The present invention relates to an injection assistance device including a body with a needle, grasping arrangement and first elastic return arrangement to dampen limited movement of the grasping arrangement, in at least one of the two directions, respectively distal or proximal, during an injection phase, and to maintain the body in its insertion position and the needle at a constant insertion length during the injection step, when the user increases, respectively releases, a distal pressure on the grasping arrangement. The invention also relates to an injection set including an injection device and the assistance device.

The present invention relates to an injection assistance device for an injection device and to an injection set provided with the said injection assistance device, these devices allowing a product to be injected safely and at an accurate injection depth into an injection site.
In this application, the distal end of a component or of a device is to be understood as meaning the end furthest from the user's hand and the proximal end is to be understood as meaning the end closest to the user's hand. Likewise, in this application, the "distal direction" is to be understood as meaning the direction of injection, and the "proximal direction" is to be understood as meaning the opposite direction to the direction of injection.
In order to administer a medicinal product to a body, particularly the human body, there are various possible routes depending on the place in the body at which the said product is to be injected: thus, the product may be injected intravenously, intramuscularly, subcutaneously, into a joint, or else intradermally. In many of these latter cases, and, particularly when injecting subcutaneously, the depth to which the needle is inserted and therefore at which the product is injected is particularly significant. Thus, it is possible to observe an adverse immunological reaction if, for example, a product that should have been injected into the subcutaneous tissues is finally injected into the intradermal tissues.
The operation of injecting a product using a syringe is particularly delicate. The patient may make an unforeseen movement or alternatively the person administering the injection might make a wrong move. Thus, errors in the depth to which the needle is inserted are particularly difficult to avoid and discrepancies of just a few millimeters may, themselves alone, lead to errors in injection depth.
Likewise, once the needle has been inserted, it is important to guarantee that this insertion depth is maintained throughout the injecting of the product so as to guarantee the correct injection depth.
As far as subcutaneous injection is concerned, there are various injection techniques currently used. Some users prefer to pinch the skin before inserting the needles, others prefer not to, and still others angle the syringe before inserting it into the skin, it being possible for this angle to vary from one user to another. The result of all this is that the depth to which the needle is inserted and therefore at which the product is injected may itself also vary, with the unpleasant consequences mentioned above.
Furthermore, in this kind of operation, it is also important to avoid any needlestick injury due to the exposed needle, whether this be before or after injection.
In addition, to limit the apprehension felt by the patient, particularly in the case of injections administered by the patient himself, it is desirable for the injection device not to look like a conventional syringe and/or for the needle not to be visible or to be visible only a little prior to insertion.
Finally, injecting a product using traditional injection devices generally entails at least two manual steps. For example, in the case of syringes, one manual step is to hold the body of the syringe in order to insert the needle into the injection site, another step consists in pressing on the plunger rod in order to administer the injection, the progression from one step to the other generally entailing moving the fingers with respect to the syringe.
There therefore remains a need for an injection assistance device and for an injection set which are made safe, that is to say which make it possible to limit the impact of undesired movements of the patient and/or of the user in order to prevent a variation in the depth to which the needle is inserted when administering the injection so as to avoid unintentionally injecting the said product at an inadequate depth, limiting the number of manipulations to be carried out by the user, limiting the risk of needlestick injury both to the patient and to the person administering the injection, limiting the apprehension felt by the patient and making the giving of the injection easier.
Documents US 2005/033230 and US 2003/0014018 describe injection devices comprising a hollow body for receiving the product to be injected, and grasping means, said grasping means being attached to, or part of, said hollow body. Documents U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,643 and WO 03/074111 describe injection devices for which the insertion length of the needle may vary in the insertion position.
There also remains a need for such an injection assistance device and an injection set that allow the user to be certain of causing the needle to penetrate the injection site to a predetermined insertion depth and, in addition, guarantee that the injection is administered at this predetermined depth.
There also remains a need for such an injection assistance device and an injection set that allow the needle to be kept at a constant insertion length, at least during the injection step, regardless of any increase or release of distal pressure exerted by the user on the injection device.
Moreover, it is important that the user be able to adjust the dose to be injected before proceeding with any injection step and/or to perform a vein test to prevent injection in the vein.

Injection set and injection assistance device


A node information management system including a plurality of nodes (1i) connected through a network and an information collecting apparatus (10) connected to the nodes so as to collect predetermined information regarding each node. Each node has: a memory unit (122) which stores the predetermined information formed by the node itself every formation of the information; a transmitting unit (120) which supplies the predetermined information stored in the node information memory unit of the node itself to another node; and a backup memory unit (123) which stores the predetermined information supplied from the node information transmitting unit of such another node. The node information is hardly lost and a load of a collecting process of the node information collecting apparatus is reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a node information management system and nodes which are suitable for various networks as well as a packet exchange network.
2. Related Background Art
A collecting method of node information in a conventional packet exchange network will be described.
Generally, nodes such as exchanges, routers, or the like and a monitoring apparatus for managing them are included in a network.
In order to monitor communication quality information such as delay of a packet, loss of the packet, traffic amount, band, and the like, setting information in nodes such as a transfer processing method of a routine table provided every node or the packet, and the like, and information regarding the user such as connecting time of each user, charging, and the like, etc., each node has a function for obtaining those information and managing them by a memory device of each node. In the following description, those communication quality information, node setting information, and information regarding the user are called node information.
As such a monitoring apparatus provided for the network, there is an apparatus called NMS (Network Management Station) for managing the node information. The NMS collects the node information by communication with each node by using a protocol such as SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol), or the like.
AS a node information collecting method of the NMS, for example, there are a polling method/trapping method using the SNMP and an active program method. The polling method and the trapping method have been disclosed in the prior art of the following literature 1. The active program method has been disclosed in the following literature 2 as a network management system using an active network technique.
Literature 1: JP-A-2000-047961
Literature 2: Suzuki et al., "Network Management Method with Active Network Technology", The Institute of Electronics Information and Communication Engineers of Japan, Singaku Giho, Vol. 100, No. 178, Jul. 14, 2000.
The polling method is a method of starting the collection of the node information at an opportunity of the NMS itself. According to the trapping method, when a state of the node is changed, the node transmits a signal of an event opportunity called a trap to the NMS, thereby allowing the NMS to collect the node information.
The active program method has a feature such that a packet called a programmable packet circulates through each node. A program for a process to be instructed from the NMS to the node has been inserted in the programmable packet. When the programmable packet is received, each node executes the program. The programmable packet circulates through each node and brings back a program execution result of each node to the NMS.
In case of collecting the node information by the trapping method, there are the following problems. For example, if the trap cannot be transmitted to the NMS because a failure occurred in the node, the NMS is not able to know the failure or state of the node. Therefore, the polling method and active program method is generally and widely used.
However, the polling method and active program method also have the following problems. In the polling method, each node has to hold the node information for a period of time from timing when the node information is collected to the NMS to timing when the next node information is collected. Therefore, when a failure occurs in the node, the node information held in the node can be lost. In a manner similar to the above, also in the active program method, when a failure occurs in the node, the node information held in the node can be lost.
To avoid such problems, in the polling method and active program method, there is a method whereby the NMS executes the collection of the node information at a short period.
In such a case, however, the following new problems occur. In the polling method of collecting the node information at a short period, if the NMS manages many nodes, a processing load of the NMS increases. If a collecting period of the node information of the NMS is shortened in a network of a large scale, a load on the NMS further increases and it is difficult to collect the node information. Also in the active program method, similarly, when a node information collecting period in the network of a large scale is shortened, a load on the NMS increases.

System for managing information in nodes provided for network, and nodes


Socket housing has a hemispherical ball socket and a plurality of circumferentially spaced retaining tongues which extend toward an insertion opening, the tongues being radially pivotable to engage over the equator of a ball head. An outer part has an insertion region and a receiving opening into which the socket housing can be inserted in an insertion direction via the insertion region, the insertion region having an inside surface defining an opening with a cross-sectional area which is larger than a cross-sectional area defined by an inside surface of the receiving opening. The retaining tongues are in contact with the inside surface of the receiving opening when the socket housing is in the installed position. A locking device prevents movement of the socket housing counter to the insertion direction when the socket housing is in the installed position.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a ball joint arrangement, in particular for articulatedly connecting gas springs to associated implement parts, having a ball head which is pivotably mounted in a closed hemispherical ball socket which is formed in a socket housing. The ball socket leads outwards via an insertion opening and has, in the region aligned towards the insertion opening, a plurality of pivotable retaining tongues which project freely towards the insertion region, are spaced apart from one another in the peripheral direction and engage over the ball head over its equator, with a journal which is arranged on the ball head and has a smaller diameter than the ball head projecting through the insertion opening. An annular outer part has a receiving opening into which the socket housing can be inserted in the insertion direction over an insertion path into an installed position. The socket housing, in the installed position, can be locked by means of a locking device so as to prevent a movement counter to the insertion direction, and the retaining tongues which bear against the ball head are in contact at their outer periphery against the receiving opening which encloses them.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a ball joint arrangement of this type, it is known to form the receiving opening with a cross-sectional contour which is constant all the way through, so that the retaining tongues are held in their closed installed position already at the beginning of the insertion of the socket housing into the receiving opening.


