An adjustable bristle toothbrush apparatus which provides pneumatic bristle exposed length pressure adjustment. Bristles are provided in bristle bundles which are affixed to bristle bases. Each base moves within an individual cylinder via a slave piston. Adjustment of chamber pressure via the adjustment knob on the handle first end determines slave piston resistance to inward movement.

Adjustments of both bristle length and bristle stiffness are desirable features of a toothbrush. Proper teeth cleaning is enhanced by this adjustability, and gum health also benefits. Stiffness of the bristles is correlated to length. Adjustable length, therefore, adjust bristle stiffness. Various bristle lengths are also a factor in properly reaching tooth surfaces of various heights of teeth, with respect to gums. Obviously, shorter height teeth require shorter bristles, and conversely longer teeth require longer bristles. The present apparatus solves these problems in teeth and gum health.


A bus interface and corresponding method is provided for conveying communication signals supporting multiple modes, where at least two of the modes have distinct operational communication signal levels. The bus interface is adapted to convert the communication signals between communication signals having distinct signal levels, and communication signals having compatible signal levels. Where in at least some instances, the conveyed communication signals are converted from communication signals having distinct signal levels to communication signals having compatible signal levels, and then back to communication signals having distinct signal levels, after the communication signals having compatible signal levels are transmitted and received via one or more associated communication paths.

Various standardized communication protocols have been developed to support convenient communication between components of different manufacturers for use in diverse operating conditions. Often times the specific nature of at least some portions of the communication protocol are influenced by the intended operating conditions, so as to address anticipated difficulties, and/or take advantage of certain benefits commonly associated with the intended operating conditions.
An example of one such intended operating condition, might include conditions associated with mobile communication environments, and can involve the intradevice communications between the various elements forming portions of the device. Certain features commonly associated with such devices might allow for certain beneficial aspects, and/or anticipated difficulties or conditions, that may be taken advantage of and/or accounted for.
At least one common configuration for a device, which support mobile communications, includes a device which has a two part housing configuration, where the two housing portions are coupled together in a manner, which allows for the housing portions to move relative to one another. In at least one instance, the two housing portions might be coupled to one another via a hinge, thereby allowing the two housing portions to pivot relative to one another about the hinge. In at least a further instance, the two part housing portions might be coupled to one another via a slider mechanism, thereby allowing the two housing portions to slide relative to one another.
Often times each housing portion will include one or more active elements, which need to be physically linked and/or communicatively coupled to elements from the other housing portion. For example, a source of power, such as a battery, which needs to be coupled to elements in both of the housing portions, may be located in one of the housing portions, and may need to be coupled to elements in the other portion, via some form of connection, which bridges the separation between the two housing portions. In the same or other instances, the primary processing element, such as a microprocessor, may be located in one of the two housing portions, and may need to communicate with elements located in one of the two housing portions, similarly including instances in which a connection with an element in the other housing portion is desired.
In a flip type or clam shell style phone, which can include a base or lower portion, and a flip or upper portion, which are coupled together via a hinge, components such as a source of power and one or more of the primary processing elements, are often located in the base or lower portion of the two part housing. Elements such as ear piece speaker ports, displays, and cameras, are commonly positioned in the flip or upper portion of a two part housing, and sometimes may need to communicate and/or be coupled to elements in the base or lower housing portion. Enhancements in the user experience, including both new and expanded capabilities, which are associated with components located in each of the two housing portions including the flip portion, has tended to involve an ever increasing amount of information to be transferred between the base portion and the flip portion of a clam shell style phone.
The increased communication can be supported by one or more of an increasing number of communication lines, and/or by increasing the amount of data being communicated within each of any preexisting or reduced number of communication lines. Both of which are complicated by the need for the signals to be routed through the coupling element, such as a hinge, or a slider mechanism. However, there may be drawbacks to either of the two noted potential solutions for supporting enhanced data flow. For example, increases in the number of distinct communication paths, generally increases the amount of parts which are necessary for conveying the signals, that needs to be routed between the two housings to support the greater number of communication connection. Whereas, increases in the amount of data being communicated in existing or reduced number of communication connections will often involve data signals having higher data rates, which can result in a corresponding increase in the amount of electromagnetic noise and interference, in the case of an electrical signal conveyed by one or more electrical conductors. However, in the case where the signals are being routed though a coupling element which supports a movable coupling of a two part housing, accounting for any increases in electromagnetic noise and interference may be problematic, as there can be difficulties associated with providing suitable electromagnetic shielding.
At least one communication standard, namely the Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) standard, attempts to alleviate some of the concerns by incorporating serialized communications, to help minimize the number of connections, and at least partially incorporates the use of differential signaling to help reduce the amount of electromagnetic noise and interference associated with the use of relatively higher frequency communication signals. While, the use of differential signaling may help to reduce some of the noise, in some instances it still may not be sufficient.
A further concern can relate to power consumption, which can be more problematic in mobile devices that incorporate self contained power sources, such as a battery. With respect to MIPI, a low amplitude differential signal for supporting a high data rate mode helps to minimize power consumption during high speed data rates, while a low data rate mode incorporating traditional low power CMOS circuitry, which largely limits power consumption to instances in which the logic levels change, similarly helps to minimize power consumption during transmission modes, which support low speed data rates, even though the signal amplitude (i.e. voltage levels), which support the data states for traditional CMOS circuitry might be relatively larger, when compared with the signal levels, which support the differential signaling.
The present inventors have recognized that electromagnetic noise and interference, which continues to be present, even with the use of differential signaling can be largely avoided, by optically conveying the data signals, as opposed to electrically conveying the same. However, in such an instance, the higher amplitude signal associated with the lower data rate mode does not enjoy the same power saving benefits associated with CMOS circuitry, as the power consumption associated with optical signaling is largely a function of signal amplitude and the duration of transmission at the particular signal amplitude, as opposed to being primarily limited to instances of transitions in the logic level states, which is the case with CMOS circuitry. Correspondingly, the present inventors have recognized that the selective conversion of relatively higher amplitude signals associated with some of the modes of communication for purposes of conveying communication signals would be beneficial.

Bus interface and method for conveying multi-level communication signals between a communication bus and a device coupled to a communication bus


The present invention relates to methods and compositions comprising ribose and maleate for the treatment of fibromyalgia syndrome. The methods and compositions of the invention are especially useful for oral administration and are useful for alleviating the symptoms of pain, fatigue, and irritable bowel syndrome in fibromyalgia syndrome.

