A self-supporting contacting structure is directly produced on a component that does not have a housing by applying a layer made of non conducting material and a layer made of an electrically conductive material to the component and to a support and by subsequently removing these layers from said support.

To get from contact pads of electronic components without housings to larger solderable contact elements, the use of a lead frame is known. The component to be contacted is in this case placed an a mostly metallic punched contacting support, known as the lead frame, and the contact pads of the components are electrically-connected through wire bonding with the individual leads of the contacting support.
A further method for contacting components without housings is to use what is known as the Tape Automated Bonding (TAB) technique. In this case flexible structures with narrow solderable internal contacts and wide solderable external contacts are produced, such structures being known as spiders. The contact pads of the component to be contacted are connected to the internal contacts. The external contacts are used for contacting with the circuit carrier.

Method of manufacturing self-supporting contacting structures


A digital down-conversion acquisition function, includes a key spectral analysis function, in time-interleaved acquisition systems to enable acquisitions at very high sample rates and bandwidths. Digital down-conversion allows data compression into acquisition memory for down-converted complex baseband I/Q data within a given frequency range of interest. With a fixed-size acquisition memory, this enables acquisitions over a longer time span, thus enabling a lower spectral resolution bandwidth. These approaches allow down-converted complex baseband I/Q data from a narrow frequency band of interest to be acquired efficiently. Reconstruction of the acquired down-converted waveform from the time-interleaved components stored in each acquisition memory of each distributed acquisition components to result in a coherent waveform is also disclosed.

This disclosure relates to test and measurement instruments and related devices, and in particular, to a distributed time-interleaved acquisition digital down-conversion method and system.
Traditionally, test and measurement instruments such as spectrum analyzers and vector analyzers have had minimal triggering capabilities and/or limited real-time bandwidth. Mixed-Domain Oscilloscopes (MDOs) represent a new product category of test and measurement devices, which integrate many of the spectral acquisition, triggering, and display capabilities of Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer (RTSA) products with the functionality of traditional oscilloscope products, in addition to supporting a wide range of acquisition span bandwidths, up to very wide real-time bandwidths supported by time-interleaved acquisition systems. In addition to supporting time domain features of traditional oscilloscopes and frequency domain features of RTSAs, the MDO products enable cross-correlation between both domains for acquisition, triggering, display, and analysis functions.
In such newer types of products, the RF input signal is digitally down-converted to produce I (in-phase) and Q (quadrature) baseband component information from the RF signal. More specifically, the RF signal is numerically multiplied with a sine and cosine, thereby generating the I and Q component information, which contains all of the information present in the original RF signal (within the span of interest). The acquisition data can then be further decimated if the desired span of interest is less than the maximum bandwidth in the system. Thus, this allows a longer period of time to be acquired into acquisition memory for cases where there are narrower spans of interest, given the constraint of a fixed acquisition memory size. Supporting a longer acquisition time span, in turn, allows a narrower resolution bandwidth for spectral analysis modes.
In conventional oscilloscopes and digitizers, time-interleaved acquisition is an approach for building test and measurement device acquisition systems with scalable sample rate and bandwidth and to extend acquisition systems beyond the capabilities of individual analog to digital converter (ADC) and/or digitizer components. For example, FIG. 1 shows a conventional example of a time-interleaved acquisition system used in oscilloscopes. A high-bandwidth sampler such as a track and hold component 105 is used to distribute sampled versions of the input signal 130 to multiple ADCs 110 with appropriate offsets in sampling time, based on the aggregate sample rate of the acquisition system and the total number of interleaved ADC and/or digitizer components.
A digitizer component such as component 115 is then used to process the incoming samples and store them in acquisition memory 120. The digitizer component 115 is a type of building block for acquisition, triggering, display, and analysis in an oscilloscope device. There is usually some form of interconnect between the different digitizer components for combining the time-interleaved acquisition data samples for further processing and analysis, which results in a coherent waveform 125 at the full sample rate of the acquisition system.
Prior approaches to supporting mixed-domain functionality primarily target single-digitizer component systems, which limits the sample rate and real-time bandwidth that can be acquired. To support a greater frequency range in an RF acquisition system traditionally has required expensive RF oscillator and mixer components to down-convert the input signal in the analog domain prior to the ADC component. This type of system is still limited to the bandwidth of a single ADC, in terms of the bandwidth span that can be acquired in real-time.
It would be desirable to have an acquisition technique that distributes digital down-conversion (DDC) functionality among multiple distributed time-interleaved acquisition components. It would also be desirable to support acquisitions over longer time spans, thereby enabling a lower spectral resolution bandwidth. In addition, it would be desirable to efficiently acquire spectral data from a narrower frequency band of interest anywhere within the aggregate bandwidth of the time-interleaved system and to support the reconstruction of acquired down-converted waveform data from the time-interleaved digitizer components stored in memory associated with each distributed acquisition component.

Interleaved digital down-conversion on a test and measurement instrument


A multifunctional diagnostic tray configured to clasp an oral structure when positioned in a mouth. The tray may be digitally designed from surface scan data of the mouth and manufactured. The tray provides a temporary positioning reference location that may be viewed in a tomography scan data set. The tray may be used to orient and verify the tomography scan data set and the surface scan data set to create a combined master data file that may be used to determine the appropriate location for a dental implant or other dental procedure.

When preparing for a dental procedure, including dental implants, bone grafting and maxillofacial reconstruction, accurately determining an ideal location in the mouth for the procedure can be paramount to its success. For example, when inserting a dental implant, the patient's bone structure, the condition of the patient's bone density, and the presence of other oral structures in the mouth may effect where an implant is positioned. Therefore, a dentist and/or dental technician must be aware of the anatomical structures below the gum tissue, as well as, any structures located above the gum tissue.
Tomography scans have been used to capture images of structures located above and below the gum tissue. However, tomography scans including computerized tomography (CT) scan images, cone beam computerized tomography (CB CT) scan images, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan images, and other 3D imaging devise are subject to image scattering when certain materials such as filings or crowns are present in a mouth. Thus, tomography scans may be unreliable, inaccurate and unusable as a proper diagnostic tool.
Surface scans including intra-oral scanners, optical image scanners, and laser image scanners have also been used to capture images of structures located in a mouth. However, surface scans may not accurately depict structures existing below the gum tissue.
Given scatter and other types of inaccuracies in the data, simply aligning an outline of oral structures in tomography scan data to an outline of the same structures in surface scan data may not accurately represent the location of oral structures within a mouth. Therefore, there is a need for a device that may be used to accurately align tomography scan data and surface scan data to provide a more accurate representation of a mouth. There is also a need for a system for using the device to more accurately align the tomography scan data set and the surface scan data.

Custom linkable imaging and multifunctional tray


A parallel dilating-filters switched-capacitor filter bank is described in simulation of the cochlea. Area-saving is achieved by filter-sharing, effective sum-gain amplifier designs, and using area efficient nth-order filter designs, and in particular using a biquadratic filter design using charge-differencing. The structure is easily expandable to include more channels by extending with additional filters and output amplifiers, or by using several chips with different sampling frequencies in parallel connection. An offset-compensated area-efficient switched-capacitor sum-gain amplifier circuit design is described and can be used in the filter bank.

In order to mimic the performance of the auditory system, cochlear models have been experimented with over the last few years as front-ends in speech/music analysis and recognition systems. A principle obstacle to their wider acceptance, however, is their heavy computational cost. Consequently, hardware implementations of these models have been an attractive option to achieve real-time performance. So far, successful attempts have employed analog designs, specifically, using subthreshold and operating transconductance amplifiers to build a cascade of second-order filter stages. A second approach is to use a bank of switched-capacitor filters (SCF's). SCF's in general have extremely precise and reliable response characteristics that would obviate the need for any post-design tuning. However, several difficulties arise when implementing the cochlear filters for sound processing using switched-capacitor filters. One is the broad frequency range that stretches to relatively low frequencies. Another is the large number of channels needed. Conventional biquad designs require a capacitance spread ratio of approximately 1/(.OMEGA..sub.0 T), where .OMEGA..sub.0 is the pole frequency of the biquad and T is the sampling period. For low frequency channels, this ratio becomes very large, and VLT circuits have to be used. In the prior VLT circuit design the output signal is only valid in one phase of a bi-phasic timing period not the entire clock period, thus a sum-gain amplifier with same input phase is advantageous since no sample-and-hold circuits are required. In addition, due to a great number of cochlear channels required for real-time-applications, circuit-sharing among channels described below reduces the number of components needed to implement.
The most pertinent prior art as to the filter bank topology includes Chang et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,521 entitled `Time Multiplexed Switched Capacitor Circuit Having Reduced Capacitance` whose objectives included reduced area and component requirements for voice/music applications. Significant differences of this patent and the instant disclosure includes (1) Chang et al.'s. use of multiple states for switching capacitor's versus the instant disclosure's use of only a bi-phase; (2) Chang et al.'s device is more restricted in frequency range versus the instant disclosure; (3) Chang et al's device uses conventional switched-capacitor circuits which requires more silicon area to fabricate compared to the instant disclosure; and (4) Chang et al.'s device shares capacitors versus the instant disclosure's use of the filter bank's parallel sharing of the elementary filter.
The most pertinent art as to the sum-gain amplifier design of the instant disclosure includes Temes et al's U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,534 entitled `Offset Compensated Switched Capacitor Circuits` which teaches of a sample-hold circuit requirement for the input to the circuit for addition and subtraction operation due to the different time phases used within a time period. The instant disclosure does not require a sample hold circuit to accomplish this objective since all inputs to the amplifier occur during the same time phase. In addition, area-efficient sum-gain amplifiers are designed to reduce silicon area. The instant disclosure uses a similar switching device means for a bi-phasic operating regime as taught by the Temes et al. teaching which is hereby incorporated by reference.