A cast-in-place concrete pile essentially consists of a lower concrete layer having fibers intermixed therein and an upper concrete layer having reinforcing elements. The lower portions of the reinforcing elements are embedded in the lower concrete layer to increase the bonding strength between the lower and upper concrete layers. The cast-in-place concrete pile of the present invention is constructed according to the following method. That is, an excavated hole is firstly formed in the ground. The reinforcing elements are placed at the upper side of the excavated hole, and then concrete including the fibers is cast into the excavated hole until the lower portions of the reinforcing elements are embedded in thus cast concrete, so that the lower concrete layer is formed. Continuously, concrete is cast onto the lower concrete layer in the excavated hole to form the upper concrete layer. Since thus constructed cast-in-place concrete pile is integrated in one-piece, it is expected that the concrete pile has high confidence and safety.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cast-in-place concrete pile and a method of constructing the same in the ground.
2. Description of Prior Art
Heretofore, a cast-in-place concrete pile has been constructed by excavating the ground, inserting steel bars into thus excavated hole over the full length of the excavated hole, and then casting concrete into the excavated hole. However, recently a cast-in-place concrete long pile having the length of about 50 m to 60 m is required at a filled up land and the others. In such case, it takes a long time period and considerable labor for inserting the steel bars over the full length of the excavated hole. Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. 02-97426 proposes a cast-in-place concrete pile consisting of a steel fiber mixed lower concrete layer and a reinforced upper concrete layer including the steel bars. The concrete pile is designed such that the formation of cracks in the lower part of the concrete pile is prevented by the mixed lower concrete layer. On the other hand, a bending stress and a shear force occurring from, for example, an earthquake, a strong wind, etc., are borne by the reinforced upper concrete layer. And besides, as the steel bars are included only in the reinforced upper concrete layer, working hours and labor necessary for inserting the steel bars into the excavated hole can be reduced. The prior art written in the Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. 2-97426 describes about a method of constructing the cast-in-place concrete piles in the ground. That is, the excavated hole is formed in the ground. Concrete including steel fibers is cast into the bottom of the excavated hole, and then placing the steel bars on the thus cast concrete in the excavated hole. Subsequently, concrete is cast into the excavated hole to form the reinforced upper concrete layer on the mixed lower concrete layer. However, since the lower portions of the steel bars are not embedded into the mixed lower concrete layer, the bonding strength between the mixed lower concrete layer and the reinforced upper concrete layer is not enough to integrate the concrete pile in one-piece. Moreover, since the specific gravity of iron of the steel fibers, which is about 7.8, is much larger than that of an aggregate such as pebbles or sand, etc., which is about 2.7, the steel fibers are apt to sink toward to the bottom of the excavated hole as compared with the aggregate until the concrete including the steel fibers is hardened. As a result, it may be not expected that the steel fibers are uniformly dispersed in the mixed lower concrete layer. That is, the steel fibers are densely distributed to the lower side of the mixed lower concrete layer and sparsely distributed to the upper side of the mixed lower concrete layer. Therefore, there is a possibility that the upper side of the mixed lower concrete layer does not have a designed strength thereof. Consequently, there are serious problems with respect to the strength of the upper side of the mixed lower concrete layer and the bonding strength between the mixed lower concrete layer and the reinforced upper concrete layer. On the other hand, when fluidity of the concrete including the steel fibers is lowered, the sinking of the steel fibers having the high specific gravity is prevented to some extent. However, if the fluidity of the concrete including the steel fibers is lowered excessively, it is so difficult to cast the concrete with tremie tube into the bottom of the excavated hole having the depth of 50 m to 60 m.

Cast-in-place concrete pile and method of constructing the same in the ground


A vehicle key with an installed electronic system is used, for example, for wireless communication with the vehicle for controlling a vehicle locking system or a drive-away blocking system. The electronic vehicle key has a voice memory, a voice output unit, a control unit with a voice system function a radio call receiving device, a radio call information output unit and a control unit. By means of the voice system function, for example, the parking site of a vehicle can be stored in the key and can be emitted again in voice form. A key equipped with the radio call receiving function permits the transmission of radio call messages to the owner of the key.

This invention relates to an electronic vehicle key. Such vehicle keys with electronic components frequently are provided to control a door locking device and/or a drive-away blocking device of the vehicle by means of wireless communication, for example, by way of infrared data transmission. In addition, a key bit or shank is often integrated into the key for mechanical locking and unlocking of vehicle locks.
In modern locking systems and roll-away blocking devices of motor vehicles, a code-protected data signal is communicated between the electronic key and the vehicle for access or usage authorization for the vehicle. Such a system, is disclosed, for example, in German Patent Document DE-OS 39 00 494 A1, in which the bidirectional data communicated between the key and the vehicle includes, in addition to a code signal which controls an antitheft device, vehicle and/or user-specific data which are emitted by the vehicle and are stored in the key, where they can be recalled and transmitted to the vehicle for vehicle-specific and/or user-specific adjustment of operating elements.
German Patent Document DE-OS 34 06 746 A1 discloses an electronic vehicle key which transmits coded data to control the vehicle locking system by means of an access authorization test, with a microprocessor unit and a sound generator. The latter generates an acoustical signal indicating the reception of an acknowledgement of a match in the case of a testing of an emitted user code signal.
In German Patent Document DE-OS 41 02 020 A1, a vehicle key is equipped for a bidirectional information exchange with the vehicle to control locking and unlocking elements of the vehicle. In addition, it has a visual display unit which can visually display information transmitted by the vehicle concerning vehicle condition information, such as the condition of the vehicle doors, a driven kilometer distance, the filling level of the fuel tank and optionally other parameters, such as the clock time and the condition of the battery of the key.
In European Patent Document EP 0 617 183 A2, a key for a motor vehicle contains a voice memory, a microphone and a voice playback unit. Information, such as the number of a parking space in which the vehicle is parked, may be entered in voice form into the key. This information is stored there, and can be emitted again from the key in voice form, upon request by the user.
A safety device for doors, gates and the like disclosed in German Patent Document DE-OS 37 02 331 A1 has an electro-mechanical lock with a keyboard and a control device. When a numerical code entered by way of the keyboard, corresponds to a code stored in the control device, the lock opens. If an unauthorized opening of the lock is attempted, an alarm signal is emitted; the control device then dials a stored telephone number and sends out a stored message. For this purpose, it has a dialing device for telephone networks and a text storage device. In this manner the called person can be informed of the unauthorized opening of the lock.
German Patent Document DE 39 12 707 C1, discloses a device having a receiver which is fixedly arranged in a vehicle and can receive signals that are transmitted in a wireless manner by a stationary object. A detector is connected to an output of the receiver, to which detector an element is connected which is arranged in or on the vehicle, such as an electromagnetically operable key bolt for the rear door of the vehicle. The signals emitted by the object, such as radio signals, contain information on a location-bound destination position. After reception of the signals in the vehicle, the element arranged there is activated and, in this manner, a destination-position-related control operation is triggered.
One object of the invention is to provide an electronic vehicle key which, in addition to its vehicle access or vehicle usage authorization function, offers expanded communication possibilities, including the capability of emitting information, particularly in voice form, received by way of a wireless communication path.
This and other objects and advantages are achieved by the electronic vehicle key according to the invention, which permits a voice output of information previously filed in the key; for example, vehicle-specific data, such as tank filling level, mileage, or information concerning the location of the previously parked vehicle. For this purpose, the control unit equipped with a voice system function controls the voice memory and the voice output unit in a suitable manner. The manner in which the key is supplied with voice information to be emitted may be selected for the particular application. For this purpose, the key is equipped in an appropriate manner. The vehicle-specific data can be transmitted from the vehicle to the key by way of a wireless transmission path, received there by the key receiver, and called up from the key in voice form.
An advantageous embodiment of the invention offers expanded communication possibilities by means of its capability of receiving radio calls. The received radio call information can be emitted again by the key, by way of a corresponding output unit. Such radio calls are sent by way of known telecommunication terminals, such as telephones, telexes, teletexes or video screen texts, to a receiver which can be addressed by way of a radio call number, but momentarily cannot be reached by way of such a telecommunication terminal. The radio call information may, for example, contain a call-back number via which a person receiving the radio call can then call back the person sending the radio call via the normal telecommunication network. For this purpose, so-called sound-only radio call receivers exist which have up to four radio call numbers as well as numerical radio call receivers which have a radio call number for a numerical control and up to two numbers for a sound-only information. Miniaturized radio call receiver units are known which are suitable for a vehicle key and have up to now been integrated, for example, as an additional function in wrist watches.
By means of a further embodiment of the invention, it is possible to enter the information into the key in voice form, where it is stored in a voice memory, for later play back in voice form.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, the radio call receiving function is combined with the voice system function. This arrangement has the advantage that the reception of a radio call message is indicated by a signal sound; also a call-back number which may be contained in the radio call message can be called up in voice form from the key.
Still another embodiment of the invention permits the transmission of radio call information received by the key, to the vehicle pertaining to the key, by way of a wireless data communication path which, in particular, may simultaneously be used as a communication path of a vehicle access authorization system or of a vehicle usage authorization system. A locking system and/or a drive-away blocking system of the vehicle are controlled by a coded data exchange between the key and the vehicle by way of this communication path, such as an infrared communication path. The radio call information may then be indicated in an indicating device in the vehicle or, in the case of a call-back number information, may be transmitted directly to a radio telephone existing in the vehicle.
Another embodiment of the invention provides increased protection from unauthorized vehicle use, for example, in modern vehicle protection systems. A drive-away blocking system is activated when a vehicle-side unit no longer receives usage release data which are otherwise transmitted at regular intervals from the key to the vehicle. The vehicle can therefore not be used without the key. As an additional safety measure, the output of release data by the key is coupled to the regular reception of usage releasing radio call information at certain specified time intervals. When the authorized person loses the key, he can terminate these radio call messages to the key maintaining the vehicle usage, after which the key will no longer send any usage release data to the vehicle, so that the drive-way blocking system is activated. An unauthorized person can therefore no longer use the vehicle, even when he also has the key.
Finally, a further embodiment of the invention is advantageous for vehicles which have a burglary--theft warning system. Although these conventional warning systems emit an alarm signal at the location of the vehicle, this signal may not be noticed or observed. Upon activation of the burglary-theft warning system, the radio telephone of the vehicle automatically sends a corresponding activating message as a radio call, which can be received by the key, which then emits a message warning the key to take corresponding measures.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