Fibromyalgia syndrome is a common yet mysterious condition with symptoms of widespread pain and fatigue. The syndrome afflicts five to ten million Americans, women 20 times more often than men. It occurs worldwide with no particular ethnic correlation. It has been proposed by various researchers that the syndrome is caused by such diverse causes as: growth hormone deficiency, relaxin hormone deficiency, autoimmune (rheumatoid) disorder, spinal cord compression, viral infection (heptatisC virus), injection with rubella vaccine, idiopathic nociceptive dysfunction, silicone implants, and other causes. It has even been suggested that fibromyalgia is a psychosomatic symptom of depression.
Nonetheless, the specificity of symptoms indicates a true syndrome, although primary cause versus side-effects remains unknown. In 1994, it became officially recognized as a diagnosis by the Copenhagen Declaration. The two criteria for the diagnosis of fibromyalgia as defined by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) are: 1) diffuse widespread pain, and 2) the presence of multiple tender points. The latter comprise 18 points that are extremely painful on palpation. These specific sites are at the base of the occiput, the cervical anterior, the trapezius, the supraspinatus, the second rib, the epicondyle on the elbow region, the greater trochanter, the gluteus, and the fat pad on the knee. It should be noted that many of these tender points are not muscle tissue. In fact, some researchers believe that skin, tendons or the subcutaneous fascia are the primary nociceptive dysfunctional tissues. Accordingly, the syndrome is sometimes referred to as Myofascial Pain Syndrome. Although many patients report joint pain, unless those patients also have. rheumatoid or osteo-arthritis, the pain in the joints is referred pain from nearby skin, tendons or muscles. Typically, joints are not swollen as in arthritis.
In addition to pain and tender points, patients may experience a disturbed sleep cycle, tension headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, premenstrual tension syndrome, cold intolerance, deconditioning, reduced exercise tolerance and restless leg syndrome. Diagnosis is based on reporting pain in at least 11 of the 18 tender points. Pressure over one of these areas can cause referred pain in peripheral locations.
The symptoms of pain and fatigue are chronic and the intensity varies unpredictably. Patients may find that they are so severely affected that they are unable to work in their professions or perform daily tasks. There is no known cure for fibromyalgia. Among the suggested therapies are:steroids, analgesics, hormone administration, antidepressants, physical therapy, xylocaine injections into the tender points to allow for exercise and education on coping with chronic pain. Most patients can expect to have the symptoms lifelong. The common analgesics seem to have minimal effect. While strong analgesics such as codeine can diminish pain, these cannot be taken for long periods of time. Patients who are able to exercise routinely can experience improvement. Xylocaine injections may give enough temporary relief so that the patients can exercise, but these injections are inconvenient for daily use. For some patients, antidepressants also seem to help. Most doctors treating fibromyalgia patients suggest a combination of medical treatment, moist heat, and exercise. Because of the varied responses to treatment, patients are encouraged to make careful observation of any treatments that seem to offer some alleviation of symptoms and, based on their observations, to devise a personalized regimen. Otherwise, those who are afflicted must learn to live with the symptoms and a greatly reduced quality of life.
The need remains for compositions and methods of alleviating the symptoms of fibromyalgia, without inducing deleterious side effects.


A drawer slide rail assembly includes movably connected first and second rails, a movable member, a supporting member, and an adjusting member. The movable member has a mounting hole corresponding to a mounting portion of the second rail and is linearly movably mounted to the second rail via the supporting member. The adjusting member includes a cam with an eccentric shaft. The cam at least partially presses against the movable member. The shaft extends through the movable member and is connected to the second rail. The second rail can be mounted to a drawer via a connector which also connects the movable member and the second rail. The drawer is adjustable in position relative to the second rail by the adjusting member.

Structures of drawer height adjusting devices are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,923,518 B2, granted to Kim; US Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0018213 A1 of Chen et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,422, granted to Nelson.
In the prior art disclosed in the patent granted to Kim and the patent application of Chen et al., a drawer is connected to one end of an adjusting element (adjustment member 57, adjusting lever 2) configured for and pivotally connected to a rail, and the vertical position of the drawer can be adjusted by rotating the adjusting element. However, as the drawer is adjusted along a curved path of rotation of the adjusting element, forward or backward displacement of the drawer takes place, too. In the prior art disclosed in the patent granted to Nelson, a drawer can be changed in position relative to a slide rail by directly moving an adjusting element (clamp 327), and yet the operation required is inconvenient.


An easy-open and tamper-evident beverage container and opening system for the beverage container are provided which include a container barrier wall. The barrier wall has a series of slits therein which define a pierceable straw hole. The series of slits divides the barrier wall into a hole portion and a remainder portion, with the hole portion connected to the remainder portion by attachment points provided between adjacent slits of the series. A membrane seal is located inside of the container and sealingly covers the straw hole. This membrane seal is liquid impervious and includes (a) an outer portion which is sealed to an inside surface of the front barrier wall about the straw hole, and (b) an inner portion integral with the outer portion which is not sealed to the inside surface of the barrier wall and which covers the straw hole. With this construction, when piercing the container with the straw, the straw breaks at least some of the attachment points as the straw pushes on the hole portion and as the straw then easily pierces the membrane seal. The breakage of the attachment points thus provides readily observable and unrepairable evidence of opening of the straw hole. Preferably, the series of slits form a circular str

In bag-shaped beverage containers having a membrane seal which is to be pierced by a pointed straw, such as CAPRI SUN.RTM., there is a problem of providing a sufficiently strong seal to withstand the rigors of shipping while still making the seal sufficiently easy for the consumer to pierce with a straw. In addition, it is often desired to provide a readily observable indication of whether or not the opening system of the beverage container has been tampered with.
In the prior art, an opening system has been used which includes a simple membrane seal on an inside surface of one barrier wall of a bag-shaped container. The membrane seal is sealed up to the edges of the straw hole in the barrier wall near a top of the container. Such a membrane seal is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,583 (Wild). While such a membrane seal is mostly satisfactory, it does not provide evidence of tampering as the membrane seal can be easily ruptured. The problem of tamper-evidency would be further exacerbated if the membrane seal did not extend up to the edges of the straw hole such that a pocket is created between the barrier wall and the membrane seal.
Another opening system for a beverage bag having a portion which can be easily pierced by a straw is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,514 (Yoshida). The bag is made from a pair of laminar panels, with each panel comprising an inner foil layer and an outer reinforcing plastic layer bonded over the inner layer. This outer layer has a high piercing strength and high rigidity. In order to make piercing of the outer layer very easy, a number of radially extending linear cuts in the form of a starburst are formed therein. However, no breakage occurs in the outer layer so there is no tamper evidence when this outer layer is pierced.

