having the structures shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is applied to a general VGA (Video Graphics Array) liquid crystal display having 640.times.480 pixels, the frequency of a dot clock DCLK which is synchronous to image data GD is set at about 25 MHz. By the way, as the result of recent developments in liquid crystal displays, a high precision liquid crystal display having 1024.times.768 pixels, called XGA (extended graphics array), or even 1280.times.1024 pixels has come to be in use. If the above pseudo continuous tone process apparatus is employed for such a high precision liquid crystal display, a dot clock has to have such a high frequency as 70-90 MHz, and the structures shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 may have a risk of becoming inoperative as an integrated circuit.
Next described is another conventional method for increasing the number of continuous tones displayable in a pseudo manner. In this method, an undisplayable component with one pixel is diffused into the identical pixel in the next frame (inter-frame error diffusion). To be specific, the lower bit(s) of image data in one frame which were not displayed in that frame are held as error data in a frame memory and added to the image data for the identical pixel in the next frame. Error data is thus diffused into other frames, so that pseudo continuous tones are obtained.
In this method, the image data for identical pixels in respective frames are the same in cases of a still image display. In cases of a moving image display as well, they are almost the same between adjacent frames since moving images between adjacent frames can be considered as still images. This fact is utilized in this method. That is, when the above inter-frame error diffusion process is carried out with one bit error data, a carry-over occurs for every other frame in cases of error data "1". Assuming a case where four bit image data is transformed into three bit display data, the transformation is made as follows
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ added result image inter-frame display data error data data processing ______________________________________ frame 1 0101 0101 010 non-adding frame 2 0101 0110 011 adding frame 3 0101 0101 010 non-adding frame 4 0101 0110 011 adding frame 5 0101 0101 010 non-adding . . . . . . . . . . . . ______________________________________
In this case, the lowest bit of image data keeps being added to its immediately upper bit, without holding error data, during an entire period corresponding to one frame for every other frame. With this arrangement, a frame memory is omissible.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an image information process apparatus for transforming seven bit image data SD into six bit display data DG and outputting the latter. The upper six bits SD1-6 of the seven bits constituting image data are supplied to adding circuit 31 via one of the adding inputs thereof, and the lowest bit SD0 is inputted to AND gate 32 via one of the inputs thereof. AND gate 32 also receives a timing control signal ST via the other input, and supplies an output to adding circuit 31 via the other adding input. Adding circuit 31 outputs display data DG0-5 in-to a display.
The lowest bit SD0 is not added when a timing signal ST has a value "0," and it is added to its immediately upper bit when a timing signal ST has value "1." If adding is performed with respect to all the pixels in one frame for every other frame, alternation of bright and dark frames will be caused, resulting in flickering. In order to solve this problem and achieve consistent image display, adding is performed for every other pixel in the horizontal direction as well as for every other line in one frame. Further, this alternate pattern of adding and non-adding is reversed for every frame. A timing signal ST is generated by a timing signal generation circuit 33 based on the signals which the circuit 33 receives, namely, a vertical synchronous signal VSYNC, a horizontal synchronous signal HSYNC, and a dot clock DCLK synchronous to image data SD.
In the example shown in FIG. 5, image data SD is of seven bits and display data is of six bits. However, there may be liquid crystal displays which incorporate digital drivers of 3, 4, 5 or 6 bits, etc. In order to be applied to any of these displays, an image information process apparatus must include a plurality of circuits capable of handling the respective cases.
In FIG. 6, there are shown an adding circuit 34 for converting four bit image data into three bit display data, an adding circuit 35 for converting five bit image data into four bit display data, an adding circuit 36 for converting six bit image data into five bit display data, and an adding circuit 37 for converting seven bit image data into six bit display data. Outputs of these adding circuits 34, 35, 36, and 37 are selected by a selection circuit and outputted.
In operation, adding circuit 34 receives image data SD4-6 via a first group of adding inputs, namely adding inputs A0-2 and an output of AND gate 39 via one of the adding inputs constituting a second group, namely adding input BO. AND gate 39 receives image data SD3. Adding circuit 34 also receives data "0" via (the rest of the second group, namely adding inputs B1-2. Adding circuit 35 receives image data SD3-6 via a first group of adding inputs, namely adding inputs A0-3 and an output of AND gate 40 via one of the adding inputs constituting a second group, namely adding input B0. AND gate 40 receives image data SD2. Adding circuit 35 also receives data "0" via the rest of the second group, namely adding inputs B1-3. Adding circuit 36 receives image data SD2-6 via a first group of adding inputs, namely adding inputs A0-4 and an output of AND gate 41 via one of the adding inputs constituting a second group, namely adding input BO. AND gate 41 receives image data SD1. Adding circuit 36 also receives data "0" via the rest of the second group, namely via adding inputs B1-4. Adding circuit 37 receives image data SD1-6 via a first group of adding inputs, namely adding inputs A0-5 and an output of AND gate 42 via one of the adding inputs constituting a second group, namely adding input B0. AND gate 42 receives image data SD0. Adding circuit 37 also receives data "0" via the rest of the second group, namely adding inputs B1-5. AND gates 39, 40, 41, and 42 also receive a timing control signal ST via other inputs.
As described above, a plurality of adding circuits are provided so as to cope with a liquid crystal display of a different number of input bits. Those adding circuits supply their outputs to switch circuit 38, which in turn selects one of the supplied outputs according to a selection signal SEL0 or SEL1.
In the image information process apparatus shown in FIG. 6, however, even when the apparatus is working to convert seven bit image input into six bit display data, for instance, adding circuits which are not relevant to this conversion, namely adding circuits 4, 5, and 6, are also kept in an operative state. This will increase power consumption. What is worse, if the above apparatus is formed into an integrated circuit, a significant number of elements are used, increasing chip areas and thus related costs.

Image information process apparatus for causing a display to display continuous tones in a pseudo manner


One aspect of the invention provides a system, apparatus and method that allow a wireless communication device to intelligently search for and select a communication cell based on a system identifier (SID) and network identifier (NID) order of preference rather than just pilot signal strength. Generally, a mobile device scans a frequency channel associated with the highest preferred SID/NID for pilot signals at different PN offsets. The cell associated with the strongest pilot signal detected is queried to determine whether it belongs to the SID/NID sought. If the selected PN offset belongs to a cell associated with the SID/NID sought then it is used for communications. Otherwise, the SID/NID identification process is repeated for the next strongest PN offset detected on the same frequency channel. If no pilot signals meeting these criteria are found in the frequency channel, the next highest preferred SID/NID is selected and the process is repeated.

