Various embodiments of a respiratory interface device, such as a mask, that includes a substantially rigid frame member and a cushion device wherein the frame member and cushion device are coupled together using a clip assembly wherein the clip assembly includes a plurality of tabs and a plurality of detents. The detents and tabs engage with one another to removably couple the cushion device to the frame member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to respiratory interface devices, and, in particular, to a respiratory interface device, such as a mask, that includes a frame member and a cushion device, wherein the frame member and cushion device are coupled together using a clip assembly employing a plurality of tabs and corresponding detents.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of respiratory masks are known that cover the areas surrounding the nose and/or mouth of a human user and that are designed to create an effective fit against the user's face. Typically, air, gas, or a combination thereof can be provided at a positive pressure within the mask for consumption by the user. The uses for such masks include high altitude breathing (aviation applications), swimming, mining, fire fighting and various medical diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
One requisite of many of these masks, particularly medical respiratory masks, is that they provide a fit against the user's face that is effective to provide therapy or delivery of air and/or gas as mentioned herein and that the mask contours with the user's face to limit or prevent leakage of the air and/or gas being supplied. A known mask typically includes a faceplate constructed of a substantially rigid material selected from a variety of such materials known in the art, including, without limitation, polycarbonate, nylon and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), and a cushion portion constructed of a substantially flexible material selected from a variety of such materials known in the art, including, without limitation, silicone.
The cushion portion is attached to the faceplate and the cushion portion functions to space the faceplate away from the user's face such that the soft cushion portion, and not the rigid faceplate, contacts the user's face to provide an effective fit. The space provided between the faceplate and the user's face forms a chamber for receiving gas from an external gas source for consumption by the user. It is important that the faceplate and cushion portion are connected using a mechanism that provides a tight seal such as to prevent leakage of the air and/or gas being supplied to the user.
Various mechanisms are known in the art to attach the faceplate and cushion portion. In one example, glue may be used to hold together the faceplate and cushion portion. The use of glue results in a mask wherein the cushion portion cannot be easily removed from the faceplate for cleaning. In another example, a tongue and groove assembly is used to connect a mask faceplate to a mask cushion portion. The faceplate can have a rim that includes an outwardly extending flange that engages with a corresponding rim on the cushion portion. The faceplate rim can further include a tongue which protrudes rearwardly from the back of the faceplate and is received in a corresponding complementary shaped groove or recess formed in rim of the cushion portion. A disadvantage of this type of tongue and groove assembly is that it can be complex to manufacture.


There is an apparatus for brewing and making a personal beverage, which combines an independently sliding filter apparatus and a push button opening and closing mechanism, which coordinate vertically applied pressure and controlled rotational movement.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention related to mechanisms used with personal beverage presses for coffee, tea and other brewed or steeped beverages.
2. Description of Related Art
Prior to the present invention, personal beverage presses or French Style Coffee Presses used a handle or knob connected to the press shaft. When a user pressed this handle or knob all the way down the brewing container, the handle remained as an uncomfortable obstruction when drinking. In addition, the handle or knob did not offer an interface for incorporating an open and close mechanism for the drink hole. Another problem was that there are no extra preventative measures to prevent unwanted post-press sediment from going through the drink hole. From the preceding descriptions, it is apparent that the devices currently being used have significant disadvantages. Thus, important aspects of the technology used in the field of invention remain amenable to useful refinement.

Mechanism and top for personal beverage press


The present invention provides systems, methods and devices for selectively firing a gun train formed of a plurality of guns. Conventionally, the guns each include a detonator assembly that detonates upon receiving a firing signal transmitted by a surface source. In one embodiment of the present invention, an operator provided in the gun train selectively couples one or more of the guns to the signal transmission medium. The operator has an safe state wherein the operator isolates the gun from the firing signal and an armed state wherein the operator enable the transmission of the firing signal to the gun. A control signal is used to move operator between the safe state and the armed state. In some embodiments, two or more guns are each provided with a separate operator. In other embodiments, one operator can selectively engage two or more guns.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices and methods for selective actuation of wellbore tools. More particularly, the present invention is in the field of control devices and methods for selective firing of a gun assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hydrocarbons, such as oil and gas, are produced from cased wellbores intersecting one or more hydrocarbon reservoirs in a formation. These hydrocarbons flow into the wellbore through perforations in the cased wellbore. Perforations are usually made using a perforating gun loaded with shaped charges. The gun is lowered into the wellbore on electric wireline, slickline, coiled tubing, or other conveyance device until it is adjacent the hydrocarbon producing formation. Thereafter, a surface signal actuates a firing head associated with the perforating gun, which then detonates the shaped charges. Projectiles or jets formed by the explosion of the shaped charges penetrate the casing to thereby allow formation fluids to flow through the perforations and into a production string.
In some applications, two or more guns or gun compartments are assembled to form a gun train. It is common practice to sequentially fire such perforating gun trains. Each gun is made up of a number of shaped charges, each of which is contained in a separate gun compartment. The shaped charges are usually fired sequentially, beginning at the bottom of the gun or gun compartment. The first shaped charge to be fired is connected to a ground, and the firing of that shaped charge will, unless there is a malfunction, result in the removal of that ground connection and grounding the next shaped charge in the sequence. The firing of each shaped charge, unless there is a malfunction, will result in the removal of the ground connection for that shaped charge and grounding the next shaped charge in the sequence.
Another conventional method for detonating the perforating guns includes a rotary switch operated at the surface with which the several charges can be detonated. This method, however, has its disadvantages, primarily in that the number of charges which can be detonated in this manner is limited. Another conventional method permitting sequential "select fire" detonation of the charges starting at the bottom of the gun assembly, by sequentially applying direct current (d.c.) voltage of alternating polarity to the logging cable from the surface. In accordance with this method, the logging cable is electrically connected through a diode to the blasting cap attached to the charge on the bottom of the gun assembly, and this blasting cap is grounded. All other blasting caps attached to the other charges above the bottom charge are not grounded. Instead they are electrically connected to the diode and a dart which is mounted through an insulating gasket to the baffle plate. The diode is also connected to the logging cable. The dart is a device, well known in the trade, that seals the baffle from the portion of the gun assembly below, when the charge immediately below the dart has been detonated. Other conventional selective firing devices include multiple wire-multiple shot perforating guns. In these devices, a plurality of separate circuits are employed to fire a like plurality of small groups of perforating elements. Another conventional selective firing system is the single wire-multiple shot gun. In devices of this type, there are provided a plurality of spaced normally disarmed blasting cap-perforating element assemblages and an armed assemblage. When the armed assemblage is fired, the adjacent blasting cap-perforating element assemblage is armed through the use of a mechanically operated switch.
These conventional select fire systems for various reasons, such as capacity, reliability, cost, and complexity, have proven inadequate. The present invention addresses these and other drawbacks of the prior art.

Apparatus and method for selective actuation of downhole tools


A novel disk drive includes a top cover having a plurality of integral anchor tabs extending towards a disk drive base. Each of the plurality of anchor tabs includes a hooking surface that faces the top cover. The disk drive base includes a plurality of retention cavities, each of the retention cavities including a catching surface that faces away from the top cover. Each of the plurality of anchor tabs protrudes into a respective one of the plurality of retention cavities, and may be deformed so that the hooking surface of the anchor tab is in contact with the catching surface of the retention cavity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of information storage devices, and more particularly to housings for disk drives.
2. Background of the Art
Information storage devices are used to retrieve and/or store data for computer systems and other consumer electronics products. A magnetic hard disk drive is an example of an information storage device that is especially sensitive to contaminants, and so requires a housing that is unusually adept at preventing the entry of contaminants. Magnetic hard disk drives are also especially sensitive to other conditions of their external environment, including mechanical shocks, externally applied forces and electromagnetic fields, and changes in temperature and/or humidity, etc. Therefore, the housings of disk drives may affect performance, reliability, and lifetime more than the housings of other types of information storage devices.
The top cover is a key component of a disk drive housing, and its means of attachment is of significant consequence. For example, the design and method of attachment of the top cover of a disk drive housing may significantly affect contamination avoidance, electromagnetic shielding, heat transfer/cooling, vibration dampening, and support for internal components such as the spindle to which disks are mounted and the actuator that positions read/write heads.
However, the top cover component, and the manufacturing overhead associated with its fabrication and attachment to the disk drive housing, must meet challenging high-volume manufacturability requirements and cost limitations. Accordingly, there is an ongoing need in the art for improved top covers for disk drive housings, and for improvements in the attachment means for top covers to disk drive housings.

Disk drive having a top cover with anchor tabs


A method for producing an amphiphilic particle or an anisotropic particle includes combining seed particles with a monomer emulsion to obtain monomer-swollen seed particles, polymerizing the monomer-swollen seed particles to obtain polymerized monomer-swollen particles, and hydrolyzing the polymerized monomer-swollen particles. An amphiphilic particle is adapted to stabilize a first type of multiphasic mixture comprising a first aqueous phase having a first pH and a second type of multiphasic mixture comprising a second aqueous phase having a second pH.

