A method, system, and business model are disclosed for supporting handover between a mobile host and a corresponding node located in a heterogeneous network. Handover paths are established to accommodate a plurality of quality of service properties. Admission control is performed that considers the established handover paths and an established first reservation path. Gateways are contacted to determine a handover path to use. The determined handover path is used to support vertical handover. A second reservation path is established while maintaining the first reservation path and the handover path.

Recent years have witnessed an explosive growth of mobile computing and the emergence of new wireless technologies. The desire to be connected any time, any where and in any way, leads to an increasing array of heterogeneous systems, application, devices and operators. Such heterogeneity is not likely to disappear in the foreseeable future because the variety of application requirements makes it difficult to find an optimal and universal solution. Likewise, an eagerness to capture the market encourages competing organizations to release non-interoperable systems. As a result, the ability to provide seamless telecommunication services in such a heterogeneous environment may be important to the success of the next generation of mobile communication systems.
Mobile IP is a current standard for supporting mobility in IP networks. Mobile IP defines a home agent and a foreign agent. The packets destined for a mobile host are intercepted by the home agent and tunneled to the foreign agent. The foreign agent de-capsulates the packets and forwards them directly to the mobile host. Mobile IP may provide a framework for allowing users to roam outside the home networks without disruption to their applications. However, known Mobile IP protocol networks are built with the wired Internet in mind where the end host's mobility is limited and infrequent. Furthermore, the Mobile IP protocol does not utilize network topology information and produces global updates whenever local mobility occurs, e.g., mobility between adjacent base stations in the same administration domain. Likewise, Mobile IP has no support for quality of service (QOS) features, such as high bandwidth requirements, high reliability requirements, and the like.
Mobile IP does not support QOS because it treats different forms of mobility uniformly, and produces a new care-of-address for every handover from one base station to another. Therefore, a user moving a short distance, e.g., between two adjacent base stations in the same administration domain, can experience significant disruption, e.g., loss and/or delay of signal, due to the frequent registration to the remote home agent. Likewise, creating a new care-of-addresses for every handover introduces complexity and delay for a new QOS reservation or path setup.
Known solutions include Cellular IP, Hawaii and other micro-mobility related protocols. Such protocols attempt to limit the global updates because of local movement by either introducing hierarchical foreign agents or smart foreign agents depending on the network topology. But the known schemes are based on homogeneous networks and the same administration domains. In other words, the known schemes attempt to solve the horizontal handover problems but do not address vertical handover, e.g., handovers between base stations under different administration domains. When vertical handover occurs, known schemes no longer work because no common agent exists above two separate administration domains. When vertical handover occurs, the mobile agent needs to rely on the Mobile IP to resolve macro-mobility issues. To enable seamless service, QOS capabilities should be provided during vertical handover.
RSVP is the current standard for supporting Inte-Serv in an IP network. It is known that to provide guaranteed service, reservation or admission control is needed at the edge router regardless of the QOS mechanism used in the core network. RSVP or its extension is a popular signaling protocol used by a host to request specific QOS capabilities from the network for particular application data streams. RSVP is also used by routers to deliver QOS requests to all nodes along the path of the data streams and to establish and maintain a state to provide the requested services.
A second set of protocols includes MRSVP, RSVP-A and other modifications to the RSVP signaling protocol. Because the RSVP protocol is designed without the consideration of mobility by its receiver-initiating algorithm, MRSVP and its relatives are proposed to support mobility. These protocols are based on proactively set up reservations, however, in base stations where the application is likely to travel. Such proactive reservation could lead to bandwidth waste due to the large amounts of control messages needed to refresh the RSVP soft states.
Micro-mobility protocols only deal with mobility issues and have no intrinsic QOS support. This problem can be addressed to some extent by using a common agent and reusing the common network path before and after handover. The previous reserved path could be reused and QOS reservation and update information could be limited to local network. But the lack of QOS support during the handover period still exists. When the terminal moves from one base station to other base stations, packets in the previous base station are either dropped or forwarded to the new base station without QOS support. Micro-mobility protocols attempt to decrease packet loss but other QOS parameters such as bandwidth and delay are not considered. Likewise, no differentiation exists between the treatments of different applications. Different applications have different QOS parameters in terms of bandwidth, delay and loss so they are divided into QOS classes and receive differentiated service based on their classes. But known handover schemes treat applications the same which violates the philosophy of differentiation and may lead to unnecessary system overuse.
As discussed above, when vertical handover occurs, micro-mobility and its related QOS improving extensions could not be used because of the lack of common agent and common network path. Schemes such as RSVP, MRSVP and RSVP-A which produce global updates and introduce longer handover periods can be used. A problem occurs regarding how to provide QOS support during this handover period.
Moreover, the upper-layer adaptation ability could also be taken into account when adopting network layer QOS support. Since adaptation ability is a basic requirement for elements working in the mobile domain, the application, middleware, and transport layer are equipped with some degree of adaptation mechanisms to deal with the packet loss or delay. Without the consideration of the upper-layer's adaptation ability, IP layer handover adaptation may unnecessarily duplicate the mechanism or even deteriorate the upper-layer's performance.
To enable seamless communications, there is a need for a QOS support system to support vertical handovers caused by mobile terminals.

System and method for supporting quality of service in vertical handovers between heterogeneous networks


Method for torque and pitch control/adjustment for a wind power plant according to the rotational speed according to a characteristic curve, in which at partial load operation in a first section the torque is adjusted up to a first predetermined rotational speed, at partial load operation in a second section the torque is adjusted from the first rotational speed up to a second rotational speed, at full load operation in a third section at least one pitch of a rotor blade is adjusted for rotational speeds greater than the second rotational speed, at full load operation, in a fourth section, the pitch is adjusted for rotational speeds lower than the second rotational speed and greater than the third rotational speed, if a control has been previously carried out according to the third section, and at partial load operation in a fifth section the torque is adjusted for rotational speeds lower than the third rotational speed, if a control has been previously carried out according to the fourth section.

The present invention relates to a method for torque and pitch control/adjustment for a wind power plant according to the rotational speed. The method serves to determine an optimal reference value for the generator torque according to the rotational speed for a pitch controlled wind power plant.
The wind power plant is started up by the control system in windy conditions, from a start-up wind rotational speed, and shut off again at high wind speed, the shut-off wind rotational speed, in order to prevent mechanical overload. The wind speed is, for example, detected via an anemometer or calculated from the rotational speed of the rotor and the power produced.
Pitch-controlled wind power plants operating at variable rotational speeds are known. During pitch control, the blade pitch of each rotor blade is adjusted about its longitudinal axis. At different blade pitches, the respective rotor blade collects a different torque from the wind.
For the control/adjustment of the wind power plant it is known to distinguish between two modes of operation. The first mode of operation is denoted as partial load operation in which the rotational speed is regulated by setting the torque. The second mode of operation is full load operation in which the rotational speed is regulated by adjusting the pitch.
In order to achieve optimal power output by the wind power plant, the rotational speed of the plant in the partial load range is set at the optimal ratio between the peripheral rotational speed of the rotor and the wind speed (λopt). The rotor blades are, therefore, set at a blade angle which generates the highest drive torque for the rotor shaft. The rotational speed of the rotor is set in the partial load range by the counter torque generated on the generator and/or convertor.
If, at a nominal wind speed, the maximum counter torque is reached on the generator, by further increasing the generator torque, the rotational speed may no longer be maintained at the operating point. An overload of the system is, therefore, avoided as the aerodynamic efficiency of the blades deteriorates and said blades are moved out of the optimum pitch. The specialist term for this process is also "to pitch". The rotational speed of the rotor is thus influenced by the pitch of the blades after reaching the maximum generator torque.
A variable speed wind power plant is known from EP 1 007 844 B1, the entire contents of which is incorporated hereby by reference, which has a wound rotor induction generator. For operating the known wind power plant, a torque controller is known and a pitch controller which operates independently of the torque controller.
The technical object of the invention is to provide a method for torque and pitch control for a wind power plant according to the rotational speed, which delivers a particularly high output.

Method for torque and pitch control for a wind power plant according to the rotation speed


A recording material comprising a transparent substrate which has a recording layer on one side and a peelable hiding layer on the other side is provided. By using the recording material of the present invention, a solid image portion in white or other color, in particular, with hiding property, can be formed on a transparent substrate with easy operation.

The present invention relates to a recording material, which can be used for gravure-proofing for package design etc., displays and the like.
Full color printing on a substrate made of paper, plastic film or the like has hitherto been performed by electrostatic recording, ink-jet printing, thermal transfer recording, electrophotography and the like. Interalia, electrostatic recording is widely used for the manufacture of large-sized displays, outdoor displays and the like because it can output images at a high speed and can produce highly weather-resistant images, and ink-jet printing is frequently used for the manufacture of recording materials for large-sized displays and gravure-proofing of package design and the like because it provides images with high resolution at low cost.
However, all of conventional recording materials used for these recording methods are classified into white ones, those in one color, those transmitting light, i.e., transparent ones, and those having a ready-made pattern.
Therefore, if partial background portions with hiding property are desired in recording materials transmitting light, for example, a white paper sheet or white film, for example, must be adhered or white paint must be applied on the background portions on a transparent sheet as a separate operation before or after printing by any of the above-mentioned methods.
To obtain such background portions with hiding property as described above, solid printed image portions in white or one color may be formed by the methods mentioned above. However, forming a large solid image portion in white or one color requires use of a large amount of toner or ink and may cause ununiform recording.
Further, inks for ink-jet printing, in particular, generally transmit light well and most of them do not have hiding property. Therefore, it is difficult to form printed image portions which have hiding property on a transparent film with such inks.
The present invention has been accomplished in order to solve these problems. The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a recording material which can provide a solid image portion in white or other color, in particular, with hiding property on a transparent substrate with easy operation.