1. Field
The present invention generally relates to wireless cellular communication systems, and more specifically to a wireless communication device and method for selecting a communication cell based on a preference order rather than just signal strength.
2. Background
Wireless communication systems are typically divided into coverage zones having distinct communication frequency channels in each adjacent coverage zones. A wireless communication system, typically identified by a system identifier (SID), may have multiple overlapping or non-overlapping coverage zones to provide communication coverage to wireless mobile devices. Each coverage zone may be defined by a network identifier (NID). One or more communication cells (e.g. antenna towers or base stations) may be associated with each coverage zone or network. As a wireless mobile device travels from one coverage zone to another, it communicates with different communication cells on the same or different communication frequency channels. In a Code Division Multiple-Access (CDMA) communication system, communication cells within a coverage zone may communicate on the same frequency channel.
CDMA is a spread-spectrum communication protocol that utilizes orthogonally coded signals occupying the same spectral bandwidth (e.g., 1.25 MHz). A CDMA signal is spread by one of N (e.g. N=64) orthogonal codes (e.g., Walsch codes or "spreading codes") that spread the signal over a bandwidth range (e.g., approximately 1.25 MHz). A spreading code is used by each communication cell of a network to transmit signals that are statistically uncorrelated, and therefore separable and non-interfering. For a particular frequency channel, a spreading code is identical for all communication cells (e.g., base stations or towers), except that each communication cell has a different phase-delayed version of the same spreading code. This is usually represented as a time shift or offset measured in chips (e.g., a "chip" may be approximately 0.8 microseconds). This time offset in the spreading code is what uniquely identifies each communication cell (e.g., tower or base station). The pilot channel (spreading code 0) is an unmodified version of the spreading code. It is the pilot channel offset that is used by a mobile device (e.g., mobile phone) to identify a communication cell, distinguish it from other cells, and thereby communicate with the proper cell.
The pilot channel time shift or offset is typically expressed as a "PN offset" reference to absolute time (e.g., PN0). The spreading code sequence repeats periodically (e.g., every 2 seconds). Therefore, PN0 aligns with the beginning of the spreading code period, PN1 is advanced by one time offset (e.g., by 64 chips), PN2 is advanced by two time offsets (e.g., by 128 chips), and so on. The term "PN" stands for "pseudo noise," which has its origins in spread spectrum theory. There may be up to K (e.g., K=512) unique PN offsets available to network operators.
The PNs used by a particular network operator are typically confined to integer multiples of a PN increment. For example, a PN increment of 3 means that PN0, PN3, PN6, PN9, may be assigned to cells in the network. Each CDMA system operator selects a PN increment value based primarily on its communication cell density. A PN increment of 3 provides more PN time shifts than a PN6 since the total number of unique PN offsets is fixed. PN values may be reused in the same network provided the cells are located at a significant distance from one another and their signals do not interfere with each other. To identify a communication cell, a receiving mobile device measures the time offset (from PN0) of the spreading code of a perceived pilot signal.
Typically, when a wireless mobile device is first switched On, its receiver scans a particular communication frequency channel for pilot signals at different PN offset (e.g. from one or more communication cells). The PN offset having the strongest pilot signal strength is usually selected for communication.
Currently, wireless service providers or carriers are assigned or allocated one or more communication frequency channels and PN offsets in each coverage zone in which they operate. Use of the same communication frequency channel by different wireless service providers in adjacent coverage zones is avoided to prevent interference. Wireless service providers spend significant resources in adjusting their cell antennas (e.g. on base stations) to provide coverage to their subscribers while trying to avoid interference with other carriers utilizing the same frequency channels in nearby areas or coverage zones.
For example, because of the nature of RF propagation, pilot signals on a particular frequency from wireless service provider X in coverage zone A may be stronger in parts of an adjacent coverage zone B than the pilot signals same frequency of wireless service provider Y assigned to coverage zone B. A mobile device in coverage zone B, that is a customer of wireless service provider Y, may pickup the stronger pilot signals from wireless service provider X and communicates through wireless service provider X. This may cause the wireless user to incur unwanted roaming charges. Alternatively, wireless service provider X may deny service to customers of wireless service provider Y, thereby preventing the customer from obtaining a communication link even though he/she is located within the coverage zone of wireless service provider Y.
The use of the same frequency is also a problem where a private wireless network is deployed within a larger public wireless network or overlaps a public wireless network. To maximize the use of their spectrum, the public and/or private operators may use the same communication frequency for the public and private networks. Because mobile devices currently communicate through a communication cell associated with the PN offset having the strongest pilot signal on a particular communication frequency, subscribers of the private network may end up communicating through the public network cells and vice versa.
Thus, a way is needed to intelligently identify and select communication cells operating on the same communication frequency channel in overlapping, adjacent, or co-extensive coverage zones while keeping mobile devices from roaming, unnecessarily, to another provider's network.

Technique for using the same wireless frequency channel in overlapping or adjacent coverage areas


The present disclosure provides a vehicle having a storage assembly for storing and dispensing a pressurized gas. The storage assembly includes a first storage cylinder section and a second storage cylinder section that each have multiple storage cylinders arranged longitudinally parallel to one another in a first layer and at least in a second layer. The storage cylinders are fluidically connected to one another in a meandering manner by a plurality storage cylinder loops. Each of the storage cylinder loops is connected to an axial end of a storage cylinder disposed in the first layer and an axial end of a storage cylinder disposed in the second layer. The storage assembly includes a cross member frictionally connected to the body of the vehicle and arranged in an interstice defined between the first and second storage cylinder sections.

Assemblies for storing gas under high pressure are known from the general prior art and are used, for example, for storing natural gas or hydrogen. Such storages have a comparatively large diameter in relation to their length and are therefore to be assessed critically with regard to the integration into a vehicle structure because of the associated height.
Therefore, multiple so-called storage cylinders, which are bottle-shaped having a small diameter in relation to the length, are combined to form a modular pressure vessel, as is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,403 B or U.S. Pat. No. 7,137,409 B2. When integrated into a vehicle, for example in an underbody or trunk, such pressure vessels do not allow any transverse load paths without interrupting the same and without having to use additional connection elements, valves, and protective devices.
In vehicles that are specially configured for an electric drive, a technical space for traction batteries for the electric drive is located below the passenger compartment floor. Such a vehicle is known, for example, from DE 10 2011 012 496 A1 or US 2011/0300426 A1, in which the technical space provided below the passenger compartment floor is divided into two technical sub-spaces, wherein a transverse tunnel is provided under the front seats and under a rear bench seat for further accommodation of traction batteries, so that a footwell is created between the two transverse tunnels in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,033,085 B1 also describes a vehicle in which a battery module is arranged below the passenger compartment floor. This battery module is cut out in the region of the footwell between the front seats and a rear seat bench of the vehicle in the vertical direction of the vehicle, so that a so-called foot garage for accommodating the feet of rear passengers located on the rear seat bench is created.

Vehicle having a storage assembly for storing and dispensing a pressurised gas, and storage assembly for a vehicle