Amphiphilic Janus particles are biphasic colloids that have two sides with distinct chemistry and wettability. Because of their amphiphilicity, Janus particles have particular utility with respect to stabilizing multiphasic fluid mixtures such as emulsions. Studies have shown that Janus particles offer advantages over their homogenous counterparts as solid surfactants. For example, the adsorption energy of a spherical Janus particle to an oil-water (OW) interface can be as large as three times that of its homogenous counterpart. Thus, Janus particles have a strong tendency to segregate to and remain at fluid interfaces.
The behavior and function of Janus particles as surface active agents may depend upon the shape of the Janus particles as well as their amphiphilicity. Certain amphiphilic particles can change their shape and amphiphilicity in response to external stimuli such as temperature, pH and light, which in turn change the particles' properties and functionality as surface active agents. The so-called stimuli-responsive amphiphilic particles described in previous studies have limited ranges of amphiphilicity- and shape-tunability and, thus, cannot be used for inducing phase inversion of emulsions or for stabilizing different types of emulsions.
Thus, it would be useful to provide pH-responsive Janus particles that can switch their amphiphilicity due to changes in shape and chemistry. There is also a need for a Janus particle that may be used to stabilize different types of multiphasic mixtures. Further, it would be desirable to provide an amphiphilic particle that may also be used to induce a phase inversion of multiphasic mixtures in response to changes in the pH of the aqueous layer. It would also be desirable to provide an amphiphilic particle that may be used to induce a phase inversion of multiphasic mixtures in response to changes in the volume fraction of a component phase of the mixtures. Additionally, it would be desirable to provide a method by which both amphiphilic Janus particles and general anisotropic particles for stabilizing emulsions can be generated. Finally, it would be desirable to provide a pH-responsive Janus particle which permits adjustment of the interactions between oil-in-water emulsion droplets without inducing destabilization.

Anisotropic and amphiphilic particles and methods for producing and using the same

The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania


Systems, methods, and devices are provided to control an electrical component of an electric power distribution system with an intelligent electronic device using electrical measurements from a wireless electrical measurement device located away from the electrical component. One such system includes a capacitor bank on a lateral of an electric power distribution system, a first set of one or more wireless electrical measurement devices that obtain one or more electrical measurements of a first feeder of the electric power distribution system, and a capacitor bank controller. The capacitor bank controller may use the one or more electrical measurements of the first feeder to control the capacitor bank on the lateral.

The present disclosure relates generally relates to controlling an electric power distribution system. More particularly, this disclosure relates to controlling a capacitor bank using electrical measurements from wireless electrical measurement devices, such as wireless current sensors (WCSs), disposed away from the capacitor bank.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Electric power distribution systems carry electricity from a transmission system to residential communities, factories, industrial areas, and other electricity consumers. Current transformers may be used to reduce higher-voltage currents to lower values, enabling measurements of the electrical current flowing through electric power lines. Current transformers may provide these measurements to IEDs for applications such as protective relaying, electrical load surveying, verification of circuit energization, cost allocation, capacitor bank control, and demand alarming. IEDs operating as capacitor bank controllers generally receive electrical measurements from electrical measurement devices near a capacitor bank. The capacitor bank controller may control the capacitor bank to adjust an aspect of the electric power distribution system, such as to maintain a target voltage-ampere-reactive (VAR) demand, power factor, or phase shift. For example, the capacitor bank controller may cause capacitors of the capacitor bank to be generally connected to a power line when a higher level of compensation may be useful to maintain a target VAR demand level and then disconnected when a lower level of compensation may be useful to maintain the target VAR demand level.
The capacitor bank controller may use a closed-loop control method to control the aspect of the electric power distribution system at the location of the capacitor bank using electrical measurements obtained from that location. Thus, to control a trunk or feeder line, the capacitor bank may be located on the trunk or feeder line and the capacitor bank controller may use electrical measurements obtained near the capacitor bank as closed-loop feedback. It may not always be possible to place a capacitor bank on a trunk or feeder, however, particularly in the case of increasingly dense urban growth. In that case, a capacitor bank may be installed on a lateral line away from the trunk or feeder line. But since the electrical measurements are obtained near the site of the capacitor bank, the capacitor bank controller may use an open-loop control method to attempt to control an aspect of the trunk or feeder line by operating the capacitor bank on the lateral line. Open loop methods, such as time, temperature, or voltage methods, may be used. Open loop methods, however, may be less precise or less accurate, as well as potentially more complex, than closed-loop methods.

Capacitor bank control using wireless electrical measurement sensors away from capacitor bank

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.


A method of augmenting an intervertebral disc by injecting particles of collagen-based material into the disc. The particles may be dehydrated before implantation, and rehydrated after implantation, or they may be implanted in a “wet” state—such as a slurry or gel. Radiocontrast materials may be included to enhance imaging of the injected material. Other additives may include analgesics, antibiotics, proteoglycans, growth factors, and/or other cells effective to promote healing and/or proper disc function.

A healthy intervertebral disc facilitates motion between pairs of vertebrae while absorbing and distributing shocks. The disc is composed of two parts: a soft central core (the nucleus pulposus) that bears the majority of the load, and a tough outer ring (the annulus fibrosis) that holds and stabilizes the core material.
As the natural aging process progresses, the disc may dehydrate and degenerate, adversely affecting its ability to adequately cushion and support the vertebral bodies. This natural desiccation, which in its more advanced state is often referred to as "black disc" because of the disc's dehydrated appearance on Magnetic Resonance Imaging [MRI], can cause discomfort to the patient as the vertebrae to come closer together—compressing the spinal nerves and causing pain.
Techniques for addressing degenerative disc disease have heretofore relied primarily on disc replacement methods. In cases in which a dehydrated and/or degenerating disc was augmented before disc replacement was required, the augmentation materials have primarily been synthetic devices that expand, are inflated, or deploy expanding elements when implanted into the disc.
A need therefore exists for materials and methods effective for augmenting intervertebral discs with natural materials. The present invention addresses that need.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Collagen-based materials and methods for augmenting intervertebral discs


A hose clamp (1) to be fastened to a hose (5), which hose clamp (1) comprises a band (2) which forms an open ring. The ends of the open ring are arranged adjacent to a locking portion (3), adjacent to which locking portion (3) a means (4) is arranged to vary the diameter of the ring and to hold the ends of the ring of the band together. Parts, which are substantially immovably connected to the locking portion (3), are arranged for fixed attachment to said hose (5).

Hose clamps are frequently used, for instance to be mounted on a hose end in order to fasten/fix the hose to connecting components. Hose clamps are usually made of a band, the band, at the ends of the open ring, being closed by means of a locking portion and a clamping screw or clamping device.
In some cases, it is desirable to premount hose clamps on hoses in order to facilitate the final mounting of the hose. With loose, non-premounted hose clamps, the number of components and product numbers increases, which is perceived as a problem with hose clamps according to prior art technique in industrial contexts. Furthermore problems may rise in the orientation of the hose clamp and its clamping device. If the hose clamp is displaced in mounting, the tool and/or the clamping device of the hose clamp may get caught or become inaccessible.


The present invention provides a speaker module comprising a peripheral frame and speaker units housed in the peripheral frame, and the peripheral frame is provided with sound holes in communication with the outside, a front acoustic cavity in communication with the sound holes is defined between one side of the speaker units and the peripheral frame, and a rear acoustic cavity is defined between the peripheral frame and another side of the speaker units away from the front acoustic cavity; in which the speaker units are provided in plurality, and the rear acoustic cavity is divided into the same number of rear sub-cavities as that of the speaker units, and each of the speaker units corresponds to one of the rear sub-cavities and is in communication with its corresponding rear sub-cavity. The above structure makes it easier to adjust the acoustic performance and improves the stereo effect of the product.

Nowadays, portable electronic product is gaining popularity, and the speaker, as one of the most important acoustic devices, is also applied in various fields. In the related art, in order to guarantee the acoustic characteristics and the convenience of assembly, the speaker is usually manufactured into a speaker module.
The speaker module comprises a peripheral frame and a speaker unit housed in the peripheral frame. The conventional speaker module comprises only one speaker unit, and for those speaker modules which have a complicated structure and a high requirement for acoustic performance, it is usually difficult to guarantee both the acoustic performance and the fully exploitation of the inner space of the peripheral frame. Therefore, in order to improve the overall performance of the speaker module, it is necessary to provide a solution to address the abovementioned drawbacks.


