A mechanical seal assembly having multiple compression spring assemblies that are used to bias a stationary seal into sealing engagement with a rotating seal, the springs in the spring assemblies being supported on their internal diameter and having their outside diameter visible for their entire length, each spring assembly further including a releasable, expendable clip that serves to preload the two seal faces against one another, limits relative axial movement between the stationary and rotating seal assemblies, and coaxially aligns the stationary and rotating seal assemblies.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mechanical seals and, more particularly, to a mechanical seal assembly of a cartridge type having means for maintaining alignment and preloading between the stationary and rotating portions of the seal assembly.
2. Description of the Background
Numerous different mechanical seals have been proposed to effect sealing around a shaft to prevent leakage of both sealing fluid and operating fluid from an enclosure from which the shaft extends. While mechanical seals employing a single biasing spring coil are known, typically, where high speeds are involved, multiple, small coil springs are used, the coil springs being circumferentially spaced around the rotary unit. Both compression springs and tension springs have been used as means to bias the rotating and stationary seal faces together.
To the extent known by the Applicant, in a case where the springs are used to bias the stationary seal member, and particularly where the springs are mounted externally of the process fluid, the springs are supported on their outside diameter, usually contained in pockets in a separate spring housing or the like that attaches to the main housing or gland of the seal, or in the main housing itself.
Mechanical seal designs employing compression springs that are supported on their outside diameter, e.g., in spring pockets in the main or a separate spring housing, frequently encounter problems because of clogging sources such as coking, oxidation, salts from fluids that crystallize, contaminants from slurries, etc. This clogging restricts the springs' ability to provide axial closing force to the seal face. Additionally, mechanical seals wherein the springs are located internally, i.e., in an area where they are contacted by any corrosive fluid (process fluid) that leaks past the seal, are subject to stress corrosion cracking.
In addition to avoiding the clogging and corrosion problems discussed above with respect to many prior art mechanical seal designs, it is also desirable that the biasing springs be subject to complete visual inspection while in service. If the springs are located in spring pockets or separate spring housings or disposed directly behind the seal element being biased, this becomes virtually impossible.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a mechanical seal design employing compression springs, especially compression springs that act to bias the stationary seal element against the rotating seal element, that are supported on their inside diameters, that are not subject to clogging, that are located externally of the process fluid environment so as to be removed from corrosive environments, and that are subject to complete visual inspection.
It is common in integrated or cartridge-type mechanical seal designs, for ease of installation, to employ some sort of setting clips that basically hold the rotary and stationary components together while the seal is installed to minimize installation time and misalignment of components. Many existing designs utilize setting clips that are rigidly secured to the various seal parts using screws or other fasteners. Obviously, these clip types with their fasteners must be repositioned or removed prior to operation of the seal. There are yet other designs that utilize removable, flexible setting straps or a setting means made of a wearable material, the latter not requiring removal.
It would clearly be desirable to have a cartridge-type assembly that utilizes wearable setting clips and therefore is easily installed, that holds the components of the seal assembly together in both axial directions along the shaft and concentrically positions the rotary parts relative to the stationary parts prior to and during installation, and that need not be repositioned or removed prior to operation of the mechanical seal.
Mechanical seals of the type under consideration include a gland assembly that is used to secure and seal the mechanical seal assembly to the housing through which the shaft extends. For example, in a typical use of a mechanical seal to effect sealing of a pump shaft, the gland is positioned around the pump shaft and secured by bolts to the pump housing. Typically, this is accomplished by means of threaded bolts that are received in threaded bores in the pump housing and extend through suitable apertures in the gland body or in tabs or lugs carried by the gland body of the mechanical seal. When the tabs or lugs are monolithic with the gland or must be installed as part of the gland, difficulty is often encountered because of tight spacing. Accordingly, it would clearly be desirable to have a gland assembly for use with a mechanical seal, which would allow the gland assembly to be positioned on the shaft and have removable tabs or lugs, which, once the gland is positioned on the shaft, can be easily affixed to the gland, following which the tabs or lugs can be used to secure the gland to the housing as described above.

Gland assembly for use with mechanical seal


A polyol having the formula X(O—R1—OH)m(O—R2)nHq. X is Si, C, B, Ti, P, Al, Mg, or Ca. Each R1 is derived from dipropylene glycol or tripropylene glycol, and each R2 is an aliphatic group. m is 2, 3, or 4; n is 0, 1, or 2; and q is 1 or 2 when X is C, and is 0 when X is not C. A thermoset formed by reacting a polyisocyanate with the polyol. An antifouling coating containing the thermoset and optionally a biocide. An antifouling coating that is not foam formed by reacting Si(O—R1—OH)m(O—R2)nR3 with a polyisocyanate. Each R3 is an alkyl group or aromatic group.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to polyurethane coatings possibly useful as antifouling coatings.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today's modern self-polishing systems are solvent based and are based on either tributyl tin methacrylate copolymers, tributyl silyl methacrylate copolymers or copper acrylate copolymers. A second technology is largely based on wood rosin chemistry and is supposed to replenish the surface by a kind of ablative action. Tributyl tin methacrylate copolymers are being phased out due to environmental considerations. These polymers were the workhorse for the marine industry for the last 25 years.
Tributyl silyl methacrylate copolymers have the advantage of being totally free of any heavy metals. They are however extremely expensive and this has slowed down their acceptance in the very competitive marine market.
Copper acrylate copolymers do function very well and can be produced competitively but suffer from high leaching rates of copper ions which will eventually lead to a phasing out. Ablative antifoulings are also based on the release of copper ions and might have to be phased out as well for environmental considerations.
All the above-mentioned technologies are solvent based and it will be extremely difficult to meet the ever-increasing limitations on solvent emissions. Only the silyl acrylate technology allows for formulations to be free of any heavy metal ions and to formulate totally biodegradable antifoulings.
The marine market needs longer lasting antifoulings that will allow longer dry docking intervals. This currently requires the use of multiple coats of antifouling, which leads to longer drying times and mechanically weaker films due to solvent entrapment, which are subject to mechanical damage.

Solvent-free, self-polishing polyurethane matrix for use in solvent-free antifoulings

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


Aerosols comprising droplets dispersed in a carrier gas, wherein at least some of the droplets contain an antagonist effective to inactivate a biocide are provided. The droplets may contain the biocide and the antagonist that reacts with the biocide to render it harmless. The biocide is used for disinfection or sterilization, and the nature and concentration of the antagonist is selected, or means are provided, to ensure that the time required for the antagonist to render the biocide ineffective is longer than the time required for the biocide to be effective for a desired level of disinfection or sterilization. Methods of manufacture of aerosols are also provided.

Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
In recent years there has been a marked increase in the number and variety of micro-organisms which have been identified as particularly problematic in hospital environments. Increased labour costs have reduced the frequency and intensity with which walls, floors, ceilings and other surfaces are scrubbed with disinfectants and/or sterilizing agents. Although this treatment still occurs to a somewhat restricted extent in operating theaters, it is more usual for such treatment to be limited to surfaces within a 2 meter radius of an operating table. Scrub-down treatment is rarely extended these days to general wards or public areas. Moreover there are many surfaces within scrubbed areas such as the interior of locks, the guards covering castor wheels, the underside of doors, the occluded surface of hinges which are not satisfactorily treated by scrub-down and may harbour organisms. In addition in some operating theaters, electronic equipment such as computers and the like include fans which blow cooling air through equipment and carry particles which may harbour microorganisms into equipment housing where microorganisms may multiply on interior surfaces.
It has been proposed to disinfect both small and large spaces and enclosing surfaces with biocidal gases such as ozone or chlorine dioxide which are oxidative or corrosive and toxic, or with biocidal gases such as ethylene oxide and aldehydes, such as glutaraldehyde or formaldehyde. However such biocides are all extremely toxic, hazardous to use and may leave potentially harmful residues on surfaces. Steam is sometimes used but is hazardous to the operator and detrimental to many materials and much equipment because of the high temperatures involved, and as it leaves dense moisture on the surface it may lead to rusting or deterioration.
In recent years the use of hydrogen peroxide or peracetic acid as a disinfectant has become greatly preferred. Prior to the 1990s these peroxides were considered too unstable and hazardous to allow fumigation with the vapours. Nevertheless, various proposals have been made to use hydrogen peroxide in the vapour phase for disinfection/sterilization. Mostly vapour phase systems have been applicable to small volume chambers such as sterilizers that can be evacuated since the vapours are more effective at very low pressures or as plasmas (e.g. Schmidt U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,688). At the end of the treatment cycle, residual hydrogen peroxide vapour is pumped out by the vacuum pump and exhausted to atmosphere directly or via a catalytic destroyer which decomposes any residual peroxide vapour into harmless oxygen and water. In older vapour based instrument reprocessing systems it was proposed to remove surface contamination by use of rinse water, which risked water damage and introduced a drying problem since drying is both energy intensive and of long duration. Disadvantageously, water rinsing imposes a need for a water supply and drainage system which is a major disadvantage in some locations.
Peroxide vapours have also been proposed for use at atmospheric pressure but in that case longer treatment times are generally involved than in vacuum systems and efficacy against bacterial spores has been shown to be limited. After treatment in small scale peroxide vapour systems, air is circulated through the chamber and any residual peroxide is either flushed directly into the atmosphere through a HEPA-filter, or is flushed into the atmosphere via a catalytic destructor so that the peroxide is catalysed to oxygen and water prior to disposal. In some recirculating systems the flow may be diverted after the treatment and recirculated by an air pump though a catalytic destroyer placed in parallel with the treatment circuit until peroxide is eliminated (e.g. Hill U.S. Pat. No. 7,238,330; U.S. Pat. No. 6,953,549).
Others have proposed to use peroxide aerosols (rather than vapour) as the biocidal agent for sterilization/disinfection of small chambers. Aerosols have a number of major advantages over vapour including that much higher concentration density of active species is obtainable at atmospheric pressure and the need for costly vacuum equipment is eliminated. In some such cases the aerosol flow may be diverted through a catalytic destructor after the treatment cycle is completed to remove any peroxide residues (see applicant's commonly owned WO 2007/014436 and WO2007/014438).
Both peroxide vapour and peroxide aerosol systems have also been proposed for disinfection/sterilization or decontamination of larger spaces. In such case it mostly appears that any residue is merely flushed into the external environment. Ronlan in U.S. Pat. No. 6,500,465 proposed the use of a thermo fogger (pulse jet fogger) to provide a high density aerosol (aerosol droplet diameter less than 50 microns) of peracetic acid or hydrogen peroxide suitable for disinfecting at 100% relative humidity, but does not discuss peroxide disposal. Adiga U.S. Pat. No. 7,326,382 discloses something similar but likewise does not discuss peroxide disposal. Applicant's commonly owned WO2007/014437 (Erickson) and WO2007/014435 (Berentsveig et al.) have also used aerosols for large scale disinfection purpose. Erickson envisaged a portable catalytic destructor unit that could be moved from chamber to chamber and used to remove excess peroxide from a treated chamber, saying "The reservoir, nebuliser, fan, and heater may be combined in a portable unit which can be moved from chamber to chamber, and if desired a separate air drying or air conditioning system may be made portable for use in the same chamber as the nebuliser or may be combined with the nebuliser unit", while Berentsveig vented residual peroxide directly or optionally via a catalytic destructor. Residual peracetic acid suffers from the additional disadvantage of unacceptable odour
While such stable mists of aqueous biocides, preferably hydrogen peroxide, can be employed at atmospheric pressure and above and avoid the need for vacuum equipment and are more easily adaptable to disinfection or fumigation of very large spaces, elimination of residual hydrogen peroxide remains a significant problem.
For example in sterilizing food containers with peroxide, even trace amounts of hydrogen peroxide can affect the flavor of the product or result in other undesirable changes, such as a change in the color of the product. Food packaging regulations now limit hydrogen peroxide residues on containers to a maximum of 0.5 ppm in the United States. Surface residues in operating theaters or on surgical instruments should be below 1 ppm. To achieve such levels by blowing or sucking air even though small chamber volumes for sterilizing instruments or the like can add significantly to process times, but to do so through a room size volume of 50-100 cu meters requires huge capital equipment and energy costs, especially when the incoming air needs also to be HEPA-filtered to maintain sterility. The volume of air in the room needs to be replaced more than ten times. The removal step thus adds greatly to treatment times because the residual balance of peroxide reduces asymptotically. A significant time (hours in a large building) is required to remove the last few ppm of sterilant and the space may not be safely re-habitable until this step is completed. For example a Steris VHP1000 vapour system takes up to 6 hrs to treat a 56 m3 room. The larger the volume of space treated the more difficult the removal problem becomes as the time for removal increases asymptotically.
In recent years particular attention has been paid to spaces which have become infected as a result of acts of war or terrorism. For example in the US a number of federal buildings were thought to have been contaminated by Anthrax spores. These were treated with chlorine gas which was very damaging to the building but in addition required a long time before the chlorine could be effectively removed to a level at which the building could be made habitable. In any disinfection and or sterilization method, it is important that the overall duration of the process including both treatment with biocide and removal of biocide to a point where the space can be safely occupied be minimized.
Chemical disinfection agents such as hypochlorite solutions have in the past been proposed for deactivating biological warfare agents but such biocidal agents are themselves harmful to personnel and equipment due to corrosiveness and toxicity.
In summary peroxy compounds such as hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen peroxide complexes, and peracetic acid are preferred as agents for disinfection/sterilization of surfaces, (eg medical instruments and food processing machinery and operating tables); for disinfection/sterilization of small and large chambers and of large spaces, as well as for deactivation of biological warfare agents. Peroxide has been used both as a vapour and as an aerosol for this purpose. Although disinfection/sterilization can be achieved in very short times, removal of residual peroxide down to safe levels of below 1 ppm, preferably below 0.5 ppm is a major problem, taking an unacceptably long time, and being very costly in terms of required equipment and energy consumption. The time problem increases greatly for large volume spaces. Many other biocides also have residual toxicity or corrosive properties which renders their use impractical.

Disinfection aerosol, method of use and manufacture


Embodiments of the present invention provide a vehicle privacy system (700), comprising audio input means (130, 190, 720) for receiving an external audio signal (725) indicative of audio from within a vehicle (900), audio source means (710, 910) for receiving the external audio signal (725) and determining an output audio signal (735) based thereon for reducing an external intelligibility of speech within the vehicle (900), and audio output means (145, 146, 147, 730, 920) for receiving the output audio signal (735) and outputting audio (925) corresponding thereto to be at least partly audible external to the vehicle (900).

It is known to provide communication functionality within vehicles, such as an ability for the vehicle to connect to a mobile telephone of an occupant to provide hands-free call functionality, or to integrate a mobile telephone into the vehicle. Other communications technologies are known or envisaged, such as Voice Over IP (VOIP) communications. In these cases, the occupant of the vehicle is able to speak to, and hear audio from, a remote party. The audio from the remote party is output within the vehicle. However it is often observed that such audio may be heard by persons external to the vehicle, limiting privacy of the communication. It is also observed that other audio, such as music, may be heard external to the vehicle which may be annoying for persons external to the vehicle.
It is an object of embodiments of the invention to at least mitigate one or more of the problems of the prior art.

Apparatus and method for privacy enhancement


An apparatus (10) and method for real-time reduction of noise components from echographic images. A plurality of scan line processor circuits (22) are connected through an interface (18) to an echographic imaging apparatus (20), such as an ultrasonic imaging device. Each scan line processor circuit (22) receives a row of dirty image signals (24) and simultaneously and independently performs a one-dimensional side lobe subtraction of noise components (a deconvolution of the dirty beam pattern) from the row of signals using a CLEAN algorithm. After subtraction, the resulting clean components are convolved by the scan line processor circuits (22) with a clean beam pattern to smooth the image for display. Finally, the clean image signals optionally can be masked by a masking multiplier (52) to remove processing artifacts and compressed by a compression device (56) to enhance contrast. The resulting masked and compressed clean image signals (26) are then displayed on a display device (17,20). A sufficient number of scan line processor circuits (22), relative to the number of rows in a complete image frame, are provided to effect real-time processing of image frames.