In a magnetoresistance thin film magnetic head, a bias conductor and a magnetoresistive magnetic sensing section are electrically connected to each other in series. Further, the bias conductor (7) is formed in such a pattern as to have a width and distance from a magnetic recording medium facing surface which become larger as it is away from a portion transversing the magnetoresistive magnetic sensing section.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a magnetoresistance thin film magnetic head which is suitable for reproducing signals recorded in a hard disc and to a bias characteristics measuring method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
For a reproducing head of a hard disc drive or a driving device, a magnetoresistance thin film magnetic head exhibiting high sensitivity to short wavelength signals, hereinafter referred to as an MR head, is employed in general.
The MR head is a reproducing head utilizing a phenomenon of magnetoresistance effect in which electrical resistance varies in accordance with an angle formed by the direction of magnetization with the direction of an internal current. In the MR head, an MR magnetic thin film receives a leakage magnetic flux from a magnetic recording medium, having its direction of magnetization turned by the magnetic flux. The direction of magnetization forms an angle corresponding to the magnetic property with the direction of the current running through the inside of the MR magnetic thin film. Therefore, the electrical resistance of the MR magnetic thin film changes, and a change in voltage corresponding to the change in the electrical resistance appears at electrodes at both ends of the MR magnetic thin film. Thus, the magnetically recorded signals can be read out as voltage signals.
The MR head, if used as the reproducing head of the hard disc drive, has a shielding construction in which a magnetoresistance effect magnetic sensing section 54 and a bias conductor 55 are sandwiched between a pair of magnetically shielding thin film magnetic cores 56, 57 via an insulating layer 58, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The magnetoresistance effect magnetic sensing section 54, hereinafter referred to as an MR magnetic sensing section, consists of a magnetoresistance effect thin film formed by stacking electrodes 52, 53 on a distal end and a rear end, respectively, of an air bearing surface (ABS) 51, that is, a surface facing the hard disc, while the bias conductor 55 provides a magnetized status in a predetermined direction for the MR magnetic sensing section 54. The MR head of the above construction is loaded to be used on a slider member 59 of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 --TiC or the like.
In the MR head of such construction, for reproduction of signals, direct currents are supplied as sense currents from the distal end electrode 52 and the rear end electrode 53 of the MR magnetic sensing section 54, while a direct current is supplied to the bias conductor 55 for generating a biased magnetic field. Accordingly, terminals 60, 61, 62, 63 for connection to a direct current power source are provided on the edges of the distal end electrode 52 and the rear end electrode 53 and both edges of the bias conductor 55, respectively. Thus, a total of four terminals are disposed on the slider member 59.
However, in the MR head of the above construction, the necessity of disposing the four terminals 60, 61, 62, 63 on the slider member 59 causes large obstruction to diminution of the hard disc drive in size and achievement of low levitation.
That is, the head employed in the hard disc drive further includes an inductive head for recording stacked on the MR head for reproduction. In the inductive head, a thin film magnetic core on the upper layer shielding the MR magnetic sensing section as one thin film magnetic core constituting a closed magnetic circuit and the other thin film magnetic core stacked to face the one thin film magnetic core have their respective magnetically connecting sections spirally surrounded by a head coil. From both ends of the head coil of the inductive head, two terminals are led, respectively, for supplying currents based on recorded information. Therefore, with the MR head of the above construction, a total of six terminals are disposed on the slider member 59, that is, the four terminals 60, 61, 62, 63 of the MR head plus the two terminals 65, 66 of the inductive head, as shown in FIG. 3.
For disposing as many terminals as six on the slider, however, it is necessary to reduce the terminals in size and to shorten the distance between the terminals. Therefore, there are difficulties in terminal formation and bonding processing on formation of a leader line. Such difficulties become even more serious particularly when the slider is to be reduced in size.
For achieving low levitation of the head, a constant levitation attitude of the slider is strictly required. However, the rigidity of the large number of terminals formed on the slider causes difficulties in the slider's being in a constant leviation attitude. This is disadvantageous to achievement of low leviation.
For this reason, an attempt has been made to reduce the number of terminals disposed on the slider to 5, using one terminal for one of the terminals led from the bias conductor as well as for one of the terminals led from the MR magnetic sensing section. However, even though the number of terminals disposed on the slider is reduced to 5, three terminals are disposed to form one line and the remaining two terminals are disposed to form another line, requiring a disposition area substantially equal to that for 6 terminals. Thus, it is far from a significant reduction in size of the slider.

Magnetoresistance thin film magnetic head having reduced terminal count; and bias characteristics measuring method


A voltage regulator includes an operational amplifier that compares a feedback voltage that is proportional to an output voltage and a predetermined reference voltage that corresponds to a desired output voltage. The operational amplifier controls the conduction state of an output transistor according to the comparison. A detecting circuit monitors the operating state of the operational amplifier, and in the case that the operational amplifier is not operating, outputs a signal which causes the output transistor to be placed in a non-conductive state.

Conventional voltage regulators that have a configuration in which, to stabilize the output voltage, a feedback voltage that is proportional to the output voltage is compared to a reference voltage using an operational amplifier. The conductive state of an output transistor is controlled according to the results of that comparison. This configuration is useful when the input voltage is generally higher than the intended output voltage. But a voltage regulator may also be required to control output voltage even when the power supply voltage is lower than the operating range, such as at the time of power activation. For this reason, a configuration is used in which the power source voltage is monitored by a power source voltage-monitoring circuit, and the voltage regulator is started up when the power source voltage has risen to a sufficient level for the voltage regulator to operate.
However, in a method where a voltage regulator is started up only when the power source voltage becomes sufficient, the time ("start-up" time) from power activation to when the voltage regulator begins to operate becomes relatively long. There is also the problem that, by including a power source voltage-monitoring circuit with the voltage regulator circuit, the size of the semiconductor device that includes the voltage regulator circuit increases.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A reclosable container for a food product comprises a rigid or semi-rigid tray and lid. The tray and lid each have a peripheral edge portion having substantially vertical inner and outer walls joined by a horizontal flange, wherein the container is closed with the tray peripheral edge portion received inside a cavity defined by the lid peripheral edge portion. An outer detent mechanism is provided at one or more corners of the container, such as diagonally opposed corners which may also include lift tabs. The corners at which outer detent mechanisms are located may have straight corner transition portions about which the lid may pivot during opening of the container. The sides of the tray and lid peripheral edge portions may be substantially flat and free of projections, so that only the corners with the outer detent mechanisms offer significant resistance against opening.

Food products such as meats are often packaged for sale in reclosable, rigid or semi-rigid plastic containers comprising a tray and a lid. Prior to first opening of the container, the food product is enclosed within a hermetically sealed product compartment within the tray. Upon first opening of the container, the hermetic seal is destroyed. The container can then be reclosed by applying the lid to the tray, for example to maintain freshness of unused portions of the food product for a relatively short period of time. A hermetic seal is not formed between the lid and tray when the container is reclosed.
Convenience and ease of use are important properties of these containers, and may have an impact on acceptance of a particular food product by consumers. It is common for reclosable food containers to incorporate a detent mechanism to provide an interlocking or "snap" fit between the tray and the lid. Such detent mechanisms may provide an audible sound and/or a tactile sensation which assures the user that the lid has snapped into engagement with the tray and that the container is therefore closed. The detent mechanism may be in the form of one or more ribs or similar protrusions extending along the edges of the tray and/or lid. One problem with such a detent closure mechanism is that it may make it more difficult to apply or remove the lid from the tray. For example, it may be necessary to firmly press the lid onto the tray about its entire periphery to engage the detent mechanism, and to gradually peel the lid from the tray to disengage the detent mechanism. On the other hand, the complete absence of a detent mechanism would cause the lid to fit loosely on the tray and make it difficult to keep the tray closed.
There remains a need for a reclosable food container which can be easily opened and reclosed, yet provides a reliable closure with an audible noise and/or a tactile sensation to signify complete engagement of the lid and the tray.

Reclosable container and closure therefor


A protective pet dish for preventing crawling insects from climbing into the pet dish. The device includes a container resting on a resting frame. The resting frame has a plurality of support legs downwardly depending therefrom. Each of the support legs has a moat cup. Each moat cup has a base and spaced apart inner and outer ring walls. The base of the moat cup has a center and an outer perimeter. The outer ring wall of the moat cup is upwardly extended around the outer perimeter of the base of the moat cup. The inner ring wall of the moat cup is upwardly extended from the base of the respective moat cup between the center of the base and the outer perimeter of the base. The inner ring wall defines a center space. The inner and outer ring walls define a moat space therebetween for holding a fluid therein. The lower end of each support leg is inserted into the center space of the associated moat cup such that the lower end of the support leg rests on the base of the moat cup.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pet dishes and more particularly pertains to a new protective pet dish for preventing crawling insects from climbing into the pet dish.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of pet dishes is known in the prior art. More specifically, pet dishes heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art pet dishes include U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,149; U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,711; U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,609; U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,627; U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,626; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 342,353.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new protective pet dish. The inventive device includes a container resting on a resting frame. The resting frame has a plurality of support legs downwardly depending therefrom. Each of the support legs has a moat cup. Each moat cup has a base and spaced apart inner and outer ring walls. The base of the moat cup has a center and an outer perimeter. The outer ring wall of the moat cup is upwardly extended around the outer perimeter of the base of the moat cup. The inner ring wall of the moat cup is upwardly extended from the base of the respective moat cup between the center of the base and the outer perimeter of the base. The inner ring wall defines a center space. The inner and outer ring walls define a moat space therebetween for holding a fluid therein. The lower end of each support leg is inserted into the center space of the associated moat cup such that the lower end of the support leg rests on the base of the moat cup.
In these respects, the protective pet dish according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of preventing crawling insects from climbing into the pet dish.