A portable one-piece bath aid device is disclosed for use in conjunction with a bath tub wherein the bath aid device assists one in the bathing of another. The bath aid device has a kneeling section and an elbow rest section to provide comfort to the user and has a storage area which may contain various bathing articles such as shampoos, soaps and cloths commonly used in bathing to provide convenience to the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a bath aid device, and more particularly to a novel device used to assist one in the bathing of another, especially infants and children.
2. Prior Art
The process of one person bathing another has long been a problem for the one performing the bathing. This bathing process is normally carried out over the side of a conventional bath tub or other such washing structure. Examples of such cases, are where a parent is bathing an infant or small child, or in the health care industry where a nurse or health care agent assists in the bathing of a physically handicapped or geriatric person. Where such bathing takes place over the side of a bath tub or similar structure, the process of bathing is made awkward for the one performing the bathing, and additionally may cause great discomfort to the person assisting. Additionally, bathing articles, such as shampoos, soaps and wash cloths are not easily accessible. These bathing articles are normally located in the corners of the tub or may be placed on the floor next to the person performing the bathing. In either case, these bathing articles are not readily accessible to the user, and often spill and create a mess wherever they may be located. There has long been a need therefore, to cure the problems associated in bathing another, wherein the person performing the bathing can do so comfortably and have bathing articles readily accessible to them.


A code sequence start position detection method and apparatus, and a decoding method and apparatus, which can quickly detect the start position of a code sequence by a simple processing arrangement, and can decode the code sequence on the basis of the detected start position, are provided. In order to detect a start position of a cyclic code sequence with a code length n, the cyclic code sequence with the code length n is input in turn, and a multiplier g, register r, and adder+generate a syndrome for a coded word from the first start position ci−1 (i=1, 2, . . . ) to the first end position ci−1+n in the register r. A multiplier w and adder+correct the generated syndrome using data based on a coded word which is stored in an n-bit buffer and starts from the second start position ci+n, and a NOR detects the start position of the cyclic code sequence with the code length n on the basis of the modified syndrome.

Conventionally, cyclic codes such as a Hamming code, CRC, Fire code, BCH code, Reed-Solomon code, and the like are used in many communication systems and recording systems since they are easy to handle.
As shown in Hideki Imai, "Coding theory", the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, a circuit shown in FIG. 1 is prevalently used as an error detector for these cyclic codes. The circuit shown in FIG. 1 executes a process given by equation (3) that computes a remainder S(x) (to be referred to as a syndrome hereinafter) as a result of dividing a received word R(x) given by equation (1) as an input by a generator polynomial G(x) given by equation (2). Note that R(x) is designed so that the remainder of division by G(x) becomes zero if there is no error.R(x)=RN−1·xN−1+RN−2·xN−2+ . . . +R1·x+R0  (1)G(x)=xm+gm−1·xm−1+ . . . +g1·x+g0  (2)S(x)=R(x)·xm mod G(x)  (3)
The circuit shown in FIG. 1 operates for every unit times (clocks). In the following description, each rectangle expressed by ri (i=0, . . . , m−1) indicates a delay element (register) for one unit time. Also, each rectangle expressed by gi is a multiplier which multiplies an input by gi, and outputs the product (if gi=0, the connection itself is not required; if gi=1, the multiplier is not required, and only the connection is required). Also, "+" indicates an EXOR (exclusive OR) arithmetic unit (which is adopted since arithmetic operations on the Galois field GFS(q) will be examined; in general, a subtractor is used). "NOR" indicates a NOR arithmetic unit.
When Rj (j=N−1, . . . , 0) has been input to this circuit every unit time in turn from higher degrees, if no error has occurred, S(x)=0 is obtained, i.e., all registers ri (i=0, . . . , m−1) become "0". On the other hand, if an error has occurred, since S(x)≠0, and the NOR arithmetic unit output is not zero, it can be detected that an error has occurred in the received word. Upon forming an encoder which not only detects any error but corrects it, a circuit with an arrangement in FIG. 2 in which a NOR circuit 20 for detecting a specific pattern and an N-bit buffer 22 are added to FIG. 1 is used, and executes the following process.
A right NOR circuit 21 detects "0", and if S(x)=0 after the same process as in FIG. 1, the process terminates with no error. However, if S(x)≠0, shift registers are further kept shifted up to a maximum of N times with an input "0", and when a left NOR circuit 20 detects that the values of the shift registers have become a specific pattern based on a code, "1" is output to correct an error of an N-bit delayed received word. Since one shift process of the shift register corresponds to a computation for computing a remainder by multiplying S(x) by x and dividing the product by G(x), an arithmetic operation:E(x)=S(x)·xj mod G(x) (j=0, . . . , N−1)  (4)is made for each shift, i.e., for each j, and a received symbol RN−j when E(x) has become a specific pattern undergoes error correction. For example, if a single error has occurred at a position N−i, we have:S(x)=x−1+m mod G(x)and the (i−1)-th shift (j=i−1) yields:E(x)=S(x)·xi−1 mod G(x)=xm−1Hence, the left NOR circuit 20 detects:rm−j=0(j=2, . . . m)rm−1=1
Furthermore, when cyclic codes are used in practice, a coded word is normally shortened (see "Coding Theory"). Such code is equivalent to a cyclic code in which symbols of higher degrees of equation (1) are "0", and the correcting capability of the code remains intact. Such code is called a shortened cyclic code. For example, a generator polynomialG(x)=x8+x2+x+1used in header error control of ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) that has received a lot of attention as the next-generation communication scheme has a CRC code lengthN=27=1=127bits. Normally such code is shortened to about 40 bits. In the following description, N represents the code length of a cyclic code specified by the generator polynomial G(x), and n represents the code length obtained by shortening the code length N.
Upon decoding a shortened cyclic code by the circuit shown in FIG. 2, after the received word R(x) is input, a maximum of N shifts and a buffer that stores the received word are required. The detector shown in FIG. 1 can be used in synchronization detection. In this case, a coded word is shifted in turn in increments of 1 bit to determine a new start position, and a coded word from the start position where no error is detected is adopted to synchronize each coded word.
Thereinafter, a term "synchronization detection" means to detect the start position (and/or end position) of code sequence.
The synchronization detection operation will be explained below using FIG. 3.
If one coded word is defined by the first start position to the first end position in FIG. 3, the coded word is expressed by:c1(x)=c1·xn−1+c2·xn−2+ . . . +cn−1·x+cn
A syndrome s1(x) upon dividing this coded word by the generator polynomial given by equation (2) is expressed by:s1(x)=c1(x)·xm mod G(x)
If c1(x) is a correct coded word, s1(x)=0, and the coded word is synchronized. However, if s1(x)≠0, since c1(x) is not a correct coded word, a syndrome s2(x) for a coded word c2(x) from the second start position to the second end position is computed by:c2(x)=c2·xn−1+c3·xn−2+ . . . +cn·x+cn+1s2(x)=c2(x)·xm mod G(x)
Furthermore, if si−1(x)≠0(i=3, . . . ), a syndrome s1(x) for ci(x) given by equation (6) is computed by equation (7), and such computation is repeated until si(x)=0, i.e., synchronization is attained.ci(x)=ci·xn−1+ci+1·xn−2+ . . . +ci+n−2·x+ci+n−1  (6)si(x)=ci(x)·xm mod G(x)  (7)
Therefore, in order to implement this synchronization process, synchronization detection can be achieved using a plurality of circuits shown in FIG. 1 for each si(x) (i=1, . . . ).
On the other hand, since the decoder shown in FIG. 2 can also detect s(x)=0, if the same operations are made using a plurality of circuits shown in FIG. 2 in place of the detector in FIG. 1, the decoder shown in FIG. 2 can be used as a synchronization detection circuit.
However, since the aforementioned synchronization circuit uses a plurality of detectors or decoders, it requires a large circuit scale.

Method and apparatus for detecting start position of code sequence, and decoding method and apparatus using the same


An optical connector system joining waveguides in two printed circuit boards. A flexible optical conductor is connected at one end to one of the boards. The flexible conductor includes at its free end an alignment structure that provides a separable, low loss interface to an alignment structure coupled to the waveguide on the other board. The ends of the waveguides are enclosed in housings that protect the waveguides from abrasion and contaminates, but expose the waveguides when the connectors mate.