The prior Related Applications describe in detail various signal processing methods and apparatus which are useful in reducing the noise components of signals from synthesized apertures, and most particularly from signal generated by multiple transducer, ultrasonic echographic equipment. These applications hereby are specifically incorporated by reference into the present application.
The present application is directed to an apparatus and method for implementing the noise-reduction processes and apparatus of said Related Applications in a real-time, signal processing system. As used herein, the expression "real-time" shall mean the display of at least about 15 complete image frames per second. It will be understood that faster frame rates are desirable and smooth the movement of the images of moving targets or objects.
Noise-reduction processes, such as side lobe subtraction and hybrid mapping, present a substantial computing burden because they are based upon iterative techniques. For example, using a side lobe subtraction process employing the CLEAN algorithm, normally commences with the step of identifying the brightest or highest intensity data point or pixel on the entire data map or image frame. For a typical video display terminal, each scan line or row in the video display includes over 400 pixels and a typical display screen includes over 400 scan lines or rows. Thus, there are more than 160,000 pixels or data points on a display screen that must be examined for their intensity and compared to each other to find the highest intensity pixel.
Sonographic imaging usually employs polar coordinates to produce a sector-shaped image display. Thus, in the rows or scan lines of pixels close to the transducer array, the pixels at the sides of each row or line will not display data. The complete image map in sonographic imaging, therefore, can have fewer than 160,000 data points to compare for the brightest point, but it still contains a very substantial and burdensome number of data points. Moreover, in higher resolution displays, for example, VGA displays with 480 rows and 640 pixels per row, the potential number of data points increases to over 300,000.
Once the highest intensity pixel on the map is identified, noise around the brightest data point can be deconvolved or subtracted using a noise-reduction algorithm, such as a CLEAN algorithm or a maximum entropy algorithm. This noise-reduction step involves further computer burden, but the CLEAN algorithm is the least burdensome and effects substantial noise reduction. After the first noise-reduction subtraction using the CLEAN algorithm, the map is again scanned for the next brightest, highest intensity, data point and noise is deconvolved from around that data point. As many as 600 or more iterations may be employed to reduce noise in the mapped image.
This noise-reduction process, therefore, can be adapted and is readily suited for use to process image data which does not need to be displayed in real-time. For example, a single frame can be processed to provide the viewer with a snap shot of the target having significantly increased clarity and resolution. Solving the computing burden in a manner allowing real-time displays, however, is much more difficult, particularly if a computer or signal processing apparatus of modest size and cost are to be employed.
The apparatus and method of the present invention and particularly well-suited to sonographic and echographic applications where real-time display is more important. The present process and apparatus may have application in other areas, and by describing the preferred embodiment in relation to ultrasonic imaging, it is not meant to limit the present process and apparatus.
Briefly, by way of further background to the preferred embodiment, the basic noise-reduction problem found in sonography can be described. Additional detail and theory are found in the Related Applications.
Sonography, as well as other types of imaging, uses a plurality of transducers to illuminate a physical imaging space and to receive return echo signals from features within that space. The transducers used are not perfectly directional. That is, for any given pointing angle and moment in time they illuminate and receive echoes from some three-dimensional volume of the imaging space, rather than an ideal point in space. The fact that the transducers see a volume, rather than a point, limits their resolution to physical features that are larger than the volume that the transducer sees at a particular moment in time.
A sonographic image is commonly displayed in polar (r,.THETA.) coordinates in two dimensions, with one dimension being angular (related to the transducer pointing angle) and the other being radial (related to distance from the transducer). In current sonographic imaging systems the radial resolution is quite good compared to the angular resolution. The angular resolution consists of two components, one of which is "into the image" in a two-dimensional display and thus cannot be seen in the two-dimensional presentation. The "into the image" dimension can still degrade the image, but the resolution of commonly used sonographic transducers is considerably better in that "into the image" dimension than in the dimension that can be seen.
Consider a single sonographic transducer that has a directional sensitivity pattern 300, as shown in FIG. 1A. This transducer "sees" in three directions for any given pointing angle. Its directional sensitivity is referred to as its "beam pattern" or "point spread function," which may be schematically represented as a three element pattern with a main lobe 301 and two equal side lobes 302 that are 0.5 times as sensitive as main lobe 301. FIG. 1B shows a small physical feature or target object 303. If physical feature 303 is examined by three side-by-side transducers having beams 300a, 300b and 300c (FIG. 1C), the image resulting can be seen in FIG. 1D.
Two "ghost" features 304, observed to the right and left of the central bright point 305, are the result of the side lobes 302a and 302c of the adjacent transducers seeing actual feature 303, while central transducer main lobe 301b creates central bright point 305 in FIG. 1D. Side lobe subtraction using the CLEAN algorithm is one means whereby an image that is degraded by an imperfect transducer, or by a synthesized aperture formed by a plurality of transducers, may be improved when the transducer's or the array of transducer's directional pattern can be determined or reasonably approximated. If the transducer or array beam pattern is known, and an image such as FIG. ID is observed, then the ghost figures may be removed from the image. A side lobe subtraction of the ghosts can be accomplished with an algorithm such as the CLEAN algorithm, which process is also known as "deconvolution" of the noise or "beam subtraction."
A real image is much more complex, since it has many physical features, and the beam element pattern is much more complex, since it is formed by a large array of transducers. The simple ghost features, therefore, become a generalized image blur. The CLEAN algorithm uses an iterative process on the real image, also called the "dirty image" to progressively remove the blurring. The CLEAN algorithm finds the brightest pixel in a dirty image and assumes that there is a real physical feature at that location. It then deconvolves a percentage of the beam pattern (for example, 30 percent) out of the dirty image centered on that bright pixel. The CLEAN algorithm stores where the bright pixels were found and what their intensities were (times the same percentage) in order to reconstruct the image when the deconvolution phase is complete.
When the deconvolution phase is complete, the original dirty image has been reduced in intensity to some noise floor (which may be 0) and a second image (comprised of the "clean components"), consisting of found bright pixels and their intensities times the percentage or gain. The noise floor or remainder usually is not used to reconstruct the image.
The clean component's image can be viewed and recognized as a deblurred version of the original dirty image. However, the clean components image generally has a grainy appearance and is often unsatisfactory for use in that form. The preferred final step in the CLEAN algorithm, therefore, is to smooth the clean component image by convolution with a beam element pattern that renders the image more pleasing to the viewer. This final image in which the beam element pattern has been convolved back into the clean components is called the "clean image."
The clean image may contain some features that are not actually physical features, called "artifacts." These artifacts can be reduced or eliminated by a procedure termed "masking." Masking is not part of the CLEAN noise-reduction algorithm itself, but is an additional step after noise-reduction processing. When noise reduction is complete, the clean image is multiplied, on a pixel by pixel basis, by a copy of the original dirty image that was saved for this purpose, and is divided by a scaling factor, in order to enhance the contrast of the resulting masked image frame. The final result is a cleaned and masked image. The masking process is described in much greater detail in Related application Ser. No. 07/815,509, previously incorporated herein by reference and it will not be set forth in detail herein.

Apparatus and method for image processing including one-dimensional clean approximation


A bridge power connector includes upper and lower connector assemblies. The upper connector assembly has an upper housing holding an upper power conductor connected to a first electrical component. The lower connector assembly has a lower housing holding a lower power conductor electrically connected to a second electrical component. The upper housing is removably coupled to the lower housing using securing mechanisms to form a low-profile housing. The upper power conductor extends from a first side of the low-profile housing while the lower power conductor extends from a second side of the low-profile housing. The upper and lower power conductors extend along a mating plane of the low-profile housing. The upper power conductor is separable from the lower power conductor when the upper housing is removed from the lower housing.

The subject matter herein relates generally to a bridge power connector.
Electronic devices typically connect various powered components together, such as connecting a battery to a device's internal electrical components. However, such internal connections are typically permanent in nature. For example, bus bars may transfer power from batteries throughout a device and are often fixed (such as via welding, brazing, or other) to the batteries. However, some conventional designs provide a separable power connection through mated connectors. Such mated connectors are typically bulky. The mating interface such connectors create is often much larger in size and weight than a non-separable and permanent power connection. Some electronic devices are unable to implement such conventional connectors as the mating interface requires and occupies too much internal space within the electronic device to be practical. Additionally, such connectors typically provide a contact terminated at an end of a wire or bus bar. At the interface between the wire or bus bar terminals, the system typically experiences high impedance and power loss. As a result, significant heat may be generated at the interface.
A need remains for a low profile and separable interface connector to route power within electronic devices.