A gripping device is used to grip and remove a relatively small item or particle from a larger object, such as a tick or other parasite attached to an animal or human, a fruit stem, or a sliver or splinter. The gripping device includes first and second opposing members coupled at a proximal end, for example, by an integral hinge. A gripping region is formed between the distal ends of the first and second opposing members. The first opposing member has a larger surface area and preferably a substantially circular shape adapted to be easily held by the hand of a user. The second opposing member has an arcuate shape at the distal end such that the relatively small particle is more easily disposed within the gripping region formed by the distal ends. The first and second opposing members are preferably made of one piece, for example, from a metal, plastic, or other suitable material. The distal ends on the first and second opposing members are adapted to move together when the first and second opposing members are squeezed by the user, such that the gripping region closes against the attachment. The distal ends are adapted to move apart when the first and second opposing members are released by the user.

Tweezers are well known devices used to grip and remove relatively small particles attached and extending from larger objects. One common use for tweezers is to remove splinters or ticks or other parasites that have become attached to the skin of an animal or human. Existing tweezers have narrow opposing arms that are held by the user and narrow jaws that grip the small particle. The narrow arms and jaws, however, make the tweezers difficult to handle, particularly when used to remove ticks from beneath the fur of a dog or other animal. The narrow jaws must be precisely positioned around the tick or other relatively small particle that is to be gripped and removed. The narrow arms are often difficult to hold and manipulate.
Accordingly, a need exists for a gripping device that can be more easily held and maneuvered by the user. A need also exists for a gripping device that has a gripping region that can be more easily located around the tick or other relatively small particle being removed.


A fixture mounting bracket having a mounting bracket body including a front wall and a back wall. At least a section of the back wall has a stepped configuration that conforms generally to the lapped profile of exterior siding. Disposed on at least a portion of the section of the back wall having the stepped configuration is a gasket. The gasket resists dirt and moisture from entering between the mounting bracket body and the siding. A fixture assembly is also disclosed.

This invention relates to a fixture mounting bracket and an associated fixture assembly and more specifically, to a fixture mounting bracket that is adapted to be mounted on siding having a lapped profile, such as vinyl siding mounted to the exterior of a residential dwelling.
It is often desired to mount various devices to the exterior of a building having siding. These devices include light fixtures, doorbells, electrical outlets, water spigots and flagpole mounts. A problem arose, however, in mounting these devices to siding having a lapped profile because the mounting base of these devices is usually flat and thus did not conform to the lapped profile of the siding.
There have been proposed several mounting brackets that have attempted to solve this problem. U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,168 discloses a mounting bracket having a flat faceplate portion and an integral peripheral skirt portion. The skirt portion has free edges which are configured in a stepped arrangement to correspond substantially identically with the lapped profile of the siding upon which the bracket is mounted. In order to resist dirt and moisture from entering into the space between the bracket and the siding, the patent suggests caulking around the bracket. This, of course, requires that separate caulk be available and also an extra installation step, not to mention the messiness and unattractive appearance of the caulking.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,409 also discloses a mounting bracket for use on siding having a lapped profile. This mounting bracket has a free edge with an enlarged bead comprising an outer lip and an inner lip which together define a groove for receiving a caulking compound. The patent states that water is prevented from flowing into the space between the siding and the mounting bracket due to the presence of the bead. Once again, however, this mounting bracket teaches providing caulking and a separate caulking step.
Despite these prior art devices there remains the need for a mounting bracket which is easy to manufacture and install and which provides an attractive and aesthetically pleasing mounting bracket for mounting devices on siding having a lapped profile.

Fixture mounting bracket and associated fixture assembly


An exemplary illumination device includes a heat sink, a plurality of LED modules mounted on the heat sink, an envelope engaged with the heat sink and covering the LED modules, and a reflector positioned on the envelope. Light generated by the LED modules emits forward through the envelope out of the illumination device and has a main emission direction. The reflector reflects the light back to a direction sideways and opposite to the main emission direction to increase an illumination area.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to illumination devices, and more particularly to an illumination device for use with solid state light emitters, e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs).
2. Description of Related Art
LEDs as a source of illumination provide advantages such as resistance to shock and nearly limitless lifetime under specific conditions. Thus, illumination devices utilizing LEDs present a cost-effective yet high quality replacement for incandescent and fluorescent lamps.
Conventional lamps such as incandescent lamps can emit light radially and illuminate all around the lamps. However, LEDs are area light sources and the light emitted by the LEDs is of high directivity. Lamps using LEDs as light sources can not illuminate rear directions thereof, which is not convenient for the users, especially when the lamps are applied in mines or tunnels.
What is needed therefore is an illumination device having reflectors which can overcome the above limitations.

Fu Zhun Precision Industry (Shen Zhen) Co., Ltd.


A system for equalizing pressure in a washing chamber in response to changes in pressure inside washing chamber. Gate elements are operable between open and closed positions to regulate pressure conditions inside the washing chamber.

Large industrial washers are commonly used in the healthcare, pharmaceutical, and scientific research industries. The washers are used to remove contaminants and biological waste from large objects, such as racks of animal cages, and healthcare and scientific equipment, such as hospital beds, wheelchairs, medical instruments, utensils, carts, instrument containers, and the like. The washer includes a washing chamber with a large opening for providing access to the washing chamber. A door seals the opening, and opens to allow a load to be located inside the washing chamber. The washing chamber may be over six feet tall and several feet wide and deep to accommodate the aforementioned items.
Since the fluids used within such washing chambers are often heated, significant fluctuations in pressure can occur within the washing chamber during a washing cycle. More specifically, considerable differences in temperature in liquids and gases (e.g., air) used during a washing cycle or during an exhaust or drying cycle, can produce either an increased pressure in the washing chamber as compared to the surrounding environment (i.e., a positive pressure), or a vacuum in the washing chamber as compared to the surrounding environment (i.e., a negative pressure). Moreover, in the event of a vacuum condition within the washing chamber, it is important that "unfiltered air" not be drawn into the chamber, as this would allow contaminants to enter the washing chamber, and thus impair the effectiveness of the washer.
The present invention provides a pressure equalization system that prevents large fluctuations in pressure in a washing chamber.


A multiplexing method for Ethernet signals in the synchronous digital hierarchy, wherein the bit rate of a Gigabit Ethernet signal is reduced at the transmission end via 10B/8B decoding such that, after marking control words and data words which are to be transmitted in packets, the packets can be inserted in an STM-N signal.

Data terminals such as routers or switches have an interface for local applications, such as for a local area network, which interface is referred to in IEEE Draft Recommendation P802.3z as the 1000BASE-X interface, and which is known in the literature as the Gigabit Ethernet interface. However, this interface has only a very restricted range of a few hundred meters. If one wishes to physically extend local area networks or form MAN or WAN networks, then these Gigabit Ethernet signals must be transported via transmission networks. Normally, in Europe, these transmission networks make use of transmission systems which operate on the basis of the synchronous digital hierarchy SDH in accordance with ITU Recommendation G.707. In the USA, these systems operate on the basis of the SONET Standard, which is likewise defined in G.707.
An object of the present invention is to specify a circuit arrangement and a method in which Ethernet signals can be inserted in SDH/SONET systems.

Multiplexing method for gigabit ethernet signals in the synchronous digital hierarchy


A novel heterostructure acoustic charge transport (HACT) device is disclosed having an optimized charge density. The device includes a transducer fabricated on a substrate structure that launches surface acoustic waves. A reflector is formed in the substrate structure at an end portion adjacent to the transducer for reflecting the surface acoustic Waves. Also included is an electrode configured with the transport channel at an end thereof distal to the transducer for generating electrical signal equivalents of the propagating electrode charge. During fabrication, the resistivity of the layers initially configured at a lower than desired value. The layer is subsequently etched to raise the resistivity to the desired value.