Provided is a process that includes: obtaining a first version of a map of a workspace; selecting a first undiscovered area of the workspace; in response to selecting the first undiscovered area, causing the robot to move to a position and orientation to sense data in at least part of the first undiscovered area; and obtaining an updated version of the map mapping a larger area of the workspace than the first version.

Autonomous or semi-autonomous robotic devices are increasingly used within consumer homes and commercial establishments. Such devices may include a robotic vacuum cleaner, lawn mower, mop, or other similar devices. To operate autonomously or to operate with minimal (or less than fully manual) input and/or external control within a working environment, mapping methods are implemented within robotic devices such that the robotic device may autonomously create a map of the working environment and subsequently (or concurrently) use it for navigation.
Mapping methods using different measurement systems for robotic devices have been previously proposed. For example, Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) is a mapping method which captures large amounts of feature points to create and continuously update a map of the working environment.
Many SLAM solutions rely on laser distance sensors (LDS) with very high rates of data collection. Such LDS sensors often provide thousands of readings per second in a 360-degrees field of view. Other SLAM solutions such as VSLAM solutions rely heavily on image processing techniques for extracting features such as circles, arcs, lines, and corners from captured images. Images are often processed through multiple stages, usually beginning with simple image filters and then later are processed using algorithms such as corner detection. These SLAM methods frequently have additional stages for probabilistic processing and particle filtering as well, thus, requiring substantial memory for keeping multiple sets of redundant data. These methods are also limited by their poor functionality when operating in areas where the ambient level of light is lower than a certain threshold or in areas with glass walls, as detecting features on transparent or highly reflective surfaces is challenging for the sensors used.
Furthermore, many image processing techniques are computationally expensive, requiring powerful CPUs or dedicated MCUs. This results in robotic devices with SLAM capability to be up to three or four times the cost of ones without such capability. Also, some implemented SLAM solutions require an additional piece of equipment to project an infrared (IR) pattern onto a surface. For example, some products use an additional stationary and external device system that projects an IR pattern onto the ceiling or the environment to determine the position of the robotic device. It is evident that these well-established mapping methods require large amounts of memory, substantial processing power, and high costs for implementation.
Distance sensors may also be used in creating a depth map of the environment. However, in certain cases, the depth maps constructed may be incomplete, containing gaps in areas where information is lacking. The gaps may be due to an opening in the wall, blind spots unseen by the measuring device, or a lack of data resulting from a camera with inadequate detection range. A complete closed loop map of the environment may be necessary to ensure coverage of the entire environment. The majority of distance sensor-based mapping methods do not provide details of a method for identifying and closing gaps in the map after an initial mapping attempt or require the use of additional equipment to close gaps in the map.
None of the preceding discussion should be taken as a disclaimer of any of the described techniques, as the present approach may be used in combination with these other techniques in some embodiments.

Discovering and plotting the boundary of an enclosure


In a method to dehumidify a cooking chamber of a domestic cooking appliance, a condensation formation in the cooking chamber is ascertained. A dehumidification message connected to a dehumidification process is displayed when the condensation formation is detected, and a user action is awaited when the message is displayed. The dehumidification process is either performed or terminated depending on the user action. A domestic cooking appliance includes a cooking chamber and a display device and is configured to ascertain a condensation formation in the cooking chamber and to start a dehumidification process when the condensation formation is ascertained. The domestic cooking appliance is additionally configured to display a drying message connected to a dehumidification process on the display device prior to starting the dehumidification process, to await a user action when the dehumidification message is displayed, and either to perform or terminate the dehumidification process depending on the user action.

The invention relates to a method for dehumidifying a cooking chamber of a household cooking appliance, wherein condensate formation is determined in a cooking chamber of the household cooking appliance. The invention also relates to a household cooking appliance, having a cooking chamber, a microwave facility for applying microwaves to the cooking chamber, at least one resistance heater for emitting heat radiation into the cooking chamber and a display facility for displaying information, the household cooking appliance being designed to determine condensate formation in the cooking chamber and to start a dehumidification process. The invention can in particular be applied advantageously to microwave cooking appliances, in particular microwave cooking appliances with additional heating
In microwave cooking appliances in practice only the food being cooked is heated by microwave operation, not the appliance interior or attachments in the interior. Heated food frequently gives off water vapor, which condenses at cold points in the appliance interior (for example on a wall ("muffle") of the associated cooking chamber and in some instances on attachments). The condensate can generally not be removed by normal appliance ventilation, as the air flow does not act sufficiently effectively and for a sufficiently long time and surfaces on which the condensate has formed are not warm enough for adequate evaporation to take place. This can result in corrosion of the muffle or attachments if condensate remains in the appliance for a fairly long time.
The simplest way in principle of removing condensate is to wipe the cooking chamber out manually. This is time consuming and not always easy to do when there are integrated accessories or attachments (for example a heating unit or suspended shelves).
CH 696 039 A5 discloses a combined oven with microwave and drying function. To this end an oven is fitted with a resistance heater and microwave generator. In order to prevent condensate forming on the muffle walls as food is heated, the resistance heater is activated during part of the heating operation. The resistance heater is deactivated again when the temperature in the cooking chamber reaches a predefined threshold value of 70° C. for example. This prevents unpleasant odors and the like. An oven is fitted with a cooking chamber, a resistance heater arranged on the cooking chamber for heating the cooking chamber, a microwave generator for heating food in the cooking chamber and a controller for controlling the resistance heater and the microwave generator, the controller having at least one microwave program that can be activated by the user and activates the microwave generator, the controller being configured in such a manner that the microwave program for drying the cooking chamber activates the resistance heater for heating the cooking chamber to maximum 100° C. The oven can have a temperature sensor in or on the cooking chamber and the controller can be configured in such a manner that the microwave program only activates the resistance heater until the temperature sensor reaches a setpoint temperature. In one variant the controller is configured in such a manner that the microwave program activates the microwave generator in a first step and also activates the resistance heater after a predefined time. In a further variant the predefined time is at least 30 seconds, in particular approx. two minutes. In a further variant it has selection means for selecting an operating output of the microwave generator and the controller is configured in such a manner that the microwave program only activates the resistance heater when an operating output above a threshold output is selected, the threshold output being greater than zero, in particular greater than 300 watts, preferably approx. 450 watts. In a further variant it has a fan for circulating air in the cooking chamber, the controller being configured in such a manner that the microwave program starts the fan at least during a part of a program runtime of the microwave program. In a further variant the controller is configured in such a manner that the microwave program deactivates the fan before it deactivates the microwave generator. In a further variant the controller is configured in such a manner that the microwave program deactivates the fan when a cooking chamber temperature exceeds a predefined value, in particular approx. 70° C. In a further variant the controller is configured in such a manner that the microwave program for drying the cooking chamber activates the resistance heater for heating the cooking chamber to a setpoint temperature between 60° C. and 80° C., in particular approx. 70° C. In a further variant the controller is configured in such a manner that the microwave program deactivates the resistance heater until the end of the program after the setpoint temperature has been reached.
DE 38 04 678 A1 discloses a method for operating an oven with microwaves and electrical resistance heating. In a cooking appliance with microwave heating and electrical resistance heating a vapor extraction duct is provided with a vapor extraction blower. The speed of the vapor extraction blower is varied by way of sensors for the humidity and temperature of the vapor which are arranged in the vapor extraction duct.