An ink-jet printer head is composed of individual, stacked ink-jet printer modules operating according to the edge-shooter principle and equipped with plate-shaped piezoelectric actuators whose electrodes are contacted to leads of a ribbon conductor. The ink-jet printer head has a simplified structure and improved service properties and is composed of individual, identical ink-jet printer modules whose nozzle rows are arranged offset relative to one another and can be easily interchanged, because the carrier layer of the ribbon conductors enveloping the leads is reinforced and shaped in the region between neighboring ink-jet printer modules, so that the required spacing between the piezoactuators and between the nozzle rows of the ink-jet printer modules as well as an exact fixing thereof relative to one another are achieved. In this way, the ribbon conductors serve as a contact element, a spacer and an adjustment member for neighboring ink-jet printer modules. Complicated housing and front masks are thus eliminated and the number of components is reduced and adjustment outlay is largely avoided. The ink-jet printer head is provided for use in small, fast printers, wherein a large number of nozzles are required.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an arrangement for an ink-jet printer head that is composed of a number of stacked ink-jet printer modules the modules operating according to the edge-shooter principle and being equipped with plate-shaped piezoelectric actuators.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ink-jet printer heads of the above type are employed in small, fast printers that are in turn a component of modern machines for franking postal matter or for printing addresses. Such a printer is also suitable as a product labeling means.
Differing from a standard office printer having line-by-line printing, the printing by such heads ensues as a one-time imprint, such as a Franking imprint in one pass of the item to be imprinted, such as postal matter. Corresponding to this significantly larger printing width--approximately one inch--, the number of ink nozzles to be arranged under one another, and thus the number of piezoactuators, in an ink-jet printer head of this type is substantially larger than is the case in ink-jet printer heads for office printers.
In order to satisfy modern requirements--imprints having word and image characters--for postage meter machines with good printing quality, printer resolutions of approximately 200 dpi (drops per inch) are required, which means ink-jet printer heads having the same number of nozzles and piezoactuators given a printing width of one inch.
If all nozzles were arranged in a single nozzle row, the spacing between two neighboring nozzles would be the print density dimension t. Given more than one ink-jet printer module, the print density dimension is derived from the quotient of the nozzle spacing of a module and the number of modules. Standard nozzle apertures lie between 40-50 .mu.m in width. Given an imprint width of one inch and a resolution of 200 dpi, the adjustment errors must be kept below 10 .mu.m.
Necessarily, such ink-jet printer heads are implemented in planar or stacked fashion, first for reasons of allowable dimensions and the packing density that can thus be achieved and, second, for reasons of an economical manufacture, as discussed in German 42 25 799. Surface resonators are usually utilized as piezoactuators, formed by a piezoelectric material, for example lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT), arranged between two metal electrodes. The carrier plate--which simultaneously serves as the membrane plate over the ink printer chambers--can be composed of glass, ceramic, plastic or metal for the piezoactuators.
The way the modules are arranged relative to one another in order to achieve a printing density of 200 dpi and the contacting of the piezoactuators are thus critical problems.
The aforementioned German OS 42 25 799 discloses an ink-jet printer head of the type initially described that is composed of a number of different modules, of which only a nozzle lying at the exterior carries a common nozzle row at its end face. All modules have ink printer chambers desirable by piezoactuators for ink ejection, these chamber being connected via respective channels to the allocated nozzles. The connecting channels from module to module necessarily proceed orthogonally relative to the printer chambers.
Spacer parts are arranged between the modules and have an ink delivery opening and ink passage openings as well as a recess for the piezoactuators. The spacer parts can be one part or two pieces and are composed of the same material as the piezoactuators.
Although the advantage of only a single nozzle row is significant, the technological outlay for manufacturing modules which differ from one another is still substantial.
Higher machines or molding precision is required for the connecting channels which proceed through a number of modules than is required for the ink printer chambers, and a more complicated adjustment procedure is also required. The connecting channels are of various lengths and thus require additional electronic control measures in order to equalize flow and pressure therein.
A piezoelectric ink-jet printer head having a monolithic piezoceramic body is also disclosed in German OS 38 05 279 having transducers arranged parallel side-by-side, each transducer including a planar, piezoelectric drive element, a pressure chamber, and ink channel and a nozzle. The pressure chambers, the ink channels and the nozzles are fashioned as cavities in the piezoceramic body. Each drive element has an outer electrode, an inner electrode and an active piezoceramic layer arranged between the electrodes. The drive elements are piezoelectrically separated from one another by incisions in the active piezoceramic layer. The inner electrodes of the transducers are electrically connected to one another. The electrical connection of the outer and the inner electrodes ensues via a terminal ribbon or, a ribbon conductor. One terminal goes to the inner electrodes connected to one another. The outer electrodes are separately contacted with terminals. The underside of the piezoceramic body and a side thereof lying opposite the nozzle front are secured on a retainer frame. An ink nozzle and the terminal ribbon are conducted through openings in the retainer frame. The nozzle row is inclined relative to the moving direction of the recording medium by means of a slanting integration of the retaining frame in a housing and consequently the print density of the ink-jet printer head is enhanced; also see United Kingdom application 2 264 086, FIG. 3, with respect thereto. A number of retainer frames or ink-jet printer heads can also be stacked above one another and introduced in common into a housing. If one desired to try to stagger the nozzle rows relative to one another, either the retainer frame would have to be differently adapted or the housing would have to have corresponding graduations. The technological outlay, including adjustment outlay, would thereby be substantial.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,333 discloses an ink-jet printer head wherein a number of ink-jet printer modules operating according to the side-shooter principle are stacked inclined behind one another such that the nozzle region as well as the ink supply region are free. A receptacle frame having slanting steps is matched to this fish scale-like arrangement. In order to achieve the lateral offset of the nozzles relative to one another, the ink-jet printer modules are provided with oblong holes through which screws that engage into threaded holes of the steps are conducted. The modules must be adjusted with a template and then locked with the screws. The individual ink-jet printer module is composed of a nozzle plate, an ink channel plate, a pressure chamber plate, a membrane plate with piezoactuators and a cover plate having a recess for a ribbon conductor for contacting the piezoactuators. An ink delivery channel having two ink connection sockets is machined into the cover plate.
As may be seen from this known disclosure, the number of individual parts and the adjustment outlay are substantial. A cleaning and tightening station adapted to this ink-jet printer head has an extremely complicated structure due to the graduation.

Ink-jet printer head formed of multiple ink-jet printer modules


A display device includes: an insulating substrate comprising a first region and a second region; a thin-film transistor (TFT) formed on the first region comprising a gate electrode, a source electrode, and a drain electrode; and a storage capacitor formed on the second region, wherein the storage capacitor comprises a first electrode, a second electrode and a first interlayer insulating film, where the first and second electrodes face each other and are made of a transparent conductive material, wherein the interlayer insulating film is interposed between the first electrode and the second electrode, and wherein the first electrode is formed on the entire surface of the first substrate as one body and receives a common voltage, and the second electrode is electrically connected to the drain electrode.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a display device and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a display device with an increased aperture ratio and a method of manufacturing the display device.
2. Description of Related Technology
The rapid development of the information technology (IT) industry is dramatically increasing the use of display devices. Recently, there have been demands for display devices that are lightweight and thin, consume low power and provide high resolution. To meet these demands, liquid crystal displays and organic light-emitting displays having a plurality of metal wirings and a plurality of light-emitting elements are being developed.
A storage capacitor of a display device is formed by the overlapping of a lower storage electrode and an upper storage electrode with an insulating film interposed therebetween. The storage capacitor is generally required to have a high capacitance value in order to maintain a pixel voltage signal in a stable manner and be applicable to high resolution display devices.
However, if an overlapping area of the upper and lower storage electrodes is increased to raise the capacitance value of the storage capacitor, an aperture ratio is reduced by the area occupied by the upper and lower storage electrodes.

Display device and method of manufacturing the same


A picture editing apparatus of a digital still video camera system includes a digital still video camera and a reproduction device which selectively controls a picture assignment address in a memory card for mixing and displaying a multiple of one or more pictures. An address generator that mixes 2 or more pictures in the same ratio generates an address to enable display of the mixed pictures and to read-out data (digital video signal) representing pictures recorded in the memory card. Therefore, it is capable of mixing pictures corresponding to the picture number recorded in a memory card as a single frame picture and displaying the mixed picture, creating new video images.

The present invention relates to a picture editing apparatus of a digital still video camera system capable of recording and reproducing, and more particularly, to a picture editing apparatus able to mix a multiple of pictures during playback.
A general digital still video camera system comprises a digital still video camera and a playback apparatus, the digital still video camera being capable of for recording and reproducing a still image by way of digital signal processing. Namely, an image of an object is photoelectrically converted through an image pickup device and then converted into digital data to be temporarily stored in a record buffer memory. Then, the information stored in the record buffer memory is recorded on a memory card.
The memory card mentioned performs the same function as that of the film of an ordinary camera. The video signal so recorded on the memory card is read out in the playback apparatus, to be temporarily stored in a reproduction buffer memory, and then converted into analog data to be displayed via a display unit. At this time, an address generator is operated by a control signal supplied from a system controller, and assigns an address for the digital video signal to be recorded on or to be reproduced from the memory card. The address generator comprises a one frame address generating circuit and a multi-picture address generating circuit for displaying one or more pictures in a frame. Accordingly, an address output from the one frame address generating circuit is selected by a control signal of the system controller, when only one picture is to be played back, while an address output from the multi-picture address generating circuit is selected when the multi-picture of one or more pictures is to be simultaneously played back on the same screen. The multi-picture address generating circuit mentioned here generates,,as is disclosed in copending U.S. patent application by Young-Man Lee and assigned to Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., an address so that a plurality of pictures stored in the memory card can be simultaneously displayed.
Thus, the conventional digital still video camera simultaneously displays multiple pictures on a frame by way of using a multi-picture address generating circuit. Accordingly, a user can see several pictures at a glance. Each of the pictures that is displayed however, is displayed only on a separate picture screen. It is not possible to display the part of the pictures by mixing them among each other within a frame.

Picture editing apparatus in a digital still video camera system


A conductive roller includes a roller body, a spindle, and at least one groove. The roller body contacts with an outer circumferential surface of an image carrier, and is conductive. The spindle is provided in a center of the roller body. The groove is formed in each of side walls of the roller body at opposite ends in an axis direction of the roller body, and extends outward in a radial direction from the spindle.

The present disclosure relates to a conductive roller which contacts with an image carrier while being used, and an image forming apparatus including the conductive roller.
Conventionally, there is known an image forming apparatus, such as a copier, printer, or facsimile, that is based on the electrophotographic method. The image forming apparatus includes: a drum-type photoreceptor (image carrier); and a charging device, exposing device, developing device, transfer device and the like that are arranged along the outer circumferential surface of the photoreceptor. A general image forming process performed by the image forming apparatus is as follows. First, the charging device charges the surface of the photoreceptor to a predetermined potential (hereinafter also referred to as "charging bias"), and subsequently the exposing device irradiates a laser beam onto the surface of the photoreceptor. This causes an electrostatic latent image to be formed on the surface of the photoreceptor, due to the difference in potential between the portions to which the laser beam has been irradiated, and the other portions. The developing device subsequently adheres toner, which has been charged to a potential higher than the potential of the electrostatic latent image, to the electrostatic latent image. After this, the transfer device gives charge, which has a polarity that is opposite to the charging bias, to the rear surface of a sheet of material having been transported to a predetermined transfer position, thereby transferring a toner image onto the surface of the sheet of material.
As the above-mentioned charging device, there is known a charging roller that conducts a voltage to the surface of the photoreceptor by contacting with the surface of the photoreceptor. The charging roller includes: a roller body that is made of a conductive rubber material and has a cylindrical shape; and a spindle that is current conductive and provided in the center of the roller body. For the photoreceptor to be charged uniformly without unevenness, the surface of the charging roller is required to have high flatness. However, it is difficult for the machining technology to manufacture a charging roller whose surface has high flatness. In particular, cutter blades or the like are used to cut the material into a predetermined size, the cut portions becoming the opposite ends in the axis direction of the roller body. In this cutting process, the opposite ends of the roller body may be influenced by the elasticity of the rubber material of the roller body and the opposite ends of the roller body may be swollen. When the charging roller with swollen ends contacts with the photoreceptor, the ends of the charging roller are pressed harder to the photoreceptor than the other portions of the charging roller. As a result, the photoreceptor is not charged uniformly. With regard to this problem, a typical mechanism is known that can reduce the pressing force of the ends of the charging roller that presses the photoreceptor when the charging roller contacts with the photoreceptor.