Tamper-evident opening system for beverage container


The invention provides a polymerizable compound represented by formula (I), a polymerizable composition, and a polymer that have a practical low melting point, can be produced at low cost, and can produce an optical film that achieves uniform conversion of polarized light over a wide wavelength band, and an optically anisotropic article. In the formula: Y1-Y6 represent a single bond, —O—, —O—C(═O)—, —C(═O)—O—, or the like; G1 and G2 represent a bivalent aliphatic group, or the like, of C1-20; Z1 and Z2 represent a C2-10 alkenyl group or the like; Ax represents a C2-30 organic group, or the like, having at least one aromatic ring selected from an aromatic hydrocarbon ring and a hetero-aromatic ring; Ay represents a hydrogen atom, a C1-6 alkyl group, or a C2-30 organic group, or the like, having at least one aromatic ring selected from an aromatic hydrocarbon ring and a hetero-aromatic ring; A1 represents a trivalent aromatic group or the like; A2 and A3 represent a bivalent aromatic group or the like; Q1 represents a hydrogen atom, a C1-6 alkyl group, or the like. Ax and Ay may form a ring together

A flat panel display (FPD) that utilizes an optical film (e.g., polarizer and retardation film) can achieve high-resolution display, and has been widely used as a display device (e.g., TV).
Examples of the retardation film include a quarter-wave plate that converts linearly polarized light into circularly polarized light, and a half-wave plate that converts the plane of vibration of linearly polarized light by 90°. Such a retardation film can achieve accurate conversion of specific monochromatic light so that ¼λ or ½λ retardation occurs.
However, a known retardation film has a problem in that polarized light that passes through the retardation film is converted into colored polarized light. Specifically, since a material that forms the retardation film has wavelength dispersion with regard to retardation, and a polarization state distribution corresponding to each wavelength occurs for white light that includes different light beams in the visible region, it is impossible to achieve accurate ¼λ or ½λ retardation over the entire wavelength band.
In order to solve the above problems, various wideband retardation films that can achieve uniform retardation for light over a wide wavelength band (i.e., retardation films having reverse wavelength dispersion) have been studied (see Patent Documents 1 to 6, for example).
It has been desired to reduce the thickness of the flat panel display as much as possible along with an improvement in performance and widespread use of mobile information terminals (e.g., mobile personal computer and mobile phone) and the like. Therefore, a reduction in thickness of the retardation film has also been desired.
It has been considered that it is most effective to produce a retardation film by applying a polymerizable composition which includes a low-molecular-weight polymerizable compound to a film base in order to reduce the thickness of the retardation film. Various low-molecular-weight polymerizable compounds having excellent wavelength dispersion, and various polymerizable compositions using such polymerizable compounds have been proposed (see Patent Documents 7 to 23, for example).
However, the low-molecular-weight polymerizable compounds or the polymerizable compositions disclosed in Patent Documents 7 to 23 and the like have a number of problems in that reverse wavelength dispersion may be insufficient, or it may be difficult to apply the low-molecular-weight polymerizable compounds or the polymerizable compositions to a film due to a high melting point that is not suitable for an industrial process, or the temperature range in which liquid crystallinity is obtained may be very narrow, or solubility in a solvent generally used for an industrial process may be low. Moreover, since the above low-molecular-weight polymerizable compounds and the like are synthesized by a plurality of steps using a synthesis method that utilizes an expensive reagent, the production cost increases.

Polymerizable compound, polymerizable composition, polymer, and optically anisotropic body


A computer server receives, from a remote device, a request for closed caption data, the request specifying media content for which the closed caption data is to be provided. In the server, it is determined whether closed-captioned data for the specified media content is available, and if closed-captioned data for the media content is available, a sequence of records associated with the media content is provided to the device from the server.

Present mechanisms for providing closed caption data may be limited. For example, National Television System Committee (NTSC) and Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) signals generally provide limited data streams for closed-caption data. Therefore, closed caption data may not be available for some media programming of interest to a user, or may not be available in a language of interest to the user.


A harmonic drive has an outer gear, an elliptical follower hub, and an outer chain coupled to the follower hub, and having teeth that mate with the outer gear. Preferred embodiments further include an inner chain disposed such that the follower hub is functionally interposed between the inner and outer chains.

The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
Many machines require a numerically high reduction ratio gearbox, capable of transmitting substantial power within a limited overall volume. Various long-established methods for all-mechanical drives include a worm-and-wheel gearset, and planetary gearboxes which can be compounded to yield high reduction ratios. One result of adopting these traditional approaches is that the completed reduction gearbox is heavy, or large, when compared to the torque transmitted to the output of such gearboxes. The measures of interest (in lb.-feet units) are therefore pounds-feet of torque per pound weight of the device, or, lb.-ft. per cubic ft. of overall volume.
Awareness of these specific limitations, especially when gearboxes are needed with a reduction ratio ranging from 50:1 to many hundreds to one, prompted a prior design and manufacturing effort into the art of producing incrementing planetary drives. These mechanisms are known as Strain Wave Gearing drives, or, Harmonic Drives.
There are several limitations of the current art with respect to Harmonic Drives. Prior art embodiments of Harmonic Drives, when taken to the largest practical size in terms of torque output and hence physical scale, can be shown to have an upper output torque limit approaching 3,000 lb.-ft. However, some applications require a multiple of 10 times, or even 20 times, or more, of this torque output. It is highly desirable that this is achieved in a single-stage device which avoids the complications of coupling several gearsets together to achieve the required ratio. The detailed description of the cause of the present upper torque limitation is provided here. Clearly, there is a need to further investigate the art of incrementing planetary drives, with an intent of transmitting substantially higher output torques than are currently achieved, and at the same time, improve the specific torque/weight ratio and the torque/volume ratio. This would be a critical design requirement for an aircraft application, for example.
Therefore, there is still a need for improved harmonic drives.

Compact torque-transmitting gearbox with high reduction ratio


Techniques for fabricating a structure from nanoparticles are generally described. Some example techniques are methods for fabricating an apparatus from nanoparticles. Example methods may include providing nanoparticles that are electrically charged with a first polarity and collecting the nanoparticles on a particle collection device having a second polarity opposite the first polarity. The nanoparticles can then be transferred onto a base structure from the particle collection device.