A protector for protecting the mating plug and socket of connected electrical cords from damage and contamination and which allows quick disconnection of the plug and socket in an isolated chamber. The protector has a tubular housing formed of high impact plastic, preferably transparent, which surrounds the mating plug and socket members of connected electrical cords and resilient end plugs which are slidably received on the cords rearwardly of the plug and socket. The end plugs have a longitudinal slit extending radially from a central longitudinal bore and are installed by pressing them laterally onto the cords then sliding them axially on the cords to press them into the open ends of the tubular housing. When pressed into the ends of the housing, the end plugs define a central chamber surrounding the plug and socket connection and form a seal at the opposed ends of the chamber between the housing and the exterior of the cords. The coefficient of friction between the end plugs and interior of the housing is greater than the coefficient of friction between the end plugs and the cords such that the end plugs remain frictionally engaged with the interior of the housing while allowing relative sliding movement between the cords and end plugs. When the cords are pulled apart, the plug and socket separate completely while enclosed in the sealed chamber to isolate any spark or arc and continued axial movement pulls the end plugs from the ends of the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of devices for protecting the mating plug and socket ends of electrical cords, and more particularly to a protector for protecting the mating plug and socket of connected electrical cords from damage and contamination and which allows quick disconnection of the plug and socket in an isolated chamber.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Electrical cords, such as extension cords, are common in industrial facilities, outdoor construction sites, and manufacturing facilities. Often the mating plug and socket ends of these types of electrical cords are simply connected together and lie, unprotected, on the floor or ground and are subject to being pulled apart accidentally and to being damaged by pedestrian or vehicular traffic or being crushed by piping, beams, tools, etc. The unprotected connection is also be exposed to water, mud, and other contaminants, which may cause injury to personnel and corrosion of the mating components.
In some environments, the sparking or arc caused by pulling the mating plug and socket ends of electrical cords apart can cause an explosion. In some instances, the mating plug and socket ends of electrical cords are tied or otherwise secured together to prevent them from being separated accidentally. Securing the mating plug and socket ends of electrical cords together is not satisfactory, since it is important to be able to quickly break the electrical connection in the event of an emergency. For example, if a machine malfunctions or a worker is caught in a machine.
There are several patents which disclose various protectors and retainers for the mating plug and socket ends of electrical cords. Most of which secure the connection together and prevent the plugs from being pulled apart.
Gartland, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,003,622, Burke, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,475, Odbert, U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,424, and Bresko, U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,891 disclose devices for maintaining the male and female plugs of an electrical cord connected together. The device comprises a first cylindrical member which surrounds the male plug and a second cylindrical member which surrounds the female plug. The cylindrical members are secured on the cords behind each plug and one member has protuberances which slide and latch in grooves in the other member to prevent the plugs from being pulled apart.
Gallagher, U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,643 discloses a cylindrical clip for maintaining the male and female plugs of an electrical cord connected together. The clip is a hollow cylindrical housing made in two halves and hinged along one side and provided with latches on the opposite side. The housing surrounds an electrical connection and is latched around the electrical plug connection to prevent the electrical plugs from being pulled apart.
House et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,505 discloses a hinged housing for maintaining the plugs of an extension cord connected together. Washers are installed on the cords behind each plug and each half of the housing has a series of parallel spaced internal grooves which surround and engage the washers to prevent the plugs from being pulled apart.
Ryan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,612 discloses an electrical plug holder for maintaining the male and female plugs of an electrical cord connected together. The device comprises a first cylindrical member which surrounds the male plug and a second cylindrical member which surrounds the female plug. The cylindrical members are threadedly secured together by mating helix threads to prevent the plugs from being pulled apart.
Scheffey, Sr., U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,324 discloses a plug and socket retainer for maintaining the plug and socket of an electrical cord connected together. The device comprises a cylindrical housing having a longitudinal slit for receiving the cord and which surrounds the connected plug and socket. The housing is provided with a pair of longitudinal serrated projections. A cover member also having a longitudinal slit is installed on the other electrical cord and provided with slits which receive and engage the serrated projections of the housing to prevent separation and prevent the plugs from being pulled apart.
Koch, U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,939 discloses a cylindrical protector for preventing unauthorized use of an electrical plug. The protector is a hollow cylindrical housing made in two halves and hinged along one side and provided with mating lips on the opposite side. The housing surrounds an electrical connection and is either bolted or locked around the electrical plug connection. The electrical plugs cannot be pulled apart.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular by a protector for protecting the mating plug and socket of connected electrical cords from damage and contamination and which allows quick disconnection of the plug and socket in an isolated chamber. The protector has a tubular housing formed of high impact plastic, preferably transparent, which surrounds the mating plug and socket members of connected electrical cords and resilient end plugs which are slidably received on the cords rearwardly of the plug and socket. The end plugs have a longitudinal slit extending radially from a central longitudinal bore and are installed by pressing them laterally onto the cords then sliding them axially on the cords to press them into the open ends of the tubular housing. When pressed into the ends of the housing, the end plugs define a central chamber surrounding the plug and socket connection and form a seal at the opposed ends of the chamber between the housing and the exterior of the cords. The coefficient of friction between the end plugs and interior of the housing is greater than the coefficient of friction between the end plugs and the cords such that the end plugs remain frictionally engaged with the interior of the housing while allowing relative sliding movement between the cords and end plugs. When the cords are pulled apart, the plug and socket separate completely while enclosed in the sealed chamber to isolate any spark or arc and continued axial movement pulls the end plugs from the ends of the housing.

Protector for electrical cord connections


To prevent a single bidder from profiting by submitting multiple false-name bids, an auctioneer: sets a threshold price r; determines the ranking i of the minimum value equal to or larger than r in a buyers' evaluation value sequence sorted in decreasing order and the ranking j of the maximum value equal to or smaller than r in a sellers' evaluation value sequence sorted in increasing order; if i=j, allows first to i-th buyers and sellers to trade at the price r; if i>j, allows first to j-th buyers and sellers to trade at a trade price of the (j+1)-th buyer's evaluation value for the buyers and at the threshold price r for the sellers; and if i<j, allows the first to i-th buyers and sellers to trade at the threshold price for the buyers and at a trade price of the (i+1)-th seller's evaluation value.

The present invention relates to a two-sided electronic auction scheme that permits multiple sellers and buyers distributed on a communication network to hold auctions by electronic means, an apparatus for the auction scheme, and a recording medium on which there are recorded programs for implementing the auction scheme.
Two-sided auction schemes, by which multiple sellers and buyers submit their desired selling/purchase prices for a certain kind of goods put on sale and trade, are called double auctions and have been widely used in stock, bond and foreign exchange markets. One of the conventional double auction protocols is a PMD protocol (R. P. AcAfee, "A Dominant Strategy double Auction," Journal of Economic Theory, vol.56, pp.434-450, 1992). The PMD protocol will be described below.
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic showing of an electronic double auction system based on the PMD protocol, in which multiple seller apparatuses 1-1, . . . , 1-n and multiple buyer apparatuses 2-1, . . . , 2-m are distributed communication network 11, to which an auctioneer apparatus 12 is connected. That is, assume that m buyers and n sellers are present on the communication network 11. Further, assume that each buyer demands only one unit of a single kind of goods and that each seller possesses one unit of a single kind of goods.
The m buyers use their apparatuses 2-1, . . . , 2-m to send applications for bidding to the auctioneer apparatus 12 together with their evaluation values b1, . . . , bm (which are the highest possible purchase prices, not necessary true), and the n sellers use their apparatuses 1-1, . . . , 1-n to send applications for bidding to the auctioneer apparatus 12 together with their evaluation values s1, . . . , sn (which are the lowest possible selling prices, not necessarily true).
As shown in FIG. 2, upon receiving the applications for bidding from the seller apparatuses 1-1, . . . , 1-n and the applications for bidding from the buyer apparatuses 2-1, . . . , 2-m (step S1), the auctioneer apparatus 12: stores the sellers and buyers of the applications received and their evaluation values in a storage part (step S2); makes a check to determine if the deadline for applications has passed (step S3); and if not, returns to step S1 to wait for applications to come. It is predetermined that the term for accepting the applications, for example, runs from a certain time in the morning of a weekday to a certain time in the morning; the sellers and buyers send their applications for bidding to the auctioneer apparatus 12 by the deadline.
Upon expiration of the term for application, the auctioneer apparatus 12 reads out the evaluation values of all the buyers from the storage part and sorts their declared evaluation values b1, . . . , bm in decreasing orderb(1)≧b(2)≧ . . . ≧b(m) (step S4), and reads out the sellers declared evaluation values s1, . . . , sn from the storage part and sort them in increasing orders(1)≦s(2)≦ . . . ≦s(n) (step S5). In the above, b(i) represents the i-th largest one of the buyers' declared evaluation values and s(i) represents the i-th smallest one of the sellers' declared evaluation values. When multiple evaluation values are equal (in the case of a tiebreak), they are sorted randomly (by lot or the like).
To simplify the protocol description, let b(m+1) represent the smallest possible evaluation value of the buyers (e.g., 0) and s(n+1) represent the largest possible evaluation value of the sellers (e.g., one billion dollars). Further, assume that b(m+1)<s(n+1) holds.
A search is made for k such that b(k)≧s(k) and b(k+1)<s(k+1) hold (step S6). If this k is found, a maximum of k trades is possible since the first to k-th evaluation values of the buyers are equal to or larger than the evaluation values of the sellers. If the k is not found, the auctioneer notifies every bidder or participant of failure in trading (step S12), and put an end to the current session of auction.
A candidate p0 of the trading price is defined as given below and the price p0 is calculated (step S7).P0=(b(k+)+s(k+1))/2
The protocol is described as follows.
A check is made to see if s(k)≦p0≦b(k) holds (step S8).
Case (a): If s(k)≦p0≦b(k) holds, the first to k-th buyers and sellers trade at the price p0. That is, the auctioneer apparatus 12 sends to each of these buyers' and sellers' apparatuses a notification that the trade will be made at the price p0 (step S9).
Case (b): If s(k)≦p0≦b(k) does not hold, the first to (k−1)-th buyers and sellers trade. All of the k−1 buyers pay b(k), and the k−1 sellers all receive s(k). The auctioneer apparatus 12 sends to each of the buyers' apparatuses concerned a notification that the trade succeeds at b(k), and to each of the sellers' apparatuses a notification that the trade succeeds at s(k) (step S10).
In either of the cases (a) and (b), the auctioneer notifies unsuccessful buyers and sellers of failure in trading (step S11).
When the condition in step S8 does not hold, that is, in the case of (b), since the price b(k) to be paid by the buyer is equal to or higher than the price s(k) to be received by the seller, the difference (k−1)(b(k)−s(k)) is left over. Assume that the auctioneer receives this difference.
It is known in the art that when no false-name bids are submitted, the utility of each bidder can be maximized by bidding a correct evaluation value, i.e. the largest possible evaluation value indicating that the buyer has no intention of paying higher prices, and the smallest possible evaluation value indicating that the seller has no intention of trading at lower prices. This property is called incentive compatibility. When the incentive compatibility holds, electronic auctions can easily be held without the need for hiding the bid value of every bidder from other participants as in ordinary electronic auction schemes.
Electronic auctions using telecommunication systems, typified by the Internet, permit a single bidder to easily submit multiple bids using multiple names (for example, different electronic mail addresses). This is called false-name bidding.
If the false-name bidding is possible, the PMD protocol doe not satisfy the incentive compatibility as described below.