Conductive roller and image forming apparatus having the same


A device comprises: a receiver configured to receive a client certificate; a processor coupled to the receiver and configured to: authenticate the client certificate, extract, in response to the authentication, attributes from the client certificate, and create, in response to the extraction, a message comprising reformatted attributes based on the attributes, wherein the reformatted attributes can be trusted; and a transmitter coupled to the processor and configured to transmit the message. A device comprises: a processor configured to: process a client certificate comprising a certificate identifier (ID) attribute, a tenant ID attribute, and a role ID attribute, and package the client certificate in a request for a shared service; and a transmitter coupled to the processor and configured to transmit the request.

The disclosure generally relates to computer networks employing a client-server architecture and more particularly to authentication, authorization, and auditing within such networks.
Computer networks may employ various architectures. One such architecture is a client-server architecture. In a client-server network, a client, which may be an end user, may desire to use a service on an application server. Using a client application on the client, the client may send to the application server a request for the service. In reply, the application server may send to the client a response from the service or a resource associated with the service. A gateway server may be located between the client and the application server and may function as an interface between the client and the application server. The requests and responses may follow various protocols and require authentication and authorization. In addition, the application server may audit, or log, the requests and responses.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Using client certificates to communicate trusted information


A folding sofa bed comprises a bed frame, a seat mattress and a seat back. The bed frame comprises two armrest borders and a front horizontal bar and a rear horizontal bar connecting the two armrest borders. A central portion of the armrest border is disposed with a long sliding groove of backwardly disposed and downwardly inclined sliding groove, two hinges and two connecting bars. Each of the hinges comprises a front hinge plate and a rear hinge plate, the front hinge plate is connected to the seat mattress, the rear hinge plate is connected to the seat back, the front hinge plate is disposed with a guide bar, the guide bar is slidably disposed inside the sliding groove, the two ends of the connecting bar are respectively hinged to the armrest border and the seat back.

A sofa is composed of a seat mattress and a seat back. To provide the sofa with more functions, there are sofas with the seat mattress and the seat back connecting together by a hinge mechanism, when the seat mattress and the seat back intersect with an angle, the sofa functions as a seat sofa for people to seat and to rest; when the seat back and the seat mattress are unfolded using the hinge mechanism, the sofa functions as a bed for people to sleep.
However, the hinge mechanism to connect the seat back and the seat mattress in some cases is a complex structure with high manufacture cost and inconvenient assembly, in other cases, at least two persons are needed at the same time to operate from two sides of the sofa to rotate the seat back, thus making the sofa bed difficult to operate.


A printer containing a printhead that is detachably mounted on a support plate and is held thereon at two rigid support points located on a first side of the printhead and one elastic support point located on a second side of the printhead opposite to said first side, each of the support points being defined by a first portion on the side of the printhead and a second portion on the side of the support plate, and one of the first and second portions is a spherical surface engaged in a recess of the other of the first and second portions in a self-centering manner wherein the second part of the elastic support point has its spherical surface formed by a bead or ball fixed on a wire, said wire being elastically biased toward the recess, so that the elastic support point releasably biases the printhead towards said first side of the printhead and released by lifting the wire, for detaching the printhead.

The present invention relates to a printer having a printhead which is detachably mounted on a support plate and is held thereon at two rigid support points located on a first side of the printhead, and one elastic support point located on a second side of the printhead, opposite to said first side, wherein each of the support points is formed by a first portion on the side of the printhead and a second portion on the side of the support plate, and one of the first and second portions is a spherical surface engaged in a recess of the other of the first and second portions in a self-centering manner.
The present invention is applicable to a scanning-type printer, e.g. an ink jet printer, wherein the support plate is provided on a carriage so that it may scan a recording medium in a main scanning direction, while the printhead faces the recording medium and prints individual pixels or sets of pixels. In order to obtain a high print quality, it is essential, that the printhead is stably positioned on the support plate with very high accuracy in all six degrees of freedom of the printhead. The accuracy requirements increase with increasing resolution of the printer and may, for example, only allow tolerances of up to ±3 mm.
In an ink jet printer, for example, the printhead typically has a plurality of nozzles that are arranged in a linear array forming an angle of exactly or approximately 90° with respect to the main scanning direction. The angle between the nozzle array and the main scanning direction must be defined with high precision. Frequently, the printer has a plurality of printheads mounted on the same support plate, e.g. printheads for different colors in case of a color printer. Thus, the angular positions of the nozzle arrays must be exactly the same for all printheads. Likewise, the printheads must be arranged with well defined spacings in the main scanning direction and must also be exactly aligned in that direction. Since a small gap is formed between the nozzle surface of the printhead and the surface of the recording medium, the ink droplets expelled from the nozzles must fly a certain distance through the air before they hit the recording medium. Since the carriage is moving, the flight distance of the ink droplets has an influence on the positions of the pixels formed on the recording medium, and, as a consequence, the gap between the printheads and the recording medium must also be defined with high accuracy.
In a conventional printer, the position and posture of the printhead in all six degrees of freedom is defined by six contact surfaces where the printhead engages the support plate, and a spring assembly is used for biasing the printhead against each contact surface. However, if, for any reason, an external force tends to deviate the printhead from the intended position, frictional forces at the contact surfaces may prevent the printhead from returning exactly to its original position. Moreover, if the printhead is detached and is then mounted again on the support plate, cumbersome mounting and adjustment operations are necessary, and these operations, in most cases, cannot be left to the user but require the intervention of a service engineer.
EP-A-0 791 461 discloses an ink jet printer wherein four support points are formed by two pairs of recesses on opposite sides of the printhead, and two spherical surfaces are formed directly on the mounting plate so as to engage the recesses of the first pair, and two spherical surfaces are formed on a detachable clamping plate so as to engage in the recesses of the second pair. The clamping plate can be biased against the mounting plate and is positioned relative thereto by another sphere-and-recess-type support point.


A method, computer system, and computer readable product for trajectory data compression are disclosed. In embodiments, the method comprises generating spatial data for one or more moving objects; projecting the data onto a network comprised of a plurality of trajectories, the network constraining movement of the one or more moving objects; and storing the projected data in a data store. In embodiments of the invention, the method further comprises translating updates and queries to the spatial data, using specified data of the network, into links to the data store, and using the links to update and query the data store. In embodiments of the invention, the specified data of the network are stored in a network store. In embodiments of the invention, each of the trajectories includes one or more sub-trajectories, and the projecting the spatial data onto a network includes projecting the spatial data onto the sub-trajectories.

This invention generally relates to compressing spatiotemporal data.
Large volumes of spatiotemporal data are being generated by moving objects (e.g., the connected cars initiative). A key challenge with this data is to simultaneously support: (i) high spatial update rates to handle moving objects, and (ii) high query rates to answer spatial queries (e.g., when an accident happens, notify nearby cars). In order to sustain high query rates, traditional solutions index inputs (and updates) using a spatial index (e.g., DB2 grid index, Informix r-tree index, etc.).
The rate at which a database can support updates depends on the nature of indexing; generally a no-index update is faster than a hash map update (equality query) followed by a b-tree index update (for range queries) followed by a r-tree/grid index update (for spatial queries). The rate of updates (even today and more so in the near projected future) is above the rate at which commercial databases can handle spatial updates (i.e., insert and update spatial index).

International Business Machines Corporation


A resilient pavement marker for delineating lanes and shoulders of roadways which is not susceptible to the forces associated with plowing of the road or damage from environmental conditions. The marker incorporates an assembled unit which may be readily installed within the roadway including a base housing, a depressible piston which carries a detachable lens assembly, and a compressible biasing assembly to facilitate depression of the piston and return to its original position. The piston is retained within the housing by a cap cooperating with the base. The cap includes an opening which has a lobed or scalloped configuration adapted to cooperate with the scalloped configuration of the piston thereby preventing rotation of the piston within the housing. The lens assembly is removable from the piston to facilitate simple replacement of the reflective lenses without removal or disassembly of the marker. The compression assembly fills substantially the entire interior of the housing and includes closed-cell members to eliminate absorption of moisture and damage from freezing.