Nanotechnology refers to a field involving manipulation and manufacture of materials and devices on the scale of nanometers (i.e., billionths of a meter). Structures the size of few hundred nanometers or smaller (i.e., nanostructures) have garnered attention due to their potential in creating many new devices with wide-ranging applications, including optic, electronic, and magnetic applications. It has been envisioned that nanostructures may be used in manufacturing smaller, lighter, and/or stronger devices with desirable optical, electrical, and/or mechanical properties. However, to successfully realize such devices, significant challenges must be overcome. New and improved tools are needed to control the properties and structure of materials at the nanoscale. Further, new and improved tools are needed for assembling such materials into nanostructures and for the further assembly of such nanostructures into more-complex devices.

Structure fabrication using nanoparticles

Korea University Research and Business Foundation


Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, implementing and using techniques for integrating and data activities in a process flow. A data transformation activity is invoked through local or remote invocation. The data transformation activity is part of a process flow defined in a standard business process execution language format and is invoked from within the process flow. A system for executing a process flow including one or more control activities and one or more data transformation activities is also described. The system includes a process control engine for executing activities included in the process flow, a data transformation subsystem for storing domain specific definitions of data transformation processes of data in one or more databases, and a control data repository for storing domain specific activity information related to the process flow.

This invention relates to data processing tools for assisting users in decision making processes. Data Warehousing is a tool used for providing users with information needed in various decision making processes, for example, in various types of businesses and other types of organizational environments. In order to provide current information, the data warehouse must be continuously updated and consolidated to properly reflect a current state of a business or organizational entity. Data from multiple sources is extracted, transformed and loaded into the data warehouse at various times in a process. Typically, the transformation steps are modeled as data flows, which can be implemented as SQL scripts, shell scripts, application programs, and other types of command execution. Frequently, in an enterprise, for a complete end-to-end solution, such data flow executions are also interspersed with other existing processes, for example, legacy or third party processes.
Businesses and organizations often rely on a service-oriented approach to support their processes. A programming language that is used in this service-oriented approach is BPEL4WS (Business Process Execution Language for Web Services). This standard language is supported by a variety of runtime engines, and enables the orchestration of web services. Common data warehousing scenarios, such as the above mentioned extract, transform and load (ETL) scenario, are not well supported in BPEL-based processes, as the current BPEL language does not provide for a native definition of data integration processing elements.
A BPEL process is a flow of activities, where BPEL branching semantics indicate sequenced or parallel execution of the activities, including handling errors in activity executions. A BPEL process can have variables, which are used as either input or output parameters in the context of an activity's invocation. Several BPEL flow level and activity level attributes can exist. For example, groups of activities can be part of the same transaction. Other attributes include settings, such as whether transactional processing is managed by a BPEL engine, or whether individual activities manage their own transactions.
In contrast to BPEL processes, whose focus is the coordination of activities among service providers, data warehouse processes usually need to handle significant amounts of data. A data warehouse process includes a set of steps to extract, transform and load data, which are repeatedly performed depending on predefined control conditions. Data movement and transformation steps use database functionality and script files, as well as custom programs, to process the data. A data warehouse process can be scheduled (or triggered), and there is usually only a single instance of a data warehouse process running at any specific time. Error recovery in transformational processing is critical and is done using the transactional processing capability of SQL engines, or by running specific cleanup flows to "undo" partial processing.
Having a service-oriented approach, based on standards such as BPEL, is essential for enterprise component and process integration, especially when multiple parties are involved. With a service-oriented approach the distinctions between control processes (that is, BPEL processes) and data (that is, warehouse transformation) processes becomes less clear, especially from an end user's or administrator's perspective. Importantly, all the constituent activities, including the data transformation activities, must participate in a unified transactional context as well, to enable proper error recovery and restarts of failed processes, and so on. However, BPEL provides little support for data transformation activities. Hence, it would be advantageous to have a seamless integration of process steps and data integration steps to enable a combination of activities as flexibly as needed, while avoiding having to rely on multiple technology solutions for solving similar problems.
One solution for integrating a data flow into a BPEL-based process is to expose a data flow job through a web service. This approach, however, requires a separate web service interface for each data flow job, leading to a proliferation of web services in complex ETL scenarios and thus to extensive administration requirements. Furthermore, from an invocation point of view, web services are remote, which adds overhead for invocations of data transformations that have the potential of being handled locally.
Another possible solution is based on extensions to the BPEL-standard to support various high-level programming languages. For example, BPEL4Java systems enable BPEL process developers to embed Java™ code into BPEL, such as Java™ conditional expressions for evaluating branches or for invoking Java™ methods. However, these generic programming related solutions do not pertain to typical data transformation scenarios, especially since ETL jobs are usually executed on runtime (remote) systems.
Often, data transformations are performed using SQL. Thus, yet another possible solution for including data integration processing into a process is to make use of a native SQL-extension approach in the BPEL language. This solution has the advantage of integrating the data directly into the process, but also implies that already existing data transformation flows would need to be re-implemented as SQL embedded inside BPEL. There is also a dependency on a particular runtime environment as the BPEL engine must support this non-standard extension, and the data processing activities are limited to SQL. In typical situations, external programs and other non-SQL mechanisms are extensively used to complete even the most trivial of data warehouse processing. Also, the "dialect" of SQL used varies between different vendors, which makes it difficult to provide a standardized and useful extension to BPEL.

Supporting ETL processing in BPEL-based processes

International Business Machines Corporation


A dental control unit having conduit-carrying whip arms pivotally mounted on a base so as to leave top and side surfaces of a housing covering the base entirely free of seams or openings where oral cavity spray can enter; and conduits for dental handpieces that enter the whip arms at pivot connections for the arms inside the housing, such that the pivot connections and the portions of the conduits entering the whip arms are protected from oral cavity spray.