Cochlear filter bank with switched-capacitor circuits


An end user control configuration (EUC) system with dynamic user interface provides a user friendly tool for consumers to self-provision and manage network services such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. The EUC system dynamically generates graphical user interface (GUI) renderings that assist users in the completion of tasks related to provisioning, and managing network services. The EUC system allows telecommunication service providers to effectively hide the complexity of operational support systems (OSS) and the network elements that deliver the network services. The EUC system solves the technical problems of reducing the cycle-time to self-provision network services, assisting users to complete the tasks required to activate, and manage network services, and actually activating and managing the network services.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure concerns a dynamically updating graphical user interface for a management system for provisioning and managing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Services. In particular, this disclosure relates to an end user control configuration (EUC) system with a dynamic user interface that dynamically generates graphical user interface (GUI) renderings that assist users to complete tasks required to provision or activate, and manage network services, such as IP Multimedia services.
2. Background Information
The telecommunications industry continues to face demands for more services, and rapid deployment of new services, while the complexity of the underlying technologies providing the services continues to increase. Consumers continually push for new VoIP, IP Multimedia (e.g., instant messaging, on-demand recording and play-back, application sharing, audio conferencing, and videoconferencing), and other value added services. The time to market for new IP Multimedia services depends on the systems used to implement the services, and the complexity and maturity of the technology. Reducing the time to market for new network services requires flexible development, integration and provisioning methods. Service providers require systems that allow service providers to rapidly integrate new network services, and provide end users, both residential and commercial consumers, the ability to easily activate and manage the new network services. Deploying new network services requires service providers to address connectivity, data exchange and process integration issues related to the underlying operational support systems (OSS) employed.
Consumers assess network service providers based on the number of available services, the consumers' ease of activation and use of the services. Consumers also recognize the cycle-time between a consumers request for a service and service activation as a dominant market differentiator. Correspondingly, service providers recognize consumers' ability to self-service provision network services as a critical market differentiator.
Unfortunately, the complexity of new operational support systems (OSS) deployed in support of new network services creates technical challenges for service provides desiring to hide the complexity from consumers. The evolution of OSS continues to introduce new complex technologies, in addition to life-cycle maintenance issues. The many technical challenges facing service providers include identifying operational cost reductions, reducing the time to market and time to delivery of services, while improving the consumer's experience related to activating and using services, and minimizing operational impacts resulting from the integration of new OSS with existing systems.
Service providers recognize that many of the technical challenges to providing consumers with the ability to self-provision network services require robust and dynamic user interfaces and workflow solutions. The already immense number of workflow steps required to activate and manage network services increase exponentially with the integration of each new network element, and may require users to complete some number of tasks prior to service activation. Service providers positioned to effectively respond to consumer demands for self-provisioning services require a technical solution that presents users with dynamic workflows, and facilitates integration of the unending number of network elements.
A need has long existed for a management system that hides the complexity of VoIP network services from consumers, and allows consumers to easily request, provision and manage VoIP, Services. The end user control configuration (EUC) system with dynamic user interface solves the technical problem of reducing the cycle-time to self-provision network services, and assisting users to complete the tasks required to activate, and manage VoIP services.

End user control configuration system with dynamic user interface


A vocal and/or instrumental training system can include a sound storage database having a plurality of model sound recordings, such as recordings of various wild game calls, stored therein. A user can select one of the model sound recordings to emulate, and provide audio input, such as the user's vocal performance of a wild game call, in an attempt to emulate the selected model sound recording. The audio input can be received by an audio input device, and recorded by a recording device. Audio characteristics, such as pitch, tone, timbre, cadence, rhythm, beat and/or amplitude, of the recorded audio input can be compared with the corresponding audio characteristics of the selected model sound recording. Results of the comparison can be graphically displayed on a sound graph.

The present invention relates to a system for developing and/or improving a person's vocal or musical abilities, such as in singing, game calling and/or playing musical instruments. One embodiment of the invention is a vocal training system comprised of a software program that can be used in smartphone based applications and/or downloadable software for a PC and/or Mac computer that helps users replicate a desired vocal sound, such as a wild game call.
Wild game hunting has been a popular recreational activity in the United States for generations. Many hunters utilize the tactic of game calling, in which the hunter uses his voice to try to mimic the mating, gathering and/or feeding calls of the desired game in an attempt to attract the game to within firing range of the hunter. However, game calling is not easy, and typically requires a great deal of practice and training to become proficient in accurately reproducing a particular game call.

Vocal / instrumental training system and method of same


An electric food preparation appliance composed of: a jar having a bottom and an open top; a rotary working tool installed in the jar to be driven in rotation through the bottom of the jar; a lid for closing the top of the jar and having an opening; a mixing accessory constructed to be installed in the jar through the opening; and a side support member provided to hold the mixing accessory when the mixing accessory is not installed in the jar.

The present invention relates to the field of electric food preparation appliances comprising a rotary tool, typically presenting blades, installed for rotation in a work container. These appliances are commonly called blenders and the work containers are known as jars.
The present invention more particularly relates to appliances of the above-mentioned type having a mixing accessory.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,040,799 discloses a food preparation appliance comprising a mixing accessory assembled in the lid of the blender jar. For this purpose the mixing accessory comprises a flange. The mixing accessory presents a hollow sleeve prolonged at its lower end by a spoon.

Electric food preparation appliance having a support for a mixing accessory


Rolling resistance performance, high-speed-durability performance, and cornering performance are simultaneously realized at high levels. A two-wheeled automotive vehicle tire 1 includes a tread portion having an outer surface that extends so as to be curved such that the outer surface is convex outward in the tire radial direction, and is arc-shaped. A tread rubber 2G includes a center rubber CR, shoulder rubbers SH, and middle rubbers MD. The center rubber CR includes a center cap layer CRc and a center base layer CRb. A loss tangent tan δ1b of the center base layer CRb and a width L1b thereof in the tire axial direction are each limited so as to be set within a predetermined range.

In recent years, with enhancement of performance of two-wheeled automotive vehicles, two-wheeled automotive vehicle tires are required to have high-speed-durability performance. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a two-wheeled automotive vehicle tire a has been known in which a tread rubber bg includes: a cap layer c forming an outer surface bs of a tread portion b; and a base layer d disposed inward of the cap layer in the tire radial direction, and the base layer d is formed of a rubber having a loss tangent tan δ reduced, in order to enhance the high-speed-durability performance.
In the two-wheeled automotive vehicle tire a thus formed, since the base layer d is formed of a rubber in which heat emission is reduced, the tread rubber bg can be effectively restrained from being subjected to thermal destruction (becoming porous) to be in a sponge-like state due to heat emission during high speed running, thereby enabling improvement of high-speed-durability performance. Further, the base layer d is formed of a rubber having a small hysteresis loss, and therefore rolling resistance performance can be also improved. The related art is as follows.


A fault detection system for a machine having a plurality of electrical conducting elements insulated from a frame ground of the machine is disclosed. The fault detection system may include a high voltage DC power source, a positive high voltage bus connected to a positive terminal of the high voltage DC power source and providing high voltage electrical power to the plurality of electrical conducting elements, and a negative high voltage bus connected to a negative terminal of the high voltage DC power source and returning high voltage electrical power from the plurality of electrical conducting elements. At least one of the positive and negative high voltage buses may be selectively connected through a plurality of switches to plural zones of the electrical conducting elements, with each of the plural zones being electrically connected in parallel, and selectively connected to the high voltage DC power source by one of the plurality of switches. A low voltage DC power source may be configured to form part of a leakage current detector selectively connected through each of the plurality of switches to each of the plural zones for detecting leakage current between an electrical conducting element and the frame ground.