I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to depressible, reflective pavement markers for delineating roadways and, in particular, to a resilient pavement marker which is resistant to rotation from external forces yet ensures depression and return of the reflector assembly above the road surface.
II. Description of the Prior Art
The benefits of roadway lane markers to delineate traffic paths for drivers are unquestioned. Pavement markers are more desirable than the usual painted dividing lines because such reflective markers are more visible to a driver over a greater distance and will function better in many instances where painted traffic lines are seen by a driver only with difficulty such as on wet roadways, snow covered roadways or in fog. The prior known markers typically are available in two forms--the surface mount marker secured directly to the roadway surface or an imbedded marker positioned within a preformed hole in the roadway. Surface mount markers are more widely utilized in warmer climates where the markers would not be subject to the shearing effects of a snow plow. The structural integrity of imbedded markers makes them more suitable for roadways subject to various weather conditions.
In order to withstand the forces of oncoming snowplows and vehicle tires, a variety of retractable road markers have been developed. The retractable marker, although it protrudes above the road surface, may be depressed by the blow of a snowplow blade or vehicle tire. Typically, a beveled upper surface formed on the reflector protrusion provides an inclined plane across which the blade or tire rides deflecting the protruding portion of the marker downwardly into its housing. Such depressible markers have incorporated spring assemblies for biasing the reflector, flexible diaphragms which carry the reflector or foam rubber cells facilitating depression of the reflector. However, the effects of dirt and grime, freezing and thawing, snow, rainwater and the forces associated with the road traffic all detrimentally effect the prior known depressible reflectors. Over time reflectors which depend upon exposed rubber components deteriorate to failure. Still other reflectors cannot withstand the torquing effect of the snow plow blades engaging the reflector.
A significant disadvantage of prior known pavement markers is encountered when the reflector becomes damaged requiring repair. The roadway markers used in the past require removal of the entire assembly from the roadway or, at a minimum, disassembly of the housing in order to effect a repair as simple as replacing a shattered reflective lens.


A three-phase induction motor is driven efficiently from a single-phase power supply by reconnecting the motor windings and using two or more capacitors to provide balanced currents and voltages in the windings at preselected values of power. A similar method is used to drive a three-terminal conventional motor from a single-phase supply by using a tapped autotransformer with two different voltages and two different capacitors to excite the third motor terminal. Capacitor switching in all embodiments is controlled by feedback from the voltage across the winding with capacitor excitation.

This present invention is directed to a three-phase induction motor which is operated from a single-phase power supply.
Three-phase induction motors have higher efficiency than single-phase induction motors of similar quality. In many locations, however, only single-phase power is available. A method of operating a three-phase motor from a single-phase supply is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,740, entitled "Three-Phase Induction Motor With Single Phase Power Supply", issued Dec. 20, 1988 to Otto J. M. Smith. This present invention is directed to an improved winding connection and an improved control system for switching the excitation capacitors in response to sensing the motor state.


The present invention relates to methods and systems for automated criteria and attribute generation, searching, auditing and reporting of data. One aspect of an embodiment of the invention includes a method for translating a request for filtering data in a plurality of credit data sources. The method includes receiving a request based on at least one attribute and on at least one modeling criteria, wherein the at least one attribute and the at least one modeling criteria are each associated with a portion of data in a plurality of credit data sources, automatically generating executable computer code associated with the at least one attribute and at least one modeling criteria, wherein the executable computer code is adapted to filter the portion of data in the plurality of credit data sources based at least in part on the at least one attribute and at least one modeling criteria, and storing at least a portion of the executable computer code for use with another request based in part on the at least one attribute and based in part on the at least one modeling criteria.

Certain entities maintain databases which contain identification, commercial, credit and other information about many individuals and entities around the world. Among other uses of such databases, entities can request and obtain lists of certain individuals and/or entities which fit certain criteria and/or attributes, and such lists can be organized as desired for various purposes. For example, an entity for marketing purposes may desire to know information about entities who reside in Atlanta, Ga. and who are in a certain income category, and thus are potentially receptive to a certain marketing campaign. It has been possible for a third-party to specify a set of criteria and attributes to a credit reporting company, and to further specify desired formats of the responsive credit-related data to be delivered, in order to obtain such data. Conventional methods and systems can involve considerable manual effort throughout such processes, in order to interpret and program the third-party's request into an executable computer code or program which can operate on the relevant databases, test the performance of that code or program against actual or trial data in order to assure that it will provide the desired data subsets, modeling, formatting and testing of programming that creates the output results in desired form, auditing the output results, and other aspects of delivering to the third-party customer the desired output results. Manual effort performing some or all of the above tasks is time consuming and expensive.

Systems and processes for automated criteria and attribute generation, searching, auditing and reporting of data


For suture tying in a medical procedure including the use of an anchor that includes a suture locking device that includes a sliding pin guided by axial side slots formed in the locking device that forces the suture where the two ends thereof are inserted into the interior of the suture locking mechanism to drive the captured suture and pin to fit into a recess on the top of the suture locking mechanism such that the top of the pin binds the suture against the upper inner surface of the recess. The recess can be serrated to enhance the locking capability and the pin is polygonal shaped to provide side surfaces that run parallel to the wall of the recess to assure that the side portion of the pin does not fracture the suture and cause it to weaken. The locking of the suture is automatic upon the deployment of the anchor which actuates the pin into the locking position, thus eliminating the necessity of manually knotting the suture and improving the cinching of the tissue to the bone. The suture locking mechanism is usable for attaching tissue to the bone, tying tissue to tissue and the like. The disclosure also includes the method of deploying the combined anchor and suture locking device in a medical procedure.

As is well known by those skilled in the medical technology, knot tying of sutures when done in a medical procedure, as for example, when tying tissue to the bone, is deemed to be one of the weakest links in the procedure being performed by the surgeon. This is the case whether the procedure is arthroscopic or a partial or full opening of the area being repaired. It is well known in this technology that no two arthroscopic knots on the suture that are made by surgeons are the same and equally known is that a well known problem is that the surgeon cannot tie the knot in such a manner that the securing of the tissue to the bone is at its optimum. In other words, the tissue when tied down does not hug or cling to the bone as well as it could.
While this invention has been conceived in addressing rotator cuff tears with the purpose of obtaining a suture that solves the knot problem that is alluded to in the above paragraph, it will become obvious in the description of this invention that follows, that the inventive instrument can be utilized in other surgical procedures. The rotator cuff tear is quite common and because of the difficulty of tying the tissue to the bone this has presented an ever increasing problem to the surgeon. The rotator cuff is a group of muscles that attach, through their tendons, to the top of the upper arm bone (humerus). A tear in these tissues often require surgery to repair the tear. The options left to the surgeon, depending on the severity of the tear, is either an arthroscopic repair, a mini-open repair that combines arthroscopy and a small incision or open surgery. Whatever the procedure, the tissue is ultimately tied to the bone and often by use of an anchor that is secured into the bone and a suture that is tied to the tissue and anchor and then knotted. This invention is directed to a unique apparatus that secures the tissue to the bone and is judiciously adjusted so that the tissue is tied to the bone cinching to the bone as closely as is possible. Hence, this invention relates to an instrument that is used for tying tissue to the bone and to an instrument that automatically secures the suture and to the method for permitting the surgeon to manipulate the suture when utilizing this inventive apparatus in such a manner that the tissue will be cinched to the bone as close as it possibly can.
This instrument and method of shoulder repair is entirely different from the AutoCuff System made by Opus Medical which utilizes the SmartStitch Suturing Device and the Magnum Knotless Fixation Implant. This suturing device eliminates the knot tying by using a mechanized mattress stitch. The device places the stitch directly into the tissue. Once the stitch is placed in the cuff, the surgeon loads and deploys the Magnum Knotless Implant. This procedure is distinguishable from the present invention.