1. Field
This invention relates to dental control units. It is particularly directed to easily cleaned and sterilized dental control units of the "Continental" type, having pivoting arm supports for conduits connected to dental handpieces.
2. State of the Art
Dental control units provide for chairside positioning of dental handpiece-supporting trays. They usually include control structure for the handpieces. The control units are supported for pivotal movement on a cantilevered swinging arm so that they may be positioned closely adjacent the oral cavity of a dental patient. They are intended to be easily accessible to a dentist or dental technician, without obstructing the view or necessary operating room of the dentist and without being obtrusive to a patient.
Dental control units in general include a base mounted to swing with and to pivot on a support arm. A housing fits over the base to provide a cover for control mechanisms carried by the base and serving as flow control means for utility supply conduits extending from the base. Typical such dental control units support a plurality of dental handpieces, the associated utility supply conduits and structure for controlling flow through the conduits.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,827, for example, discloses a module control block assembly to individually control drive air and air and water coolants to conduits to which dental handpieces are connected.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,452 discloses a multiple dental handpiece control system in which lifting one handpiece out of its hangar blocks supply of power and coolants to all other handpieces. Each handpiece has an individual control unit and a blockout unit. When a handpiece is lifted from its hangar, it activates a valve to cause a piston in its control unit to shift to an operating condition. Power and coolant fluid are thus supplied to that handpiece. Power to the pistons in the other control units is simultaneously blocked, thereby preventing flow of power and coolant fluids to the other handpieces.
In "Continental" style dental control units, the supply conduits extend through semi-rigid, pivoted support arms. These arms are provided to maintain separation of the conduits, to prevent tangling of the conduits and other structure and to ensure proper positioning of the handpieces on the top surface of the housing when not in use. The conduits terminate in quick release ends to which dental handpieces are attached, and provide means for supplying vacuum, water, air and various solutions to the handpieces. Each handpiece has an individual control unit and a blockout unit. When a handpiece is lifted from its hangar, it activates a valve to cause a piston in its control unit to shift to an operating condition. Power and coolant fluid are thus supplied to that handpiece. Power to the pistons in the other control units is simultaneously blocked, thereby preventing flow of power and coolant fluids to the other handpieces.
In general, the support arms of previously known "Continental" type control units have been pivotally connected to an upper rear surface of a base of a dental control unit. As so connected, they swing from the pivot connection forwardly and rearwardly with respect to the unit between a use and rest position, respectively. These support arms are conventionally referred to as "whips" or "whip arms." A conduit is passed through each whip arm. A proximal end of the conduit is connected to a flow control valve mounted on the base, inside the housing. A distal free end of the conduit carries a connector to which a dental handpiece may be attached. An intermediate portion of each conduit is passed through a whip arm. When the dental handpiece is grasped, lifted off a hangar, or top tray surface, of the housing and moved towards a patient in a dental chair, the whip arm rotates about its pivot connection and forwardly towards and over the dental control unit housing.
Dental control units having whip arms to support the conduits attached to dental handpieces have been widely accepted. However, the whip arms heretofore used have been connected at, or adjacent to, the top surface of a dental unit so that the entire pivot connection assembly is exposed to oral cavity spray. The pivot connection, if exposed to the spray, must be disinfected between use of the assembly with different patients. Currently, barrier protection is relied upon to eliminate the need for disinfection after each patient treatment, but this expedient is generally unsatisfactory. An improperly positioned barrier is ineffective. A properly positioned barrier, from the standpoint of effectiveness, tends to obstruct proper pivoting of the arms.
The conduits of currently conventional Continental units exit the housing of the dental unit before entering the whip arms. Accordingly, portions of these conduits are exposed to spray contamination. Conduits which are contaminated in this fashion are difficult to clean in compliance with modern asepsis requirements.

Dental control unit with articulated whip arms


Reference processing may be used in a video encoder or decoder to derive reference pictures that are better correlated with a source image to be encoded or decoded, which generally yields better coding efficiency. Methods for filter selection for a reference processing unit adapted for use in a video codec system are discussed. Specifically, methods for filter selection based on performing motion estimation and obtaining distortion/cost information by comparing reference pictures, either processed or non-processed, with the source image to be encoded are discussed.

Multi-layered video codecs provide, for instance, scalability in spatial and temporal resolution, bit-depth, color gamut, and quality. A number of multi-layered video codecs has been standardized by the video coding community. Among the standardized multi-layered video codecs are the Multiview Video Coding extension (MVC) and the Scalable Video Coding (SVC) extension of the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 standard. An exemplary reference that introduces the H.264 standard can be found in "Advanced video coding for generic audiovisual services", http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-H.264/e, dated March 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Optimized filter selection for reference picture processing

Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation


An information reproducing apparatus of the present invention includes a secure module and a main memory. The information in the secure module can not be accessed from outside. The secure module reads, using a direct access method, information relating to software stored in the main memory. The secure module checks a falsification of the software by comparing the information read with the information stored in advance in the secure module.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a security module, a method of and an apparatus for reproducing information, which is downloaded via the Internet or information stored in a recording medium, by adding minimum hardware to a device having an open architecture such as a personal computer.
2) Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the broadband access to the Internet has become common and the digital broadcasting over the Internet has become popular. As a result, right-protection technologies that ensure the security of the distributed contents (mainly digital audio videos (AV)) have been attracting a great deal of attention.
A personal computer (PC) is an example of open architecture. As it is possible to peep into the contents of the personal computer, it has been considered difficult to realize the security of the contents.
However, the personal computer functions as a main gateway to and from the Internet. Therefore, if the contents in the personal computer can be secured, then it will be very advantageous because it will become possible to distribute the digital AV contents over the Internet.
A major approach to securing software, which need to be protected, in the personal computer has been to make the software difficult to read.
However, software is loaded onto the main memory of the personal computer when it is executed. It is easy to copy the software from the main memory while the software is in the main memory. Once the software is copied, it can then be analyzed at leisure.
Thus, the approach of making the software difficult to read does not give full protection. Therefore, it is not a wise idea to employ this approach where high protection is required.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a conventional system. This system includes a personal computer 50 that functions as an information reproducing apparatus, a network 51, a speaker 52, a display unit 53, and an input unit 54.
The personal computer 50 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 50a, a read-only memory (ROM) 50b, a random access memory (RAM) 50c, a hard disk drive 50d, a multimedia board (MB) 50e, two interfaces (I/F) 50f and 50g, and a bus 50h. The personal computer 50 decodes encrypted information that is downloaded via the network 51 or stored in the hard disk drive 50d, and outputs the decoded information to the speaker 52 and the display unit 53.
The CPU 50a executes various processes according to a program stored in the hard disk drive 50d. The CPU 50a also controls every section of the apparatus. The ROM 50b stores data and program that the CPU 50a executes. The RAM 50c temporarily stores the data and the program corresponding to specific process while the CPU 50a executes that processes.
The hard disk drive 50d stores the data and the program that the CPU 50a executes. The MB 50e decodes encrypted audio data and video data supplied from the CPU 50a, generates the original audio signal and video signal, and outputs these signals to the speaker 52 and the display unit 53.
The I/F 50f performs protocol conversion and data format conversion at the time of transmitting and receiving information via the network 51. The I/F 50g converts the data input from the input unit 54 into data having an internal format of the personal computer 50.
The bus 50h interconnects the CPU 50a, the ROM 50b, the RAM 50c, the hard disk drive 50d, the MB 50e, the I/F 50f, and the I/F 50g. These units can transmit and receive information to and from each other via the bus 50h.
The network 51 is, for example, the Internet. The speaker 52 converts the audio signal supplied from the MB 50e into audio and outputs the audio. The display unit 53 is a cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitor or a liquid crystal monitor, for example, and displays the video. The input unit 54 includes a mouse and/or a keyboard, for example.
FIG. 8 shows information flow in the personal computer 50. The hard disk drive 50d stores a basic software, decryption keys, and encrypted contents.
The basic software is used to decrypt the cipher of the encrypted contents. This software is made difficult to read to prevent it from being decrypted by a malicious user. For example, the process of making the software difficult to read, may be performed as follows.Before the processing: X=X+Y After the processing: X=X*2+1+Y*2−1X=X/2where X and Y are variables, and * indicates multiplication.
Although the result of the calculation before the processing and the result of the calculation after the processing are the same, decrypting the algorithm becomes difficult after the processing.
The decryption keys are keys used to decrypt the cipher applied to the encrypted contents. The decryption keys are stored at a secret position and are provided with a secret scramble. This prevents the keys from being easily stolen by a malicious user.
The encrypted contents are, for example, encrypted video, audio, and computer data.
The following steps of processing are executed to reproduce the encrypted contents:                (1) The basic software is read from the hard disk drive 50d and loaded onto the RAM 50c.         (2) The basic software is stored at a secret position and the decryption keys are read from the hard disk drive 50d. The decryption keys are broken into three to five parts and stored in separate secret positions. Moreover, it is not possible to obtain the keys unless a secret calculation is successfully solved.        (3) The encrypted contents are read from the hard disk drive 50d, and the cipher is decrypted with the decryption keys.        (4) If the decrypted contents are compressed contents, they are decompressed (Motion Picture Experts Group (hereinafter, "MPEG") decompression in case of video contents), and then stored into the buffer on the RAM 50c, and are output to the MB 50e.         (5) The MB 50e executes a digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion and a graphical processing of the input contents, and outputs the obtained audio signal to the speaker 52 and the video signal to the display unit 53. Thus, the contents are regenerated.
According to the conventional system, as the basic software is loaded onto the RAM 50c of the personal computer 50, there is a risk that a malicious user can decrypt and copy the software.
Even if all the software including the basic software stored in the hard disk drive 50d are encrypted, the decryption software used to decrypt the cipher exists somewhere in the personal computer 50. Therefore, if one analyses the decryption software and finds out the positions where the decryption keys are stored, even the basic software can be analyzed and the algorithm employed to make the personal computer safe (hereinafter, "right-protection algorithm") can be discovered.
There is a need, particularly in public networks, such as the networks of the broadcasting industry, of a processing method that makes it difficult to decrypt the contents even if the right-protection algorithm is discovered. Current digital television receivers, which function mainly on hardware, employ the encryption such as MULTI2, DES (Data Encryption Standard). Although quite a few people know how these algorithms work, it is extremely difficult to decrypt the cipher of the contents unless the decryption keys are known.
The encryption keys are stored in the hardware, and an arrangement is provided such that these encryption keys can not be read by software. Further, the digital television receiver has a decrypting circuit and contents processing circuits (such as an MPEG video decompressing circuit and an MPEG audio decompressing circuit) realized as hardware. As a result, it is extremely difficult for a user to peep into the contents.
Such digital television receivers have appeared in the market. The SKYPerfecTV! (a trademark) in Japan and the DIRECTV (a trademark) in the United States are examples of systems where such digital television receiver are used.

Method of and apparatus for reproducing information, and security module


1. A pulse oscillating type solid laser unit that has a laser unit body whose exciting source is a laser diode that emits light in a principal energy absorbing spectrum of a solid laser activated media, and characterized by that prior to radiating laser light outside the laser unit body as a calibrating operation of a pulse laser output value, specified several varieties of rectangle pulse current values are conducted to a laser diode inside the pulse oscillating type solid laser unit so as to pulse-oscillate the laser unit body, a mean laser output value in each rectangle pulse current value is measured by the use of a laser output measuring instrument arranged inside the laser unit body so as to obtain a mean laser output value data, and in case that the laser output light is radiated outside the laser unit body, a pulse current value linear-predicted based on an obtained mean output value data is conducted to the laser diode so as to obtain a desired pulse laser output value.