Network auction scheme, winning bid determining scheme, apparatus therefor, and recording medium having their programs recorded thereon

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


A method and apparatus are provided for marking orthodontic products. The method includes the steps of coupling the orthodontic product with the anode of a power source, placing an electrolyte in electrical contact with the cathode of the power source, and selectively exposing portions of the orthodontic product to be marked to the electrolyte. The apparatus includes a hand marker connected to the cathode of a power source. A sponge pad soaked with an electrolyte is attached to the hand marker. A workplate provided for holding the orthodontic product is coupled to the anode of the power source. A stencil is also provided to enable selective portions of the orthodontic product to be exposed to the electrolyte and thereby be marked.

Methods and apparatus for marking orthodontic products are discussed below with reference to the marking of an orthodontic band, for example, that can be attached to teeth to straighten them. The band 5, shown in FIG. 3, is in the form of a ring that is modeled on a tooth.
Human teeth differ in shape depending on whether they are in the upper or lower jaw and whether they are on the right or left side. Also, the size of teeth varies from individual to individual. Because of the differences in tooth size and shape, it is necessary to use different orthodontic bands to match the teeth on which the bands are to be used. To enable orthodontic treatment to be performed properly and efficiently, it is therefore important that the bands be clearly marked with characters indicating whether the bands may be used on the upper or lower jaw and the right or left side along with characters indicating the size of the bands. Proper marking also prevents different bands from becoming mixed together when shipped from the factory.
Prior methods and apparatus for marking orthodontic products have failed to consider the effects of sterilization processes used to prevent infection with viruses like B-type hepatitis viruses and HIV viruses. The markings made on orthodontic products by the prior art is sometimes removed during sterilization by the rigorous heating conditions involved or by immersion of the products in disinfectants.
The size of orthodontic product such as an orthodontic band to be used on a patient is determined by trial of different sized products on the patient's teeth. As a result of the trials, the products are regularly contaminated with saliva and require frequent and repeated sterilization.
Prior methods of marking orthodontic products include printing characters on the products with ink and engraving characters on the products with laser beams. Markings made by printing tend to peel off when the orthodontic product is heated and when hydrochloric acid type disinfectants are applied to the product during sterilization. Characters produced by lasers are often thin and unreadable. In addition, marking with lasers is time consuming and requires substantial equipment.
It is difficult to accurately control the depth of the marking when markings are made using lasers. Moreover, with the use of lasers, band strength tends to decrease and the band becomes blunt from the heat generated by the process.

Method and apparatus for marking orthodontic products


A mobile device comprising a processor which is configured to run at least one of a plurality of threads, said plurality of threads comprising a mobile control thread, a priority adjusting thread and at least one other thread; a scheduler for scheduling threads to be run on said processor dependent on a priority of an thread relative to other threads, a display for displaying data to a user, an input system for a user to input commands, and a communication link for connecting said mobile device to a remote terminal, wherein, when said mobile control thread is running the processor is configured to capture data currently displayed on said display; send said captured data over said communication link; and issue an update sent notification to activate said priority adjusting thread; wherein, when said priority adjusting thread is running, the processor is configured to determine, on receipt of an update sent notification, whether a previous update sent notification issued less than a threshold time earlier, determine whether said mobile control thread has used more than a threshold amount of said processor, and if both determining steps are met reduce said priority of said mobile control thread below a priority of said at least one other thread and set a timer whereby when said timer expires, said priority of said mobile control thread is increased above said priority of said at least one other thread.

It is known to use a remote computer terminal to view and control mobile phones. One such configuration is shown in FIG. 1a. The contents of the display of the mobile device 10 are duplicated on the remote computer terminal 12. The remote computer terminal has an interface mechanism which allows the user to send user input events, such as pressing a physical key on the device or touching a touch screen input, to the mobile device being controlled. As will be appreciated, the form of data link and the nature of the remote computer terminal can vary, depending on the situation being used.
The remote computer terminal may be for a support engineer using the remote control facility to provide device support to a customer using a mobile phone. If a customer of a company experiences a problem with a mobile phone, such as being unable to send picture messages, the support engineer can diagnose and fix the problem by interacting with the phone by using the remote terminal. Alternatively, the support engineer may use the remote terminal to install or update software or other settings on a user's mobile phone. In this situation the data link would typically be via a form of radio communication, such as Wifi, GPRS or HSDPA and the remote terminal may be a long distance, e.g. hundreds of miles away from the mobile phone.
Alternatively, the remote terminal may be located close to the mobile phone for example in the automotive industry. The remote terminal may be embedded as a large display mounted on the dashboard of the car. The familiar interface of the user's phone is shown on the display and the user can use this interface to play music or perform map based navigation. Typically, there will be additional safety mechanisms to prevent the user from using the remote terminal to control distracting applications, such as computer games, while driving. In this situation the data link would typically be via a physically wired connection, such as USB, or a short range radio communication system, such as Wifi or Bluetooth.
FIG. 1b is a block diagram showing the internal components of the mobile phone 10 and connected remote terminal 12 and their interactions. Activity on a phone may be divided into 'threads', where a thread may be defined as the smallest unit of processing that can be scheduled by an operating system. Typically, only one thread is running at a time. The mobile phone 10 comprises an operating system having a display system 20, an input system 22 and a data link system 26, all of which are connected to a VNC (Virtual Networking Computing) server thread 24. Other threads, e.g. other applications (not shown), may be installed on the phone. Similarly, the remote terminal comprises an operating system having a display system 30, a control system 32 and a data link system 36, all of which are connected to a VNC (Virtual Networking Computing) viewing thread 34. The data link systems of the mobile phone and remote terminal are connected as described above.
The behaviour of the VNC Server Thread is shown in FIG. 2. The VNC server thread waits to receive an input event or a display changed notification. If an input event is detected, the input event is sent to the operating system of the remote terminal. If a display changed notification is received, the mobile phone display is captured, then encoded into VNC format and sent over the connection between the data link systems of the mobile phone and remote terminal.
For historical reasons, threads don't declare how much CPU (processor) time they want. Instead each thread declares:                Whether it wants the CPU at any given moment        Its priority, relative to other threads
The phone operating system then, effectively, chooses the thread with the highest priority which wants the CPU. (Multi-core phones might choose several.) Most threads on the phone declare themselves as a particular priority. For example, an application which wants to download e-mail in the background might declare itself low priority, whilst a 3D game might declare itself the highest possible priority. Most normal applications would be somewhere in-between.
Historically remote terminal connections to phones have used radio data links based on technologies such as GPRS or HSDPA for communication between mobile phone and remote terminal. The theoretical data rate of GPRS is about 10 kb/s (although in actual use only about 5 kb/s is seen) and HSDPA data connections is about 1 Mb/s (although in actual use only about 100 kb/s is seen). Using data links with these rates acts as a bottleneck, limiting the number of updates per second and therefore reducing how much time the VNC main thread uses the CPU of the device for.
However using faster data links, such as USB2 with 60 MB/s data rates (although only about 2 Mb/s is seen in actual use) prevents the data link from being the bottleneck. A faster data rate means that the VNC main thread can send updates considerably more frequently. If there is no mechanism for limiting the CPU time used by the VNC main thread then it is possible for it to use all of the CPU time sending updates, slowing down other applications on the phone by many times. For example on a Nokia 5800 Xpress music device the time taken to load a video can go from 6 seconds to over a minute if no mechanism is used to limit the VNC main thread's processing time.
The present applicant has recognised that an improved method and system for remote controlling mobile phones is required.