Complicated electronic systems are often constructed using multiple sub-assemblies. Often, electronic circuits are built on printed circuit boards. Each printed circuit board might contain circuitry that performs a specific function. For example, one circuit board in an electronic system might contain a processor and supporting circuitry while another circuit board might contain memory. Providing subassemblies that contain specific functions allows significant flexibility in assembling or servicing an electronic system because the circuitry for a specific function can be removed, added or replaced.
Often, electrical connections between the circuit boards are made through a backplane. An electrical backplane is a printed circuit board predominantly containing traces that carry electronic signals. The circuit boards implementing specific functions are often called "daughter cards." Connectors are mounted on the backplane and make electrical connection to the traces. Complimentary connectors are mounted on the daughter cards.
The backplane is often mounted in a card cage or other support structure. To assemble a system, daughter cards are inserted into the card cage such that the electrical connectors on the daughter cards mate with the electrical connectors on the backplane. In operation, electrical signals pass from one daughter card to another through the backplane.
As electronic systems have become more sophisticated, there has been a need to pass more data between daughter cards. To handle higher data rates, some electronic systems employ light signals to transmit data. The light is routed from circuit component to circuit component using optical wave guides. The optical wave guides are often in the form of fiber.
When optical fiber is used to route signals within an electronic assembly, it is desirable to maintain the modular architecture of the electronic system. It would, for example, be desirable to manufacture the system as separate modules resembling conventional printed circuit boards. To retain that architecture with optical connections, blind mate optical connectors are required.
Blind mate connectors are constructed to mate when pressed together. They can mate without the need for physical access to the connector. Blind mate connectors are particularly well suited for use in a daughter card/backplane configuration because the backplane is generally not easily accessible from the outside of the card cage housing the electronic system. Inserting a daughter card into the card cage provides the force needed to mate the blind mate connectors. Blind mate electrical connectors have been widely used for many years. Teradyne Connection Systems of Nashua, N.H. sells blind mate optical connectors under the name HD Optyx™. These optical connectors are well suited for use with optical wave guides in the form of fiber that is physically separate from the daughter card and backplane board structures.
However, there is a desire to create optical interconnections within electronic systems by forming wave guides integrated within printed circuit boards. Such an architecture facilitates the use of electrical and optical signals within the same electronic system and increases the level of integration while reducing the number of optical fiber bundles running within a card cage enclosure. It has been proposed to embed optical fibers in the epoxy or other matrix material that provides structure to a printed circuit board. Other approaches for making optical wave guides as part of a printed circuit board assembly have also been explored. For example, optical wave guides might be formed by depositing transparent polymer in traces within the matrix.
While integrating the wave guide into the printed circuit board provides many advantages, there is currently a need for connectors that would allow optical signals to be routed from board to board. There is also a need for such connectors that would operate in a blind mate configuration.


An actuating arrangement for a lift valve to be actuated by a cam includes a flexible endless tension member extending in a loop around two rollers and engaging a cam on one side and a valve on the other side.

The invention relates to actuating arrangements for lift valves.
In conventional actuating arrangements for lift valves, levers or cranks are used to transmit lifting force from a cam to the valve stem, with the inherent disadvantage of increasing the total mass in motion during operation. Such levers and cranks serve to transmit an actuating force to the valve stem especially in those cases of cams in which, for reasons of design, direct contact between cam and the valve stem, or a tappet, is not possible. Even with such known valve-actuating arrangements, design freedom in the relative disposition of the cam and the valve is limited. In this connection, it should be noted that pivot bearings for the levers or cranks must also be accommodated in the cylinder head of an internal combustion engine.


The system and method include a fleet of vehicles to provide material to a plurality of tanks at various customer locations. An inventory indicator associated with each of the tanks provides a quantity signal to the central station indicating the quantity and temperature of each of the tanks. A processor at the central station monitors the quantity signals of each of the tanks to determine past usage rates of the contents of each of the tanks. The processor projects future tank quantities based on the past usage pattern and determines possible routes for each of the vehicles to each of the tanks. The processor optimizes the routes, delivery amounts, and delivery schedule to minimize total delivered cost for the products based on the projected future tank levels and the possible routes to dispatch each of the vehicles.

This invention generally relates to inventory management systems and methods that involve automatic product replenishment through vendor managed inventory. In particular, the invention relates to an integrated system monitoring use of materials stored in tanks, controlling and monitoring delivery of materials to the tanks, and providing automated billing of delivered materials through communications between the tanks, a central station, and delivery trucks.
Inventory management is known in the art. For example, the liquified gas industry has a gas delivery system which uses telemetry systems to monitor customer volume. The object of such systems is to provide substantially continuous product supply. However, such systems are not easily adapted for use in other industries such as manufacturing and supply of animal feed.
Other systems define trigger points which require automatic mandatory reordering when a trigger point, such as a certain tank level, is reached. Such systems do not optimize delivery routes or costs because only mandatory orders are generated. A mandatory order is an order that must be delivered to prevent a stockout whereas a discretionary order is an order that can be delivered if economical to the suppliers. Also, such systems are not flexible and do not accommodate discretionary orders.
Without automated inventory management, a site manager must determine when product is needed, how much product is needed, when products should be delivered, and how the tanks should be managed. The manager telephones or faxes the order to the supplier specifying delivery dates and amounts. The manager maintains control and accepts responsibility for down time that is a result of the site running out of a raw material. When inventory management becomes automated, that loss of control may seem alarming to both site managers and purchasing agents. However, in an automated inventory system, such as the invention, the software and equipment ensure product in the tanks at all times while allowing the customer to maintain control by establishing customized delivery parameters for each individual site.

Integrated system monitoring use of materials, controlling and monitoring delivery of materials and providing automated billing of delivered materials


There is provided a charge transport material which can easily be coated to form a film, is less likely to be crystallized during or after film formation, has excellent charge transport capability, and high applicability to electronic devices. A charge transport monomer comprising conventional CBP with a specific substituent introduced thereinto is polymerized to prepare a polymer which is brought to a charge transport material comprising this polymer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charge transport material that can be applied to organic electronic devices such as electrophotographic photoreceptors, organic electroluminescent elements, photorefractive elements, electrochromic elements, photosensors, and solar cells. More particularly, the present invention relates to a charge transport material having excellent charge transport capability and a process for producing the same.
2. Background Art
Charge transport materials are materials having such a charge transport capability that, upon charge injection, charge is diffused and moved, for example, due to charge concentration gradient and electric field gradient. A material which functions to transport electron as the charge is called an electron transport material, and a material which functions to transport hole as the charge is called a hole transport material. The electron transport material and the hole transport material are collectively called a charge transport material. The charge transport material has been extensively studied as a material indispensable for the preparation of organic electronic devices such as electrophotographic photoreceptors, organic electroluminescent elements, photorefractive elements, electrochromic elements, photosensors, and solar cells.
Basic properties required of the charge transport material include charge acceptability for electron or hole or both electron and hole in a neutral state, a high charge transport capability, good film formability, and a stable amorphous state of the film.
The charge transport material is in many cases used as an even thin film. Therefore, it is important that a film be easily formed from the charge transport material. When a thin film having a thickness of not more than 1 μm is formed using a charge transport material of a low molecular compound, vacuum deposition is generally used for film formation. The vacuum deposition requires a larger deposition apparatus than coating methods, leading to an increase in cost. In the vacuum deposition, the adoption of a large-area substrate on which the charge transport layer is to be formed is difficult. Further, when the low molecular compound is used solely as the charge transport material, for example, the mechanical strength and heat stability of the formed thin film are unsatisfactory. For this reason, a method is also adopted in which a polymer is used as a binder and the low molecular compound is dispersed in a binder to prepare a coating liquid which is then coated to form a film.
Incidentally, most of charge transport materials are hole transport materials, and tertiary amine derivatives such as triarylamine have extensively been used as hole transport materials. On the other hand, for the electron transport material, for example, since the solubility thereof in organic solvents is not high, the electron transport material is not suitable for the formation of a film by coating. Further, the mobility of electron is not high. For the above reason, as compared with the hole transport material, the number of types of the electron transport material is smaller.
Some of charge transport materials are bipolar charge transport materials that have both a hole transport function and an electron transport function. An example of a bipolar charge transport material is CBP (4,4-bis(carbazol-9-yl)-biphenyl) (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 168443/1998). This CBP has a bipolar property and, in addition, can form a highly transparent thin film and is highly compatible with a luminescent dopant. Therefore, CBP is suitable for use in the formation of a charge transport layer in organic electroluminescent elements and thus has been suitably used in organic electroluminescent elements using a phosphorescent dopant (M. A. Baldo et al., Nature, vol. 395, p. 151 (1998), M. A. Baldo et al., Applied Physics Letters, vol. 75, p. 4 (1999), M. A. Baldo et al, Nature, vol. 403, p. 750 (2000)).
In charge transport materials such as CBP, however, vacuum deposition has still mainly been used for film formation. Further, since CBP molecules are likely to take a planar structure, an amorphous film formed of CBP is likely to be crystallized with the elapse of time or upon heating. For this reason, the application of CBP to electronic devices involving generation of heat due to Joule's heat, particularly such as organic electroluminescent elements, requires doping of CBP with a large amount (about 5 to 10% by mass) of a dopant, or the use of a binder to prevent crystallization of CBP. Therefore, when CBP is solely used, a film cannot be formed by coating without difficulties.