An example of a machine with multiple electrical conductors that may need to be tested for electrical faults such as unacceptable current leakage is a paving machine. Typical paving machines include a tractor for providing mobility and power, a hopper containing a supply of a bituminous aggregated mixture or asphalt, and a screed which lays the asphalt paving material onto an area to be paved in a strip of uniform thickness. The tractor typically includes a combustion engine configured to power operations of the paving machine, and the engine may be any of a variety of known power plants that may include gas turbine engines, natural gas powered engines, diesel engines, and gasoline engines. The asphalt paving material is heated and is applied when it has a plastic consistency so that it may be easily applied in a layer of uniform thickness. In a repaving operation, the new asphalt material may be laid upon the old surface of the roadway. It has been found that the new asphalt material adheres to the old road surface much better when the old road surface is warm. Poor results are obtained when the new asphalt material is applied upon a cold roadway. For this reason, specific temperature conditions exist under which paving must occur to ensure pavement quality. This limits the length of the paving season and the productivity on days when paving crews must wait for the temperature to rise.
A screed assembly typically includes a base portion and may include one or more extension portions, each of these portions having steel screed plates mounted to the screed portions in such a manner that the plates both smooth and compress the deposited paving material, leaving behind a mat of the desired thickness. The screed plates are typically heated to prevent the asphalt material from clinging to the steel plates. In modern screed assemblies, the screed plate heaters are commonly implemented in the form of resistive electrical heaters that can be optimally positioned on or near the screed plates. Screed plates may also be heated by gas or other combustible fuel heaters. It is important to maintain a proper screed plate temperature. If the screed plates are either too hot or too cold, a poor finish will be obtained in the resulting pavement mat. In a simple screed having only base screed portions, each of the base screed portions typically includes both a heater and a temperature sensor. In such a system, each of the base screed plates may be individually temperature controlled according to feedback received from the associated temperature sensor. A wider screed requires more heaters, and the heaters are generally arranged into independent heating zones. Electric power to the heaters is controlled by a screed power module (SPM). During the paving process it is important to identify the location of any faulty heating elements as quickly as possible to avoid wasting asphalt material. If particular heating elements fail, asphalt may stick to the screed in the area that is allowed to cool, wasting material and resulting in a mat of asphalt that is not of the desired quality and uniformity.
During operation of a paving screed, an undesirable situation arises when the insulation or other portion of an energized heating element fails and the electrical source is shorted or leaks current to the housing of the chassis of the paving machine. In addition to potentially causing the failure of a heating element and the resulting waste of asphalt material described above, damage to the paving machine or systems or other potentially hazardous situations may result. As a result, there is a need to identify the location of a faulty heating element amongst the many heating elements present, and perform the necessary repairs in response thereto. A wider screed may exacerbate this problem as a result of the additional zones and heaters needed to heat the additional area of base screed plates.
One method of detecting faults in an electrical circuit is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,346 issued to Chavan et al. on Nov. 12, 1996 (the '346 patent). A winding fault detection circuit monitors voltage drops in the phase windings of a motor and compares the voltage drops with reference voltages to determine if the motor is out of normal operating range parameters and if a valid fault exists. If a valid fault exists, a circuit driving the motor is interrupted.
Although the fault detection circuit of the '346 patent may interrupt operation when a winding fault is detected, it may be overly complex, costly, and difficult to implement. For example, the fault detection circuit requires comparator logic to monitor the windings of each phase of the motor and to compare the voltage drops across each winding to a high reference voltage and a low reference voltage. In addition, the outputs of the comparator logic must be sequentially selected and provided to fault logic in accordance with the excitation of respective phase windings and the angular position of the motor. Only at this point may analysis be made as to whether a winding fault is present.
The present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems with existing technology.

Fault detection system with leakage current detection


An ink container including water-based ink for ink-jet recording and a package in which the water-based ink is accommodated, wherein the water-based ink includes an inert gas dissolved therein and an amount of oxygen dissolved in the water-based ink for ink-jet recording is less than 3 mL/L.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink container and an ink container-sealing wrapper assembly.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In general, in, an ink-jet recording method, droplets of ink are formed by various ink ejecting methods and a portion or all of the ink droplets are fixed or sprayed on a recording medium such as a sheet of paper to perform printing. There are known various ink ejecting methods such as a method of electrostatically sucking ink, a method of mechanically oscillating or displacing ink by using piezoelectric elements, a method of heating ink to generate air bubbles and ejecting the ink by a pressure produced when the ink is bubbled. In a printing head of an ink-jet recording apparatus which utilizes the piezoelectric elements as described above, the amount of electric power consumption is smaller than in the method that utilizes the pressure produced upon generation of the air bubbles by application of heat to the ink. In addition, the printing head which utilizes the piezoelectric elements is advantageous in that the stability of the ink with respect to heat can be ignored since the ink is not exposed to heat.
A water-based ink for such, an ink-jet recording apparatus is known and practically used. The known water-based ink is prepared by dissolving or dispersing various water-soluble dyes or pigments in water or an aqueous medium including water and a water-soluble organic solvent. Such water-based ink for ink-jet recording is needed to exhibit optimum properties and characteristics as follows: The ink has a good introduction property that permits the ink to be easily introduced into nozzles of a printing head of the ink-jet recording apparatus. The ink does not cause any clogging at the nozzles and in ink channels which arises from agglomeration or precipitation of the components in the ink, and has good ejection performance. The ink assures a high degree of print quality. The ink does not cause corrosion of components or materials of the ink-jet recording apparatus which are formed of metal, resin, adhesive agent, etc.
The water-based ink for ink-jet recording is manufactured by a process including a step of dissolving or dispersing an ink material including a dye or a pigment in a solvent and a step of filtering a solution of the ink material. Where the ink as manufactured by the process is contained in a package for use on the ink-jet recording apparatus, oxygen dissolved in the ink deteriorates a part of the ink material, so that the ink cannot maintain its optimum properties and characteristics for a long period of time. Especially where the ink material includes glycol ethers or surfactants having polyoxyethylene chains, the ether link portions of those materials and the oxygen dissolved in the ink are subjected to autoxidation, thereby undesirably causing changes in the properties of the ink, or producing agglomerates or deposits. In this case, the ink suffers from deterioration in its introduction property and ejection property. Further, the printing quality is undesirably lowered. In addition, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, etc., generated by autoxidation deteriorate the coloring material of the ink, and cause corrosion of metallic materials of the components of the ink-jet recording apparatus. Thus, the oxygen dissolved in the ink causes a risk of considerably deteriorating reliability of the ink-jet recording apparatus.
To avoid the drawback described above, it has been practiced to carry out a deaerating or degassing treatment of the ink, so as to remove the oxygen dissolved in the ink before the ink is accommodated in a package. This deaerating treatment involves, for instance, an operation to stir the ink within a pressure vessel at a reduced pressure and an operation using a deaerating device equipped with a gas permeation membrane.
In general, since the package for accommodating the deaerated ink is a box-like container obtained by injection molding of resin such as polypropylene or polyethylene, or a bag obtained by welding laminated films of resin such as polyester or polyamide, such a container or a bag used as the package for accommodating the deaerated ink has a slight degree of gas permeation. Accordingly, it is impossible, from the standpoint of cost, to store the ink in a fluid-tightly accommodated state for a long time period while being isolated from the outside air. Even where the deaerated ink is accommodated in the package described above, the air inevitably enters the package with a lapse of time, so that the air including the oxygen is again dissolved in the ink, whereby the properties and the characteristics of the ink are gradually deteriorated.
JP-B2-3-61592 discloses a technique to prevent the oxygen from being dissolved again in the deaerated ink. According to this technique, an ink container filled with the deaerated ink is accommodated in a sealing container, and the sealing container is kept under a reduced pressure during transportation or storage. In installing the ink container on the ink-jet recording apparatus, however, the ink container needs to be taken out of the sealing container. After the ink container has been installed on the ink-jet recording apparatus, it is impossible to prevent the air from being dissolved in the ink, so that the properties and characteristics of the ink are inevitably deteriorated.

Ink container and ink container-sealing wrapper assembly


A strut holding assembly for flexible elongated struts engaging a flexible wall, the assembly including a hub, a plurality of holding arms pivotally connected at spaced locations to the hub between storage positions adjacent the hub, and extended positions extending outwardly of the hub, each holding arm being adapted to immobilize a free inner end of one strut. At least one of the holding arms has a seat adapted for receiving and immobilize the free inner end of a strut in at least one direction and a hook spaced from the seat by a fulcrum distance, the hook being adapted for engaging the strut at a distance from the free inner end of the strut equal to the fulcrum distance, for immobilizing the strut in a bent and tensioned position and in at least three directions and being free to move in a remaining direction.