Method and system for remote controlling mobile phones


A lamp and storage combination assembly includes a housing that has a bottom wall, a top wall and peripheral wall that is attached to and extends between the top and bottom walls. The peripheral wall has a cavity extending therein that is bounded by a lower wall, an upper wall and a perimeter wall extending between the upper and lower walls. A door is hingedly coupled to the peripheral wall and is selectively positionable in a closed position closing the cavity or in an open position opening the cavity. A light socket is attached to the top wall of the housing. A power supply is electrically coupled to the light socket.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lamp assemblies and more particularly pertains to a new lamp assembly for holding beverages and foot items in a thermally insulated, hidden and easily accessible area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of lamp assemblies is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 6,238,061 describes a lamp that includes a built in alarm clock and a secondary power supply. Another type of lamp assembly is U.S. Pat. No. 1,739,239 having a lamp base having a compartment therein for holding cigarettes, tobacco and smoking supplies.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a lamp assembly that includes at least one compartment adapted for holding food, and particularly beverage, containers. The lamp assembly should be adapted for holding the food items in a thermally insulated environment to ensure that the food items do not quickly move to ambient temperature. The lamp assembly may then be positioned in an easily accessible area, such as adjacent to a sitting area, so that the food items are readily retrievable.


Disclosed are devices, systems and/or methods relating to an eight transistor (8T) static random access memory (SRAM) cell, according to one or more embodiments. In one embodiment, an SRAM storage cell is disclosed comprising a word line, a write column select line, a cross-coupled data latch, and a first NMOS switch device serially coupled to a second NMOS switch device. In this embodiment, the gate node of the first NMOS switch device is coupled to the word line, a source node of the first NMOS switch device is coupled to the cross-coupled data latch, a gate node of the second NMOS switch device is coupled to the write column select line, and a source node of the second NMOS switch device is coupled to the cross-coupled data latch.

The minimum voltage at which an integrated circuit (IC) can reliably operate is referred to as the IC's VCC_min. As the proliferation of mobile devices have driven up the demand for scaled-down ICs and processors that consume less power, the VCC_min of most ICs have continued to decrease. However, this trend of ever decreasing VCC_min has taken a toll on the reliability of certain IC components. For example, ICs often embed and employ a static random access memory (SRAM) circuit to handle on-chip storage needs. The SRAM cell is often arranged as an array comprising rows and columns. In a conventional SRAM cell, each row of the cell is coupled to a word line and each column is coupled to a pair of bit-lines. As the VCC_min of SRAM circuits decrease, the read and write operation margins of the underlying SRAM cell also decrease due to voltage noise.
Various solutions to this problem have been proposed to maintain the reliability of write operations at reduced VCC_min. These include: VDD lowering, VSS raising, word-line boosting, and negative bit-line manipulations. However, all such solutions are geared toward traditional six transistor (6T) SRAM cells and require peripheral circuitry that may further complicate memory design, consume more dynamic power, and affect unselected cells in the same row. Moreover, solutions that embed write assist into the SRAM cell structure have faced significant DC current problems that have an adverse impact on unselected cells. Therefore, a design solution is needed that addresses the above mentioned problems.

Eight transistor (8T) write assist static random access memory (SRAM) cell


A standby power control apparatus is developed for monitoring the peripheral devices connected to a computer and the current computer status. A power-supply voltage applied to the peripheral devices and the computer can be completely blocked depending on the result of the monitoring. The standby power control apparatus is comprised of: a power-supply unit, interface unit, I/O terminal unit for transmitting the input signals received from a mouse or keyboard to the microprocessor, a switching unit, an individual load detector for detecting the load of a peripheral device, a sensor for determining the user status, a microprocessor for actuating the switching unit according to first to third input signals to control the voltage generated from the sockets, an individual drive signal generator for generating a drive signal to switch the switching unit; and a monitoring/management unit for transmitting a power-supply control command signal to the microprocessor, and providing the various administrator setup menus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for controlling standby power, and more particularly to a standby power controller for monitoring individual states of peripheral devices connected to a computer and a current state of the computer, and completely blocking a power-supply voltage from being applied to the peripheral devices and the computer according to the monitoring result, such that it blocks the occurrence of standby power.
2. Related Prior Art
Recently, a variety of power-saving electric appliances have been increasingly developed to accomplish energy-saving and environment-protection purposes, such that they have been widely used throughout the world. As a variety of power-saving electronic fluorescent lamps using a power semiconductor have rapidly come into widespread use in the Republic of Korea since the beginning of the 1990's, a high power-saving effect has been established in an illumination field. A plurality of countries have divided an energy efficiency grade of electric appliances into first to fifth energy efficiency grades to allow such energy-saving appliances to come into widespread use.
The most important matter to determine the above-mentioned energy efficiency grade is standby power.
For example, a TV using a remote-controller is called a preheater, and is designed to immediately display a screen image in response to a switching-ON signal or to consume remote-control power, such that it unavoidably consumes power on the condition that a user does not take a TV plug out of a wall although the user turns off the TV.
The amount of standby power occupies about 11% of total household power consumption according to academic research. In the case of reducing the amount of standby power, annual energy costs can be reduced by about 33,000 won for each household, and annual energy costs can be reduced by about 500 billion Won in whole country as a whole. In the case of OECD member countries, the amount of power of about 10%˜15% of average household power consumption has been consumed as annual standby power, such that unnecessary consumption of standby power has been considered to be the most serious problem of power consumption in the world.
The above-mentioned standby power has been unfavorably named "Power Vampire" by public opinion organizations in the United States since the occurrence of the California power crisis in 2001. The US government has announced the Presidential Order dictating that products which do not satisfy the requisite 1-Watt standby power shall be excluded from governmental procurement.
European Union (EU) has established a standby power reference by announcing the Power Efficiency Principles in Brussels. The Japanese Government has also established a variety of rules associated with standby power, such that it has increasingly concentrated upon development of improved standby power technologies in conjunction with associated enterprises.
In the meantime, with the increasing development of computers and the widespread of multimedia, a plurality of peripheral devices is connected to the computers for use in individual households and offices. For example, a plurality of peripheral devices, for example, a monitor, a speaker, a printer, a scanner, and a PC camera, etc., are generally connected to a single computer. In order to supply a power-supply voltage to the computer and the peripheral devices, a multi-consent for use in the computer is generally used.
However, the peripheral devices are used by only a user command generated when a computer main body is currently operated, such that the user must directly power off individual devices when the computer is not in use, resulting in greater inconvenience of use. For example, if a plug of the computer is connected to the socket although the computer is powered off, i.e., in the case of a standby time, or if the computer or a specific peripheral device is not in use for a long period of time on the condition that the computer is powered on, i.e., in the case of an idle time, the user must directly power off individual devices. The amount of power consumed for the idle time is greater than that consumed for the standby time, such that it is considered to be a very serious problem.
In order to reduce the amount of power consumption during the standby time, a first method for mounting a manually-operable switch to the multi-consent to control power on/off operations, and a second method for detecting a current of a power-supply voltage transmitted from a computer socket to a computer main body, and blocking peripheral devices from receiving a power-supply voltage when the computer is powered off are well known in the art. A representative example is described in Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-218843, issued on 19 Jan. 2001, entitled "Power-Saving Multi-Consent", which is hereby incorporated by reference. Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-218843 describes a method for detecting on/off states of a computer according to a current detection scheme, and blocks a power-supply voltage from being applied to peripheral devices when the computer is powered off.
However, in the case of the idle time, i.e., in the case where a computer or specific peripheral device is not in use for a long period of time on the condition that a user powers on the computer, there is no solution to accomplish the power-saving effect.