Charge transport monomer, charge transport material, and process for producing the same


A packaged component may include an interposer and integrated circuit dies mounted on the interposer. At least one of the dies may be a radiation-hardened integrated circuit die, whereas the remaining dies may be non-radiation-hardened dies. If desired, the interposer may be a radiation-hardened interposer whereas the integrated circuit dies may be non-radiation-hardened dies. The radiation-hardened die or the radiation-hardened interposer may include monitor circuitry that is used to test non-radiation-hardened circuitry of the packaged component. Test results may be stored in a database at the monitor circuitry or transmitted to external devices such as a server. The monitor circuitry may be used to reconfigure failed circuitry or may control multiplexing circuitry in the interposer to functionally replace the failed circuitry. If desired, the monitor circuitry may adjust power consumption of non-radiation-hardened circuitry based on the test results.

Programmable integrated circuits are a type of integrated circuit that can be configured by a user to implement custom logic functions. In a typical scenario, a logic designer uses computer-aided design (CAD) tools to design a custom logic circuit. When the design process is complete, the CAD tools generate configuration data. The configuration data is loaded into a programmable integrated circuit to configure the device to perform desired logic functions.
Integrated circuits such as programmable integrated circuits and dedicated integrated circuits can be susceptible to temporary errors such as those caused by background radiation. For example, a charged particle in the environment that impacts circuitry on an integrated circuit can cause temporary malfunction of the circuitry (e.g., a flipped storage bit, a glitch on a signal path, etc.). Such temporary errors are sometimes referred to as soft errors or single event upsets (SEUs). Soft errors can be particularly disruptive for programmable integrated circuits. For example, configuration data loaded into a programmable integrated circuit may be corrupted by soft errors.
Circuitry such as transistors often degrade in performance and reliability over time in a process referred to as aging. Degradation over time may be caused by stress of transistors being held in on-states for extended periods of time or the frequency to which transistors are switched (as examples).
Techniques for improving the resiliency of an integrated circuit chip against soft errors include physical hardening of the chip (e.g., by using a radiation-resistant manufacturing or fabrication process) and logical hardening of the chip (e.g., by introducing redundancy and error correction). However, radiation hardening incurs significant cost to each radiation-hardened chip. For example, improving radiation resiliency by a factor of two may incur a die area cost of five percent or more. As another example, improving radiation resiliency by a factor of ten may increase per-device cost by thirty to forty percent. Resiliency may also be improved by periodically testing and repairing configuration data of a programmable integrated circuit.
With continuing migration to smaller process geometries, integrated circuit capacities continue to increase (e.g., the number of transistors and other circuit elements in each device increases). With increased integrated circuit capacities, the probability of device failure due to soft errors increases. However, improving the resiliency of devices to satisfactory levels may incur unacceptable amounts of cost. It would therefore be desirable to provide electronic devices with improved radiation resiliency.


The invention relates to a method for the protection of a turfgrass at a locus which comprises applying to said locus an isoxazole derivative of formula (I), wherein R is hydrogen or --CO.sub.2 R.sup.3, wherein R.sup.3 is as defined below; R.sup.1 is cyclopropyl; R.sup.2 is selected from halogen, --S(O).sub.p R.sup.4 and C.sub.1-4 alkyl or haloalkyl; n is two or three; p is zero, one or two; R.sup.3 is C.sub.1-4 alkyl and R.sup.4 is C.sub.1-4 alkyl; and to compositions containing the same. ##STR1##

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a new method of controlling weeds, and in particular it relates to a new method of protecting turfgrasses against both weed infestation and the presence of other undesired turfgrasses.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Protection of turf has always been a difficult problem because the users of turfs generally have very high standards and require a top quality in the turf. The severe requirements are probably due to their aesthetic needs which are far away of the classical requirements of agricultural users such as farmers, whose needs are directed to production considerations which do not involve anything on the appearance of the fields.
A problem of turf care is that the pesticidal treatment should be safe and not pvytotoxic for the desired turfgrass while being effective in controlling the weed species found infesting the turf.
Another problem of turf care is that it is often necessary maintain a monoculture turfgrass stand where no turfgrasses other than the desired single turfgrass species is present. This presents problems in that once another turfgrass species is present in the monoculture, many known agrochemicals will not selectively control the unwanted turfgrass species without also damaging the desired species.
Treatment of crops against weed infestation by isoxazoles is known, for example from European Patent Publication Nos. 0487357, 0527036, and 0560482. However, there is no indication in these publications that isoxazoles specifically control turfgrasses, much less that they meet the above cited requirements with regard to the protection of turfs. Furthermore, there is no suggestion in these publications that the isoxazoles possess any selectivity in their control of different turfgrasses.
An object of the invention is therefore to provide a method of control of weed species found in turf.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method of controlling undesired turfgrass species contaminating areas occupied, or to be occupied by, one or more desired turfgrass species.
A still further object of the invention is to overcome the existing problem of turf care, especially the problems as here above explained.
Suprisingly, it has been found that these objects may be fulfilled in whole or in part by the present invention.

Use of 4-benzoylisoxazoles for the protection of turfgrass


The present invention discloses an accent panel incorporated with an aperture in the panel that allows access to a support member attached to a bezel. A person""s hand may fit within the aperture and grasp the support member to allow easy transport of the computer. The panel may be installed and removed easily without the need for tools. A user of a computer equipped with an accent panel of the present invention may be able to match the color of the front of his or her computer to his or her surroundings while still allowing access to a support member to allow easier transport of a computer.

The present invention relates generally to computer cases and more specifically to quick removal accent panels on a computer case.
As computers and digital information appliances are becoming ever more popular and becoming a fixture in today""s typical home and office, a common perception among computer users is that the computer is similar to other appliances and furniture that are utilized to comfort and enhance the standard of living for individuals. For example, the computer is beginning to be thought of as a necessity to many individuals, much like a range, microwave oven, refrigerator, and sofa. Along with this perception and rationale comes a demand among the public that visual accommodations accompany the computer to allow better incorporation with the dxc3xa9cor in a home or office. For example, refrigerators and sofas are items that are utilized by many individuals, however, they tend to come in different shapes, sizes, and colors so that the item coordinates and matches the area in which the item is located. A similar rationale is developing with computers as consumers desire their computer to coordinate and match the area in which it is located.
In the past, computers were manufactured and available in limited styles and colors, the colors being generally limited to white, cream, and black. Recently, computer manufacturers have been producing computers in a variety of colors allowing the consumer to choose a color of his or her preference at little or no additional cost. However, upon a change in location, the computer color selected at the time of purchase may not coordinate well with another location. In the home and especially the workplace, a single computer may be utilized in several locations. While a non-typical color, green for example, may coordinate well in one location it may clash with the appearance in another location.
Computers known to the art include towers that enclose the components and systems that makeup the computer. Towers typically are heavy and awkward to move around. Along with being difficult to move, towers typically do not include a handle suitable for easier transport of the tower.
Consequently, it would be advantageous if an apparatus existed that could be used to modify the visual appearance of a computer. Further, it would be advantageous if the device could be easily interchanged to meet the appearance liking of a consumer at the time of purchase and throughout the working life of the computer. It would also be advantageous if the device could be incorporated with a handle to allow easier movement of the computer.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an accent panel with an integrated handle for a computer case that may be easily installed, removed and replaced. The accent panels of the present invention may be produced in a variety of colors mounting to the front bezel of a computer case. Through easy installation and removal, the color of a computer case may be modified on a regular basis to meet a consumer""s desires.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and together with the general description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Quick removal accent panels on the computer case


Granules of starch or low protein rice flour are agglomerated to a larger size and a spherical shape by combining the granules with silicon dioxide and water to form a slurry, and drying the slurry by a spray dryer. The agglomerates have better flowability than the granules, and are readily used as direct compression fillers for tablets and capsules in drug or nutrient formulations. Tablets formed from these agglomerates have good hardness and friability, as well as favorable disintegration and dissolution characteristics. Chemically or physically modified starches can also be used, and starches other than rice starches can be included as well.

Processed starches in general do not have good flowability, and this limits their usefulness as fillers or carriers in drug formulations such as tablets and capsules.
The present invention resides in the formation of rice starches into spherical agglomerates by mixing the starches with silicon dioxide. The larger size and spherical shape of these agglomerates provide them with improved flowability that enables them to be used as a direct compression filler in tablet and capsule formulations. Tablets formed from these agglomerates exhibit good hardness, low friability, and favorable disintegration and dissolution characteristics. The agglomerates can also improve the flowability of powder-like substances which by themselves have poor flowability, by mixing the agglomerates with the powder so that the agglomerates serve as a carrier for the powder.