The present invention relates generally to the field of supports for flexible struts or rods that, in turn, support flexible walls, such as the flexible walls of an umbrella-type reflector, soft box, light dome or the like, for photographic and other image capture purposes, or the flexible walls of enclosures such as tents, canopies or the like.
Patents that have been found to be pertinent, include the following:
U.S. Pat. No.Inventor(s)4,750,509Kim4,981,387Younjae5,328,286Lee6,030,087Whittle6,076,935Kester6,176,598Seligman, et al.6,296,415Johnson, et al.6,604,844Hussey6,709,121Lowe, et al.7,077,534Harlocker.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,709,121 to Lowe, et al. discloses a rod mount for a support rod of a light bank. The rod mount is pivotally attached to a ring-shaped frame of the light bank, and includes at least one hole for receiving and retaining one end of the support rod.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,598 to Seligman, et al. discloses a strut holder tube for receiving and retaining the flexible strut of a reflector or soft box. The strut holder tube is pivotally mounted on a tube support. In the extended position, the strut holder tube extends radially outward from the tube support.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,087 to Whittle discloses a light reflector with radial ribs which are pivotally connect to an armature of the light reflector. The reflector is deployed by pivoting and locking the ribs in their extended position.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,935 to Kester discloses a photographic lighting dome with a plurality of flexible support rods and a housing of flexible material. The lighting dome includes a central hub with insertion sockets for receiving and retaining the support rods.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,415 to Johnson, et al. discloses a cam style hub for engaging multiple flexible support struts an one time when the hub is rotated.
A need remains for a strut holding assembly, and, in particular, a strut holding arm of such an assembly, which can more easily be engaged to the inner free end of a strut for holding a flexible wall, the strut being moved into and held in a bent, tensioned position for holding the flexible wall in a use position.


A method for manufacturing a multilayer printed circuit board includes the following steps. A number of laminate units are provided. Each of the laminate units includes an electrically conductive layer with a circuit pattern defined therein, and a release layer releasably attached to the electrically conductive layer. A number of insulation layers are provided. Each of the insulation layers definies a metalized through hole therein. The electrically conductive layers and the insulation layers are stacked alternately one on another such that adjacent electrically conductive layers are insulated by one insulation layer and the metalized through holes electrically connects the circuit patterns of the adjacent electrically conductive layers. In the stacking step, the release layer is removed from the laminate unit after the electrically conductive layer is stacked onto the respective insulation layer, thereby obtaining a pre-laminated multilayer printed circuit board. The stacked electrically conductive layers and the insulation layers are laminated together to achieve a multilayer printed circuit board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods for manufacturing printed circuit boards (PCBs) and, particularly, to a method for manufacturing a multilayer printed circuit board having buried holes.
2. Description of Related Art
Multilayer PCBs are composed of a number of single-sided PCBs and/or double-sided PCBs. Multilayer PCBs have holes to electrically connect adjacent traces. In order to accommodate to the integration and miniaturization of electronic components, buried holes have been designed to electrically connect adjacent traces and to reduce an area of the traces.
A conventional build-up method for manufacturing multilayer PCBs having buried holes includes the following steps. In a first step, a first single-sided PCB is provided. The first single-sided PCB includes a first insulation layer and a first circuit formed on the insulation layer. In a second step, a copper clad laminate including a second insulation layer and a copper layer is provided, and the second insulation layer of the copper clad laminate is laminated on the first circuit of the first single-sided PCB. In a third step, a second circuit is formed on the copper layer, and a first through hole communicating with the first circuit and the second circuit is also formed in the second insulation layer. Thus, a multilayer PCB having two layers of circuits is fabricated. The second and third steps are repeated and a multilayer PCB having predetermined layers of circuits is fabricated. However, regarding the above manufacturing method of the multilayer PCB, a laminating process is required to be performed in each of the repeated second steps, thereby complicates the manufacturing process.
What is need, therefore, is a method for manufacturing multilayer PCB which can overcome the above shortcomings.

Method of manufacturing multilayer printed circuit board having buried holes

FuKui Precision Component (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.


A mother strip with a metallically pure surface is passed through a melt bath of a metal and whereby the coating is smoothed by rolling immediately after leaving the melt bath. The mother strip, having been preheated, to a temperature clearly above ambient temperature, especially above 200.degree. C., is introduced into the metal bath. The preheating is carried out by indirect heat exchange with the melt bath in an oxygen-free environment. The melt freshly supplied to the melt bath has an increased temperature in accordance with the heat lost due to preheating.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for the continuous production of sheet metal strips, particularly of steel, as well as to a device to implement this process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
EP 0 311 602 B1 discloses a process for producing thin metal strands, e.g., of steel, with a thickness under 20 mm. In this process, a metallically pure steel strip (mother strip), whose surface is at ambient temperature, is passed vertically through a metal bath from bottom to top or top to bottom. The metal bath can consist of the same material as the mother strip or of material that differs from the mother strip. The retention time of the mother strip in the metal bath is determined as a function of bath temperature so that metal crystals are formed and melt is deposited on the surface of the mother strip, without the mother strip itself melting or already deposited material remelting. In this way, it is possible to produce a strip-type semifinished product with a thickness roughly 6 to 10 times that of the original mother strip. In this process, in contrast to standard continuous casting, solidification occurs not from the outside to the inside, but rather in the opposite direction. For this reason, this form of production of semifinished products is sometimes referred to as inversion casting.
WO 94 29 048 discloses another inversion casting process, in which a thin steel strip is passed through a steel melt from bottom to top and then, upon emerging from the melt, is immediately smoothed on its surface by means of a pair of smoothing rollers. After the smoothing roller pair, the steel strip passes through a cooling zone filled with inert gas, where the strip is cooled in a controlled fashion to improve its material properties.
Because the object of inversion casting is generally to crystallize as much material as possible on the mother strip, the mother strip is usually introduced into the melt at ambient temperature. However, it is not necessarily desirable, particularly when producing metal strips with layers of different materials (composite materials), to attain the greatest possible coating thickness. In the case of composite materials, it is often desirable to produce considerably smaller layer thicknesses, instead of products roughly 3 to 6 times as thick as the mother strip. This can be done by drastically reducing the contact time between the melt and the mother strip. When this is done, however, the bond between the crystallized material and the mother strip is often inadequate, so that complete bonding does not occur with the required reliability. To reduce the growth rate on the surface of the mother strip and, at the same time, still ensure good bonding between the mother strip and the crystallized material, the mother strip can be preheated, so as to lessen its cooling capacity and thus its crystallization potential. This procedure can be used, in particular, to produce multi-layered materials (e.g., carbon steel coated with stainless steel).
It is possible to preheat the mother strip to a particular desired temperature prior to its entry into the melt by arranging a suitable preheating furnace in the form of a continuous furnace in front of the melt container as a separate aggregate. Such furnaces can be heated with fossil energy carriers (e.g., gas or oil) or electrical energy (e.g., an induction furnace). The use of a plasma burner is also conceivable.
Solutions of this type entail relatively high additional equipment expenses, especially since the forward motion speeds for the mother strip are quite high, usually between 10 and 100 m/min. Furthermore, the mother strip introduced into the melt must have a metallically pure surface. This means that preheated mother strips, in particular, must be protected against oxygen, because otherwise re-oxidation will rapidly begin. Oxidized surface areas would jeopardize the required bonding with the crystallized material.

Process and device for the continuous production of sheet metal strips


A device comprising a shaft, a front ring connected to this shaft, an end ring connected to the shaft at a distance A from the front ring, and a loose mixing ring, which is freely rotatable and located between the front ring and the end ring. The mixing ring has a first region in which its inside diameter is large enough for it to be able to overlap with a region of smaller diameter of the front ring has an adjoining region in which the mixing ring has on its inner side at least two channels (4k) which run axially parallel, at an angle in relation to the axis of the shaft or helically thereto, and also an adjoining third region in which its inside diameter is large enough for it to be able to overlap with a region of smaller diameter of the end ring and the mixing ring is so long that, in its respective end positions, the other of the two rings respectively is partially overlapped by the mixing ring. The mixing ring channels are offset in relation to each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mixing device which comprises a shaft (1), a front ring (2), which is positively and non-positively connected to this shaft, an end ring (3), which is positively and non-positively connected to the shaft at a distance A from the front ring, and a loose mixing ring (4), which is freely rotatable and can be moved back and forth between the front ring and the end ring.
2. Description of Related Art
Devices for mixing polymer melts are known from the prior art.
For instance, DE-A 100 00 938 discloses a mixing device in which an assembly of mixing rings and dividing rings joined, alternately one behind the other has been pulled onto a rotor. The mixing rings have grooves, the dividing rings have bores. If melt passes over from the mixing grooves to the bores, it is deflected and divided and is mixed in this way. A similar principle is disclosed in EP-A1 1 000 656, with the difference that some of the rings of the ring assembly are freely rotatable. Both devices have the disadvantage that, on the one hand, they are structurally complex, susceptible to wear and difficult to clean and, on the other hand, high pressures are required to force the melt through the bores.
EP-A 48590 discloses an extruder mixer comprising a rotor and a stator, both the rotor and the stator having rows of semicircular cavities. The cavities of the rotor and stator do not lie one over the other but are offset somewhat with respect to one another. As a result, the extruded material is not only sheared but also divided and rotated. This device too is structurally complex and, furthermore, has the disadvantage that the mixing effect is only sufficient for practical requirements with relatively long stators. In addition, when these stators are used in an injection-molding machine, a non-return valve must be additionally fitted, since the mixing device itself is not suitable for preventing the melt from flowing back.
EP-B1 219 334 relates to a cavity transfer mixing extruder which comprises a stator and a rotor and is distinguished by the fact that both the stator and the rotor have two cavity groups. These cavity groups are aligned with each other in the form of a parallelogram when they are projected onto a plane and, furthermore, are characterized by their angles of inclination. This mixing device is disadvantageous because, like the device referred to in EP-A 48590, this device is expensive to produce and its mixing effect depends on the length of the stator.
JP 50-90117 discloses a mixing device for injection-molding machines which operates in the manner of a non-return valve. The mixing device in this case comprises two rings, one being screwed onto the screw shaft and the other being arranged movably over it. Both parts have channels, which are arranged in such a way that they overlap and the melt is transferred from one channel directly into the other. The mixing effect of this device is not adequate for many applications.
In the patent EP-B1 340 B73, a mixing device for an extruder or an injection-molding machine is described. This device has a separate mixing ring, arranged for free rotation about a rotor. The rotor is arranged in a stator. The mixing ring is distinguished by the fact that it has mixing passages, which extend from the inner surface of the stator to the outer surface of the rotor. In other words, the mixing ring has holes. The mixing device according to EP-B1 340 B73 can assume the function of a non-return valve for injection-molding machines. The mixing device disclosed in the patent has the disadvantage that the melt transport is not ensured sufficiently well for all applications. On the other hand, the mixing device does not provide an adequately good seal when it is used as a non-return valve. In addition, the mixing effect is only at its optimum when the mixing device has a certain minimum length. The minimum length is about twice the screw diameter 2D. Therefore, this mixing device cannot be adapted to every extruder or every injection-molding machine, but instead the machines must be specifically converted for this purpose, that is to say the screw must be shortened. Since the mixing device must have a certain minimum length, the melt volume that is constantly present in the mixing device is also relatively great. This means that, for example when changing colors, relatively considerable time and material is required before usable parts of the new color are obtained. On account of the fact that the mixing ring is provided with holes, it also has the disadvantage that it is mechanically weakened. The shorter the ring, the more acute this disadvantage, making it highly susceptible to wear.