A card based security system determines security access by comparing the facial features of the card owner with the facial features of an applicant that is requesting access to a secure item. The facial features of an authorized card owner are stored in a medium of a security access card in the form of feature data. When an applicant presents the card for access, the card feature data is read from the card medium and compared to applicant's facial feature. The facial features of the applicant are determined by taking a picture, and generating applicant feature data that is similar in format to the card feature data. The card feature data is compared to the applicant feature data to determine a level of agreement. The applicant is granted security access if the agreement is above a threshold, and the applicant is denied access if the agreement is below a threshold. In an alternate embodiment, the card medium does not carry the feature data of the card owner. Instead the card medium carries an ID code that identifies the card owner, and the feature data of card owner is retrieved from a computer memory that catalogs the feature data using the ID code. In embodiments of the invention, the feature data represents normalized ratios of distances between face features of the person characterized by the feature data. The normalized ratios are sufficient to adequately represent a person's face for security access purposes. Exemplary ratios include the forehead-to-chin distance, nostril-to-nostril distance, and ear-to-ear distance, where the normalization factor is the eye-to-eye separation of the person. In embodiments of the invention, the card medium that holds the feature data or ID code is a magnetic medium. In an alternate embodiment, the card medium is a bar code. In a preferred embodiment, the card medium is a two dimensional bar code, such as PDF417. Commercially available 2-D bar codes (such as PDF417) can store approximately 1100 bytes of data per square inch. As such, the 2-D bar code has sufficient storage density to store the necessary feature data on an access card the size of an ATM card or an employee badge, which is desirable for portability.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to recording facial features (and/or information representative thereof) in a storage medium, and security applications of the same.
2. Related Art
Various systems and methods exist for controlling access by human beings to buildings, automobiles, computers, financial assets including bank accounts using ATM cards and credit cards, and other items of value.

Security access based on facial features


A computer-based information browsing device including a body; a sensor device that detects a position of an instrument along one direction and a force of the instrument on the sensor device; a set of sensors actuable by said instrument, disposed on the body and configured to produce at least one state signal when at least one of the set of sensors is actuated by the instrument, a transducer circuit that converts the force and position of the instrument on the sensor device into at least one transducer signal; and an output port which outputs the at least one signal and the at least one state signal to a computer which is a set of information hosted thereon, the at least one transducer signal and the at least one sensor signal forming at least one of a direction of movement command, a change of speed command, a jump to a specified location command, and a bookmark command used by the computer to manipulate a displayed image of the set of information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer hardware and software system including a computer input device that can be operatively combined with several methods of display on a computer screen under software and hardware control for the purpose of browsing through documents stored in a computer. Specifically, the present invention facilitates the browsing of a document stored in a computer in such a way that it allows a rapid view of what contents are present and the organization of the material in the document, as well as rapid access to the items in the document involved.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Currently, the method for viewing documents stored in a computer is through a computer monitor screen. For documents that are longer/larger than can be contained within one screen, a means is provided to scroll the document up and down or to jump to a particular point in the document (through the use of, for example, a "mouse" coupled with scroll bars at the edges of the document displayed on the screen or through the use of hypertext links).
However, most people do not find this a particularly convenient way to view a document, as compared with a book. That this is true is evidenced in the fact that despite the fact that the computer has been in increasing use, there is not only no corresponding reduction in paper use, but an increase in paper quantity is required to print what is conveniently stored in a computer that can be seemingly easily and flexibly manipulated for viewing. Sometimes the printed version of the information involved is necessary, like in the case of printing a picture on a sheet of paper to be pasted on some surface (e.g., a wall), or in the case of the convenience of having a relatively light, hardy paperback book for reading in almost any possible situation and location, but there are times when a reader is quite happy to sit at a desk in front of a desktop computer or handle a notebook computer away from the desk, and yet the reader would still prefer a printed version of the document in a hand-held format. This is especially true in the case of looking through manuals, including software manuals, to understand how to operate a device or software application. The irony is that computer software packages usually come with thick and heavy manuals containing information which can easily be stored on a light-weight CD-ROM, and even if the manuals are sometimes dispensed in the form of a CD-ROM, more often than not people would print them out into a hard-copy format in order to facilitate reading.
What is involved when one interacts with the printed material in a book is a subtle and complicated process. To start with, material in a book is presented in a sequential order, with a continuity of material from page to page, and there is also a hierarchical structure in the material presented (as the material is organized into chapters, sections, subsections, etc.) because ideas in the material are related to each other in some kind of conceptual hierarchy. The human perceptual system inputs data in a sequential manner, and after a book is read from the beginning to the end in a sequential fashion, the brain then recreates the conceptual hierarchy after viewing the material involved. However, very often one does not read a book (or input the material involved) from the beginning to the end because (a) one wants to have an overview of the material present; (b) one is searching for something of interest to him/her; or (c) one is interested in reading only portions of the book (in the case of, say, reading the manual to understand how to operate something). In these cases, one browses through the subject book to find the material of unique interest to that reader.
Two basic things are achieved in the browsing process. First, the browser has a glimpse of what are the contents of the book document. Second, the browser has an idea of approximately where the items of interest are so that the browser can (a) return to look for them later when needed, and (b) have an understanding of the relationships between the material currently being viewed and other material (i.e., an understanding of the hierarchical structure involved). When browsing a book document, many finger-operations are required of the browser in order to flip through the pages and, together with the inherent sequential order imposed by the pages, very quickly allow the browser to have an understanding of the nature, location and organization of the material involved.
In the process of browsing through a book, one can perform the following operations:
(a) flip through the pages at varying speeds depending on the level of detail at which one wishes to view the material in the book; PA1 (b) jump to the approximate location of the item of interest; PA1 (c) change the direction of flipping (forward or backward) very rapidly because PA1 (d) mark the locations of some pages of interest that one may want to later return.
(i) one would like to compare and contrast material on different pages, PA2 (ii) after jumping to an approximate location of some items of interest one would like to find their exact locations, or PA2 (iii) one is unsure of where the item of interest is and is in the process of searching for it; and
All these operations are performed very rapidly with the fingers interacting with the flipping pages and with minimal unnecessary movements of the fingers and hands. Interestingly, a book/magazine with soft and flexible pages is harder to handle because more finger and hand movements are needed to browse through it, while books with stiff pages can be browsed with almost no movement of the hand.
In currently available methods of browsing through documents stored in a computer, e.g., the use of a mouse combined with scroll bars and buttons on the computer screen, more movements of the hands are necessary to effect the various operations described above. Also, fine control of the hand or fingers (depending on whether the mouse uses hand movement to move the cursor on the screen or finger movement like in the case of a track ball) is necessary to position the cursor on the screen at the required places. The process is both lengthy and clumsy. The lengthiness of the process taxes the human short term memory's ability to remember items encountered in the recent past for the purpose of establishing the relationships between items and the clumsiness of the process creates distraction and interferes with the short term memory process, a well known effect in perceptual psychology. Because material in a book is organized into pages, it also enhances the ability of the reader to better remember the location of various portions of the material involved. Also, unlike the process of scrolling through a document on a screen like what is normally done in a word-processor, wherein the contents become a blur and reading is impossible, when one moves through the material in a book through flipping, one is still able to read at least the approximate contents, if not the details. It is due to these features that a person browsing through a book can acquire a good understanding of its contents, the location of specific items and organization of the material.
It is because of the reasons set forth above, people still prefer to read a book in their hands, rather than a document image displayed on a computer screen using currently available methods.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,102 (Kuno et al.) discloses a device for document viewing that consists of two display screens. One of the purposes of using two display screens is to allow the user to display two different pages from the document so that they can be read side-by-side (e.g., a diagram and its textual explanation). Another purpose is to allow a large picture to be displayed simultaneously on both pages. The Kuno et al. device allows users to change the speed of movement through the document through a pressure sensor--the more pressure applied, the faster the pages in the document are moved through. The Kuno et al. device also allows the document to be viewed in the forward or backward direction by pressing on a forward sensor area or a reverse sensor area respectively. One can also select a page to jump to by pressing on an icon displayed on the screen. However the Kuno et al. device still does not provide the same convenience as browsing through a book, primarily because when switching between the operations for different controls--the speed of movement through the document, the change of direction of viewing, and the jumping to different parts of the document--there are a lot more hand and finger movements than is the case in manipulating a physical book. Moreover, the Kuno et al. device is a specialized, relatively costly device with sensors and hardware built onto two display screens, whereas the present inventor recognizes that a lower cost and more practical device would be one that adds modularly to the existing computer system.
Currently, there are also computer mice that can eliminate the above-mentioned problem of positioning cursor on the computer screen with a conventional mouse (i.e., fine control of the hand or fingers is needed). These mice allow the user to specify "hot locations" on the screen on which the cursor "homes onto" with less fine control than conventional mice. Furthermore, a subset of these mice can generate "vertical only" or "horizontal only" movement of the cursor so that the scrolling process requires less fine control of the muscle than is required with a conventional mouse. These mice eliminate some, but not all, of the problems associated with the conventional methods of computer input as far as computer-based document browsing is concerned.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,575 (1995) McTaggart discloses an electronic book that comprises laminated sheets bound together in the form of a book. On each of these sheets, printed material is arranged on the top layer and below that layer is an electronic backdrop containing thin light-emitting diodes (LED's) and pressure sensitive switches affixed onto a backing sheet. The LED's generate visual signals that can be seen through the top layer for the purpose of highlighting parts of the printed material. The pressure switches, positioned under certain items in the printed material, are for the purpose of sensing the user's selection of those items. A speaker is also provided on the book to generate audio signals for explaining the text or giving the user audio feedback. Contact or photo-sensitive switches are also embedded in the pages to allow the electronic circuits to know which pages are currently being viewed, so that the appropriate audio and visual signals can be generated. Even though this apparatus is in a form that allows a person to handle it like handling a typical book, with visual and audio enhancements of the printed material as well as facilities that accept the user's feedback, it is basically a hard-wired device that is not reprogrammable and different hardware has to be configured for books with different contents. No provision is available for downloading document files from a computer for display on the electronic book nor is the electronic book able to display any arbitrary document file. This device is hence not suitable for browsing through documents stored in a computer.
Therefore, the inventor has identified there exists a need for a low-cost, modular device that can be connected to existing computer systems and that permits easy, effective computer-based document browsing that approaches that of browsing through a book.