Spherically agglomerated starches with silicon dioxide

Erawan Pharmaceutical Research and Laboratory Company Limited


When a mask layer is formed, a first liquid composition containing a mask-layer-forming material is applied on an outer side of a pattern that is desired to be formed (corresponding to a contour or an edge portion of a pattern) to form a first mask layer having a frame shape. A second liquid composition containing a mask-layer-forming material is applied so as to fill a space inside the first mask layer having a frame shape to form a second mask layer. The first mask layer and the second mask layer are formed to be in contact with each other, and the first mask layer is formed to surround the second mask layer. Therefore, the first mask layer and the second mask layer can be used as one continuous mask layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a display device, using a printing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a thin film transistor (hereinafter also referred to as a TFT) and an electronic circuit using the thin film transistor, various thin films such as a semiconductor film, an insulating film, and a conductive film are stacked over a substrate, and they are appropriately formed into predetermined patterns by a photolithography technique. The photolithography technique is a technique in which a pattern of a circuit or the like which is formed using a material that does not transmit light over a transparent flat plate, which is referred to as a photomask, is transferred to an aimed substrate by using light. The photolithography technique is widely used in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor integrated circuit and the like.
The conventional manufacturing process using the photolithography technique requires multiple steps such as exposure, development, baking, and peeling only for treating a mask pattern formed by using a photosensitive organic resin material that is referred to as a photoresist. Therefore, the manufacturing cost is inevitably increased as the number of the photolithography steps is increased. In order to solve this problem, it has been attempted to manufacture TFTs with the lower number of photolithography steps (refer to Patent Document 1: Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2000-133636). In Patent Document 1, a resist mask formed in a photolithography step is used once, and then reused as a resist mask having a different shape by expanding its volume by swelling.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A plant pot (1) which, in use, is adapted to be stacked with one or more similar plant pots, the plant pot comprising: (a) cavity (5) including a water reservoir region (7) and a soil holding region (6) located above the reservoir region (7); (b) separation means (10) adapted to separate the reservoir region (7) from the soil holding region (6); (c) an overflow outlet (8) in the reservoir region (7) adapted to enable excess water to flow out the reservoir region (7).

Various forms of plant pots are known for growing plants. Typical plant pots are either of generally cylindrical, frustoconical or rectangular prism form. Frustoconical type plant pots, or other plant pots which are tapered so that the bottom of each pot is narrower than the top, are advantageous over cylindrical or rectangular prism type pots in that they are often able to be located at least partially within each other and thereby able to be stacked for transport, storage and display, thereby realising considerable space savings. Generally, however, such plant pots can not be stacked—one on top of another—in any suitable manner for use. Many pot plant enthusiasts like to arrange several pots in a generally vertical relationship for particular aesthetic appeal and saving of space. Such an arrangement currently typically depends on use of a separate stand to mount the pots or the hanging of one pot from another with chains or the like.
Several attempts have been made to provide stackable plant pots. One such attempt is disclosed in Australian patent no. 634522 in the name of Gromax Systems, Inc. This patent discloses a multiplicity of plant pots having an essentially square-shaped cross section. The plant pots can be stacked on top of one another by having each plant pot rotated approximately 45 degrees about a common axis relative to an adjacent plant pot. The adjacent plant pots are seated one on top of the other, consequently requiring that the individual plant pots (particularly those located towards the bottom) are particularly strong and rigid. This arrangement provides only a very small useable area for growing plants, namely, the small corner portions which protrude beyond the pot immediately above. Also, this arrangement of plant pots is not adapted to be hung or suspended.
Australian patent no. 586493, in the name of Steven Fraknoi, also discloses an arrangement of stacked plant pots. Each pot is adapted to be seated upon a pot located immediately beneath it. In order to support the weight of a series of stacked pots, each individual pot must be particularly strong so that pots near the base of the arrangement are not squashed or deformed. Also, the particular design and construction of each individual pot is quite complex and it would be difficult and expensive to manufacture. This particular arrangement of plant pots is also not adapted to be hung or suspended.
European patent no. 0 142 471, in the name of Werner Gerber, discloses a plant pot adapted to be stacked one on top of another. The plant pot of this disclosure is relatively flimsy and the stacking of 3 or more plant pots (especially if they contain soil) is likely to cause the lower pots in the arrangement to collapse or deform. The pots of this disclosure have connecting means comprising protruding tabs extending from an upper rim of each pot for insertion in a corresponding slot in a base of an adjoining pot. This arrangement for connecting adjacent pots is awkward for a user, given the relatively small sizes of the corresponding protrusions and slots. The arrangement also provides no added strength to the arrangement of pots.
International patent application no. PCT/AU98/00432 discloses a plant pot which, in use, is adapted to be stacked with one or more other similar plant pots. The relevant plant pot includes an upper rim made up of lobe rims and bridge rims, a base portion and a surrounding wall extending between the upper rim and the base portion, shaped so as to define a plurality of radially extending lobe sections. The base portion includes a recess (eg channel) formed in an underside of each lobe section. The upper rim and the recesses (eg channels) are configured in such a way that, when 2 or more plant pots are stacked, the rim and the recesses of adjoining plant pots inter-engage to hold the plant pots firmly in place. In the particular arrangement described, the recesses in the base portion are adapted to overlie portions of the upper rim thereby holding adjoining plant pots in position and, at the same time, providing a substantial degree of structural rigidity of the stack of plant pots.
The stack of pots disclosed in PCT/AU98/00432 is structurally very strong owing to the configuration of the rim and the recesses and to the manner in which these inter-engage. The lobe sections of adjoining plant pots are off-set so that a lobe section of one plant pot does not obstruct a lobe section of a plant pot immediately beneath it.
One of the deficiencies in the prior art devices discussed above relates to the watering of plants within a stack of plant pots. Presently, watering is effected in a number of different ways. For instance, each plant pot in the stack may be separately watered by pouring water into each plant pot in the stack. Alternatively, the plant pots may have one or more holes located in lower portions thereof so that water can pass from an upper pot to a lower pot. However, a problem with this arrangement is that water in the upper pots is not retained and the water eventually flows down to all of the lower plant pots leaving the upper plant pots with insufficient retained water. Consequently, the lower plant pots typically end up having too much water whereas the upper pots tend to have too little water.
Accordingly, this invention is directed towards a stackable plant pot which is adapted to form a stack of plant pots which, following watering, are adapted to retain a desired amount of water in each plant pot within the stack.


A clamping device for clamping a conduit to a channel rail, comprising a main unit with a retainer section of which the shape fits the sectional form of the conduit, a screw member and a buckle. Just pushing the screw member axially causes abutments of the buckle to be engaged on the channel rail and thus the conduit is fixed to the channel rail at least provisionally. The abutments of the buckle are made to engage the channel rail just when the screw member is pushed axially by holding the buckle in a predetermined direction in the main body until the screw member is pushed axially, rotating the buckle when the buckle is released from the held state so that the abutments are positioned under the lower ends of a pair of inlet-opening walls defining together an inlet opening of the channel rail, and drawing the buckle in the direction of the head of the screw member while the abutments are kept positioned under the lower ends of the pair of walls.