Mixing device with mixing ring having offset channels with spaced baffles


The present invention relates to a high contrast reflective display comprising at least one substrate, at least one electrically conductive layer and at least one close-packed, ordered monolayer of domains of electrically modulated material in a fixed, preferably crosslinked, polymer matrix and a method of making the same.

There is significant interest in low cost flexible electronic displays. Typically, such displays comprise a light modulating component embedded in a binder (most commonly polymer) matrix that is coated over a conductive plastic support. Broadly speaking, a light modulating component is a material that changes its optical properties such as its ability to reflect or transmit light in response to an electric field. The light modulating component may be a liquid crystalline material such as a nematic liquid crystal, a chiral nematic or cholesteric liquid crystal or a ferroelectric liquid crystal. The light modulating material may also be a water insoluble liquid containing particles that undergo electrophoresis or motion such as rotation or translation in response to an electric field. Displays comprising a liquid crystalline material in a polymer matrix are referred to as polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) displays.
There are two main methods for fabricating PDLC devices: emulsion methods and phase separation methods. Emulsion methods have been described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,435,047 and 5,363,482. The liquid crystal is mixed with an aqueous solution containing polymer. The liquid crystal is insoluble in the continuous phase and an oil-in-water emulsion is formed when the composition is passed through a suitable shearing device, such as a homogenizer. The emulsion is coated on a conductive surface and the water allowed to evaporate. A second conductive surface may then be placed on top of the emulsion or imaging layer by lamination, vacuum deposition, or screen printing to form a device. While the emulsion methods are straightforward to implement, droplet size distributions tend to be broad resulting in a loss in performance. For cholesteric liquid crystal devices, also referred to herein as CLC devices, this typically means reduced contrast and brightness. Phase separation methods were introduced in an effort to overcome this difficulty.
Phase separation methods have been outlined in U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,900 and in Drzaic, P. S. in Liquid Crystal Dispersions, pgs. 30-51, published by World Scientific, Singapore (1995). The liquid crystal and polymer, or precursor to the polymer, are dissolved in a common organic solvent. The composition is then coated on a conductive surface and induced to phase separate by application of ultraviolet (UV) radiation or by the application of heat or by evaporation of the solvent, resulting in droplets of liquid crystal in a solid polymer matrix. A device may then be constructed utilizing this composition. Although phase separation methods produce dispersed droplets having more uniform size distributions, there are numerous problems with this approach. For example, the long term photostability of photopolymerized systems is a concern due to the presence of photoinitiators that produce reactive free radicals. Photoinitiators not consumed by the polymerization process can continue to produce free radicals that can degrade the polymer and liquid crystals over time. Furthermore, it is also known that UV radiation is harmful to liquid crystals. Specifically, exposure to UV radiation can lead to decomposition of the chiral dopant in a cholesteric liquid crystal mixture, resulting in a change in the reflected color. The use of organic solvents may also be objectionable in certain manufacturing environments.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,423,368 and 6,704,073 propose to overcome the problems associated with the prior art methods through the use of droplets of the liquid crystal material prepared using a limited coalescence process. In this process, the droplet-water interface is stabilized by particulate species, such as colloidal silica. Surface stabilization by particulate species such as colloidal silica is particularly preferred as it can give narrow size distribution and the size of the droplets can be controlled by the concentration of the particulate species employed. The materials prepared via this process are also referred to as Pickering Emulsions and are described more fully by Whitesides and Ross (J. Colloid Interface Sci. 169, 48 (1995)). The uniform droplets may be combined with a suitable binder and coated on a conductive surface to prepare a device. The process provides improvement in brightness and contrast over prior art processes. It also overcomes some of the problems associated with photoinitators and UV radiation. However, there is still much room for improvement, particularly in terms of the switching voltage or the voltage needed to change the orientation of the liquid crystal from one state to another. The latter has a significant effect on the overall cost of the display. A low switching voltage is extremely desirable for low cost displays.
The device described by U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,423,368 and 6,704,073 suffers from drawbacks because of the structure of the coated layer. Undesirably, there may be more than a monolayer of droplets between the two electrodes. Furthermore, the process of coating a heated emulsion of the liquid crystal in a gelatin binder onto a substrate with a conductive layer and subsequently lowering the temperature of the coating to change the state of the coated layer from a free flowing liquid to a gel state (referred to as a sol-gel transition) prior to drying the coating results in an extremely uneven distribution of droplets of liquid crystal. At the microscopic scale there are regions of the coating containing overlapping droplets and other regions with no droplets at all between the electrodes. The uneven distribution of droplets results in a decrease in contrast and an increase in switching voltage.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,271,898 and 5,835,174 also describe compositions suitable for flexible display applications that employ very uniform sized droplets of liquid crystal in a polymer binder. However, no attempt is made to control the thickness or the distribution of droplets in the coated layer resulting in less than optimum performance.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/718,900 shows that the maximum contrast in a bistable chiral nematic liquid crystal display prepared by the limited coalescence method is obtained when the uniform liquid crystal domains or droplets are coated as substantially a monolayer on the first conductive support. The bistable states in these chiral nematic liquid crystal displays are the planar reflecting state and the weakly scattering focal conic state. Back-scattering of light from the weakly scattering focal conic state increases drastically when there is more than a monolayer of droplets between the conductive surfaces. While the method provides displays with an improvement in brightness and contrast, it still falls short of optimum performance because the gelatin binder is made to undergo a sol-gel transition prior to drying of the coating resulting in an uneven structure.
Rudhardt et al. (Applied Physics Letters vol. 82, page 2610, 2003) describe a method of fabricating a light modulating device wherein a composition containing very uniform droplets of liquid crystal in an aqueous solution of polymer binder is spread on an indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass surface and the water allowed to evaporate. The droplets of liquid crystal spontaneously self-assemble into a hexagonal close-packed (HCP) monolayer. A second ITO coated glass surface is placed over the coated layer of droplets as the top electrode to complete construction of the device. A uniform monolayer thickness is achieved for the coated layer and the close-packed distribution of droplets is also extremely well defined. Both features result in a low switching voltage. However, there are numerous problems with this approach. Firstly, the uniform droplets of liquid crystal are prepared by extrusion through a thin capillary into a flowing fluid. When a droplet at the tip of the capillary grows to reach critical size, viscous drag exceeds surface tension and breakoff occurs, producing highly monodisperse emulsions. Clearly, this method of creating one droplet at a time is not suitable for large scale manufacture. Secondly, the method by which the second (top) electrode is applied may be suitable for construction of small scale displays on rigid substrates such as glass but is not viable for large area low cost displays on flexible substrates.
US 2003/0137717A1 and US 2004/0217929A1 indicate that a close-packed monolayer of droplets of the light modulating component may be desirable for obtaining high brightness and contrast in a polymer dispersed electrophoretic display. However the method of making droplets described in these applications is a standard emulsification process that does not result in emulsions having a narrow size distribution that is desirable for obtaining close-packed monolayers by spontaneous self-assembly. The preferred method of preparing droplets in US 2003/0137717A1 and US 2004/0217929A1 also involves encapsulation resulting in droplets or capsules in the size range of 20 to 200 microns with wall thickness of 0.2 to 10 microns. The relatively large droplet size and wall thickness result in high switching voltages. The latter is particularly a problem for bistable CLC devices. Encapsulation is clearly not desirable but these applications do not teach how a second conducting layer is to be applied on top of the coated layer of droplets in the absence of encapsulation. In the absence of encapsulation, droplets of the light modulating component may directly come in contact with the organic solvent in the screen printed conducting ink leading to contamination or poisoning of the light modulating component. This is particularly a concern if the light modulating component is a liquid crystal material.
To overcome the difficulties of US 2003/0137717A1 and US 2004/0217929A1, US 2004/0226820A1 teaches that a close-packed monolayer of droplets may be obtained by using electro-deposition followed by washing after the droplets have been spread on a suitable surface using a coating knife or coating head such as a slot die coating head. However, the additional steps of electro-deposition and washing are cumbersome and not suitable for manufacturing on a large scale. Even with these additional steps, a close-packed monolayer of uniform thickness is not achieved. The root mean square (RMS) surface roughness is about 6 microns because of non-uniform droplets or capsules. This is a very high value of surface roughness that would result in irregular or incomplete curing if a UV curable screen printed conducive ink is used as the second electrode. The irregular curing will result in increased switching voltages. Furthermore, a surface roughness of this magnitude will also result in significant non-uniformity of switching voltage across the area of the display since the switching voltage is directly related to the thickness of the coated layer.
US 2003/0137717A1, US 2004/0217929A1 and US 2004/0226820A1 also teach using polymer latex as the preferred binder. The use of polymer latex materials is not desirable for a number of reasons. Many commercial latex materials contain high boiling organic co-solvents that render them unsuitable for use in PDLC films due to the poisoning effect the solvents have on the liquid crystal or other light modulating component. This is particularly true if the droplets are not encapsulated as is desirable from the point of view of reduced switching voltage. Latex polymers also have an affinity for the liquid crystal or other light modulating component leading to dissolution of the light modulating component into the polymer matrix. Furthermore, if the latex is not fully transparent, it can lead to a loss of contrast. Other binders suggested in US 2004/0217929A1 such as acrylics or polyvinylalcohol are difficult to fix or cross-link if used alone. Fixing or cross-linking is desired in order to preserve the close-packed monolayer structure when other layers are spread over it.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,847,798 discloses a liquid crystalline light modulating cell and material, characterized by liquid crystalline light modulating material of liquid crystal and polymer, the liquid crystal being a chiral nematic liquid crystal having positive dielectric anisotropy and including chiral material in an amount effective to form focal conic and twisted planar textures, the polymer being distributed in phase separated domains in the liquid crystal cell in an amount that stabilizes the focal conic and twisted planar textures in the absence of a field and permits the liquid crystal to change textures upon the application of a field. In one embodiment, the material is light scattering in a field-OFF condition and optically clear in a field-ON condition, while in another embodiment, the material is optically clear in a field-OFF condition and light scattering in a field-ON condition. In still another embodiment, a black-white cholesteric reflective display can be realized by employing a polymer concentration of about three percent based on the combined weight of all the material contained within the cell. A cholesteric material which has an intrinsic pitch of about 600 nm results in a display which appears much like a newspaper or book page. In other words, by selecting in combination the proper polymer concentration and intrinsic pitch of the liquid crystal material, a substantially white page or surface with black characters thereon can be obtained. This embodiment allows for a display with a substantially white background with substantially black characters much like a printed page. However, this embodiment has a cell consisting of two substrates, one on either side of the liquid crystal polymer film.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,833,891 discloses a reflective liquid crystal display (LCD) including a cholesteric liquid crystal polarizing device and a liquid crystal cell superimposed with one another. In various embodiments, the reflective LCD may be a normally white mode or normally black mode device. In another variation, the liquid crystal cell may include a 90° twisted nematic liquid crystal. Unlike the current invention, this invention includes a 90 degree twisted nematic LCD to modulate the light output.
U.S. Pat. Publ. No. 2004/0223098 discloses a display device displaying a color by mixing light reflected by a first reflection element and light reflected by a second reflection element by additive color mixture, in which the light of a first wavelength reflected by the first reflection element and light of a second wavelength reflected by the second reflection element have a mutually complementary color relationship. Thus, the display device, which can make good black and white display by a simple structure and can be driven by a simple method, can be realized. Unlike the current invention, this invention has 2 layers of cholesteric, for instance one blue and one yellow, using additive color the mixture is white.
U.S. Pat. Publ. No. 2004/0125284 discloses a chiral nematic display configuration, typically in liquid crystal displays, comprising a chiral nematic display of controllable planar structure and focal conic structure, characterised by the chiral nematic liquid crystal material being between two transparent substrates having conductive electrodes, the material being between two elliptical polarizers and there being an optical reflector. The invention achieves a high contrast black-and-white display. The displays in the embodiment are first and second optical mode configurations of the black-and-white chiral nematic displays. Unlike the current invention, this invention utilizes elliptical polarizers on either side of the cholesteric liquid crystal to absorb or transmit the light transmitted by the cholesteric liquid crystal.
For these reasons, an alternative approach is clearly needed.