Recent progress of a laser diode (hereinafter noted as an LD) excited solid laser unit body wherein its output and luminance are highly developed makes it possible for a laser unit to conduct a precise welding processing or a fine removal processing with high speed and high precision that used to be impossible for a conventional process unit. Then the laser unit is used for spot welding or seam welding of an electric/electronic component or applied to a surface marking or scribing processing or a drilling or cutting processing of metal, semiconductor or ceramics.
As a representative example of a conventional solid laser unit, FIG. 9 shows an arrangement of a solid laser unit that mainly comprises an LD excited pulse type Nd:YAG laser unit body wherein a laser activated media is a rod-type Nd:YAG crystal and a mean output is in a 300 W class.
The Nd:YAG crystal 1 whose rod diameter is 5 mm and whose length is 116 mm is excited by LD light 3 radiated from an LD excited unit 2 equipped with 60 bars of LDs whose mean light output is 20 W/bar and that oscillates at a central wavelength of 808 nm, light of 1.06 μm irradiated from the Nd:YAG crystal 1 is selectively amplified between a total reflection mirror 5 and an output bond mirror 6 whose reflection coefficient is 70%, each of the mirrors 5, 6 constituting a laser resonator 4 whose resonator length is 400 mm, so as to be Nd:YAG laser light 7 and then the Nd:YAG laser light 7 is radiated from the output bond mirror 6. In addition, electricity is conducted to the LD excited unit 2 by a direct current stabilized power supply 8 and the Nd:YAG crystal 1 and the LD excited unit 2 are temperature-controlled directly or through purified water supplied by a purified water cooling system 9 to keep a temperature of its peripheral portion constant in order to maintain an Nd:YAG laser output stable.
In addition, a part of the Nd:YAG laser light 7 is made to be laser light 11 for monitoring by a beam splitter 10 and permeates through a power attenuator 12 and then is introduced into a high speed power sensor 13. Other laser light 7 is gathered by incident gathering optical system 14 so as to meet a transmission condition of an optical fiber 15 for transmission whose core diameter is 0.3 mm and whose length is 10 m. The laser light radiated from the optical fiber 15 for transmission is formed or focused by radiation gathering optical system 18 so as to be in a beam shape appropriate for processing an object to be processed 17 placed on a CNC table 16 and then a required laser processing is conducted.
In this arrangement, the laser light 7 is so made that current conducted to the LD excited unit 2 from the direct current stabilized power supply 8 is feedback-controlled so as to coincide a laser output value monitored by the high speed power sensor 13 with a command laser output value.
However, a conventional arrangement wherein a PIN type Si photo diode is used as a high speed power sensor of laser light for monitoring has following defects.    (1) Since an acceptable input light level to the power sensor is on an mW level, actual Nd:YAG laser light is required to attenuate to a degree of about one hundred thousandths by the use of a high-precision power split means in combination with a high attenuating means. However, a power split rate and a power attenuating rate of an optical component used as the high-precision power split means and the high attenuating means are easily changed in its characteristics due to humidity change or dust adhered to the optical component, which makes it difficult to predict actual Nd:YAG laser output accurately from the laser output for monitoring.    (2) Since temperature anaclisis of detecting sensitivity of the high speed power sensor is large such as 0.2˜1.0%/° C., the detecting sensitivity easily varies due to change of ambient temperature. Then it is difficult for the laser unit body placed under an environment wherein ambient temperature is not constant to predict actual Nd:YAG laser light output with accuracy in a stale manner from the measured laser output for monitoring.
As a result of this, the Nd:YAG laser unit wherein the laser output value for monitoring measured by the high speed power sensor is controlled as a feedback signal could not obtain stable Nd:YAG laser output with absolute precision of not greater than 2% due to the above-mentioned problems of the high power sensor. Then a problem was developed that processing defect such as accuracy defect or strength defect was inevitable for a laser processing using the laser unit body of the above-mentioned arrangement.
In addition, it is desired for the laser process unit using this kind of the pulse oscillating type solid laser unit to avoid processing defect due to fluctuation of laser output. The following is known as this kind of a laser process unit.
As a conventional example, FIG. 10 shows an arrangement of an LD excited pulse type Nd:YAG laser process unit body whose primary purpose is a laser welding processing wherein a laser activated media is a rod-type Nd:YAG crystal 101 and a mean output is in a 300 W class.
The Nd:YAG crystal 101 whose rod diameter is 5 mm and whose length is 116 mm is excited by LD light 103 radiated from an LD excited unit 102 equipped with 60 bars of 20 W/bar LDs that oscillates at a central wavelength of 808 nm, light of 1.06 μm irradiated from the Nd:YAG crystal 101 is selectively amplified between a total reflection mirror 105 and an output bond mirror 106 whose reflection coefficient is 70%, each of the mirrors 105, 106 constituting a laser resonator 104 whose resonator length is 400 mm, so as to be Nd:YAG laser light 107 and then the Nd:YAG laser light 107 is radiated from the output bond mirror 106. In addition, the Nd:YAG crystal 101 and the LD excited unit 102 are temperature-controlled directly or through purified water supplied by a purified water cooling system 108 to keep a temperature of its peripheral portion constant in order to maintain an Nd:YAG laser output stable.
A part of the Nd:YAG laser light 107 is reflected off a beam splitter 109, taken as monitor light 110 and introduced into a monitor light output measuring instrument 111 of a thermoelectric conversion type so as to measure output and other Nd:YAG laser light 107 permeating through the beam splitter 109 incomes into the incident gathering optical system 113 with the beam shutter open and gathers to an optical fiber 114 for transmission whose core diameter is 0.3 mm and whose length is 10 m so as to be transmitted. In case that the beam shutter 112 is closed the Nd:YAG laser light 107 incomes into a laser light output measuring instrument 115 of a thermoelectric conversion type so as to measure output.
Controlling and ON/OFF switching of the Nd:YAG laser output are conducted by controlling LD current by means of the direct current stabilized power supply 116 and generally LD current that is determined from a laser output characteristics obtained before the laser light is radiated outside is conducted corresponding to a desired laser output. In addition, monitoring the output of the Nd:YAG laser light 107 is conducted by comparing an output value of the monitor light 110 and a specified value of the monitor light 110.
The laser light radiated from an optical fiber 114 is formed or focused by radiation gathering optical system 119 so as to be in a beam shape appropriate for processing an object to be processed 118 placed on a CNC table 117 and then a desired laser processing is conducted.
Since a response speed is late such as about 0.1˜3 sec for the monitor light output measuring instrument 111 of a thermoelectric conversion type with which the conventional arrangement of the process unit is equipped, it takes time as generally the same as the response speed to detect an error even though the measurement can be done with high precision. Then in case that laser oscillating operation terminates in not exceeding the time constant or during a pulse oscillating operation wherein a pulse repetition frequency is not greater than 100 Hz, mean laser output can not be measured with sufficient accuracy as shown in FIG. 11. Then radiated laser output can not be monitored during a short pulse oscillating operating period or during a pulse oscillating operation of a low frequency that is not over the above-mentioned frequency although the output of the monitor light is measured.
As a result, when the laser output drops drastically due to damage of the total reflection mirror 105 and the output bond mirror 106 constituting the laser resonator 104 because of dust or dirt attached thereto, a problem is developed such as a processing is continued without a normal laser processing because detection of an error state such as output drop is delayed or the detection is impossible.