Browsing system and method for computer information


A coating applicator assembly is disclosed for coating fasteners ends protruding from a surface of a structure, the fasteners extending a specific distance above the surface. In detail, the applicator assembly includes a handle. A coating member made from open celled compressible foam having a coating transfer surface in a generally W shape is attached to the handle. Preferably, the central V of the W shaped surface has an included angle of between 40 and 50 degrees and a depth of between 65 and 85 percent of the specific distance and the outer surfaces of the W shaped surface extending outward at an angle of between 40 and 50 degrees and the depth of coating member is at least 4 times the depth of the central notch.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of paint applicators and, in particular, to an improved applicator for coating the ends of fasteners protruding from structures.
2. Description of Related Art
In aircraft manufacture most structural elements are joined with fasteners. For corrosion protection, the surfaces of these structural elements are coated with a corrosion inhibiting coating. After assembly, the structural elements must also have the fastener ends (with retaining nuts attached) coated corrosion inhibiting coatings. Spraying on coatings can be used. However, the corrosion inhibiting coatings typically contain chromium compounds and the use of such sprays may cause environmental problems. Brushes can be used, but there use is time consuming. Thus the use of roller applicators becomes one of most effective methods from both environmental and time considerations.
However, prior art roller designs have not been totally effective. A straight roller will not completely cover the fasteners, especially if they are in rows. U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,773 "Pipe Paint Roller" by I. H. Forkner discloses rollers having a U and square shaped notches. These shapes failed to adequately cover in just one pass. In fact, a lot of excess material had to be deposited on the surrounding surfaces before full coverage of the fasteners was accomplished. U.S. Pat. No. 2,929,089 "Paint Applicator For Corners" by W. L. Hall disclosed a roller for corners, with a 90-degree V shaped notch. Tests of this design were also unsuccessful. One of the problems was the shape outer edge collapsed under pressure causing two much of the coating to be deposited on the adjacent surfaces. Thus no prior art applicator design can effectively be used to coat fasteners protruding from a surface.
In addition, it is desirable to eliminate the need for an applicator that does not require that the coating material be imbibed by rolling the coating member in a paint tray. This is a time consuming process. Furthermore, it exposes the user to fumes. Additionally, if the coating material is a two-part system (resin and catalyst) it tends to cure rapidly when exposed to air. Thus once the coating material was poured into the paint tray, it had to be applied immediately.
Coating material applicators having self-contained supply systems are old in the art. They basically comprised a roller assembly connected by a line to a pump/coating reservoir. Coating flow was controlled by turning the pump on and off. Such systems are difficult to use in confined areas. Examples of this type of applicator can be found in US Patent Publication No. US 2003/0021623A1 "Resin Application" by A. R. Harper. The roller handle incorporates a valve to control resin flow to a spreader bar located in proximity to the roller applicator. U.S. Pat. No. 2,743,469 "Roller Type Paint Applicators" by F. D. Ditch discloses a paint roller wherein the rod extending from the handle to the roller axle and the roller axle itself are hollow. A valve mounted in the handle controls paint flow, which is distributed from the axle into the interior of the roller.
There are numerous roller designs wherein the coating material reservoir is contained within the handle. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,337,899 "Roller Type Paint Dispenser" by J. M. Rentfrow discloses a device wherein the rod extending from the handle to the roller axle and the roller axle itself are hollow. A reservoir is incorporated into the handle that incorporates a piston biased by a spring that pressurizes the paint therein. A valve is provided for controlling the flow of paint to the roller. However none of these devices disclose a roller applicator suitable for effectively coating the ends of fasteners protruding from a surface.
Thus, it is a primary object of the invention to provide a coating applicator for covering the ends of fasteners protruding from a surface.
It is another primary object of the invention to provide a coating applicator for covering the ends of fasteners protruding from a surface that covers the ends in one pass.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a coating applicator for covering the ends of fasteners protruding from a surface that covers the ends in one pass while applying a minimum amount of coating material to the adjacent surfaces.
It is another object of the invention to provide a coating applicator for covering the ends of fasteners protruding from a surface that covers the ends of fasteners, which has a self contained supply of coating material for providing the coating to the applicator for imbibing thereby.

Applicator assembly for coating fasteners


A disk drive device includes: a device body having a front surface that forms a disk insertion and ejection opening; a pair of arms supported at proximal end portions thereof pivotally from the front surface of the device body to a downstream side in a disk insertion direction; transport rollers respectively rotatably supported at distal ends of the arms and transporting the disk to an inside or outside of the device body by being brought into contact with a side surface of a disk; an urging member urging the arms so that the transport rollers supported respectively by the arms approach each other; and a transport roller rotation mechanism driving at least one of the transport rollers, supported respectively by the arms, for rotation, wherein the arms synchronously pivot the transport rollers in such a manner that the pivotally supported proximal end portions are coupled to each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a disk drive device equipped with a transport mechanism that transports disks having large and small different diameters and, more particularly, to a so-called a slot-in type disk drive device that automatically loads a disk into a device body only by inserting the disk into an insertion opening and an electronic apparatus that uses the disk drive device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical optical disk includes an optical disk, such as a CD (Compact Disk), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) and a BD (Blue-ray Disk), and a magneto-optical disk, such as an MO (Magneto optical) disk and an MD (Mini Disk). Various disk drive devices that are compatible with these disks, disk cartridges, and the like, are available.
The disk drive devices include a type in which a lid or a door provided for a casing is opened and a disk is directly mounted on a turn table that is accessed through the lid or the door, a type in which a disk is placed on a disk tray that horizontally moves into or out from a casing to automatically load the disk onto a turn table inside the casing when the disk tray is drawn into the casing, a type in which a disk is directly mounted on a turn table provided for a disk tray, and the like. However, in any type, it may be necessary for an operator to open or close a lid or a door, to move a disk tray in or out or mount a disk on a turn table.
In contrast, there is a so-called slot-in type disk drive device that automatically mounts a disk on a turn table only by inserting the disk from a disk insertion and ejection opening provided on the front surface of the casing. The slot-in type disk drive device is mainly classified into three types.
The first type includes a plurality of pivot arms of which support portions that support a side surface portion inserted from a disk insertion and ejection opening are provided at distal ends and proximal end portions are pivotably supported, and performs a loading action in which these pivot arms are pivoted in a plane parallel to a disk while drawing the disk from the disk insertion and ejection opening into the casing and an ejecting action in which a disk is ejected from the disk insertion and ejection opening to the outside of the casing. Most of this type is generally used in a slimmed mobile device, such as a notebook personal computer. However, it does not initiate drawing action until the maximum diameter portion or more of a disk is inserted in a device body, so this type is avoided in general home appliances.
The second type includes a pair of opposite guide rollers that hold surfaces of a disk inserted from a disk insertion and ejection opening, and performs a loading action in which the disk inserted from the disk insertion and ejection opening is drawn into a casing by rotating these pair of guide rollers in opposite directions and an ejecting action in which the disk is ejected from the disk insertion and ejection opening to the outside of the casing. Most of this type is generally used in an in-vehicle disk drive device that ensures a predetermined mounting space. Insertion and ejection of a disk may be smoothly performed; however, because rubbers of the rollers contact the surfaces of the disk, there is a possibility that a recording surface may be damaged after an extended period of use.
The third type, for example, as shown in FIG. 26, includes arms that are pivotably supported in a plane parallel to a disk, rubber rollers that are rotatably provided at distal ends of the arms, and rotation mechanisms of the rubber rollers. Then, the rubber rollers roll on the side surface portion of the disk to perform drawing and ejecting actions while holding the disk. This type is used in a home-use DVD player and a game machine. Because a disk insertion feeling is relatively smooth, and it is less likely to affect a recording surface of the disk, this type is particularly effective for disks having high recording density (see Japanese Patent No. 3867692).
In this third type, the pair of arms are supported at both sides of a disk insertion opening, so the rubber rollers that support the side surface portion of the disk are pivoted to a substantially middle in the disk insertion opening of the device body. As the rubber rollers are pivoted toward a far side, they are pivoted toward left and right side surfaces of the casing. Thus, in the above slot-in type disk drive device, as shown in FIG. 27A and FIG. 27B, an amount by which a disk is projected from the device body at the time when the disk is ejected is insufficient. Particularly, as shown in FIG. 27B, when a 8-cm disk is ejected, a recording surface tends to be touched. This causes degradation of recording and reproducing quality.
In addition, in the above slot-in type disk drive device, the pivot fulcrums of the arms are provided at both sides of the disk insertion opening. Thus, when another mechanism, such as a double insertion prevention mechanism for a disk, is provided at a front surface side of the device body as well, a degree of freedom of technical design is small. In addition, a degree of freedom of appearance design at the front surface of the device body is also limited.
In the disk drive device of a type described in Japanese Patent No. 3867692, as shown in FIG. 28, the pair of arms provided with the rubber rollers are pivotably supported at both sides of the disk insertion opening provided at the front surface of the device body, and the rubber rollers are urged in a direction to approach each other to support the side surface portion of the disk. Here, the pair of arm members are supported at an interval at both sides of the disk insertion opening, so it is difficult for the arm members to be directly coupled to each other. Urging members are provided for the respective arm members to urge the arm members in a direction to approach each other, and hold the disk by substantially equal urging forces. Thus, as the urging forces of the urging members vary because of component tolerance, aging, and the like, the left and right urging forces become unbalanced. Therefore, there is a possibility that transport of a disk may be unstable.
In addition, it is necessary for the disk drive device to perform centering to oppose a disk center hole to a turn table in order to mount the disk inserted into the device body onto the turn table to be driven for rotation. In addition, even when any disks having large and small different diameters are inserted, it is necessary for a centering member to synchronize with the pivot of the pair of arms in order to oppose the respective disk center holes to the turn table. Here, the centering member is arranged at the back surface side of the device body, and it is difficult for the centering member to be directly coupled to the pair of arms, so the centering member is coupled to the pair of arms via intermediate gears. Thus, the disk drive device uses a mediating member, such as intermediate gears, so the number of components is increased. In addition, by ensuring a space for arranging these components, the size and weight of the device body increase. Furthermore, as a result of coupling these components, rattling of each mediating member accumulates, and, therefore, there is a possibility that inconvenience, such as unstable operation, may occur.