Reflective display based on liquid crystal materials

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A method for making a printing blanket resulting from assembling a plurality of layers employs elastomer layers which do not contain thermal cross-linking agents and are of the thermoplastic type. Such a printing blanket is useful in the field of printing machines.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a method for making a printing blanket resulting from assembling a plurality of layers and a blanket thus obtained.
2. Background of the Invention
Blankets of this type, which are known, are manufactured by coating successive layers of elastomers on fabric reinforcements. These layers are dried, assembled and vulcanized. The materials used and the manufacturing methods for these blankets involve the use of chemical substances dangerous to man and to the environment, such as solvents, vulcanizing agents, plasticizers and the products of decomposition at the time of vulcanizing as well as carbon black. In fact, these products contain, in particular, carcinogenic or presumed carcinogenic substances, such as plasticizers, carbon black and products of decomposition; substances that are hazardous to reproductive health and mutagenic substances, such as vulcanizing agents; allergenic, noxious and inflammable substances such as solvents; and toxic and corrosive substances. In addition, the known blankets manufactured according to known methods have a rate of residual solvents, no matter what precautions are taken for drying by the manufacturers. These residual solvents can cause porosity and untimely settling in storage and in service. It should be noted that settling is one of the serious defects in the printing blankets. The printing blankets also have the disadvantage of developing vapors and odors which can be unpleasant for the users when stored in confined spaces. Finally, these printing blankets according to the prior art may be difficult to dispose of at the end of their service life due, especially, to their amounts of chlorine and sulfur.


A medical table assembly includes a bed frame and a mattress supported by the bed frame. The medical table assembly also includes a restrainment apparatus mounted to the bed frame, wherein the restrainment apparatus includes (1) a strap which (a) defines a fluid impervious bag having a void therein, and (b) is attached to the bed frame so that the fluid impervious bag is positioned over the mattress, and (2) a plurality of beads contained within the void of the fluid impervious bag. The medical table assembly further includes a vacuum source in fluid communication with the void of the restrainment apparatus. An associated method of immobilizing an object is also disclosed. The method includes the use of actuators which cause interior side panels of a passageway defined through a restrainment apparatus to automatically "clamp down" on an object positioned within the passageway upon evacuation of a void defined within the restrainment apparatus.