Acoustic charge transport (ACT) phenomena in III-V semiconductor material has only recently been demonstrated. Such devices have applications as high speed analog signal processors. Delay lines have been fabricated in gallium arsenide (GaAs) structures comprising a surface acoustic wave (SAW) transducer that launch a surface acoustic Wave along upper layers of GaAs or (AlGa)As substrate having transport channel formed therein. An input electrode sources charge to be transported by the propagating potential wells. There is also an electrode receiving a signal for modulating that charge. Spaced down the transport channel are one or more nondestructive sensing (NDS) electrodes for sensing the propagating charge. There is also an ohmic output electrode for removing the charge.
Initial acoustic charge transport devices were comprised of a thick epilayer (TE-ACT), With vertical charge confinement accomplished by means of an electro-static DC potential applied to metal field plates on the top and bottom surfaces of the GaAs substrate. The field plate potentials are adjusted to fully deplete the epilayer and produce a potential maximum near the midpoint thereof. Consequently, any charge injected into the channel is confined to the region of maximum DC potential.
Lateral charge confinement (Y direction) has been achieved in several Ways Typically, a mesa is formed to define a charge transport channel. However, for thick epilayer acoustic transport devices, the mesa must be several microns in height, a fact which presents problems in fabrication and is a major impediment to the propagating surface acoustic Wave. Blocking potentials extending down both sides of the delay line have also been used to define the transverse extent of the channel, as has proton bombardment to render the material surrounding the channel semi-insulating.
A heterostructure acoustic charge transport (HACT) device (HACT) has been fabricated using a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure that is similar to that of quantum well lasers and heterostructure field effect transistors FET (e.g. HFET, MODFET, HEMT and TEGFET devices). A HACT device is comprised of a sequence of epitaxial layers and vertically confines mobile carriers through the placement of potential steps that result from band structure discontinuities. Besides providing for inherent vertical charge confinement, the HACT devices are thin film devices whose layers have a total thickness of approximately 0.25 microns, excluding a buffer layer.
A cap layer is provided With a HACT device both to protect an upper (AlGa)As layer and to permit fabrication of low resistance ohmic contacts and low leakage Schottky metalization. However, it is not possible to systematically and repeatedly produce a layered structure with the required sheet resistivity. Consequently, wafers must often be discarded because the grown resistivity of the device is not in an acceptable range. It would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus for fabricating lII-V devices capable of adjusting the resistivity thereon after layer growth is complete, thereby reducing the number of unsuitable wafers and increasing device yield. The present invention is drawn towards such a device.

Method and apparatus for selecting the resistivity of epitaxial layers in III-V devices


A method of managing memory includes installing a first cacheline at a first location in a cache memory and receiving a write request. In response to the write request, the first cacheline is modified in accordance with the write request and marked as dirty. Also in response to the write request, a second cacheline is installed that duplicates the first cacheline, as modified in accordance with the write request, at a second location in the cache memory.

A memory system may use error-correction codes (ECC) to achieve a specified level of reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS). ECC improves RAS but adds overhead in the form of additional die area in the memory arrays for storing the bits used to implement the ECC and increased computational complexity. While RAS may be improved by using increasingly complex ECC schemes, the increased ECC complexity results in increased overhead.


Acoustic wave devices coated with a biolayer are described for the detection target bio-molecules. The acoustic wave device is connected in an oscillator circuit, and the frequency shift Δf resulting from a biomolecular event is recorded. Further described are the use of Rayleigh wave surface acoustic wave devices for vapor phase detection as well as quartz crystal microbalance devices for liquid phase measurements. A biofilm on the surface of the acoustic wave device comprises of a layer of antibodies raised against a specific target molecule or antigen. Signatures for detection events are presented in the form of frequency shifts Δf(t).

The highly specific and complex nature of olfactory sensing systems has inspired researchers to develop vapor phase chemical detection systems, commonly referred to as "electronic noses." These devices and systems are currently being used in biotechnology, as well as applications in medicine, the environment, the food industry, and most recently law enforcement applications. Interdiction efforts continue in the search for technologies which can provide an inexpensive alternative to dogs as detectors of narcotics and explosives. One of the principal motivations for the development of electronic noses for such applications is the expense associated with the handling, training, and care of such dogs, Furthermore, it is often unclear what chemicals the dogs are actually detecting, and response vary considerably amongst dogs. As an example, not all dogs do respond to the same cocaine sample. Although the dogs have proved to be a highly useful tool in detecting illicit materials, they have inherent limitations in reliability, as one would never accept data from an instrument without having a solid idea of the physical mechanism behind a detection event.
Acoustic sensors represent a long-standing an approach for high-precision sensing. Quartz crystal microbalances (QCMs) have been utilized since the 1950s to monitor the thickness of metals being deposited on wafers in evaporation systems. Such sensors have leveraged investments in other technologies, namely, oscillator designs and electronic frequency counters. In addition, the investments in frequency control and radar during World War II and for the quarter century that followed led to a detailed understanding of the temperature characteristics of quartz, largely at the Ft. Monmouth, N.J., Army Research Lab in the United States. In cuts of quartz such as the AT-cut used for QCM, the linear expansion of the material with increasing temperature is compensated by an increase in the acoustic velocity such that the round trip delay for an acoustic wave in a resonator does not vary with temperature. However, current implementations of QCMs, as used to detect chemicals in the liquid phase, suffer from the inability to distinguish molecular detection events from noise, such as the binding of extraneous substances to the detection device. Furthermore, existing models of recognition events are static, and do not account for time variations in the state of detection devices, and thereby ignore important distinguishing characteristics of detection events. One such static model is the Sauerbrey equation, i.e.,:
      Δ                          •                          f    =      -                  2                                                            f          o          2                                                                    ρ          s                                      V          a                                  ρ          r                    where Δf is the resonator frequency shift; fo is the resonator center frequency; ρs is the mass density per m2 of analyte attached to the surface; Vα is the acoustic wave velocity in the resonator, and ρr, is the volume mass density of resonator material. (further described in "Use of quartz vibrator for weighing thin films on a microbalance," Z Phys., vol. 155, pp. 206-210, 1959.). By failing to account for changes in response over time, such models are often inadequate to distinguish molecular recognition events from noise.
Acoustic wave "biosensors" are distinguished from chemical sensors in that they use a molecule of biological origin (e.g., antibody, cell, enzyme, protein) immobilized onto a surface as the chemically sensitive film on a device. In the prior art, the detection of the presence of entities of biological origin, such as proteins or cells, has taken place in liquids as a requirement. Accordingly, there is a need for an acoustic sensor and models for signature recognition which have one or more of the following features: (1) allow for the detection of targets other than biomolecules, (2) do not limit the detection environment to the liquid phase; (3) allow detection of bio-molecules in the vapor phase; (4) allow for the detection of molecular recognition events through time-dependent signatures, to improve accuracy and speed of detection.