In such buildings such as factories, business offices, shops, condominiums, warehouses, stations, gymnasiums, theaters, etc. and such structures as tunnels, underpasses, elevated railways, high level roads, bridges, etc. conduits through which typically power and communication cables and wires are passed and those through which a fluid such as gas flows are laid on the ceiling, side wall, floor, etc. of such buildings and structures.
For laying such conduits, generally channel rails, called saddle, are disposed in parallel with and as regularly spaced from each other and the conduits are fixed to the channel rails with clamps as placed perpendicularly thereto. In may such cases, the conduits have to be fixed to each of the channel rails and a plurality of conduits is fixed in parallel with each other on one channel rail. Conduits each having a predetermined length are longitudinally joined to each other in succession and a plurality of such joined conduits has to be disposed in parallel with and as regularly spaced from each other. Therefore, the conduits are provisionally fastened at selected points to such an extent that they will not be disengaged from the channel rails but are movable longitudinally of the channel rails (at the primary step), and thereafter they are securely clamped after correctly being positioned (at the secondary step). This manner of conduit clamping needs much labor and time.
The conduits are not only clamped to, as placed on, channel rails suspended by suspension bolts from the ceiling with the channel directed upward but also they are clamped, as applied from below, to channel rails fixed to the ceiling with the channel directed downward.
In the former case, the conduits, there is only a small space between the ceiling and the channel rails in many cases. In the latter case, the working person is compelled to face up with the neck bent about 90.degree. backward. This is a very painful posture.
Clamping of such conduit should desirably be simple, positive and safe. For reduction of costs and relief of pains, the clamping should be done efficiently with less labor and time. One of such conduit clamps is disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 63-48085. This conduit clamp comprises a main body having a front T-shaped foot section and a retainer section contiguous from the foot section and which holds the semi-circumference of a conduit, a screw penetrated through a seat section provided on the opposite side of the foot section of the main body, and a flat vane fitted on the screw. For fixing a conduit, the vane is limited from rotating by applying the longitudinal end face thereof to the inner wall of the flange of a rail member and the vane is then lifted along the flange inner wall by tightening the screw, until the upper side of the vane touches the wall lower portion of the rail member.
For clamping a conduit to a channel rail with this conventional clamp, however, the vane must be inserted into the channel rail as postured for the longitudinal direction thereof to be parallel with the channel direction of the channel rail, and then it must be raised by tightening the screw many turns. Thus, this work cannot easily be done by one person. It needs at least two persons; one has to operate the conduit clamp while the other is holding the conduit as applied to the channel rail. Much labor and time are required for the provisional fixation of the conduit.
In the provisional fixing in the primary step, the screw has to be tightened. If the screw is turned counterclockwise, the vane will possibly leave the screw so that it will drop into the channel rail. Removing the vane from inside the rail will take some time, which will cause the work efficiency to be lower. In case the channel rail is installed with the channel directed downward, the vane disengaged from the screw by mistake (too much loosening of the screw or the like) or the conduit coming off the main body of the clamp will possibly drop to the person at the head or face, which will cause a fatal or critical bodily injury to him.
Also the U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,378 proposes that a vane is suspended with spring provided between a seat section and the head of a screw. When a conduit is provisionally fixed to a channel rail with this technique, the screw has to be pushed axially until the vane goes down to a free space under the drooping wall of the channel rail (primary step) and then the screw is tightened to turn the vane so as to be perpendicular to the channel rail (secondary step). Namely, this technique also needs two steps of operation, that is, much labor and time. The worker has to turn the wrist repeatedly many times, which causes him to be very fatigued. Since the screw must be turned in the provisional fixation of the conduit, if it is turned counterclockwise, the vane falls off the screw. Thus, the above-mentioned troubles are also unavoidable with this technique. The vane is held just in contact with the bottom side of the flat seat section; if a vibration is applied to the vane or the worker touches the screw carelessly by hand, the vane will be turned. Namely, it is difficult to hold the vane in parallel with the channel of the channel rail until the conduit is clamped.
In both these prior arts, the vane is limited from turning by applying both the longitudinal ends thereof to the inner walls of the channel-rail right and left flanges. This is also a problem. More particularly, the vane is actually nearly as long as the distance between the inner walls of the right and left flanges of the channel rail. The vane is likely to deflect if the tightening of the screw acts thereon; to avoid this, the vane should have an ample thickness. Thus, the clamp is massive and heavy as a whole, so it cannot be easily handled during transport or in clamping conduits to channel rails.
Because of its large length, the vane enters to a rather great depth in the curved retainer section of the main body when directed longitudinally in parallel with the channel in the channel rail. So the vane will be an interference in practice when the curved retainer section is applied to embrace a conduit. In this case, the vane must be turned 90.degree. once for a perpendicularity to the channel in the channel rail. When the clamp is set to the channel rail, the vane has to be turned 90.degree. again so as to be parallel to the channel in the channel rail. Otherwise, the vane cannot be introduced into the channel rail. For this adjustment, the screw must be turned (loosened or tightened), which will lead to a lower-work efficiency.
Also, the longitudinal end faces of the vane are caused to abut the flange inner walls so that the vane is blocked against rotating. Thus, depending upon the surface condition of the flange inner walls, the vane will be obliquely caught there and so the screw cannot be tightened or the vane will be raised as it is in the oblique position when the screw is tightened. Further, it cannot be visually checked from outside whether the vane is well directed or not. Therefore, the conduit will be secured to the channel rail with no sufficient contact of the vane with the drooping wall bottom faces of the channel-rail flanges. The conduit cannot be fixed stably and positively. Namely, the prior-art conduit clamps cannot satisfactorily secure the conduits to the channel rails.


The invention concerns a method for making smart cards capable of operating with or without contact called mixed cards and contactless smart cards. In order to avoid the risk of deteriorating the antenna the method consists in producing an antenna comprising at least two turns, on a support sheet, said antenna having its turns located outside the connecting pads, and in providing an insulating bridge so as to connect each of the antenna ends to a connection pad respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns the manufacture of smart cards capable of operating with or without contact. These cards are provided with an antenna integrated in the card and a micromodule connected to the antenna. Information is exchanged with the exterior either by the antenna (therefore without contact) or by contacts flush with the surface of the card.
Throughout the rest of the description this type of card will be called a mixed card or mixed smart card.
The manufacturing method also concerns contactless smart cards, that is smart cards capable of operating without contact, information being exchanged with the exterior only through the antenna.
However, to simplify the following explanation only mixed cards will be referred to in what follows, although the method also extends to contactless smart cards, as has just been stated.
2. Related Background
Mixed smart cards are intended to facilitate various operations, such as banking operations, telephonic communications, identification operations, operations for discharging or recharging units for account, and all kinds of operations which can be carried out either by inserting the card in a reader or remotely by electromagnetic coupling (in principle of the inductive type) between an emitter-receiver terminal and a card placed within the field of action of this terminal.
Mixed cards must have standardised dimensions identical to those of conventional smart cards fitted with contacts. This is also desirable for cards operating only without contact.
It will be recalled that cards with contact are defined by the usual standard ISO 7810, this definition being: a card which is 85 mm long, 54 mm wide and 0.76 mm thick. The flush contacts are at clearly defined positions on the surface of the card.
These standards impose severe constraints on manufacture. In particular, the very low thickness of the card (800 μm) is a major constraint, still more severe for mixed cards than for cards simply fitted with contacts, as incorporation of an antenna in the card must be provided for.
The technical problems which are posed are problems of positioning the antenna in relation to the card, as the antenna occupies almost the whole surface of the card, problems of positioning the integrated circuit module (comprising the microchip and its contacts) which makes possible the electronic operation of the card, and problems of the precision and reliability of the connection between the module and the antenna; finally, constraints of mechanical strength, reliability and manufacturing cost have to be taken into account.
The antenna is generally formed by a conductive element deposited as a thin layer on a plastic support sheet. At the ends of the antenna connecting pads are provided; these must be exposed in order to be able to connect with the contacts of the electronic module.
In the following description the conductive element forming the antenna will be called the antenna filament, given that, depending on the technology used, it may comprise a filament inlaid in the support sheet or printed tracks.
One approved solution for manufacturing mixed smart cards consists in using plastic foils pre-perforated in the area of the connecting pads of the antenna formed by the two ends of the antenna filament, in superimposing them on the sheet supporting the antenna and in assembling them by hot or cold lamination. The position of the connection pads of the antenna is limited by the position of the electronic module which is itself defined by the ISO standards.
A cavity to accommodate the electronic module must then be machined in the body of the card, between the connection pads of the antenna and above the perforations formed in the plastic foils covering the antenna; then the contacts of the electronic module must be connected to the connection pads of the antenna by depositing a conductive adhesive in the perforations. The antenna filament generally comprises several turns. These turns pass between the connection pads in such a way that they can be connected to these pads, which are located near the micromodule.
A first problem then arises from the nature of this structure. The turns may be damaged when the cavity is machined. Indeed, the turns can even be destroyed during this stage if the antenna is not positioned very precisely in relation to the position of the cavity.

Method for making smart cards capable of operating with and without contact


A display includes a display surface, an electroluminescent panel, which has a plurality of electroluminescent elements, and a liquid crystal panel, which has a plurality of liquid crystal elements. The liquid crystal panel and the electroluminescent panel overlaps each other in the front and rear direction of the display. The electroluminescent elements and the liquid crystal elements are aligned with each other in the front and rear direction of the display. In the display, at least one of the electroluminescent elements and the liquid crystal elements function as pixels to show an image on the display surface. Therefore, the display can show an image in the appropriate manner in accordance with an environment.

This application claims priority and is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/356,232 filed on Jan. 31, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,084,936.
The present invention relates to a display that is a combination of a liquid crystal panel and an electroluminescent panel.
Liquid crystal displays are classified into reflective type and transmissive type depending on the lighting system. A transmissive liquid crystal display has a higher image quality than a reflective liquid crystal display but has a drawback that the power consumption is great. On the other hand, a reflective liquid crystal display has small power consumption but has a drawback that the image quality is insufficient under an environment where the lighting intensity is not enough.
An organic electroluminescent display has been proposed as a display having superior display performance. However, the organic electroluminescent display also has a drawback that the image quality is insufficient under an environment where the lighting intensity is high such as the outdoors.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-267097 discloses a display that is a combination of a liquid crystal panel and an organic electroluminescent panel. However, the organic electroluminescent panel only functions as a front light.


A fuel injector (1) in an internal combustion engine, wherein an intermediate chamber control valve (26) operated by the fuel pressure in a common rail (2) is arranged in a fuel flow passage (25) connecting a two-position switching type three-way valve (8) and an intermediate chamber (20) of a booster piston (17). When the fuel pressure in the common rail (2) is in a high pressure side fuel region, the booster piston (17) is operated by this intermediate chamber control valve (26), while when the fuel pressure in the common rail (2) is in a low pressure side fuel region, the operation of the booster piston (17) is stopped by this intermediate chamber control valve (26).