Anchor/suture used for medical procedures


An adjustable hair curler includes a thin sheet of a flexible resilient material. A coating on a first side of the resilient sheet includes a soft material for contacting and gripping the hair. A coating is also applied to the second opposite side of the resilient sheet. The coatings are able to withstand repeated heat cycling. Application of heat from a heat source to the curler causes heat to flow into the curler, heating the resilient sheet and coatings. The thermal mass of these elements keeps the curler heated for some period of time after the curler is removed from the heat source. By rolling the sheet to form a cylinder so that a portion of the sheet overlaps another portion of the sheet, and clipping the two portions together with a clip such as a bobby pin or the like, the cylinder's shape may be established and held with relative ease and simple adjustability of cylinder diameter. For storage, the sheets may be completely flattened for storage or transport in a very minimal volume.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to heatable hair curlers for curling human hair. More particularly, the invention relates to a novel adjustable apparatus for curling hair with curlers of selected diameters which may be stored and carried in a small volume.
2. The Background Art
Hair curlers are well known. Such devices traditionally comprise a cylinder upon which hair is rolled or curled. Heat and/or hair spray or other hair products are often applied so that the hair takes on the shape of the curler and, when the curler is removed, the hair is still curled. It is often desirable to be able to adjust the diameter of a curler so that a small number of curlers may offer the capability of curling at a number of diameters. A number of adjustable diameter curlers are thus known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,020 to van Deursen teaches an adjustable diameter curler. The van Deursen device comprises a pair of telescoping elongated tubes axially and rotatably movable relative to one another. A pair of nested larger diameter end caps is secured at each end of each tube with the roller generally resembling a spool. Each pair of end caps includes a first cap with spiralled cam slots radiating from its center and a second cap nested in the first with a plurality of corresponding or equal number of straight cam slots radiating from its center. The nesting caps are rotatable relative to each other and the caps at each end are connected together by a plurality of toothed elongated curler segments. Each segment has structure at each end cooperating with the cap slots such that by rotating the end caps in opposite directions the segments are radially cammed to change the curler roller diameter. Additional structure locks the cap rotation at any desired roller diameter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,187 to Roberts teaches another adjustable diameter curler. Roberts' device provides for the use of a cylindrical tube rolled from a rectangular perforated sheet of flexible material, the sheet having an outer edge which overlaps a portion of the tube. The tube has a pair of opposing transverse edges, each of which is engaged within a spiral groove formed in opposing caps. The caps are rotationally mounted on an elongated shaft, such that rotation of the disks causes advancement of the transverse edges within the spiral groove, changing the diameter of the outer tube, as desired.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,020,552 and 4,856,542 to Hollenberg et al. teach a radially expandable hair curler comprising a generally cylindrical hollow body, a detachable holding strap stretching from one longitudinal end of the body to the other, and internal mechanical devices for expanding and contracting the curler body.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,555 to Punte teaches a hair curler that provides for a plurality of stages of hair curling with increasing wave lengths along the length of the hairs of the head. The hair curler may be used on short hair or very long hair. The multi-stages provide for a selectivity of lengths for short hair. The hair curler consists of a plurality of removably insertable curler components that nest one within the other in a manner similar to a telescoping mechanism. An elastic tie provides a means for securing the plurality of removably insertable components together and, at the same time, holds the hair in place on the curler. A port hole in one end provides a means for applying wave solution to the hair rolled on the interior of the roller, with communicating slots to permit the solution to seep through to the hair at the periphery of the spiraling rolls of hair.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,200 to Roberts provides for the use of a cylindrical tube rolled from a rectangular sheet of flexible material, the sheet having an outer edge which overlaps a portion of the tube. The tube has a pair of opposing transverse edges, each of which is engaged within a spiral groove formed in opposing end caps. The end caps are rotationally mounted on an elongated shaft, such that rotation of the caps causes advancement of the transverse edges within the spiral grooves, changing the diameter of the outer tube, as desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,232,300 to Fisher teaches an adjustable diameter hair curler formed of a sheet of soft plastic having an array of holes and a line of snap-type fasteners. The snaps mate with and penetrate a line of holes in the array to hold the sheet in the form of a cylinder. Diameter adjustment is accomplished by selecting another line of holes to apply the snaps to.
Non-adjustable fixed-diameter cylindrical hair curlers are known which include hook-type fasteners on the outer portion of the cylinder for engaging hair.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,462 to Morrison teaches a transportable heating unit for hair curlers which utilizes a heat sink core to heat a plurality of hair curler elements stored longitudinally adjacent to the heat sink core. The heat must pass through an insulating layer of the curler elements.
While the foregoing devices are fit for their intended purposes, there is room for improvement in portable, adjustable diameter heated hair curlers.

Heatable hair curler with adjustable diameter


A process for assembling and an epicyclic reduction gear comprising a plurality of planets provided with outer toothings moveable rotatable about a shaft which are engaged with the toothings of, at least one adjacent gear ring. The shaft of the planets is mounted on a planet-holder so that it is adapted to move with respect to said planet-holder both radially and angularly in a plane perpendicular to the principal shaft of the reduction gear. The rotation shaft of each planet may be radially and angularly adjusted to a position where its outer toothing meshes with the toothing of the adjacent gear ring and may thereafter be secured in position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for assembling an epicyclic reduction gear and to an epicyclic reduction gear.
2. History of the Related Art
An epicyclic reduction gear is known to transmit a movement of rotation between a driving shaft and a driven shaft by means of one or more planets. In the epicyclic reduction gears of the prior art, the toothings of the peripheral gear ring and of each planet must be produced with great precision in order to allow correct operation of the device and avoid premature wear. Similarly, the planet-holder must be produced with low manufacturing tolerances and the planets must be assembled on this planet-holder with precision. In addition, the installation of the planets, in a position allowing engagement of their outer toothing with the inner toothing of one or more peripheral gear rings and/or a central shaft, must be effected with the greatest care.
Bearing the foregoing in mind, manufacture of an epicyclic reduction gear is a long and delicate operation and the cost of manufacturing such a reduction gear is relatively high, which prevents it from being used on devices whose objective cost is low.
It is an object of the invention to overcome these problems by proposing to master positioning of a planet with respect to one or more peripheral gear rings and/or with respect to a central shaft in optimum manner, while the manufacturing tolerances of the toothings and the bores may be sufficiently great for the cost of an epicyclic reduction gear to be competitive.

Process of assembling an epicyclic reduction gear and epicyclic reduction gear


The present invention provides methods for improving fruit quality in plants that have low or reduced levels of Golden2-like (GLK) activity in the green fruit (e.g., cultivated tomato). The methods involve introgressing genes encoding functional GLKs into the plant so that they are expressed in the green fruit of the plant and thereby increase chloroplast biogenesis in the fruit. The plants of the invention have improved fruit quality, such as increased levels of starch, soluble solids, and/or sugars.

Golden2-like (GLK) nuclear transcription factors are known to regulate chloroplast biogenesis in leaf tissues of angiosperms and mosses (Yasumura et al., 2005, Plant Cell 17:
1894-1907; Waters and Langdale, 2009, EMBO J28: 2861-2873). While many advances have been made in understanding of leaf chloroplast biogenesis, the role of GLK transcription factors has not been characterized in fruit.
The green tomato fruit pericarp contains photosynthetically active chloroplasts (Piechulla et al., 1985, Plant Molecular Biology 5: 373-384; Piechulla et al., 1987, Plant Physiology 84: 911-917; Blanke and Lenz, 1989, Plant Cell and Environment 12: 31-46; Gillaspy et al., 1993, Plant Cell 5: 1439-1451; Carrara et al., 2001, Photosynthetica 39: 75-78) and it has been reported that as much as 20% of the total carbon in fruit is a consequence of photosynthetic activity in the green fruit itself. Proteins involved in light harvesting electron transfer and CO2 fixation are present in tomato fruit. While many components of the photosynthetic apparatus are conserved in leaves and fruits, key differences exist, suggesting possible fruit-specific regulation. The photosynthetic mechanisms that are operative in tomato fruit chloroplasts are not clearly defined but anatomical and metabolic differences suggest that fruit-specific mechanisms may be important (Blanke and Lenz, 1989; Hetherington et al., 1998, Journal of Experimental Botany 49: 1173-1181; Carrara et al., 2001). For example, many fruit, including tomatoes, lack or have very few stomates, so it is unclear how CO2 is assimilated and regulated in fruit. Tomato fruit can fix CO2 by utilizing ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBPCO) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPCase), but endogenous respiration in fruit make it difficult to measure net assimilation of CO2 and details of the mechanisms of tomato fruit photosynthesis has not been resolved (Blanke and Lenz, 1989; Hetherington et al., 1998). Chlorophyll, the intact photochemistry of Photosynthesis System 2 (PS2) and the presence of carbon assimilation enzymes suggest that green fruit pericarp chloroplasts contribute to the overall carbon and energy required for fruit development (Smillie et al., 1999, Journal of Experimental Botany 50: 707-718). Furthermore, tomato fruit that develop in the absence of light have rudimentary chloroplasts with little or no chlorophyll or thylakoid grana and these fruit exhibit reduced sugars when ripe. This suggests that fruit chloroplasts may contribute to the overall accumulation of sugars by the fruit.
Chloroplast biogenesis is a complex process that requires close co-ordination of plastid and nuclear genomes, and many proteins that accumulate in the chloroplast are encoded by the nuclear genes (Fitter et al., 2002, Plant Journal 31: 713-727). Expression of the Golden2-like (GLK) genes, members of the GARP family of MYB transcription factors, is known to be required for chloroplast biogenesis and maintenance in the vegetative tissues of maize, rice and Arabidopsis (Fitter et al., 2002; Waters and Langdale, 2009). As has been observed in other plants, Arabidopsis has two redundant GLK genes, AtGLK1 and AtGLK2. Mutations in AtGLK1 or AtGLK2 do not alter leaf chloroplast morphology, although the siliques (seed capsules) of the Atglk2 mutant are pale green. Atglk1Atglk2 double mutants have attenuated chloroplast development and all of the leaves of the plants are light green. AtGLK1 regulates photosynthesis in specific cell types (Waters et al., 2008, Plant Journal 56: 432-444). In maize, ZmGLK1 and ZmGLK2 (G2) are associated with C3 photosynthesis, but ZmGLK1 is responsible for differentiation in C4 mesophyll cells and ZmGLK2 functions in C4 bundle sheath cells, suggesting cell-type specific regulation of C4 photosynthetic capacity by these transcription factors (Rossini et al., 2001, Plant Cell 13: 1231-1244). Partial complementation of the Atglk1 Atglk2 double mutant by the moss Physcomitrella patens PpGLK1 gene indicates that GLKs are similar in bryophytes and vascular plants, although because AtGLK1 is unable to complement a Ppglk1 Ppglk2 double mutant, some aspects of the function and/or regulation of GLKs may be species specific.
While the functions of GLK transcription factors have been inferred by examining leaf phenotypes, their role in fleshy green fruit development has not been evaluated. In particular, the art fails to show a link between GLK activity and fruit traits such as starch, soluble solids and/or sugars. The present invention addresses these and other needs.