Systems and methods for molecular recognition


The present invention comprises an assembly for the single-hand manipulation of a light treatment device and a chilled air supply on a skin light-treatment site. The assembly comprises an elongated frame member having a first end and a second end. The frame member also has an upper portion and a lower portion, the upper portion having an elongated channel therealong for receipt of a light emitting optics for emitting a light beam therefrom. The lower portion has a bore extending therethrough for passage of chilled air from a chilled air source. The bore may be arranged to direct chilled air at an angle with respect to the light beam to chill the site. The assembly includes a handpiece tip member arranged at the second end of the frame assembly and maybe integral therewith. A flexible chilled air supply hose made of light weight foam material and reinforced with an expandable sleeve member connects a refrigeration unit to the frame assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to laser arrangements, and more particularly to manipulable, hand-held frames for supporting both lasers and laser-target skin-chilling devices.
2. Prior Art
Laser treatment of human anatomy have become routine in doctors"" offices. Such laser use has been adapted for treatment of skin, hair, blood vessels, eyes, and wounds. In the application of lasers to skin however, the skin temperature may reach as high as 80 degrees centigrade on the skin surface. This can become quite painful to the patient receiving such treatment. Cooling the skin or surface of the patient before, during and subsequent to the laser application minimizes such patient injury. Additionally, cooling of the skin provides an analgesic effect, thereby minimizing the pain sensation during a light or laser energy treatment.
Heretofore, cooling of the patients"" skin has been accomplished by a separate, hand-held cooling air jet, held in one hand, while the laser device is held in the other hand of the treating physician. This makes it difficult to manipulate the patient as well as the multiple devices utilized to treat that patient. The laser devices typically have to be spaced from the patient""s skin a specific distance. Simultaneous, multiple skin treatment devices only make it more difficult and cumbersome to treat that patient.
An improvement in the skin-chilling apparatus included a cold air attachment angularly disposed on an L-shaped frame at the tip of the laser device. The chilled air, supplied by a separate hose, was directed directly at the target site of the laser beam. The nozzle for the chilled air supply and its attached hose of this prior art device is arranged at an angle, so as to be somewhat cumbersome because of the different supply conduits of the laser and of the chilled air hose are spread out and not arranged neatly in a parallel arrangement.
It is an object of the present invention, to provide a frame arrangement for supporting both a chilled air supply, and a laser device in a single, unitary, one-hand manipulable structure, to provide optimum cooling and lasing simultaneously.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvement over the laser and skin chilling apparatus of the prior art.
It is still a yet further object of the present invention, to provide a frame arrangement for a laser device and a chilled air supply conduit for cooling the skin of a patient as well as the space bar of the laser frame apparatus.
The present invention comprises a frame arrangement for enclosing both a laser device such as laser optics, and a chilled air conduit, for the application of a laser beam and chilled air onto the treatment surface of a patient. Such combined laser treatment and chilling is utilized for laser hair removal, laser treatment of vascular lesions, tattoo removal, skin resurfacing, wrinkle removal, scar treatment, skin stretch mark treatment, or any other dermatological application.
The light and chilled air frame arrangement of the present invention comprises an elongated housing frame having a first end and a second end. The elongated housing frame has an upper portion having a generally cylindrically shaped channel or slot arranged therethrough. The generally cylindrically shaped channel or slot extends the entire length of the elongated housing frame and is opened on both ends thereof. The slot or channel is arranged to support a light-emitting optics device, such as a laser light carrying handpiece secured therewithin. The handpiece or optical arrangement is connected to a laser via a flexible light energy carrying optical fiber.
The elongated housing frame has a lowermost portion with an elongated bore extending therethrough. The elongated bore is generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cylindrically shaped slot or channel in the uppermost portion of the elongated housing frame. The bore extending through the lowermost portion of the elongated housing frame has an angled discharge port in the second end of the elongated housing frame. The first end of the elongated housing frame has a chilled air supply hose attached thereto, in communication with the bore extending through the lowermost portion of that frame. The chilled air supply hose is communicatively attached to a refrigeration unit, so as to permit the supply of chilled air through the flexible hose, and into the elongated bore extending through the lower portion of the elongated housing frame. The discharge port in the second end of the elongated housing frame may be angled to direct the chilled air towards the target which is the patent""s skin at the intersection of the laser beam and that skin.
An elongated, handpiece tip may be threadably received in an opening in the upper end of a handpiece adapter plate. The handpiece adapter plate is a generally oval-shaped plate having a light port arranged therethrough, the light port being in alignment with the opening at the second end of the elongated housing frame to permit a light beam to pass therethrough. The adapter plate also has a lower chilled-air port, which is in alignment with the discharge port of the cooled air supply bore in the lower portion of the elongated housing frame. The handpiece adapter plate is removably received in a curvilinear channel arranged about the second end of the elongated housing frame. The channel has a shoulder or lip, to secure the adapter plate within that channel. In a further embodiment, the handpiece tip may be integral with the elongated housing frame. Such an assembly may be molded plastic or metal.
In operation of the present invention, the treating physician would actuate the refrigeration and chilled-air unit, to supply chilled air through the flexible expandable-sleeve reinforced, light weight foam tubing leading to the first end of the elongated housing frame. The flexible hose from the refrigeration unit is a foam material, to permit flexibility, and allow ready manipulation thereof. The light weight foam hose is reinforced with an expandable sleeve to prevent kinking. The treating physician would have a foot or hand actuatable switch for the generation of light, such as a laser light, from the light emitting optics arranged within the cylindrically shaped slot/channel in the elongated housing frame. Constant or intermittent bursts of light may be directed onto the patient""s skin, through the elongated housing frame arrangement. The frame arrangement is spaced from that patient""s skin by the length of the handpiece tip attached to the handpiece adapter plate. Chilled air would be directed through the bore of the elongated housing frame, and discharged finally, through the discharge port in the second end of the elongated housing frame, and out the chilled air port of the handpiece adapter plate. The direction of the chilled air in one embodiment may be such to be angled with respect to the longitudinal axis of the light emitted from the light emitting optics, and also to chill the distal end of the handpiece tip. This permits the chilling of the patient""s treatment area, such as the skin, by the chilled air as well as providing a chilling of that patient""s treatment area by the distalmost end of the tip. The angle of the discharge port with respect to the longitudinal axis of the light device preferably lies in the range of between 20 to 60 degrees.
Thus there has been shown a unique light and chilled air supply arrangement with easy manipulation of both of those components for treatment of a patients skin, by a single hand of the treating physician. The elongated frame arrangement also provides multiple sources of cooling of that patient""s skin by virtue of the blast of chilled air itself, as well as the chilled tip. In a further embodiment, the distal end of the handpiece tip may have an imprint arrangement such as a U-shaped or circular-shaped frame element thereon, to supply a xe2x80x9cfootprintxe2x80x9d to the patient""s treatment site. That tip footprint arrangement provides a contact heat sink in addition to that heat dissipating arrangement provided by the direct blast of the chilled air.
The invention thus comprises an assembly for the single-hand manipulation of a light treatment device and a chilled air. supply on a skin light-treatment site. The assembly comprises an elongated frame member having a first end and a second end. The frame member also has an upper portion and a lower portion. The upper portion has an elongated slot therealong for receipt of a light emitter for emitting a light beam therefrom. The lower portion has a bore extending therethrough for passage of chilled air from a chilled air source. The bore is arranged to direct chilled air at an angle with respect to the light beam to chill the site. The assembly includes a removable handpiece tip member arranged at the second end of the frame assembly. The frame includes a curvilinear channel and shoulder arranged on the second end thereof, for receipt of a handpiece adapter plate, the plate supporting the tip member. The handpiece adapter plate has a light port and a chilled air port arranged to permit passage of light and chilled air therethrough from a flexible, reinforced chilled air supply hose. A refrigerated air source is in communication with the air supply hose. The bore is arranged to chill both the tip member and the treatment site on the patient. A light energy source is in communication with the light emitter optics in the elongated frame housing. A tip footprint member may be arranged onto the second end of the frame. The tip in either embodiment may be integral with the elongated frame for simplicity of manufacture.
The invention also comprises a method of treating a skin site on a patient using light and chilled air comprising the steps of: arranging an elongated frame housing having a first end and a second end, and an upper portion and a lower portion; placing an elongated channel along the upper portion and a bore along the lower portion; arranging a light emitter in the elongated channel to emit a beam of light at the second end of the fame; connecting a flexible refrigerated chilled air supply hose to a first end of the bore; attaching a tip member at the second end of the fame housing; and directing the bore for the chilled air to a treatment site on the patient and to a distal end of the tip member. The method includes emitting light from the light source and onto a treatment site on the patient, cooling the treatment site by the tip member. The method may include the step of replacing the tip member by a further tip member to define a footprint on the treatment site.