Disk drive device and electronic apparatus


A heat-dissipating device with heat conductive tubes comprises a heat-dissipating unit having plurality of fins; each fin having a plurality of through holes; each through hole having a corresponding via hole near the through hole; a plurality of annular walls being arranged around each through hole; and a plurality of heat conductive tubes passing through respective through holes of the fins. In manufacturing, the plurality of heat conductive tubes and the heat-dissipating unit with press bars are positioned to a fixture; a shaping mold serves to punch the press bars so that the press bar to press the side walls and thus the fins are tightly riveted to the heat conductive tubes.

Two ways for dissipating heat from central processing units, or electronic elements. In one method, a plurality of fins and a fan are used to dissipating heats. In another method, a plurality of heat conductive tubes are used to guide heat from the electronic elements. The heat conductive tubes are connected to a heat-dissipating unit. However, this way is not suitable to be installed with a fan since the space is confined. Thereby, solder material is coated upon the connection of the heat conductive tubes and heat-dissipating unit. In manufacturing, they are placed in a vacuum furnace so that the solder material is permeated into the heat conductive tubes and heat-dissipating device. However, the whole manufacturing process is complicated and thus cost is high. Moreover, the solder material is harmful to human body and environments.
With reference to FIG. 1, the heat conductive tubes and heat-dissipating device are connected by tightening engagement. Each fin 10 has an axial hole 12 with a configuration corresponding to that of the heat conductive tube 11. The heat conductive tube 11 is positioned to a fixture (not shown). The shaped heat fins 10 are placed upon the heat conductive tubes 10. A shaping mold is used to punch the structure. Each fin needs one punching process so that each fin is connected to the heat conductive tube 11 tightly. However, since each time only one fin is punched, the time period is long and the process is complicated. Thereby, the vibration of the punching operation will make errors to the fins 10. Then the engagement of the heat conductive tubes 11 and fins 10 are affected so that gaps C1 generate (referring to FIG. 2). As a result yield ratio is high and then head convention from the heat conductive tube to heat-dissipating device is low. Thereby, there are many punching process being necessary in the process, and thus the shaping mold will wear and thus the lifetime is shortened.
Moreover, in the punching process, the surface of each heat conductive tubes is coated with oil. In punching, the oil will fill into the connecting surface connected the heat conductive tube due to capillary effect. This will induce the oxidization of the heat conductive tube 11 so as to reduce the heat conductivity of the heat conductive tube 11.

Heat-dissipating device with heat conductive tubes


A delivery system (20) having a plurality of printing presses (22) to supply printed materials, a plurality of trays (38) being movable past locations of the presses (22), a device for loading (26) the trays (38) from the presses (22), a device for ejecting (28) the printed materials from the trays (38) onto a plurality of positions of a plurality of docks (46) for a plurality of vehicles (48) located at the positions on the dock (46), and a control system (49) for selecting the trays (38) to be ejected onto the docks (46) according to a variable current rate having an average during delivery approximately equal to a selected base rate.

The present invention relates to delivery control systems for a printing press.
In the past, printing presses have been utilized to print a web in the press for newspapers, with the webs being cut and folded such that they are placed in the form of bundles near an output portion of the press. The bundles are placed in a plurality of trays which pass around a loop, and the bundles are ejected from the trays onto chutes in order to deliver the bundles to trucks which then take the bundles to remote locations where they are distributed to subscribers.
The process for delivering the bundles of newspapers to the trucks has been very limited in sophistication, since the distribution systems delivered bundles to routes for the trucks at rates which by definition are rates which are not to be exceeded. The distribution procedure for these prior systems was based upon skipping trays to ensure that the specified delivery rate is not exceeded. The distribution systems assumed that all the trays were full, and knowing the speed of the press and trays, as well as the injection rate from the trays, the systems performed calculations for delivering the bundles to the trucks. However, not all the trays were actually full, and some of the trays were empty.
As a result, the distribution systems of the newspaper bundles was very inefficient. Some of the trays with bundles may pass the injection point, and some of the trays may be selected for ejection which did not actually have bundles in the selected trays. Some groups of bundles may travel around on the trays several times before being delivered in these systems which are based on skipping trays, and these systems take relatively long periods of time to load even high priority routes, which is undesirable and inefficient in delivering the bundles from the press to the truck routes.

Delivery control system for a printing press


A house clamp assembly having a fixed jaw and a slide bar mounted movable jaw, the fixed jaw opposing the movable jaw. A one-way drive means, by operation of a trigger handle grip, releasably engages the slide bar and advances the movable jaw towards the fixed jaw. The one-way drive means is incapable of moving the slide bar and movable jaw away from the fixed jaw. A return motion of the movable jaw (separating) is accomplished manually when the one-way drive means is disengaged. A braking lever, which is biased to bind the slide bar, prevents reverse motion of the slideable jaw away from the fixed jaw, except when the first lever is disengaged from the slide bar. A device for securing a ladder to a building, wherein the removed end of the slide member has a hook shape; wherein the jaws include jaw faces having multiple raised portions, wherein the releasable braking means of the building clamp assembly means includes a pivoting lever; wherein the locking member of the ladder hook assembly includes a pivoting lever, attached at one end to the body, and having a slot dimensioned to slideably receive the hook slide member therethrough; wherein the body of the ladder hook assembly includes a pair of slots dimensioned for and adapted to slideably receive the slide member therethrough; and wherein the slots are arranged to maintain the hook slide member substantially parallel to the slide bar of the building clamp assembly.

The present invention has been devised to avoid certain problems inherent in the prior art. For example, the prior art does not provide for a ladder stabilizing device that will positively engage a building quickly and easily and, which will likewise, quickly and easily engage to a ladder. Moreover, prior art devices tend to be difficult to install easily and quickly, which difficulty is aggravated by the operator being on the ladder and attempting the installation process. That is to say, ease and simplicity of engagement and disengagement of a ladder stabilizing device is more important because of the dangerous environment of a ladder user, typically perched above the ground.