The present invention generally relates to a medical table assembly, and more particularly relates to a medical table assembly having a restrainment apparatus mounted thereto.
Many medical procedures are performed with a patient lying on a medical table. Typically, the medical table on which the patient is lying is made from a very hard and uncomfortable material. Moreover, many medical procedures require the patient to be minimally clothed and may take a significant amount of time to complete. Therefore, the patient lying on the table can become very uncomfortable (e.g. cold, or hot if the patient is suffering from a fever), which increases the stress he or she experiences during the medical procedure.
Additionally, it often becomes necessary to adjust the patient's position on the medical table from a first position to a second position in order to successfully complete the medical procedure. For example, patients undergoing a colonoscopic medical procedure are frequently moved from a supine position (i.e. denoting a body when lying face upward) to a lateral position (i.e. denoting a body when lying on its side) to facilitate the advancement of an endoscope to a patient's colon. Furthermore, other medical procedures, such as radiographic imaging studies, may require a patient to be moved from a supine position to a prone position (i.e. denoting a body when lying face downward).
The movement of a patient lying on a medical table from a first position to a second position has heretofore largely depended upon a great deal of physical effort being exerted by attending medical personnel. For example, to move a patient positioned in a supine position to a prone position typically requires attending medical personnel to pull or tug a bed sheet on which the patient is lying so as to gradually move the patient toward an edge of the medical table. As the patient is moved toward the edge of the medical table, other medical personnel lift and push the patient's shoulder which is closest to the edge, in a direction opposite to the direction the bed sheet is being pulled. The simultaneous pulling of the bed sheet in one direction, while the patient's shoulder is lifted and pushed in the opposite direction, rolls the patient over from a supine position to a prone position.
One disadvantage of repositioning the patient in the above described manner is that the involved medical personnel are prone to injuries resulting from the pulling or tugging of the bed sheet. For example, they sometimes suffer from sprained wrists or backs that occasionally result in incurring some degree of disability. This is especially true when the patient is a large adult. Another disadvantage is that the pulling or tugging of the bed sheet causes the patient to be moved in a "jerking motion." This jerking motion can be extremely uncomfortable, or even dangerous to the patient depending upon the type of illness of the patient (e.g. osteoporosis or arthritis).
Under certain circumstances, the patient must be restrained on the medical table after adjustment to an appropriate position. Various types of restrainment apparatus are used to secure the patient to the medical table. Heretofore, these restrainment apparatus typically include one or more straps attached to the medical table and a buckle attached to each strap. Each strap is positioned relative to the patient such that one end thereof encircles one of the patient's limbs (e.g. an arm or a leg). The buckle and strap are then manipulated so that the strap fits snugly around the patient's limb, thereby restraining the patient to the medical table. To release the patient from the medical table the attending medical personnel must manipulate each buckle and strap again to loosen the strap from around the patient's limb.
One disadvantage of the above described restrainment apparatus is that the required manipulation of the buckle and strap to tighten and loosen the strap from around the patient's limb is inconvenient and time consuming for attending medical personnel. This inconvenience can be dangerous for the patient in situations where he or she must be quickly released from the medical table prior to the administration of emergency medical care. This inconvenience can also be dangerous for the medical personnel and the patient in situations (e.g. a violent patient) where the patient must be quickly restrained on the medical table.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a medical table assembly having a restrainment apparatus that allows a patient to be secured thereto in a quick and efficient manner. It would also be desirable to provide a medical table assembly having a restrainment apparatus that allows a patient to be released therefrom in a quick and efficient manner. It would further be desirable to provide a medical table assembly having a restrainment apparatus that easily adjusts and conforms to different size limbs.

Medical table assembly having a restrainment apparatus mounted thereto and an associated method of immobilizing object


A real-time spatial magnetic positioning device, a radiographic imaging system and a magnetic positioning method is provided. The radiographic imaging system comprises a radiation source, a collimator, a flat panel detector, and a real-time spatial magnetic positioning device, wherein the magnetic positioning device comprises a processor, a magnetic field generating device and a magnetic sensor array; the magnetic field generating device is arranged coaxially with the collimator, a plurality of sensors of the magnetic sensor array is distributed on the flat panel detector; the magnetic field generating device is configured to generate an alternating magnetic field, the magnetic sensors are capable of independently detecting magnetic induction intensity in real time, and sending real-time detected data to the processor, and the processor determines a position relationship between the collimator and the flat panel detector according to the data detected by respective magnetic sensors in real time.

The technologies currently used for positioning mainly comprise satellite positioning technology, wireless positioning technology (Wi-Fi positioning, Bluetooth positioning, etc.), environmental characteristic magnetic positioning technology, accelerometer positioning technology, etc.
The satellite positioning technology is to determine location of a positioning point by measuring the electromagnetic wave propagation time difference between the positioning point and different satellites, and then converting it into a distance from the positioning point to the satellite; the wireless positioning technology is to determine a position of a positioning point by measuring the wireless signal strength at the positioning point (the strength of Wi-Fi And Bluetooth and other signals); the environmental characteristic magnetic positioning technology is to determine a location of a positioning point by testing the environmental magnetic field where the positioning point is located, and comparing with a database; the accelerometer positioning technology is to obtain the trajectory of a positioning point by measuring acceleration of an object in real time, and integrating twice in time. At present, according to the field of application, these positioning technologies are combined to complement each other, forming various application schemes.
However, above positioning technologies have their own shortcomings: the satellite positioning technology tests relative position of the positioning point to each satellite, so it requires signals from more than three satellites to be received at the positioning point to determine the position, and it can only be applied outdoors and has a high cost; in addition, because speed of propagation of electromagnetic waves is very fast, even if atomic clock is used for time service, the positioning error is at meter level.
The wireless positioning technology and characteristic magnetic positioning technology can be applied indoors and outdoors, however, due to a need to compare test data of the positioning point with the database, it is necessary to carry out environmental mapping and database establishment before positioning, and can only be applied to known environment, and due to large interference, the positioning accuracy is not high, generally at meter level.
Since the accelerometer positioning technology can only determine relative movement of the test point, other technologies are needed to perform position calibration before starting positioning, such as starting movement at a specified position; in addition, because this technology only tests the acceleration over time, its error accumulates with increase of time, and generally, the positioning accuracy exceeds one meter after a few minutes.
However, the positioning accuracy of medical equipment needs to be at centimeter level, and there is no precise positioning technology that can be applied to medical equipment in an indoor environment in the conventional art.

Real-time spatial precise magnetic positioning device, radiographic imaging system and magnetic positioning method

CARERAY DIGITAL MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


Pharmaceutical compositions and methods are described comprising at least one Y2 receptor-binding peptide, such as peptide YY(PYY), Neuropeptide Y (NPY) or Pancreatic Peptide (PP) and one or more mucosal delivery-enhancing agents for enhanced nasal mucosal delivery of the peptide YY, for treating a variety of diseases and conditions in mammalian subjects, including obesity.