A method for measuring cancer related substances including cancer cell-derived free DNA by Raman spectroscopy, involving steps for preparing a biochip having a meso-crystal region of silver oxides containing a silver peroxide, adding a blood serum or a biological sample solution dropwise onto the meso-crystal region of said biochip, selectively trapping the cancer-related substances having a positive charge in the sample, irradiating the trapped cancer-related substance with an exciting laser light and detecting a surface enhanced Raman scattering therefrom, wherein cancer diseases are evaluated on the basis of the intensity of the Surface Enhance Raman Scattering (SERS). In the carbon-specific D band and G band in the Raman scattering spectrum, a characteristic peak spectrum of the cancer-related substance can be detected in the proximity of the methyl group characteristic of 2900 cm−1.

Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to a method of measuring cancer-related substances which increases in blood with the progress of cancer, including mainly a free DNA (DNA wrapped around the histones) as a target to be measured by Raman spectroscopy.
Description of Related Art
A method of measuring a cancer-related substance which increases in the blood with the progress of the disease has hitherto been used as a diagnostic method for cancer. The cancer-related substances referred to proteins and the like, which are cancer-specific substances extracted from a body fluid of cancer patients and are generally released into the blood when the cancer cells are destroyed. According to the prior diagnostic methods of the cancer, it is determined that there is a possibility that the test subject or patient is suffering from cancer when more than a determined value of the cancer-related substance is found existing in the blood.
Thus as the cancer-related substance released into the blood by destruction of the cancer cells, it is known that not only proteins but also DNA may be released into the blood. And, when compared with the healthy subjects and cancer patients, it has been reported that the amount of the free DNA (ctDNA) derived from cancer cells in blood, is significantly more in those cancer patients than healthy individuals. Thus, by quantifying the free DNA of cancer cells from the body fluid such as blood, it is considered to be able to diagnose the presence of cancer. As such a method of cancer diagnosis, for example, there are proposed 1) a method of diagnosing a possibility of cancer in case of detecting 200 bp or more of DNA to be amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method and the like, in the body fluid or feces discharged from the body, and further analyzing a mutation in its DNA if necessary (Patent Document 1 and 2), and 2) a method of quantifying genomic DNA contained in a body fluid, and further performing DNA testing in the case of more than a predetermined value of the genomic DNA (Patent Document 3).
Furthermore, even if the patient is diagnosed suffering from cancer, mere quantitative analysis of the DNA in body fluids is unable to identify a cancer suffering organ. When the cancer is arising and progressing, it is known that a specific mutation of DNA occurs depending on the original cancer site. Therefore, by clarifying the type of mutation in the DNA, it may be possible to identify an organ or a cancer site where the cancer is developing. Here, as Mutations of DNA, there are listed point mutations of DNA and also structural abnormalities such as chromosome gain or loss. For example, in about 70% of pancreatic cancer, it is known that the point mutation occurs in the K-ras gene. Also, in the analysis of loss of heterozygous, (hereinafter referred to as LOH) there have been reported the loss of specific chromosomal arms depending on each cancer type, for example, it is known that LOH is concentrated on the short arm of chromosome 3 in case of the lung cancer. Also, the amplification of long arm No. 8 of chromosome and the amplification of RB2 are known in the breast cancer, Therefore, in order to provide an improved method for diagnosing cancer with high accuracy by quantifying the free DNA from cancer cells with a biochip as described herein, there has been provided a method of diagnosing cancer, which comprises a step of extracting a free DNA from plasma collected from a subject, a step of calculating the free DNA per unit volume of the extracted plasma by quantifying the free DNA, a step of comparing the calculated value of the free DNA with a second threshold value more than the first threshold value, a step of making a diagnose as follows; the subject has a high possibility of affection with cancer when the calculated value is less than the first threshold value, while some DNA from normal cells are mixed in the plasma when the above threshold is more than the second threshold value (patent document 4).

Method of measuring cancer related substances by raman spectroscopy


A solid-state laser source of tunable and narrow-bandwidth UV light is disclosed. The system utilizes a fiber amplifier in a resonant cavity. An acousto-optic or electro-optic modulator is incorporated into the cavity in such a way that the energy stored in the gain medium is efficiently extracted in the form of high-peak-power, short-duration pulses. In addition, narrow bandwidth and linearly polarized output are simultaneously achieved. The light from the cavity is converted into the ultraviolet by frequency tripling, quadrupling, and/or quintupling the infrared light. The narrow bandwidth, or relatively pure light, is preserved with intracavity filtering, and the high peak light powers increase the efficiency of the nonlinear crystals in the frequency conversion stage.

Spectroscopic detection of trace gases is used in a wide range of applications, including atmospheric monitoring, industrial process and emissions control, and combustion studies. Spectroscopic detection methods offer high specificity, high sensitivity, fast time response, quantitative determination of species concentrations (i.e., absolute calibration), and the possibility of noninvasive or remote sampling. Although broadband light sources can be used in some situations, laser sources are preferable because of their directionality, high spectral brightness (for attaining high sensitivity), and narrow bandwidth (for minimizing interferences).
For applications requiring compact or portable instrumentation, absorption spectroscopy in the mid-infrared (IR) (3-10 .mu.m) and near-IR (0.8-3 .mu.m) spectral regions has been successfully implemented. Ultraviolet (UV) absorption spectroscopy, however, offers several potential advantages, including larger absorption cross sections, lack of significant interference by water vapor, reduced susceptibility to interference fringes, and solar-blind detection using high-sensitivity, low-noise, low-cost detectors that operate at room temperature (typically silicon photodiodes or photomultiplier tubes).
For a number of trace gas species, ultraviolet fluorescence spectroscopy (i.e., laser-induced fluorescence, LIF) can be used instead of UV absorption spectroscopy to extend measurement sensitivity by a factor of 1000 or more.
Unfortunately, wide application of absorption, LIF, and other spectroscopic detection schemes in the ultraviolet (e.g., laser-enhanced ionization (LEI), resonantly-enhanced multi-photon ionization (REMPI), and resonance Raman spectroscopy), for in situ and remote measurements has been prevented by the size, weight, power consumption, complexity, and cost of existing sources of tunable, narrow-bandwidth, UV radiation. At present most applications requiring tunable, narrow-bandwidth, UV radiation rely on nonlinear frequency conversion of dye lasers and of optical parametric oscillators/amplifiers (OPOs, OPAs).
In a typical frequency-converted dye laser, the second harmonic of a q-switched Nd:YAG laser is used to pump an organic dye solution that exhibits gain over a small portion (usually 10-50 .mu.m) of the 550-1100 nm region. The output of the dye laser is then shifted in wavelength using one or more nonlinear processes. The most commonly used nonlinear conversion schemes are second harmonic generation (SHG), sum frequency generation (SFG), and difference frequency generation (DFG). .beta.-barium-borate (BBO), lithium triborate (LBO), and potassium niobate (KNbO.sub.3) are examples of nonlinear crystals commonly used for wavelength conversion. Alternatively, a solid state gain medium such as Ti:sapphire (usually pumped with an argon ion laser) can be substituted for the dye laser, offering much better wavelength coverage (680-1000 nm) than is attainable with any one laser dye. Even greater wavelength coverage is provided by optical parametric oscillators and amplifiers (OPOs and OPAs), which like dye lasers are typically pumped by a frequency-converted q-switched Nd:YAG laser.
What all of the above lasers systems have in common are logistical problems in applications where size, weight, power consumption, cost, and reliability are important considerations. To overcome the physical limitations of existing UV laser systems, a number of groups have developed UV sources based on nonlinear frequency conversion of diode lasers. These sources have found very few applications, however, because they are characterized by low output power and restricted wavelength coverage. Both of these deficiencies stem from the fact that the peak powers, which are available from diode lasers, are limited to only a few Watts.