Ladder safety device having a building clamp assembly and a ladder hook assembly


A branch prediction control circuit has a register. A main memory provides a machine language instruction to the register and an instruction buffer. The prediction control circuit decodes the instruction held in the register and predicts whether or not the branch is taken. If the instruction is a relative branch instruction, a sum of the address of the instruction and a displacement included in the instruction is computed to provide a branch address. At the same time, a branch address valid signal is provided. With this arrangement, reliable branch prediction of the relative branch instruction is realized with a small amount of hardware.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a branch control circuit used for pipeline processing of instructions, and particularly to a branch control circuit that can minimize confusion caused by branching in the pipeline processing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
These days, many data processors are employing pipeline processing to process and execute instructions at a high speed.
The pipeline processing involves, for example, an instruction fetching stage, an instruction decoding stage, an effective address generating stage, an operand fetching stage, and an instruction executing stage. Instructions are successively read from a memory and sequentially processed through these pipeline stages. Each of the stages processes a different instruction, and if there is no confusion in the flow in the pipeline stages, the system provides maximum performance.
Let us suppose a data processor consumes one machine cycle in each processing stage, it requires five machine cycles for processing one instruction in a data processor without the pipeline system. On the other hand, a data processor employing the pipeline processing can process instructions five times as fast as the non-pipeline processor, because the pipeline processor executes one instruction in each machine cycle if no confusion occurs in the flow of the pipeline processing.
According to a conventional pipeline technique, however, a branch instruction may cause confusion in the pipeline processing. After executing the branch instruction, the processor must invalidate instructions that are following the branch instruction and being processed in the pipeline stages, and restart processing from a target instruction of the branch. This deteriorates the performance of the pipeline.
To deal with the problem, a processor employing a branch prediction method has been proposed. This method predicts whether or not a branch instruction is taken, according to branch prediction information. If the branch instruction is predicted to be taken, the processor starts to process an instruction addressed by the branch instruction before executing the branch instruction, thereby reducing the confusion which occurs in the pipeline.
According to this technique, some means must be provided to find a target address of the branch instruction. One means for finding the address is a look-up table which is referred to in the instruction fetching stage of the pipeline.
FIG. 1 shows flows of instructions in pipeline stages of a conventional branch control circuit employing the look-up table.
The look-up table contains addresses of branch instructions BIs and addresses of target instructions TIs. The look-up table is referred to in the instruction fetching stage or instruction decoding stage of the pipeline to find a target address of a branch instruction BI. If the given branch instruction BI is predicted that branch is taken, an instruction located at a target address obtainable from the look-up table is fetched. This technique may minimize confusion in the pipeline, as shown in FIG. 1, if the branch prediction hits.
The look-up table and its contents inevitably increase, however, the size of hardware. In other words, the number of entries of the look-up table is limited by hardware.
If the number of entries of the look-up table is small, a mis-hit rate will rise in referring to the look-up table. This makes the prediction of a branch instruction BI impossible.
In FIG. 2, flows of a pipeline process with unsuccessful branch prediction are shown. As shown in FIG. 2, since an instruction fetch of the target instructions TIs is carried out after executing the branch instruction BI, the process after the first time requires more four cycles than that at the first time.
In this way, the conventional branching control technique for a pipeline system requires the size of hardware (the size of the look-up table) to be sufficiently large for increasing the hit rate of branch prediction. If the number of entries of the look-up table is small, the mis-hit rate increases to cause confusion in the pipeline.


A fixing base structure of a slide track. The fixing base includes snap members, a guide channel, a retaining groove, and a retaining plate. The snap members are arranged on the back face of the fixing base. The guide channel is provided in the front face of a fixing base, and the retaining groove is matingly provided in the guide channel. In the structure of the guide channel, the guide channel is matingly provided with a retaining plate located above the retaining groove. When the slide track is mounted in the guide channel of the fixing base, the retaining plate elastically presses the slide track in the retaining groove, such that the slide track and the fixing base may have a better combination positioning effect therebetween.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fixing base structure of a slide track, and more particularly to a fixing base structure including a fixing base having a retaining plate elastically pressing a slide track in a retaining groove of the fixing base, such that relative wobbling or detachment will not happen between the slide track and the fixing base.
2. Description of the Related Art
The closest prior art of which the applicant is aware is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,861 to Domenig et al., issued on Nov. 22, 1993, which is shown in FIG. 1. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,861 disclosed a fixing base and a slide track. The fixing base 10 has a first end provided with a stop 10a, and a second end provided with a pair of spring flanges 10b. the slide track 20 is provided with a through slot 20a. When the fixing base 10 is combined with the slide track 20, the stop 10a is matingly snapped in the through slot 20a, thereby properly limiting the relative displacement between the fixing base 10 and the slide track 20, so that the slide track 20 is displaced on the fixing base 10 along the through slot 20a. At this time, although the pair of spring flanges 10b at one end of the fixing base 10 may elastically fix the slide track 20, the stop 10a at the other end of the fixing base 10 is connected with the through slot 20a in a simple snap manner, so that wobbling easily produces between the stop 10a and the through slot 20a, and the parts easily hit each other. Thus, the wobbling incurring between the stop 10a and the through slot 20a easily causes the stop 10a to wear or detach.
With regard to this, for overcoming the above-described drawbacks, the retaining groove of the fixing base is matingly provided with the retaining plate, thereby elastically pressing the slide track on the fixing base. In addition, the retaining groove and the retaining plate are matingly mounted on the guide channel, so that wobbling will not happen when the slide track is combined in the guide channel of the fixing base, thereby enhancing the usage reliability of the product.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a fixing base structure of a slide track, wherein a fixing base is provided with a retaining groove, and a retaining plate for fixing combination of a positioning plate of a slide track, so that fixing base structure of the present invention can enhance the combination effect of the parts.
A secondary objective of the present invention is to provide a fixing base structure of a slide track, wherein the guide channel of the fixing base is matingly provided with the retaining groove and the retaining plate. Thus, after the slide track is combined in the guide channel of the fixing base, the slide track is retained by the retaining groove and pressed by the retaining plate, so that relative wobbling or vibration will not happen between the slide track and the fixing base, such that the present invention can enhance the usage reliability of the product.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a fixing base structure of a slide track, wherein the fixing base includes a plurality of snap members, a guide channel, a retaining groove, and a retaining plate. The snap members are arranged on the back face of the fixing base. The guide channel is provided in the front face of a fixing base, and the guide channel is matingly provided with the retaining groove and the retaining plate. When the slide track is mounted in the guide channel of the fixing base, the retaining plate elastically presses the slide track in the retaining groove, so that wobbling will not produce after the slide track is combined in the guide channel of the fixing base. When the positioning plate of the slide track is adjusted to displace in the retaining groove of the fixing base, the retaining plate of the fixing base still elastically presses the positioning plate of the slide track in the retaining groove, so that the slide track is stably displaced in the guide channel of the fixing base.
Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.


Provided are an electroluminescent polymer including repeating units of Formula (1) below and repeating units of Formula (2) below and an organic electroluminescent device including an organic layer having the electroluminescent polymer, wherein the organic electroluminescent device has high luminance, high efficiency, and high color purity:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electroluminescent polymer and an organic electroluminescent device using the same, and more particularly, to an electroluminescent polymer including a polycyclicamine unit in its polyarylene backbone and an organic electroluminescent device using the same that offers high luminance and efficiency.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since the report of a multi-layered organic electroluminescent device, each layer having a specific function, by C. W. Tang of Eastman Kodak company, due to its advantages of light weight, thinness, a wide range of colors, fast switching speed, and high luminescence at low driving voltage, a lot of research on organic electroluminescent devices has been conducted for the last decade. As a result of this research, great improvements in the performance of organic electroluminescent devices have been made in a short period of time. These improvements include balanced charge injection due to multi-layered structures, color tunability and higher quantum efficiency by doping, etc. In addition, new electrodes formed of specific alloys have been found to be suitable for organic electroluminescent devices.
Such organic electroluminescent devices can be classified according to the molecular weight of their materials and manufacturing processes. Organic electroluminescent devices can be manufactured from low molecular weight compounds and large molecular weight compounds. Low molecular weight compounds can be layered by vacuum deposition and can be easily purified to a high degree. In addition, color pixels can be easily obtained in a low molecular weight device. Despite these advantages of low molecular weight organic electroluminescent devices, they still require further improvements for practical application, for example, in quantum efficiency and color purity, and there is a need to prevent crystallization of thin layers. Various studies on such electroluminescent displays using low molecular weight compounds have been actively undertaken, especially in Japan and the U.S.A. For example, Idemitsu-Kosan Co., Ltd. of Japan first exhibited in 1997 a 10-inch full color organic electroluminescent display using a color-changing medium. Pioneer Corporation of Japan presented a 5-inch passive matrix (PM) full color organic electroluminescent display. Recently, Pioneer Corporation and Motorola Inc. have arrived at an agreement concerning the mass production of cellular phones having organic electroluminescent displays, implying that low molecular weight electroluminescent displays will be commercially viable in the near future.
Research on electroluminescent devices using polymers has been accelerated since the Cambridge Group's report in 1990 on the ability of poly (1,4-phenylene vinylene) (PPV), π-conjugated polymer, to emit light when exposed to electricity. π-conjugated polymers have an alternating structure of single bonds (σ-bonds) and double bonds (π-bonds), where π-electrons are evenly distributed to move freely in the polymer chain. Accordingly, π-conjugated polymers have semiconductor properties and can emit light of a visible range corresponding to the HOMO-LUMO energy bandgap, via proper molecular designing, when applied to an emissive layer of an electroluminescent device. Such a polymer can be easily formed as a thin layer in the manufacture of electroluminescent devices by spin coating or printing, at low costs and has a high glass transition temperature that allows the thin layer to have good mechanical properties. Thus, such polymer-based electroluminescent devices are expected to be more commercially competitive than low molecular weight electroluminescent devices in the near future.
However, electroluminescent devices using polymers have problems of low color purity, high driving voltage, low efficiency, etc. Research has been actively conducted to address the problems of polymer-based electroluminescent devices. As an example, copolymerization (U.S. Pat. No. 6,169,163) or blending (Synthetic Metal, Vol. 106, pp. 115-119, 1999) of a fluorene-containing polymer was suggested for improved electroluminescent properties. However, improvements are still required.