The Regents of the University of California


A quasi-vertical semiconductor component in which, by variation of the layout, the process or the wiring of inner cells, a compensation for a voltage drop along a buried layer is provided in order thus to ensure a similar operating point of the individual inner cells in the well. Therefore, the disadvantages brought about by a voltage drop in the buried layer are ultimately overcome.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a quasi-vertical semiconductor component having at least two inner cells disposed in a well, a buried layer provided between the well and a semiconductor substrate, and a sinker zone ("terminal zone" for the buried layer), which connects the buried layer to a surface of the semiconductor component.
A quasi-vertical semiconductor component of this type is described for example in the reference by B. Murari et al., titled "Smart Power ICs", Springer, pages 20 and 32 to 36.
The basic construction of a conventional quasi-vertical semiconductor component of this type is illustrated in a sectional illustration in FIG. 5. The semiconductor component may be, by way of example, a diode, a vertical DMOS transistor, a bipolar transistor or a thyristor.
In all these cases, the quasi-vertical semiconductor component has, for example, a p-conducting semiconductor substrate 1 made of silicon and an n-conducting semiconductor layer 2 likewise made of silicon, for example, provided on the substrate 1. In this case, the semiconductor layer 2 can be applied to the semiconductor substrate 1 by epitaxy.
Situated between the semiconductor substrate 1 and the semiconductor layer 2 is an n+-conducting buried layer 3, which is connected via a likewise n+-conducting sinker zone 4 to a surface of the semiconductor component at which an n++-conducting terminal zone 5 with a sinker terminal 6 is provided. In general, for the sinker zone 4 it is possible to use any type of conducting connection between the buried layer 3 and the surface, such as, for example, a trench filled with doped polycrystalline silicon.
With the buried layer 3 and the sinker zone 4, which is configured in an annular fashion, if appropriate, a common n-conducting well 7 is formed in the semiconductor layer 2, the well 7 containing various inner cells 8 which are connected in parallel with one another via a common terminal 9.
An edge termination 10 provides for a dielectric strength between the last inner cell 8 and the sinker zone 4 that does not form a limitation for the component.
The edge termination 10 may contain a suitable combination of diffusions in the well 7, an insulation layer containing, for example, silicon dioxide and/or silicon nitride and a field plate (e.g. made of metal or polysilicon) lying above the insulation layer.
Depending on the type or construction of the inner cells 8, the quasi-vertical semiconductor component illustrated is a diode, a vertical DMOS transistor, a bipolar transistor or a thyristor.
It should be noted at this point that the conductivity types specified here and below are only examples. It is thus possible, of course, to provide the conductivity types in opposite fashion, that is to say, by way of example, to replace the n conductivity type with the p conductivity type and vice-versa. Equally, it is possible to use any suitable semiconductor material such as, in particular, silicon, silicon carbide, etc. for the quasi-vertical semiconductor component.
FIG. 6 shows, as a first concrete example for the semiconductor component of FIG. 5, the construction of a quasi-vertical up-drain DMOS transistor, that is to say of a DMOS transistor whose drain terminal does not lie on the rear side of the substrate as in the case of a vertical structure, but rather on the same side as a gate terminal and a source terminal or a body terminal. In this case, the inner cells 8 contain a p-conducting body zone 11 and an n-conducting source zone 12, it being possible to provide the body zone 11 and the source zone 12 with a common contact 13.
The individual source zones 12 of the various inner cells 8 may be produced by diffusion and run parallel to drain from sinker zone 4, buried layer 3 and well 7. However a polygonal configuration of the respective inner cells 8 is also possible.
Situated between the individual source zones 12 are gate electrodes 14 on a non-illustrated gate oxide.
The current from the source zones 12 flows via the channels formed beneath the gate electrodes 14 in the body zones 11 into the common well 7 and from the latter to the buried layer 3, from where the current flows further via the sinker zone 4 and the terminal zone 5 into the sinker terminal 6 forming a drain terminal.
If, in the example of FIG. 6, the gate electrodes 14 are omitted and the terminals for the body zones 11 and the source zones 12 are led out separately, then a bipolar transistor is produced, as is illustrated in FIG. 7, where it has a common p-conducting base zone 15 with p+-conducting base terminal zones 16 and also n-conducting emitter zones 17 embedded in the base zone 15. The base zones 16 and the emitter zones 17 in the common well 7 are respectively connected together in this case. The sinker terminal 6 forms a collector terminal in the bipolar transistor.
FIG. 8 shows, in a simplified illustration, an impedance network which corresponds to the examples of FIGS. 5 to 7 and reveals how the buried layer 3 causes a voltage drop on account of its internal resistance with resistances R1, R2, R3, . . . between the individual inner cells 8. Moreover, if appropriate there may be a gradient in the RC constant of the respective body-drain diodes of the individual inner cells 8 from outside, that is to say from the sinker zone 4 inward to the cell. This gradient in the RC constant, that is to say in the admittance Y (R, C)=1/Z (Z=impedance) is illustrated diagrammatically by the individual imaginary resistances in FIG. 8. In the case of a high current density or rapid voltage changes, it becomes apparent to a greater extent, the more inner cells 8 lie parallel to one another in the well 7 and the higher the resistance of or the lower the doping of the buried layer 3.
In the case of a quasi-vertical semiconductor component of the type outlined above, what are critical are primarily operating points for which the power loss is high and in which the current i at a common terminal 18 is greatly dependent on the voltage u present at the sinker terminal 6.
It is, then, typically the case for reverse-biased or avalanche operation of all types of quasi-vertical semiconductor components that in the latter the sinker voltage u in the case of a specific avalanche or reverse current i2 abruptly falls or "snaps back" to a low voltage. This is also referred to as "snap-back". The snap-back is undesirable for many semiconductor components and limits their safe operating area. For other semiconductor components, such as ESD protection structures (ESD=ElectroStatic Discharge), for example, the snap-back is desirable, which usually holds true only in the event of optimum utilization of the available area.
It is desirable in both cases above, however, for the power loss to be distributed uniformly over the area of the inner cells 8 in the well 7 and for all the inner cells 8 to trigger to their "avalanche characteristic curve" under an identical or at least similar operating point.
FIG. 9A, which illustrates the forward current i1 of a semiconductor component having inner cells 1 to N as a function of the sinker voltage u, and FIG. 9B, which shows the dependence of the reverse current i2 of the semiconductor component as a function of the sinker voltage u of the semiconductor component, then reveal that the individual inner cells 8 (the cell 1 designates a cell located the nearest to the sinker zone 4, while the zone N/2 indicates a cell in the center of the well 7), have very different operating points, the position of these operating points depending on the distance between the respective inner cells 8 and the sinker zone 4. In this case, the first cell (cell 1), which reaches its trigger current with respect to a snap-back (in this respect, see especially FIG. 9B), limits the strength of the semiconductor component overall.
A further cause of why a gradient in the current yield of the individual inner cells 8 lying parallel to one another may be undesirable could possibly lie in the complex scalability of the current properties of the semiconductor component with the number of inner cells thereof, which in turn results from the voltage drop in the buried layer 3.
Therefore, a fundamental problem in quasi-vertical semiconductor components is that the operating points of the inner cells are greatly dependent on the sinker voltage u and the inner cells are therefore at different operating points depending on their distance from the sinker zone 4. This results in a non-optimum utilization of the available semiconductor area in cases of a high power loss such as at the breakdown of the semiconductor component.


A method of and system for classifying retail products and services. The method of classifying retail products and services includes defining a price level group in a computerized system, wherein the price level group includes a price schema having a plurality of price levels, and wherein each price level is associated with a price band category. The method also includes assigning the price level group to a grouping of at least one of services and retail products.

The present description relates generally to the field of analyzing and reporting sales data, and more specifically to methods of and systems for analyzing and reporting sales data by classifying retail products and services using price band categories.
Price is a classification which is often used by merchants in order to analyze and report sales data for retail products and services. Price is not a useful classification, however, where the actual price of the products or services is subject to frequent change. While ad-hoc price-based groupings may be created to account for changes in price, the creation of such groupings is inefficient and time consuming. Thus, there is need for a method for and system of classifying retail products and services using price band categories which provides for convenient and efficient reporting and analysis of sales data for retail products and services.

Method and system for classifying retail products and services using price band categories