Solid-state spectrally-pure linearly-polarized pulsed fiber amplifier laser system useful for ultraviolet radiation generation

President and Fellows of Harvard College


The present invention provides an adjustable, flexible headgear band. The band comprises a first end and a second end which overlap. The first end comprises a plurality of longitudinally spaced slots therein. The second end comprises a resilient fastener formed integrally with the second end. The resilient fastener comprises a channel to slidably receive the first end in overlapping engagement with the second end. The fastener comprises a fastener surface from which at least one flange extends to engage and be seated in one of the plurality of slots of the first end. The fastener surface is resiliently bowable in a direction away from the first end upon application of compressive force to the fastener. Upon application of such compressive force, the at least one flange is unseated from the slot in which it is seated so that the first end can be slid relative to the fastener (and thereby the second end). The second end further comprises at least one latitudinally extending notch adjacent the fastener to facilitate bowing of the fastener surface. Preferably, two such notches are provided, one extending from the top of the second end toward the center thereof, and one extending from the bottom of the second end toward the center thereof.

Most types of protective headgear worn by workers to protect them from falling objects have a suspension system. The suspension system, along with the helmet itself, act to absorb the shock of a falling object striking the worker's head. The suspension system is also used to hold the helmet on the worker's head.
The suspension is often a web-like support system comprising two or more strips of material that are arranged to cross each other. The ends of the strips are, for example, attached at four or more points around the circumference of the helmet. A band is then typically attached to the four or more points of the suspension to permit the helmet to be worn by the worker. To securely position the helmet on the worker's head, it is essential that the circumference of the headband be adjustable to fit the appropriate head size. A napestrap is often attached at one end of the band to achieve these results.
In the Staz-On.RTM. Suspension, currently available from Mine Safety Appliances Company of Pittsburgh, Pa., and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,500,474, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, a headband, and more particularly, the napestrap position of the headband, is manually adjusted by the wearer to fit the appropriate head size. The two ends of the band are connected and held in place by a slot-and-teeth arrangement. One end of the band is formed with parallel rows of flanges or teeth. The other end of the band is formed with parallel rows of slots. The size of the band can be adjusted by inserting the teeth of one end of the strap into the slots formed in the other end of the strap at the desired length. Although this type of band is relatively simple in design and manufacture (in part because separate mechanical fasteners or adjustment mechanisms are generally not required), users of such bands often have difficulty adjusting the band size while wearing the suspension. This inconvenience often results in the use of a different, more expensive type of suspension, such as a ratchet-type suspension systems, for example, the Fas-Trak.RTM. Suspension, currently available from Mine Safety Appliances Company of Pittsburgh, Pa., and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,628.
It would be desirable, therefore, to develop a headband for protective headgear which is not only easily adjustable while being worn by the user, but which is also simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Adjustable headband having a resiliently bowable fastener surface


A method, apparatus and system for providing access to data comprising launching an image of a virtual machine, determining a file system or a storage container being unsupported by an operating system coupled to the virtual machine, mapping the file system or the storage container onto the operating system and accessing data within the file system or the storage container through the operating system.

Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to data storage systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing access to data in unsupported file systems and storage containers.
Description of the Related Art
An operating system (OS) normally includes one or more file systems. The file system provides a structure for storing and organizing computer files and the data they contain to make the data easy to find and access them. A file system is a set of abstract data types that are implemented for the storage, hierarchical organization, manipulation, navigation, access and retrieval of data.
Owing to the fact that all operating systems include support for variety of file systems, operating systems interact with the supported file systems. Specifically, operating systems have drivers or special functions for interaction with the supported file systems. For example, Microsoft Windows NT, 2000 and XP have a default file system Application Programming Interface (API) known as a file system driver for the NTFS, FAT and FAT32 file systems. File system drivers enable the operating system to interface with the file system. The OS usually provides abstractions for accessing different file systems transparently to users, and in this sense it is analogous to device driver APIs that provide abstracted access to hardware.
In certain applications, virtual machines help run file systems on a guest OS that are unsupported by the primary OS. However, certain file systems simply cannot be accessed by popular/normal operating systems, such as Windows or Mac OS. For example, esoteric (or new) file systems, such as FLICKRFS, GMAILFS, S3FS, VERSIONING FILE SYSTEMS and VERITAS File Systems known as VxFS, can only be made accessible to an OS through the use of OS-specific file system development tools or software development kits (SDKs). Besides, networks comprising numerous servers, clients and storage devices have difficulty accessing (reading/writing file data) the data mounted by the unsupported file systems. In particular, these networks cannot provide file-level access to the data for the enterprise through a seamless network shared file system because of the unsupported file systems. These are some of the major problems faced.
Typically, storage containers are devices that store data in arrays of optical or magnetic disk drives and may be online at remote locations with respect to a user's computer. In some applications, esoteric (e.g., unsupported or new) storage containers suffer from similar problems as the unsupported file systems. Specifically, popular/normal operating systems do not understand the format or arrangement of the data blocks in the unsupported storage containers and cannot access the data (read/write blocks). To mitigate such problems, operating systems need a dedicated device driver written for the OS-specific driver model. This in turn implies that there has to be separate sets of codes for different versions or distributions of each OS. For example, one set of code has to be written and maintained for WINDOWS, another one for MAC OS, a third for LINUX and so on.
However, even with good cross-platform coding practices using portable languages (or platform-independent languages) it is still necessary to write OS-specific code and conduct quality analysis (QA) on every version for every OS. This is owing to the fact that there is a possibility of differences in the specific compilers and absence of runtime library routines on all platforms or semantics and inter-component interactions specific to each platform. For instance, even a language such as JAVA supposedly designed to be portable has not achieved that objective—the old adage "write once, debug everywhere" still applies.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for method and apparatus for providing access to data in unsupported file systems and storage containers.

Method and apparatus for providing access to data in unsupported file systems and storage containers


Air assist fuel injectors having one or more inserts that guide movement of a poppet, and an air assist fuel injector having a solid poppet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to air assist fuel injectors, and, more particularly, to inserts that guide movement of the poppets of such air assist fuel injectors and to air assist fuel injectors having solid poppets.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional fuel injectors are configured to deliver a quantity of fuel to a combustion cylinder of an engine. To increase combustion efficiency and decrease pollutants, it is desirable to atomize the delivered fuel. Generally speaking, atomization of fuel can be achieved by supplying high pressure fuel to conventional fuel injectors, or atomizing low pressure fuel with pressurized gas, i.e., "air assist fuel injection."
Conventional air assist fuel injectors are typically mounted to a rail, which houses a conventional fuel injector and also defines a mount for the air assist fuel injector. The conventional fuel injector and the rail are configured such that a metered quantity of fuel is delivered from the fuel injector to the air assist fuel injector. Additionally, the rail includes a number of passageways that deliver pressurized air to the air assist fuel injector. The air assist fuel injector atomizes the low pressure fuel with the pressurized air and conveys the air and fuel mixture to the combustion chamber of an engine.
The pressurized gas and liquid fuel typically travel through the interior of a hollow poppet of conventional air assist fuel injectors, and exit the poppet through slots near a head of the poppet. The poppet is reciprocatable in a leg and a head of the poppet typically lifts off a seat to deliver a plume of atomized fuel from the air assist fuel injector to the combustion chamber of an engine. The seat and leg of such conventional air assist fuel injectors each include a bearing surface to guide movement of the poppet. Unfortunately, the finish dimensions of these bearing surfaces are typically set during complex and time consuming grinding operations. If these finish dimensions are not precise, the air assist fuel injector may fail or function improperly because of improper alignment of the poppet. Additionally, the hollow poppets of such conventional air assist fuel injectors are also difficult to manufacture.