Electroluminescent polymer and organic electroluminescent device using the same

Abstract: where Ar, X, Y, and R are the same as described in the detailed description of the invention and the claims.


A bone marrow biopsy needle provided with blades which cut and retain a biopsy core. In one embodiment, the cutting blades of the needle are hinged at the distal end of the needle and are mechanically coupled to an actuator at the proximal end of the needle. The needle is preferably formed with inner and outer walls to provide a space therebetween for the mechanical coupling. The cutting blades are retained in a dead space against the outer wall of the needle when the needle is open. In lieu of a hinged arrangement, the outer wall of the needle may be tapered at its distal end so that the blades are forced together when they are pushed forward. In another embodiment, the cutting blades are pre-curved inward, but are retained against the inner surface of the needle wall until pushed forward. In yet another embodiment, the distal ends of the cutting blades rest within a curved circumferential recess provided in the needle wall, and, when pushed forward, move together to cut and retain the biopsy core.

When a bone marrow biopsy is performed, a biopsy core, which consists of a plug of bone and marrow, is withdrawn with a bone marrow biopsy needle from the body of the patient. At times, it is difficult to retain the biopsy core in the needle while the needle is being withdrawn from the patient.
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the known Jamshidi.RTM. bone marrow biopsy needle, which is available from Baxter Healthcare Corp. A cylindrical needle 20 tapers slightly at the distal end 22 to form a narrowed tip. An inner trocar or introducer 24 must be inserted and securely retained in the needle 20 during insertion into the patient. The trocar 24 has a chisel-like tip 26 which aids the needle to penetrate the patient's bone. After the bone is pierced, the trocar is removed rearwards from the needle and insertion of the needle continues in order to collect the desired biopsy core within the needle. Because of the inward curve of the end 22, the needle 20 has a cylindrical "dead space" 28, which is not usable to contain the biopsy core.
With the Jamshidi.RTM. needle, it is difficult to keep the solid biopsy material in the needle as the operator is withdrawing the needle from the patient. A biopsy core approximately 11/2 inches (3.8 mm) is generally needed. Conventionally, it is necessary to shake the needle from side to side, to break the biopsy core loose from the adjacent marrow. This agitation of the bone marrow is uncomfortable for the patient. It also may create a risk of metastasizing malignant cancer, leukemia, or lymphoma cells which are infiltrated in the marrow of the patient, because the bone marrow is highly vascular. The marrow contains a vascular system which is quite complex and includes a vascular sinusoidal system. See Wintrobe, M. M., et al., eds., Clinical Hematology (Lea & Febiger 1981); Anat. Rec. 68:55 (1970); and Weiss, L.,"Histopathology of the Bone Marrow," in Regulation of Hematopoiesis, A. S. Gordon, ed., (Appleton-Century Crafts 1970).
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide some means of separating or cutting the biopsy core from the surrounding marrow in order to free it for removal, without unnecessary agitation of the marrow. Such a device would be effective to reduce or eliminate risk and discomfort for the patient.
Another problem with the prior art needle is that, even after the biopsy core is broken loose from the bone marrow, it sometimes falls out of the needle as the needle is being withdrawn from the patient's body. Thus, there is a need for a biopsy needle having a closable distal end for retaining the biopsy core in the needle.

Bone marrow biopsy needle with cutting and/or retaining device at distal end

International Medical Technologies Corporation


An integrated “T” assembly combines into a single integrated assembly, a track portion along both sides of a divider. The T assembly may have a wide-base portion, which may include a spring-urged-pusher track, on one side of the divider and a narrow-base portion on the opposite side of the divider. An offset pusher may have an upper portion that is offset, via an angled offset portion, from a lower portion of the pusher. Additional supporting bases, any of which may include spring-urged-pusher tracks and/or a spring-urged pusher, may be used under a wide product. Left and right side finisher components may be paired with T assemblies near the sides of a merchandise-display shelf. The T assembly, base, and/or end finishers may be coupled to a front rail via a complimentary tongue and groove arrangement and/or a non-slidable engagement, such as mating teeth.

It is desirable to have merchandise on a shelf situated toward the front of the shelf so that the merchandise is visible and accessible to shoppers. Thus, as merchandise is removed from a shelf, it may be advantageous to push the remaining merchandise toward the front of the shelf. It may also be desirable to include dividing panels, also referred to as dividers, to separate merchandise into rows on a display shelf.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,720 ("the '720 patent") discloses a product management display system that may be used for dividing and pushing displayed merchandise.
DE 299-02,688 U1 discloses a merchandise display system in which a base-and-divider assembly is constructed as two separate units that need to be connected to each other before being used. When this system is used with products having different sizes, product slider guides, also referred to herein as pusher tracks, of various widths need to be used to accommodate the different sizes of the products.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,738 discloses a merchandise display system with a pusher track that has an integrated divider wall on one side of the pusher track. Like the system disclosed by DE 299-02,688 U1, pusher tracks having different widths must be used to accommodate products of different sizes.
Referring to FIG. 1 of the '720 patent, various components, such as pusher end device 150, pusher divider 152, and pusher 154 mounted on bases 166, 212, and 232, respectively, are disclosed for mounting onto either shelf frame 25 or standard dealer shelf 40. The pusher end device 150, the pusher divider 152, and the pusher 154, which are mounted to bases 166, 212, and 232, of FIG. 1 of the '720 patent were designed with ultimate flexibility in mind. This flexibility allows these components to be assembled and used in many different ways depending on the particular product to be displayed. This presents store personnel with potentially confusing choices, which may lead to frustration, wasted time, and incorrectly installed parts. Three pusher components, namely, a full-width track, which can accept the pushing device, a divider, and a narrow track, are typically used together more often than other combinations of components. Therefore, a component that combines these devices into a single integrated assembly would be desirable.


A transmission apparatus and method, respectively, mapping payload data of mapping input data streams onto a mapping output data stream having a channel bandwidth for transmission in a multi-carrier broadcast system. To enable selection of robustness for transmission of data, the apparatus includes a frame forming mechanism mapping data blocks of at least two mapping input data streams onto frames of the mapping output data stream covering the channel bandwidth, each frame including a payload portion, the payload portion including plural data symbols and being segmented into data segments each covering a bandwidth portion of the channel bandwidth. The frame forming mechanism is configured to map the data blocks of the at least two mapping input data streams onto data symbols of the payload portion and includes a MIMO mode selector selecting a MIMO mode of the data blocks per data segment and/or per mapping input data stream.

The transmission parameters of known broadcast systems, such as the broadcast systems in accordance with the DVB-T2 standard (second generation digital terrestrial television broadcast systems standard as defined in ETSI EN 302 755 V1.1.1 (2009-09) "Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Framing structure Channel Coding and Modulation for a Second Generation Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcast system (DVB-T2)"), are generally optimized for fixed reception with stationary receivers, e.g. with roof-top antennas, for which low power consumption is not a main issue. Further, according to this standard a fixed channel bandwidth is generally used. In future broadcast systems, such as the upcoming DVB-NGH (DVB Next Generation Handheld; in the following also referred to as NGH) standard, a mobile receiver (which is the main focus of this upcoming standard) shall support a variety of different channel bandwidths, e.g. ranging from 1.7 MHz to 20 MHz wide channels. Further, such a mobile receiver has to account for specific needs of mobile and handheld reception, i.e. low power consumption and high robustness.

Transmission apparatus and method for transmission of data in a multi-carrier broadcast system


A method for coating the inside surface (18) of tubular components (16) of a nuclear fuel assembly, including the steps of supporting the component within a vacuum chamber (12), positioning a source rod (20) having a field emitter structure (22) within the component, the structure being formed of material to be coated on the surface, and inducing an electrical current flow (26) through the rod sufficient to evaporate at least a portion of the emitter structure, whereby the evaporated material of the emitter structure is deposited on and adheres to the surface as a coating. Optionally, the vacuum chamber is backfilled with a reactive gas (38), and the material evaporated from the emitter structure chemically reacts with the gas before adhering to the surface. The reactive gas can be one of nitrogen, oxygen, or carbon plasma and the coating adhered to the component can be one of a nitride, oxide, or carbide, respectively.