Samjeong-Dong, Ojeong-Gu, Bucheon-Si, Gyeonggi-Do


A method of annealing a metal layer on a substrate in a chamber is provided. The method comprises positioning a substrate with a metal layer thereon in a chamber, removing atmospheric gases from the chamber, providing process gas to the chamber, and annealing the metal layer at a temperature greater than about 80 degrees Celsius. Also provided is a method of forming a feature on a substrate. The method comprises depositing a dielectric layer on the substrate, forming at least one opening within the dielectric layer, depositing a metal layer in the opening, positioning the substrate in an annealing chamber, removing atmospheric gases from the annealing chamber, providing process gas to the annealing chamber, and annealing the metal layer at temperature greater than about 80 degrees Celsius.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to the processing of a metal layer on a substrate. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to a method of annealing a copper layer on a substrate.
2. Background of the Related Art
Sub-quarter micron, multi-level metallization is one of the key technologies for the next generation of ultra large scale integration (ULSI). The multilevel interconnects that lie at the heart of this technology require planarization of interconnect features formed in high aspect ratio apertures, including contacts, vias, lines and other features. Reliable formation of these interconnect features is very important to the success of ULSI and to the continued effort to increase circuit density and quality on individual substrates and die.
As circuit densities increase, the widths of vias, contacts, lines, plugs, and other features, generally decrease to less than a quarter of a micron. The thickness of the dielectric layers, however, generally remains substantially constant, with the result that the aspect ratios for the features, i.e., their height divided by width, increases. Due to copper's electrical performance at such small feature sizes, copper has become a preferred metal for filling sub-quarter micron, high aspect ratio interconnect features on substrates. However, many traditional deposition processes, such as physical vapor deposition (PVD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), have difficulty filling structures with copper material where the aspect ratio exceed 4:1, and particularly where the aspect ratio exceeds 10:1. As a result of these process limitations, electrochemical plating (ECP), which had previously been limited to the fabrication of lines on circuit boards, is now being used to fill vias and contacts on semiconductor devices.
A typical copper electroplating deposition method generally includes depositing a barrier layer via PVD or CVD over the surface of a substrate having various features formed thereon, depositing a metal (preferably copper) seed layer over the barrier layer, and then electroplating a metal layer (preferably copper) over the seed layer to fill the structure/feature. Finally, the deposited layers are planarized by a method such as chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), for example, to define a conductive interconnect feature.
ECP with copper presents some challenges in substrate manufacturing processes. For instance, ECP copper does not typically plate evenly across the substrate surface, leaving voids and discontinuities in the features. This unevenness is detrimental to circuit uniformity, conductivity, and reliability. Furthermore, ECP copper layers are susceptible to gradual oxidation from atmospheric conditions. This gradual oxidation results in increased electrical resistance of the copper layer. Additionally, since oxidation is typically a slow, gradual, and often variable process, copper layers from different sources plated at different times are likely to have undergone different levels of oxidation. This causes significant variability in subsequent processing of the copper layers.
To overcome problems associated with void formation as well as variation in copper oxidation, heat treatment of a film after deposition is generally performed. One effective technique for heat treating the film is annealing. Annealing is the process of subjecting a material to heat for a specific period of time, and then cooling the material. Annealing can be used to flow a plated metal layer to fill voids, purify layers, dope or encourage diffusion of layers, and manage crystal growth and orientation. More particularly, heat introduced during annealing allows the metal layer to flow and fill in voids in high aspect ratio features. Annealing also provides a thermodynamic driving force for the metal layers to form a predictable microstructure. A metal layer can, for example, be annealed in a particular atmosphere in order to provide a specific and predictable set of electrical properties (e.g. electrical resistivity).
Since copper has a relatively low melting temperature compared to other metals typically deposited in semiconductor manufacturing, copper is a promising candidate for annealing. New developments in semiconductor manufacturing that have focused on depositing copper, especially by ECP techniques, have sparked new interest in developing improved copper annealing processes. Additionally, copper deposited by ECP undergoes the physical phenomena of self-annealing. In self-annealing, copper undergoes microstructural changes after plating at room temperature. High temperature annealing can modify this self-annealing process that would otherwise take place in order to provide a consistent microstructure, as well as consistent electrical properties of the copper.
Current industry practice is to anneal copper layers while subjecting the layers to a high flow rate of nitrogen and hydrogen. Such high flow rates are typically necessary in order to prevent oxygen that is present in the chamber from oxidizing the copper during the anneal and thereby provide the low electrical resistivity required for semiconductor device applications. In a conventional annealing furnace, substrates are heated to about 250° C. to 400° C. for about 30 minutes, and then cooled to room temperature. Unfortunately, the high gas flow rates of conventional furnaces result in high degree of consumption of process gases per unit of copper layer that is processed. As a result, large quantities of process gas are required for processing, resulting in a high processing costs as well as wasted time associated with the continuous replacement of process gas storage containers. Therefore, there is a need to develop an annealing process that is effective at controlling the deleterious effects of atmospheric gases, yet consume reduced quantities of process gas during the annealing process.


A vehicle body construction of a door opening flange portion and a front pillar including a reinforcement, an inner panel, and an outer panel. One flange of the reinforcement is positioned between flanges of the inner and outer panels wherein the three flanges form a joint. Another flange of each of the inner and outer panels form a second joint. The inner and outer panel define a closed cross section shape portion and another flange of the reinforcement is joined to the inner or outer panel within the closed cross section shape portion.

In the cross section of side body for a four-wheel automobile, reinforcements are disposed at various locations to increase the vehicle body strength. Specifically, in a front pillar portion and roof side portion, which form a closed cross section by using an inner panel and an outer panel, a reinforcement is disposed within this closed cross section.
FIGS. 5 and 6 show the conventional constructions of front pillar portions 20 and 21, respectively. The front pillar portion 20, 21 is formed by a vehicle body construction member 25 consisting of a side body inner panel 22, a side body outer panel 23, and a reinforcement 24. Specifically, one end flange 24a of the reinforcement 24 is held between a flange 22a at one end of the side body inner panel 22 and a flange 23a at one end of the side body outer panel 23, and three elements are joined together by spot weld S.sub.01 with these three flanges lapped. Also, the other end flange 24b of the reinforcement 24 is held between a flange 22b at the other end of the side body inner panel 22 and a flange 23b at the other end of the side body outer panel 23, and three elements are joined together by spot weld S.sub.02 with these three flanges lapped. Thus, a closed cross section shape portion .alpha. is formed by the side body inner panel 22 and the side body outer panel 23, and the reinforcement 24 is interposed between the side body inner panel 22 and the side body outer panel 23 in such a manner as to be stretched in the closed cross section shaped portion .alpha..
For the conventional front pillar portion 20 shown in FIG. 5, a pillar trim 26 is installed on the inside surface side (cabin side) of the side body inner panel 22 so as to correspond to the side body inner panel 22. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 27 denotes a windshield glass, 28 denotes a molding, and 29 denotes an opening trim.
For the conventional front pillar portion 21 shown in FIG. 6, a buffer 30 is disposed between the side body inner panel 22 and the pillar trim 26. The reason for disposing the buffer 30 is as follows: Because the flange portion .beta. (see FIGS. 5 and 6), where three flanges are joined by spot weld S.sub.02, has a high strength, unless the buffer 30 is disposed between the side body inner panel 22 and the pillar trim 26, an excessive impact force applied in the direction indicated by the arrow F in FIG. 5 (direction from the cabin inside toward the cabin outside) is directly received by the flange portion .beta. without being bufferred. Therefore, for the front pillar portion 21 shown in FIG. 6, the buffer 30 is disposed between the side body inner panel 22 and the pillar trim 26 as described above, by which an excessive impact force applied to the pillar trim 26 is received elastically to buffer the impact force.
FIGS. 7 and 8 show the conventional constructions of roof side portions 31 and 32, respectively. Like the aforementioned front pillar portion 20, 21, the roof side portion 31, 32 is formed by a vehicle body construction member 36 consisting of a side body inner panel 33, a side body outer panel 34, and a reinforcement 35. Specifically, one end flange 35a of the reinforcement 35 is held between a flange 33a at one end of the side body inner panel 33 and a flange 34a at one end of the side body outer panel 34, and four elements are joined together by spot weld S.sub.03 with these three flanges lapped and an edge 37a of a roof panel 37 joined onto the flange 33a of the side body inner panel 33. Also, the other end flange 35b of the reinforcement 35 is held between a flange 33b at the other end of the side body inner panel 33 and a flange 34b at the other end of the side body outer panel 34, and three elements are joined together by spot weld S.sub.04 with these three flanges lapped. Thus, a closed cross section shape portion .gamma. is formed by the side body inner panel 33 and the side body outer panel 34, and the reinforcement 35 is interposed between the side body inner panel 33 and the side body outer panel 34 in such a manner as to be stretched in the closed cross section shaped portion .gamma..
For the conventional roof side portion 31 shown in FIG. 7, a roof lining 38 is installed on the inside surface side (cabin side) of the side body inner panel 33 so as to correspond to the side body inner panel 33. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 39 denotes an opening trim.
For the conventional roof side portion 32 shown in FIG. 8, a buffer 40 is disposed between the side body inner panel 33 and the roof lining 38. The reason for disposing the buffer 40 is the same as that for the aforementioned front pillar portion 21.
For the above-described conventional construction of the front pillar portion 20 and the roof side portion 31, however, because the flange portion .beta., where three flanges are lapped, has a high rigidity, if an excessive impact force is applied to the pillar trim 26 or the roof lining 38 from the cabin side, the pillar trim 26 or the roof lining 38 is directly received by the rigid flange portion .beta., so that a reaction corresponding to the impact force may be produced or other adverse effects may be caused. Even if the buffer 30 or 40 is disposed as in the case of the front pillar portion 21 and the roof side portion 32, such adverse effects may be caused.
When it is necessary to dispose the buffer 30, 40 as in the case of the front pillar portion 21 and the roof side portion 32, it is preferable that the buffer 30 be disposed in a well-seated state between the side body inner panel 22 and the pillar trim 26, and the buffer 40 be disposed in a well-seated state between the side body inner panel 33 and the roof lining 38 so that the buffer 30, 40 sufficiently accomplishes a buffering action. For this purpose, the shape of the side body inner panel 22 corresponding to the buffer 30, 40 requires a contrivance such that the buffer 30, 40 is disposed in a well-seated state, that is, the buffer 30, 40 does not escape in the direction indicated by the arrows M and N in FIGS. 6 and 8, respectively, if an excessive impact load is applied.