The teachings of all the references cited in the present specification are incorporated in their entirety by reference.
Obesity and its associated disorders are common and very serious public health problems in the United States and throughout the world. Upper body obesity is the strongest risk factor known for type-2 diabetes mellitus, and is a strong risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Obesity is a recognized risk factor for hypertension, arteriosclerosis, congestive heart failure, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, reproductive disorders such as polycystic ovarian syndrome, cancers of the breast, prostate, and colon, and increased incidence of complications of general anesthesia. It reduces life-span and carries a serious risk of co-morbidities above, as well disorders such as infections, varicose veins, acanthosis nigricans, eczema, exercise intolerance, insulin resistance, hypertension hypercholesterolemia, cholelithiasis, orthopedic injury, and thromboembolic disease. Obesity is also a risk factor for the group of conditions called insulin resistance syndrome, or "Syndrome X."
It has been shown that certain peptides that bind to the Y2 receptor when administered peripherally to a mammal induce weight loss. The Y2 receptor-binding peptides are neuropeptides that bind to the Y2 receptor. Neuropeptides are small peptides originating from large precursor proteins synthesized by peptidergic neurons and endocrine/paracrine cells. Often the precursors contain multiple biologically active peptides. There is great diversity of neuropeptides in the brain caused by alternative splicing of primary gene transcripts and differential precursor processing. The neuropeptide receptors serve to discriminate between ligands and to activate the appropriate signals. These Y2 receptor-binding peptides belong to a family of peptides including peptide YY (PYY), neuropeptide Y (NPY) and pancreatic peptide (PP).
NPY is a 36-amino acid peptide and is the most abundant neuropeptide to be identified in mammalian brain. NPY is an important regulator in both the central and peripheral nervous systems and influences a diverse range of physiological parameters, including effects on psychomotor activity, food intake, central endocrine secretion, and vasoactivity in the cardiovascular system. High concentrations of NPY are found in the sympathetic nerves supplying the coronary, cerebral, and renal vasculature and have contributed to vasoconstriction. NPY binding sites have been identified in a variety of tissues, including spleen, intestinal membranes, brain, aortic smooth muscle, kidney, testis, and placenta.
Neuropeptide Y (NPY) receptor pharmacology is currently defined by structure activity relationships within the pancreatic polypeptide family. This family includes NPY, which is synthesized primarily in neurons; PYY, which is synthesized primarily by endocrine cells in the gut; and PP, which is synthesized primarily by endocrine cells in the pancreas. These approximately 36 amino acid peptides have a compact helical structure involving a "PP-fold" in the middle of the peptide. Specific features include a polyproline helix in residues 1 through 8, a β-turn in residues 9 through 14, an α-helix in residues 15 through 30, an outward-projecting C-terminus in residues 30 through 36, and a carboxyl terminal amide, which appears to be critical for biological activity. The peptides have been used to define at least five receptor subtypes known as Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4 and Y5. Y1 receptor recognition by NPY involves both N- and C-terminal regions of the peptide; exchange of Gln34 with Pro34 is fairly well tolerated. Y2 receptor recognition by NPY depends primarily upon the four C-terminal residues of the peptide (Arg33-Gln34-Arg35-Tyr36-NH2) preceded by an amphipathic an α-helix; exchange of Gln34 with Pro34 is not well tolerated. One of the key pharmacological features which distinguish Y1 and Y2 is the fact that the Y2 receptor (and not the Y1 receptor) has high affinity for the NPY peptide carboxyl-terminal fragment NPY-(13-36) and the PYY fragment PYY(22-36).
It has been shown that a 36 amino acid peptide called Peptide YY(1-36) [PYY(1-36)] [YPIKPEAPGEDASPEELNRYYASLRHYLNLVTRQRY, SEQ ID NO.: 1]. when administered peripherally by injection to an individual produces weight loss and thus can be used as a drug to treat obesity and related diseases, Morley, J. Neuropsychobiology 21:22–30 (1989). It was later found that to produce this effect PYY bound to a Y2 receptor, and the binding of a Y2 agonist to the Y2 receptor caused a decrease in the ingestion of carbohydrate, protein and meal size, Leibowitz, S. F. et al. Peptides, 12: 1251–1260 (1991). An alternate molecular form of PYY is PYY(3-36) IKPEAPGEDASPEELNRYYASLRHYLNLVTRQRY [SEQ ID NO.: 2], Eberlein, Eysselein et al. Peptides 10: 797–803, 1989). This fragment constitutes approximately 40% of total PYY-like immunoreactivity in human and canine intestinal extracts and about 36% of total plasma PYY immunoreactivity in a fasting state to slightly over 50% following a meal. It is apparently a dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP4) cleavage product of PYY. PYY3-36 is reportedly a selective ligand at the Y2 and Y5 receptors, which appear pharmacologically unique in preferring N-terminally truncated (i.e. C-terminal fragments of) NPY analogs. It has also been shown that a PYY fragment having only residues 22–36 will still bind to the Y2 receptor. However, if any of the carboxyl terminus of the peptide is cleaved, the peptide looses its ability to bind to the Y2 receptor. Hence a PYY agonist is a peptide, which has a partial sequence of full-length PYY and is able to bind to a Y2 receptor in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. Hereinafter the term PYY refers to full-length PYY and any fragment of PYY that binds to a Y2 receptor.
It is known that PYY and PYY3-36 can be administered by intravenous infusion or injection to treat life-threatening hypotension as encountered in shock, especially that caused by endotoxins (U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,343), to inhibit proliferation of pancreatic tumors in mammals by perfusion, parenteral, intravenous, or subcutaneous administration, and by implantation (U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,010) and to treat obesity (Morley, J. Neuropsychobiology 21:22–30 (1989) and U.S. Patent Application 20020141985). It is also claimed that PYY can be administered by parenteral, oral, nasal, rectal and topical routes to domesticated animals or humans in an amount effective to increase weight gain of said subject by enhancing gastrointestinal absorption of a sodium-dependent cotransported nutrient (U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,227). However, for the treatment of obesity and related diseases, including diabetes, the mode of administration has been limited to intravenous IV infusion with no effective formulations optimized for alternative administration of PYY3-36. None of these prior art teachings provide formulations that contain PYY or PYY(3-36) combined with excipients designed to enhance mucosal (i.e., nasal, buccal, oral) delivery nor do they teach the value of endotoxin-free Y2-receptor binding peptide formulations for non-infused administration. Thus, there is a need to develop formulations and methods for administering PYY3-36.
The generation of aerosol formulations can enhance absorption of formulations on mucosal (nasal, buccal, oral, vaginal and rectal) surfaces as well as skin surfaces. Review: O'Riordan T G. Formulations and Nebulizer performance. Respir Care 2002 November; 47(11): 1305–12; discussion 1312–3.
However, the physical forces associated with droplet formation often destroys or denatures proteins and peptides. For example, recombinant human deoxyribonuclease (rhDNase) was substantially denatured during processing as shown by the significantly reduced monomer content. Similarly, albumin was affected by processing and only 50–75% of the monomer was retained compared with 86% in the original material. Bustami R T, Chan H K, Dehghani F, Foster N R. Generation of micro-particles of proteins for aerosol delivery using high pressure modified carbon dioxide. Pharm Res. 2000 November; 17(11):1360–6.
The physical stability of a peptide hormone human growth hormone (hGH) formulation upon exposure to air/water interfaces (with vortex mixing) has been investigated. The effect of this stress on the formation of soluble and insoluble aggregates has been studied. The aggregates were characterized and quantified by size exclusion-HPLC and UV spectrophotometry. Vortex mixing of hGH solutions (0.5 mg/mL) in phosphate buffer, pH 7.4, for just 1 min caused 67% of the drug to precipitate as insoluble aggregates. These aggregates were noncovalent in nature. Katakam M, Bell L N, Banga A K. J Pharm Sci. 1995 June; 84(6):713–6.

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Compositions and methods for enhanced mucosal delivery of Y2 receptor-binding peptides and methods for treating and preventing obesity


A spare tire locking device is described including an upstanding arm which extends upwardly and outwardly from a frame member on a boat trailer or the like. A flat based plate is secured to the upper end of the arm and has a pair of threaded studs extending therefrom in a horizontal fashion. An arcuate bracket is spaced from the threaded studs and extends outwardly from the base plate and has an opening formed therein adapted to receive the shackle of a padlock. The spare tire is mounted on the base plate by extending the threaded studs through lug holes in the wheel of the spare tire. When the spare tire is so positioned, the bracket extends through the hub hole in the wheel closely adjacent the wheel. When the shackle of a padlock is extended through the bracket, the spare tire cannot be removed from the base plate even though the nuts on the threaded studs are removed.

This invention relates to a locking device and more particularly to a spare tire locking device designed especially for boat trailers although a locking device may also be used on other types of vehicles.
Spare tires for boat trailers are normally secured to some type of support brackets which are mounted on the frame of the trailer. The tires are normally secured to the support by means of lug nuts mounted on threaded studs which extend from the support through the lug holes in the wheel. If no other means is used to secure the spare tire to the boat trailer, the spare tire may be easily stolen by simply removing the lug nuts from the threaded studs.
Many types of devices have been previously provided in an attempt to prevent the unauthorized removal of the spare tires from their mounting brackets or support means. However, the prior art devices are cumbersome to use and frequently are quite expensive. Further, the prior art devices are not as fool-proof as they should be.
It is therefore the principal object of the invention to provide a spare tire locking device.
A further object of the invention is to provide a locking device for locking a spare tire on a boat trailer.
A further object of the invention is to provide a spare tire locking device which may also be used on vehicles such as trucks, etc.
A further object of the invention is to provide a locking device for spare tires which is inexpensive.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a locking device for a spare tire which is convenient to use.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a locking device for a spare tire which is durable in use.
These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.


The device comprises an optical waveguide and an acoustic wave generating device. The waveguide has an optical band gap and a sharp electronic transition (e.g. an excitonic transition) in the band gap, and the acoustic wave generating device generates acoustic waves within the waveguide. Light passing through the waveguide is of a frequency within the band gap of the waveguide and is nearly resonant with the sharp electronic transition. The wave generating device is arranged to generate acoustic waves so as to induce optical band gas in the polariton spectrum, thereby affecting the transmission of the light passing through the waveguide, the transmission of which is thereby affected.

The present invention relates to the use of the Stark effect for acoustically changing the optical properties of a material.
In a solid material, the propagation of light is controlled by the electronic polarisation of the medium. For the simple case of a transparent medium, electronic excitation of the medium can be used to modify the light dispersion properties of the medium by modifying the refractive index. This produces a constant change in the speed of light through the medium. In this way a coherent beam or pulse of acoustic phonons in a material will modify the properties of the material in order to change the refractive index of that material.
When there are electronic resonances at particular energies, the dielectric function has a resonance at the energy of the electronic excitation, and strong frequency-dependence. The excitations may come about from, from example, localised electronic excitations as in impurity levels in a glass, or extended electronic excitations at a semiconductor band edge, or excitations of bound electron-hole pairs (excitons) in a semiconductor.
Because of the electronic resonance, the optical field and the polarisation are coupled, and new coupled modes are generically termed polaritons. A polariton spectrum is shown in FIG. 1.
The Stark effect refers to the modulation of the frequency of the electronic resonance by the application of a field, which may typically be an electrical field or an optical field.
In the electrical Stark effect, a d.c. or low frequency (GHz) voltage bias is applied to shift the position of the resonance, and one common application of this is as a laser modulator—the band gap of a semiconductor is lowered so as to cause absorption of the incident laser light, and thereby to produce extinction of the light propagation.
The optical Stark effect mediated by an excitonic resonance is one of the central concepts of modern semiconductor optics. In these cases one deals with an optically driven semiconductor probed by a weak light. A high-intensity pulse, which resonates with excitons and gives rise to the optical Stark effect, tends to weaken the exciton-photon interaction, and thereby modifies the propagation and absorption of the coupled polariton modes.
A disadvantage of the use of the conventional (optical or electrical) Stark effect in real devices is the requirement that real electronic excitations be created in the solid, with the attendant electrical losses and concomitant reduction in speed of operation.
If a sound wave is present in a solid, the density perturbations produced by rarefaction and compression as the sound wave passes lead to small modulations of the dielectric constant, and therefore the refractive index of the material. These spatial modulations can be used to diffract light, and this is the basis of the science of acousto-optics. Acousto-optics is a well-established discipline, but all of the current applications rely purely on the spatial modulation of the refractive index and deal with a small, non-resonant acousto-optical susceptibility.

Acousto-optical device based on phonon-induced polaritonic band gaps

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