The present invention pertains to nuclear fuel assemblies, and more particularly, to the coating of fuel assembly components.
Although coating the inside of fuel assembly components has been recognized as providing significant advantages, the small inside diameters, high aspect ratios, and high costs of conventional coating processes, have stymied commercialization of such improved fuel assembly components. Two pending U.S. applications represent a significant advance in the state of the art in this respect.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/924,731, "Sputtering Process Burnable Poison Coating" (Bryan et al), is directed to a method for sputter coating the inside surface of a fuel assembly tubular component with absorber material such as a burnable poison or hydrogen getter. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/924,732, "Fuel Assembly Sputtering Process" (Bryan et al), is directed to a method for sputter coating the inside surface of fuel assembly tubular components such as nuclear fuel rods or control rod guide tubes, with wear or corrosion resistant material. The foregoing U.S. applications, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference, describe the so called Linear Magnetron Sputtering process as the preferred sputtering technique. The sputtering process disclosed in these applications requires active confinement of a plasma within the tubular substrate to be coated, as well as an active cooling system.

Microparticle coating on inside of fuel rods and other fuel assembly components


There is provided a block, segmented or graft copolymer having polyorganosiloxane segments and self-associating hard segments, which copolymer is capable of forming a solid, generally non-tacky release coating without the requirement of curing. The release coating comprises the polyorganosiloxane copolymer admixed with an MQ resin wherein the amount of MQ resin is generally between 1 and 30 weight percent of the polyorganosiloxane content preferably 1 to 20 weight percent. The MQ resin modifies the copolymer release material to have a higher release than the copolymer itself, generally at least 10 percent and preferable at least 20 percent up to 50 percent or higher with the readhesion values decreasing by 50 percent or less, preferably 40 percent or less.

This invention relates to a thermoplastic release coating or tapes and films using this coating.
There are widely varying chemistries and techniques used to provide for release properties from a film or other web backing used in conjunction with a pressure-sensitive adhesive. Premium release materials have low release values with respect to conventional pressure-sensitive adhesives generally less than 25 to 50 grams/25 mm. These types of release values can be obtained using catalyst cured release systems based on polydialkylsiloxane. Modified release is often desired, for certain applications, which typically requires release values ranging from 100 to 500 grams/25 mm, and occasionally even higher. Slightly modified release values have been obtained with these cured systems by cross-linking silicone with non-silicone or modifiers and/or use of mixed silicones or the addition of MQ silicate resin as a release modifier (generally at levels of greater than 20 percent). For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,787 discloses a thermally curable polyorganosiloxane using a controlled release additive of an epoxy-functional siloxane used in conjunction with a vinyl-functional siloxane using suitable cross-linkers and hydroxylation catalysts. In the examples, the addition of about 30 percent of the epoxy functional siloxane approximately doubled the release values (Examples 3 and 6) depending on the degree of branching of the epoxy functional siloxane.
However, there is a often a desire to avoid these curable systems, particularly where manufacturing flexibility is desired. Systems that require curing often present many difficult problems, for example the components are often hard to maintain in a stable form, the release coatings and components are often subject to wide manufacturing and performance variability, moisture or gel contamination and other problems. A proposed alternative to curable systems is the use of copolymers having polyalkylsiloxane segments or blocks and so called hard segments or blocks. In these systems, physical crosslinking occurs by self-association of the higher Tg hard segments or blocks. Segmented or block copolymers of this type are described, for example, in European Patent Application No. 250248, which proposes a release coating comprising a copolymer with at least polyorganosiloxane segment(s) and polyurea and/or polyurethane segment(s). These segmented copolymers are obtained by a condensation reaction of amine terminated difunctional polyorganosiloxane and diisocyanate, with optional chain extenders such as diamines and/or dialcohols, which can be soft segment materials. Using this type of segmented copolymer, release values for the release coating can be changed by varying the relative ratio and size of the hard and/or soft segments (e.g., for the polyorganosiloxane soft segments and any soft segment chain extenders). For example, this European patent indicates that the relative amount of hard segments in the copolymer can range from about 15 percent to about 70 percent to provide various levels of release performance. These segmented copolymer compositions can be solvent or hot melt coated. It is also disclosed that when blended with an MQ resin (at 50:50) certain of the copolymers (e.g. those having elastomeric properties) can form pressure-sensitive adhesives. Although these copolymers are desirable in many respects for use as release coatings, the modification of the release properties of these segmented copolymers is difficult, without changing the constituent monomers, oligomers or the like. Particularly in a manufacturing setting where there is a need for the ability to have a simple and easily adjustable method for modifying the release characteristics of a given release coating on line without changing the nature of the components used (e.g. with a segmented copolymer changing its constituent segments, monomers etc.).
U.S. Pat. No. 3,957,724 describes a release material formed from a polyorganosiloxane containing active hydrogens which are reacted with polyisocyanates prepolymerized with polyols or polyamines to form a chain extended prepolymer. The formed release material is not thermoplastic due to extensive crosslinking which system shares the disadvantages of the cured systems discussed above.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,002,794 describes an organopolysiloxane material having mercapto-terminal groups which are reacted with diisocyanates to form release materials. The material obtained is described as coatable from a solvent and does not require curing in order to form a solid release coating. Also, the siloxane release materials are described as being capable of being intermixed with other film forming materials including epoxy resins, polyesters, polyamides, polyacrylates, polyurethanes, polyvinylchloride and like film forming resins.
Elastomeric polyorganosiloxane/polyurethanes copolymers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,758, which patent indicates that poor elastomeric properties were obtained in prior described methods for forming these types of block copolymers due to formation of heterogeneity in the medium when reacting a macrodiol containing a long polysiloxane chain and a short polyisocyanate or a short polyol.
Other patents dealing with polyorganosiloxane block or segmented copolymers used as a film or other uses include the following.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,391 describes the use of silicone-polyurea elastomers on an image release sheet used in electrographic processes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,601 describes forming a cellular polyurethane polyorganosiloxane elastomer using an organic polyisocyanate, polyhydroxyl, water and a chain extending agent having two or more sites with active hydrogen capable of bonding with an isocyanate.
Japanese Patent Application No. 1-126,389 describes a release agent formed using an organopolysiloxane reactive with hard segment comprising polyurethane, polyurea, polyamide, or polyester material. This material is similar to that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,957,724 mentioned above in that it requires on line curing or crosslinking due to the multi-functionality of the organopolysiloxane and the isocyanate, optionally with multifunctional chain extending agents.
Japanese Patent Application No. 89-183987 (abstract) discloses a polyorganosiloxane formed into a block copolymer with an isocyanate terminated polyurea, the material is described as a film former which is useful for "selective gas permeation membranes".
U.K. Patent No. 214044 B describes a block copolymer of a polyorganosiloxane intermixed with a generic hard segment material having a Tg of greater than 37.degree. and a further soft segment of a polyethyleneoxide. The elastomeric material of this generic description allegedly has good biocompatibility and can be formed into films or other self-supporting materials for use in a biological setting.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,562,352 describes a polyorganosiloxane-polyurethane block copolymer formed by a condensation reaction between a vinylacetate group containing the polyorganosiloxane and a polyether or polyester urethane prepolymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,343 describes a copolymer of an organic polysiloxane with other non-silicone soft segments and polyurethane or polyurea hard segments to form an elastomeric material useful in conjunction with applications involving contact with blood. Similar biocompatible elastomers are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,724 which reacts an aliphatic diisocyanate and an organic diisocyanate with an organopolysiloxane soft segment and a diol or diamine chain extender.

Silicone copolymer modified release tapes


Described herein is a framework for outdoor localization. In accordance with one aspect of the framework, a set of hotspot labels are received from one or more user devices connected to an outdoor wireless local area network. Manifold learning may be performed based on the set of hotspot labels to construct one or more manifolds. Using the one or more constructed manifolds, the framework may then estimate a location of a particular user device associated with a query record received from during an online location query.

Although WiFi has been intensively used for the purpose of indoor localization, global positioning system (GPS) technology still dominates the outdoor market. Nevertheless, the landscape of outdoor localization is shifting due to the high-energy consumption of embedded GPS sensors (e.g., in smartphones) and frequent loss of signal in urban areas. Supplementary location indicators, such as general radio frequency (RF) signal, light, sound and magnetic field, can be explored indoors, but they either lose their location discriminability (e.g., light, sound, and magnetic field) or offer very low localization accuracy due to the sparse deployment of signal sources (e.g., cellular and frequency modulation or FM).
While the majority of research efforts focus on indoor localization, quite a few industrial practices have already started to provide GPS-free outdoor localization services based on WiFi infrastructure. Unfortunately, neither academic proposals nor industrial practices have achieved a satisfactory localization accuracy so far. Most academic proposals are trying to migrate the WiFi fingerprinting methods proven to be effective indoors to a metropolitan area, but fingerprinting such a huge area through war driving is extremely difficult (if not impossible), and the localization algorithms adapted to sequential war driving labels (e.g., particle filter) do not work well for crowdsensed labels possibly due to absence of sequential timestamps. More importantly, localization does not work beyond the fingerprinted zones.

Outdoor localization using hotspot labels