In a fuel injection system provided with a pressure control chamber formed on an inside end of a needle valve and with an intermediate chamber of a booster piston for increasing the injection pressure, discharging high pressure fuel in a common rail supplied into the pressure control chamber to the inside of a fuel discharge passage so as to open the needle valve and inject fuel, and discharging high pressure fuel in the common rail supplied into the intermediate chamber into the fuel discharge passage so as to operate the booster piston and increase the fuel injection pressure, known in the art is a fuel injection system designed to connect the pressure control chamber and intermediate chamber through a three-position switching type three-way valve to the fuel discharge passage and to use the switching action of this three-way valve to connect both the pressure control chamber and intermediate chamber to the fuel discharge passage when increasing the injection pressure at the time of fuel injection and connect only the pressure control chamber to the fuel discharge passage when not increasing the injection pressure at the time of fuel injection, that is, when stopping the operation of the booster piston (see Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 2003-106235).
However, in the above-mentioned three-position switching type three-way valve, the excitation current supplied to the electromagnetic coil for driving the valve element is changed so as to make the valve element move to either one end position, an intermediate position, or another end position. In this case, electromagnetic force may theoretically be used to make the valve element stop at the intermediate position, but in actuality the valve element is extremely unstable in position. In particular, in a fuel injection system intended to be attached to a heavily vibrating engine, three-position switching type three-way valves using electromagnetic force to position the valve element at the intermediate position are currently not in favor for use. Further, if making a valve element take three positions, the amount of lift of the valve element has to be increased. To increase the amount of lift of the valve element, the electromagnetic coil has to be made considerably larger in size. However, in a fuel injector, making the electromagnetic coil larger is extremely difficult.


An electrical equalization module that is second order or higher. The equalization module is used to achieve a desired frequency response for audio headphones. The equalization module includes capacitors or inductors. The equalization module is a bridged-T circuit, parallel RLC circuit, or series RLC circuit.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/428,057, filed Jun. 30, 2006 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,916,888. Headphones are sound reproduction devices worn on the listener's head. Equalization refers to electrical or physical means to modify the audible frequency response of the headphones to achieve a desired frequency response. Electrical equalization may be either active or passive. Active equalization uses complex circuitry such as integrated circuits that require an external power source. Passive equalization uses only simple circuit elements such as resistors, capacitors, and inductors, and does not require a separate power source.


An anti-darting ski for snowmobiles, the ski including a longitudinally extending runner with a central keel. A generally flat wear strip with two skags is attached to the bottom of the keel. The wear strip is contoured to match the bottom surface of the keel. The skags are laterally spaced beneath the wear strip such that their inside surfaces do not extend towards each other. The skags and wear strip may be mounted flush with the outside edges of the keel. The skags may also be located asymmetrically about a longitudinal center point of the ski. The dual skag system acts to minimize darting of the snowmobile in the snow.

Snowmobile skis often have elongated steering skags carried on the bottom for the ski that act as a narrow type of keel to increase the bite of the ski into the snow when the ski is turned. Skis and skags leave an impression in the snow corresponding to the bottom profile of the ski and skag. Particularly in wet or compacted snow, a snowmobile ski coming upon the impression left by a previous snowmobile ski will tend to follow the same track (especially if the temperature has dropped causing the wet snow to freeze). This effect is known as tracking or darting. Darting forces the snowmobile operator to compensate or correct for the tracking steering forces by over-steering the vehicle to maintain directional stability. Darting can be quite severe particularly if the snow containing the initial track was wet and has refrozen (such as on a sunny winter day followed by a cold night—typical snowmobiling weather).
The skag of a snowmobile following such a track will naturally situate itself in the previous impression and a considerable effort is required to steer out of such a track. Over time, darting can cause the driver to become fatigued from the effort of steering. In addition, the snowmobile may feel unstable due to the frequent abrupt directional changes experienced with darting. A need exists, therefore, for a snowmobile ski that reduces the problem of darting.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,594, issued to Simmons discloses a snowmobile ski having a downwardly extending longitudinal side portion on each side of the middle portion of the snowmobile ski. The longitudinal side portions are formed from the sides of the snowmobile ski extending downwardly. The downwardly extending longitudinal side portions of the ski are centrally located along the length of the ski. As the downwardly extending longitudinal side portions descend, the outside wall of each such downwardly extending longitudinal side portion tapers inward. A metal guide rod is attached to, and runs longitudinally along, the bottom of each of the downwardly extending longitudinal side portions at the edge of the bottom of the downwardly extending longitudinal side portion.
At least two other skis are available that include dual skags. Those skis do not adequately solve the darting problem and also suffer various drawbacks. The prior art ski shown in FIGS. 1A–1C includes a dual runner skag for attachment to the bottom surface of a generally flat bottom ski. The dual runner skag includes two wear bars attached at the outside bottom edges of a flat plate. The plate and skags are typical of the prior art in that they extend along a significant length (if not the entire length) of the bottom surface of the ski. The long wear bar and skags can impair the steerability of the snowmobile. The prior art ski shown in FIGS. 2A–2B includes two round skags attached at the outer edges of the ski's keel. This ski, however, is exposed to considerable wear. In addition, debris can become lodged between the skags.


A hair trimming device includes a cutter and a handle member. The cutter is substantially rectangular and flat and includes a blade and a frame. The handle member includes a hollow interior containing the cutter while the cutter is not in use. The cutter in use is exposed out of the handle member and is mounted above the handle member to be in line with the handle member. The frame member is configured to form a first contact line with a skin and at least one edge of the blade is configured to form a second contact line with hair. The second contact line is more distal from the skin than the first contact line.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to hair trimming devices and more particularly, nose and ear hair trimming devices.
2. Background
Some hair trimming devices are used to shave or trim unwanted hair in nostrils or ears. The hair trimming may be performed regularly as the hair naturally grows. The hair trimming device may be handled by professionals such as a barber, a hair designer, etc., but it is frequently handled by the general public at home.
The hair trimming device includes a blade that trims the hair. The blade of conventional hair trimming devices has shapes such circular shape, curved shape, ball shape, etc. The blade is intentionally designed to be more suitable for nostrils or ears. While users are operating the blade in a narrow space of nostrils or ears, however, they may feel bulkiness and/or stuffiness due to the volume of the blade. Further, when users operate the blade to trim the hair in nostrils or ears, the bulky shape of the blade may cause cuts on soft skin of nostrils or ears, which may lead to infections and other complications.
The hair trimming device trims hair within nostrils and/or ears where dust and germs are filtered. For sanitary purpose, the hair trimming device may be replaced regularly. The hair trimming device may also be thoroughly cleaned after each use.
As noted above, the hair trimming device includes the blade that trims the hair. When the hair trimming device is used at home such as a bathroom, children may have access to the hair trimming device. The production of the hair trimming devices may focus on the low pricing and may not provide suitable protection measure. The blade of the conventional hair trimming device is often exposed for easy use and low production expenses.


A radio terminal, which is operative to perform a measurement on the basis of a measurement condition designated by a radio network and to report the result of the measurement, comprises: a position-determination precision calculating means for calculating a position-determination precision of the radio terminal; a required position-determination precision holding means for holding a required position-determination precision related to a condition of position-determination precision; and a measurement reporting control means for comparing the required position-determination precision with the calculated position-determination precision and for controlling the execution of at least one of the radio terminal's measurement and the radio terminal's reporting of the measurement result to the radio network.