A rotor assembly and method for making the rotor assembly in which a cylindrical magnet which is magnetized in an axial direction is coupled with a rotary shaft and the magnet is clamped with rotor stacks formed by laminating annular magnetic plates, the surfaces of which are electrically insulated, to form a rotor, and around the outer circumference of the rotor stator cores which are wound with stator coil are disposed, a sleeve is pressed in between the magnet and the rotor stacks, and the rotary shaft and interposed therebetween. The cutting operation for the outer diameter of the rotor during the manufacturing processes is carried out while holding both ends of the sleeve, subsequently, the rotary shaft is inserted, thereby, regardless of the length of the rotary shaft, the manufacturing processes are carried out to reduce the number of the molds.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement of a stepping motor, in particular, a rotor of it which is called as a hybrid type.
2. Background of Related Art
The structure of a stepping motor of this kind is explained referring to FIG. 3. On a rotor shaft 2, a magnet 3 magnetized in an axial direction is fixed by being inserted by the rotor shaft 2 in a hole 3a, and both surfaces of which are clamped with a rotor stacks 4, 5 formed by being laminated with annular magnetic plates (silicon steel) surfaces of which are electrically insulated, thereby, a rotor 6 is formed. The rotor stacks 4, 5 are also inserted by the rotor shaft 2 through holes 4a, 5a provided in the center thereof.
The rotor shaft 2 of the rotor 6 is supported rotatably on casings 9, 10 by bearings 7, 8. And, at the outer circumference side of the rotor 6, a stator core 12 wound with a stator coil 11 is disposed, which is clamped with the casings 9, 10.
FIG. 4 is a plan view where the rotor 6 is inserted in the stator coil 12 and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the stator core 12. The stator core 12 is approximately square in its outer configuration, and at a center opening thereof a plurality of projection poles 12a directed toward the center respectively. Around the projection poles 12a the stator coil 11 is wound. This stator core 12 formed with a plurality of magnetic plates laminated. These magnetic plates laminated are connected by being inserted with bolts not shown through the holes 12b provided at their 4 corners.
As shown in FIG. 4, on the projection pole 12a, a plurality of minute pole teeth 12c are provided, and on the rotor stacks 4, 5 of the rotor 6 too, a plurality of pole teeth 3t are provided opposing the pole teeth 12c. The spacing between these pole teeth 12c and 3t is minute in dimension of less than 30 μm. Since at this minute spacing the rotor 6 rotates, normally it has been necessary to be worked by cutting the outer diameter of the rotor 6 after being assembled. That is, according to the conventional manufacturing process of the rotor 6, the rotor 6 has been assembled in such a manner as the rotor stacks 4, 5 which are formed by being laminated with the electrically insulated magnetic plates (silicon steel plates) and the magnet 3 which is a component of the rotor 6 are assembled on the rotor shaft 2 simultaneously by the processes of press-in and gluing to obtain the rotor 6 as shown in FIG. 6.
On both ends of the rotor shaft 2, central holes (not shown) are provided in their axial directions, and, the outer diameter cutting has been carried out by the following processes in such a manner, as shown in FIG. 7, the concentricity is secured by being inserted with the center hole holding apparatus 13 of the outer diameter cutting machine and touched in its outer diameter with a grinding stone 14 for use of outer diameter cutting.
In a conventional manufacturing method of the rotor, the rotor stacks and the magnet as components of the rotor are pressed in and glued on the rotary shaft simultaneously. However, since the length of each rotary shaft is different respectively in accordance with its use of the stepping motor, even if the rotor stacks and the magnet are common, a manufacturing lot controlling as a rotor can not arranged, so that the production of the rotor has been carried out per every lot of various kind of rotors.
In the case where the rotor stack, the magnet and the rotary shaft are molded in a unit, since the length of the rotary shafts is different, there have needed various kind of molds and have been difficulties in both of manufacturing of the rotor and managing of the molds. Further, when using a magnetic material as the rotary shaft, in the case where the rotor stacks are mounted directly on the rotary shaft, the leakage of the magnetic bundle of the magnet occurs through the N-pole of the magnet, one rotor stack, the rotary shaft, the other rotor stack and the S-pole of the magnet, a non-magnetic material had to be used as the rotary shaft. Therefore, there have been remained some anxieties for the rotation precision and the durability.
The present invention is to provide a stepping motor in which such problems as mentioned above in the conventional stepping motor are improved.

Rotor assembly and method for making the rotor assembly


A server load sharing system having a plurality of server load balancers and a relay device. Each balancer includes a module selecting, any one of a plurality of load sharing target servers specified in their group on the basis of the virtual IP address and each allocated a unique IP address, and a module rewriting a virtual IP address of the received forwarding target packet addressed to the virtual IP address into the unique IP address of the selected server, and rewriting a source IP address of the received packet addressed to the virtual IP address into an IP address capable of specifying the other of the first and second links.

The present invention relates to a server load sharing system in which server-to-client communications via an IP (Internet Protocol) network such as the Internet or Intranet are performed in a way that keeps load sharing to servers.
A conventional load sharing method is exemplified by multilink PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) and a multi-cost equal path.
Multilink PPP is defined as a method (see RFC1990) used in ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) etc and schemed to, if a line speed is low, provide a plurality of links (physical lines) between adjacent systems and sharing loads to these links. For example, multilink PPP is capable of providing communications having a bandwidth of 128 Kbps (transmission speed) by use of 2B channels (64 Kbps) in ISDN.
Further, the multi-cost equal path is defined as a method of leaving such a plurality of paths as to minimize the cost to the destination in dynamic routing based on a routing protocol and sharing loads among these paths. This multi-cost equal path can be utilized in this way in OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) defined in RFC1247.
These load sharing methods are effective in a case where every packet may go through whatever link.
Yet another conventional load sharing method may be a scheme of sharing the loads to a plurality of servers by making use of at least one server load balancer (a server load sharing device). The server-load-balancer-based server load sharing has a restrain that the packets belonging to the same session must be forwarded via the same link in order for the session not to be disconnected.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one example of a first conventional server load sharing system using one server load balancer. Referring to FIG. 1, a server load balancing function of this server load balancer is classified into a load sharing function (L4 (Layer 4) load balancing function) based on categories of protocols equal to or higher than the transport layer in the OSI reference model and a load sharing function (L7 (Layer 7) load balancing function) based on information (L7 information) on the application layer in the OSI reference model.
Namely, the L4 load balancing function is that a forwarding target packet transmitted from a client terminal and received via an IP network (the Internet or Intranet) and an L3 switch is identified based on a category of L4 protocol, i.e., a port number in TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) or UDP (User Datagram Protocol) as an E-mail (POP: Post Office Protocol or SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) or as a file transfer (FTP: File Transfer protocol) or as a reference to Web page (HTTP: Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), and this packet is distributed to any one of the plurality of load sharing target servers.
Moreover, the L7 load balancing function is that the forwarding target packet is distributed to any one of the plurality of load sharing target servers according to L7 information such as a response time or URL (Uniform Resource Locator).
The L3 switch serving as a network relay device is defined as a switch or router for connecting the networks to each other at a network layer level in the OSI reference mode.
The first server load sharing system involving the use of one server load balancer is incapable of installing a plurality of server load balancers in terms of the restraint that the restraint should not be disconnected. Accordingly, if a great quantity of packets flow in the server-to-client communications, this server load balancer is inevitable to be a bottleneck to the processing speed.
FIG. 2 shows one example of a second server load sharing system involving the use of a plurality of server load balancers.
The second server load sharing system installs an L4 switch (Layer 4 switch) at a stage anterior to these server load balancers to enable the plurality of server load balancers (1, b) to be provided.
The L4 switch serving as a network relay device is defined as a switch or a gateway for connecting the networks to each other in a way that performs conversions between different categories of protocols ranging from the transport layer (L4) to the application layer (L7) while absorbing a difference between the networks.
Accordingly, this L4 switch uses the L4 load balancing function to distribute the packets to the plurality of server load balancers. In this example, the L4 switch distributes the packet, if the protocol for the forwarding packet is FTP, to the server load balancer (a) and, if the protocol is HTTP, to the server load balancer (b), respectively.
Each server load balancer is capable of distributing the forwarding target packet to any one of the plurality of load sharing target servers by using the L7 load balancing function through the L3 switch.
The second server load sharing system described above is capable of installing the plurality of server load balancers and therefore basically decreasing the possibility that each server load balancer becomes the bottleneck to the processing speed. If a traffic of the packets flowing in the server-to-client communications concentrates depending on the protocol, it is still inevitable that the corresponding server load balancer becomes the bottle neck to the processing speed.