As a rule, in a radio communication network representing a mobile telephone network, a drive-test for performing a measurement within an area with a vehicle having a special-purpose measurement apparatus installed therein is performed for a purpose of investigating radio characteristics (a received quality of a radio wave coming from a radio base station and events such as a reception error and an access failure) within the area.
It is being investigated in a 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) to cause general radio terminals to measure/report information conventionally collected by drive-tests or information similar hereto so as to reduce operation cost (OPEX) that is needed for the drive-tests (Drive-Test) to be performed by operators (Non-patent literature 1). The final goal of this investigation is to minimize execution of the drive-tests (Minimization of Drive-Tests: MDT). In the feasibility study of the MDT, how the radio terminals are caused to measure the information and how the radio terminals are caused to report a log of the measurement results and the past measurement results are being discussed. Currently, the periodical reporting technique and the event triggered measurement reporting technique are specified. Additionally, what is herein called "the measurement" by the radio terminal also includes an operation of "detecting" some situations.
In the periodical technique, a radio network (for example, a radio base station) previously notifies a measurement interval and/or a report interval to the radio terminal, and the radio terminal performs the measurement and/or the reporting according hereto. Herein, as the periodic measurement, there exist, for example, periodical received quality measurements of downlink pilot signals (Periodical downlink pilot measurements) and the like.
In the technology of the Non-patent literature 1, the radio terminal periodically performs the received quality measurement of the downlink pilot signals of serving cells (Periodical downlink pilot measurements), and periodically reports the measurement result. Herein, the so-called received quality measurement of the pilot signals is equivalent to measuring the radio characteristics such as RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power), RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality), CPICH RSCP (Common Pilot Channel Received Signal Code Power), and CPICH Ec/No (Ec: received energy per chip, No: Noise power density).
In addition, the radio terminal having a positioning function is instructed to periodically perform positioning (measurement of locations) as well and to report location information together with a measurement result of the above-mentioned radio characteristics.
The details of the Non-patent literature 1 will be explained with 3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution) exemplified by referencing FIG. 15.
The radio terminal (UE: User Equipment) notifies a function the radio terminal itself supports to the radio base station (eNB: enhanced Node B) (UE capability report). For example, the radio terminal notifies whether or not the positioning function the radio terminal itself supports, for example, GPS (Global Positioning System) and OTDOA (Observed Time Difference Of Arrival) and the like are utilizable.
A radio network (EPC: Evolved Packet Core, for example, NM: Network Manager) notifies a measurement policy (Measurement policy) to the eNB (Policy indication), and the eNB gives an instruction for the measurement and the reporting to the UE according to the above policy (Measurement, logging and reporting configuration). Herein, it is assumed that the measurement and the reporting are performed at an interval T1 and at an interval T2, respectively.
The UE performs the received quality measurement of the downlink pilot signals (for example, the RSRP) and the positioning at the interval T1 according to the above policy, and maintains its measurement result as a measurement log(Measurement and logging). And, the UE reports the above measurement log to the eNB at the interval T2 (Measurement log report). In addition, the eNB reports the report coming from the UE to an upper NW (Log report).
Hereinafter, likewise, the UE repeats a series of the operations of the measurement—the logging—the reporting.
Herein, for determining a lapse of the interval T1/T2, for example, a timer is used. Further, the UE finishes the above series of the operations when a period or a number of times of the reports previously notified from the eNB is satisfied, or when an instruction is given by the eNB.
Additionally, in some cases, for not only a serving cell but also a neighboring cell, the received quality measurement of the downlink pilot signals is performed periodically.
On the other hand, in the event trigger technique, the radio network (for example, the radio base station) previously notifies the condition, being a trigger for the measurement and/or the reporting, to the radio terminal, and the radio terminal performs the measurement and/or the reporting when the above condition is satisfied. Herein, as the condition, being the trigger, there exist the radio characteristics such as a broadcast channel reception error (Broadcast Channel Failure), a paging channel reception error (Paging Channel Failure), the received quality of the serving cell becoming worse than a predetermined threshold (Serving Cell becomes worse than threshold), and a failure of a random access (Random access failure) (Non-patent literature 2). Additionally, the radio terminal reports information as well of the time when the trigger has occurred together with the measurement result.
In addition, the radio terminal having the positioning function is instructed to perform the positioning as well at a time point when the trigger has occurred, and to report location information.
In the technology of the Non-patent literature 2, the radio terminal performs the measurement when the event is triggered, stores the result of the measurement as the measurement log, and reports it when the event is triggered. For example, it is assumed that the condition under which the trigger of the measurement occurs is the paging channel reception error (Paging Channel Failure), and the radio terminal performs the received quality measurement of the downlink pilot signals of the serving cell and the positioning when the above condition is satisfied. Further, it is assumed that the condition under which the trigger of the reporting occurs is, for example, a time point when a predetermined amount of the measurement logs have been accumulated, and the radio terminal reports the measurement log to the radio network when the above condition is satisfied.
The details of the technology of the Non-patent literature 2 will be explained with the 3GPP LTE exemplified by referencing FIG. 16.
The UE notifies functions the UE itself supports to the eNB (UE capability report). For example, the UE notifies whether or not the positioning function the UE itself supports, for example, the GPS (Global Positioning System) and the OTDOA (Observed Time Difference Of Arrival) and the like are utilizable.
The EPC (for example, NM) notifies a measurement policy (Measurement policy) to the eNB (Policy indication), and the eNB gives an instruction for the measurement and the reporting to the UE according to the above policy (Measurement, logging and reporting configuration). Herein, as one example, it is assumed that the condition, being the trigger of the measurement is the paging channel reception error, and the trigger of the reporting is a time point when the amount of the measurement logs (a memory capacity of the terminal used for the measurement logs) has reached a predetermined value.
The UE periodically receives the paging channels, performs the received quality measurement (for example, the RSRP) of the downlink pilot signals of the serving cell and the positioning thereof according to the above instruction when the paging channel reception error (Paging Failure) occurs, and maintains its result together with the time of the occurrence of the paging channel reception error as the measurement log(Measurement and logging). And, when the amount of the measurement logs has reached a predetermined value, the UE reports the above measurement logs to the eNB (Measurement log report). In addition, the eNB reports the report coming from the UE to the upper NW (Log report).
Hereinafter, likewise, the UE repeats a series of the operations of the measurement—the logging—the reporting.
Herein, the UE finishes the above series of the operations when the UE is instructed to do so by the eNB.
Additionally, in some cases, for not only the serving cell but also the neighboring cell, the received quality measurement of the downlink pilot signals when the trigger of the measurement occurs is performed periodically.
Further, as the method of the positioning, the GPS (Global Positioning System) that performs the positioning using an artificial satellite orbiting over the earth, the OTDOA (Observed Time Difference Of Arrival) that performs the positioning based on a delay time of the radio wave that arrives from the radio base station, and the like are being investigated.

Radio communication system, radio terminal, radio network, radio communication method and program


A needle holder positioning structure for safety hypodermic syringe is disclosed, which includes a barrel, a needle holder with a sleeve, and a locating ring. The sleeve of the needle holder said sleeve has a front engagement section press-fitted into the inside of a front small inner diameter section of the barrel and a springy rear expansion section, the springy rear expansion section being expanded and positioned in between a shoulder and an inside flange in the barrel when a plunger inserted into the barrel to push the locating ring forwards and to force a front neck of the locating ring into a backwardly extended annular coupling chamber in the sleeve of the needle holder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a safety hypodermic syringe and, more particularly, to a needle holder positioning structure for safety hypodermic syringe.
2. Description of Related Art
In a safety hypodermic syringe, the plunger has an arrowhead-like front tip adapted for hooking the needle holder, for enabling the needle holder and the needle cannula at the needle holder to be pulled backwards to the inside of the barrel to prevent contamination after the service of the safety hypodermic syringe. The needle holder is press-fitted into the inside of the front section of the barrel. However, when installing the needle cannula in the needle holder, the backward pressure from the needle cannula tends to force the needle holder out of position. Further, in order to prohibit the needle holder from escaping out of the barrel from the front side of the barrel, the barrel is made having a conical front end. This conical front end design prohibits the needle holder from forward movement relative to the barrel, however it facilitates backward movement of the needle holder in the barrel during installation of the needle cannula in the needle holder. In order to ensure positive positioning of the needle holder in the barrel, the friction-fit between the needle holder and the inside wall of the barrel is enhanced. However, enhancing the friction-fit between the needle holder and the inside wall of the barrel complicates the installation of the needle holder in the barrel. Further, an injection molding mold for molding needle holders or barrels for safety hypodermic syringe has multiple cavities. Because the injection environment (fluid material filling position, injection temperature, cooling speed, etc.) in each cavity is different, it is difficult to control the dimensions of the injection-molded finished products precisely. A small specification tolerance may cause the needle holder and the barrel unable to match each other perfectly.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a needle holder positioning structure for safety hypodermic syringe that eliminates the aforesaid problems.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a needle holder positioning structure for safety hypodermic syringe, which prevents falling of the needle holder to the inside of the barrel accidentally. It is another object of the present invention to provide a needle holder positioning structure for safety hypodermic syringe, which is easy and inexpensive to manufacture.
To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, the needle holder positioning structure for safety hypodermic syringe comprises a barrel, a needle holder, and a locating ring. The barrel comprises a fluid chamber. The fluid chamber has a front small inner diameter section, a rear big inner diameter section, a shoulder connected between the front small inner diameter section and the rear big inner diameter section, and an inside flange means disposed in the rear big inner diameter section adjacent to the shoulder. The needle holder comprises a tubular center base and a sleeve coaxially formed integral with the periphery of the tubular center base. The tubular center base has a retaining portion near a rear side thereof. The sleeve has a front engagement section press-fitted into the inside of the front small inner diameter section of the fluid chamber of the barrel and a springy rear expansion section. The rear expansion section has a front side edge corresponding to a back side of the shoulder of the barrel, and a rear side edge stopped at a front side of the inside flange means of the barrel. The rear expansion section defines with the periphery of the tubular center base a backwardly extended annular coupling chamber. The locating ring has an outside wall disposed in contact with an inside wall of the rear big inner diameter section of the fluid chamber of the barrel for enabling the locating ring to be moved axially in the barrel, and an inside wall disposed in contact with the periphery of the tubular center base of the needle holder for enabling the locating ring to be moved axially relative to the needle holder. The outside wall of the locating ring has a front section forming a neck adapted for engaging into the rear expansion section of the sleeve of the needle holder. The neck has an outer diameter not less than the inner diameter of the expansion section of the sleeve of the needle holder so as to expand the rear expansion section of the sleeve for enabling the rear side edge of the rear expansion section stopped at the front side of the inside flange means of the barrel. The locating ring further comprises a first retaining portion integral with a front part of the inside wall and adapted for engaging the retaining portion of the tubular center base of the needle holder, and a second retaining portion formed integral with a rear part of the inside wall and adapted for engaging the arrowhead-like front retainer tip of a plunger to be inserted into the fluid chamber of the barrel. When the neck of the locating ring inserted into the backwardly extended annular coupling chamber of the needle holder, the rear expansion section of the sleeve is expanded and positioned in the barrel between the shoulder and the inside flange means of the barrel, and therefore the needle holder is prohibited from backward movement relative to the barrel. Because this positioning design requires less precision, the manufacturing cost of the safety hypodermic syringe is low. Further, the flange, expansion section, retaining portions can be respectively formed of a unitary flange, or multiple protruded blocks, strips, protruded means of wedge-like, triangular, or arched cross section.
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Needle holder positioning structure for safety hypodermic syringe