Pulse oscillation solid-sate laser apparatus and laser machining apparatus


An image processing apparatus performs one of reading and writing of pixel data for a predetermined number of pixels at one access to a frame buffer which stores the pixel data, the frame buffer comprising a memory to which access in a page mode can be performed. A pixel buffer portion comprises a plurality of stages of pixel buffers, each thereof storing the pixel data for the predetermined number of pixels. A memory interface determines the number of pixel data which is processed successively, based on the pixel data stored in each stage of the pixel buffer, and, in accordance with the determined number of pixel data, determines the number of times of CAS, which is the number of accesses which are performed successively for the same row address in one page mode operation when data is written in the frame buffer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing device in which a DRAM is used as a frame buffer.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an image processing device in the related art. As shown in the figure, the image processing device 91 is connected to a frame buffer 93 which is formed of a DRAM (Dynamic RAM). The image processing device 91 includes an internal pixel calculating circuit 95, a pixel buffer 97 and a DRAM interface 99. The internal pixel calculating circuit 95 calculates pixel information from input data. The pixel buffer 97 cancels a difference in operation speeds between the frame buffer 93 and the internal pixel calculating circuit 95. The DRAM interface transmits data to and receives data from the frame buffer 93.
In the image processing device 91, the internal pixel calculating circuit 95 calculates the pixel information including coordinate positions, color information and so forth. The pixel information is supplied to the frame buffer 93 via the pixel buffer 97 and DRAM interface 99, and the frame buffer 93 stores the pixel information.
Recently, between the image processing device 91 and the frame buffer 93, a 64-bit-width data bus 101 is connected. Thereby, the number of pixels which can be accessed at one time increases. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the information of one dot is represented by 16 bits, 4 dots can be accessed in one time access. In the frame buffer 93 formed of the DRAM, by increasing the number of bit read/write operations which can be performed at one time in one page mode operation, it is possible to increase the number of dots which can be accessed at one time. Thus, image drawing performance can be improved. The page mode is an access mode in which, as shown in FIG. 3, a RAS (Row Address Strobe ` `, representing active-low or low-enable) signal is active while an address is changed, and, in response thereto, a CAS (Column Address Strobe) signal is repetitively active, and thus, data reading and writing can be efficiently performed. At this time, all of the row addresses of data which are successively accessed are equal to each other. Hereinafter, the number of the operations of causing thn CAS signal to be successively active in one page mode operation will be referred to as `the number of times of CAS in the page mode`.
In the image processing device 91 in the related art, the number of times of CAS in the page mode is fixed. For example, the number of times of CAS in the page mode at one time is fixed to be four. Assuming that 4 dots can be processed in one access, in a case of drawing a polygon 103 as shown in FIG. 4, when the line a-b is drawn, although only two dots of data should be written, in one page mode operation, 16 dots (4 (dots).times.4 (times)) of data is accessed. Accordingly, access to 14 dots is useless. In the image processing device 91 in the related art, because the number of access operations in one page mode operation is fixed, efficiency may be degraded in consideration of the number of dots which should be processed on a particular occasion.


A telecommunication system uses a satellite antenna showing on the horizontal plane, a sufficiently narrow radiation lobe to discriminate two adjacent satellites and showing on the vertical plane, a sufficiently narrow vertical lobe to ensure an adequate gain, but sufficiently ample to enable the reception of a certain number of satellites in adjacent orbital positions, by land stations distributed over a certain meridian arc without the necessity for antenna elevation angle variations.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention refers to telecommunication systems and it concerns in particular a satellite telecommunication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Within the sphere of telecommunications, stationary satellites cover an ever more important role, both for television connections and for all the other applications, where they are used as transponders, for example in telephone communications.
As it is known, these satellites are located at a height of approximately 36,000 km in an orbit contained in the plane passing by the terrestrial equator. At this height, the speed, which this satellite must have to keep its position in the orbit, nullifying the gravitational pull force coincides with the earth rotation speed. The final result for an observer on the Earth, is that of seeing the fixed satellite in a precise position on the horizon. The choice of the orbital position (15 ° East, 28° West etc.) is made to stay, as much as possible, over the regions on the earth surface where the television signal is to be sent. By way of example, the position of one of the Hot Bird™(13° East) satellites, used to broadcast television signals, is optimal to cover Central Europe. Similarly, orbital positions shifted westwards are used for the Americas, and orbital positions shifted eastwards for Australia.
To ensure the best quality of signals received by earth stations, satellites are equipped with antennas having a radiation pattern shaped to concentrate transmitted power towards areas to be served.
Satellite position on the celestial vault, as seen by the land station is defined by the azimuth and the elevation angles, referred to the geographic North and to the horizon plane respectively, and it obviously varies according to the geographical co-ordinates of the land station itself. In particular, moving towards the poles, the angle between the horizon and the satellite direction, is gradually reduced, while the latitude increases (both Northwards and Southwards).
For this reason, to receive signals from a stationary satellite in the regions near the Equator, it is necessary to aim the antenna almost to the zenith (should the orbital position not coincide with the zenith of the land station, this angle must be recovered by slightly tilting the antenna).
Referring to a nation like Italy and to a stationary satellite like Hot Bird (13° East), the elevation required at Bolzano is of 36.3° and at Ragusa it is of 47.1° (example of maximum and minimum latitude for Italy), with a total excursion of approximately 10 degrees. The use of antennae with a sufficiently symmetrical radiation diagram with respect to the axis, entails therefore the necessity of having to set, at the time of the installation, both the elevation and the azimuth. This is currently performed at the installation of antennae, such as parabolas, both at a position that is fixed or a position that can be remote-controlled by means of mechanical positioning, see by way of example Patent EP0838876 application, or electronic controlled antennae at array with scanning beam, see by way of example U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,827.
Were it is possible to manage just the azimuth angle, installation operation would be simpler, and hence cheaper, and it would be possible to aim at different satellites without changing the elevation.

Antenna for communication with a satellite


A differential assembly which includes a differential housing is disclosed. The differential housing defines an internal component chamber, a fluid housing inlet, and a fluid housing outlet. The differential assembly also includes a spider structure positioned within the internal component chamber. The spider structure has (i) a spider hub and (ii) a spider shaft which extends from the spider hub. The differential assembly further includes a pinion gear positioned within the internal component chamber and around the spider shaft. The differential assembly also includes a bearing assembly positioned within the internal component chamber. The bearing assembly is interposed between the pinion gear and the spider shaft, wherein (i) the spider structure has a fluid spider channel having a fluid spider inlet and a fluid spider outlet, (ii) the fluid housing inlet is in fluid communication with the fluid spider inlet, and (iii) the fluid spider outlet is in fluid communication with the fluid housing outlet. The differential assembly also includes a fluid pump which advances a flow of oil through the fluid housing inlet, the fluid spider inlet, the fluid spider outlet, and the fluid housing outlet.

Work machines, such as mining trucks, typically include a left axle, a right axle, and a differential assembly which mechanically couples the right and left axle. The differential assembly allows the right and left axles to rotate at different speeds relative to one another as the work machine is driven in a curved path.
The differential assembly includes a number of components such as side gears, pinion gears, and bearing assemblies which are contained within a housing. The housing is mounted on a pair of exterior bearing assemblies which allow the housing to rotate when the differential assembly is utilized, i.e. when the work machine is driven in a curved path.
Adequate lubrication of the aforementioned components (e.g. the bearing assemblies) is an important factor in maintaining the proper operation of the differential assembly. Typically, "splash lubrication" is utilized to lubricate the components of the differential assembly. "Splash lubrication" involves transferring oil from a static oil bath located on the exterior of the housing into the interior of the housing through channels defined in the side walls of the housing. Specifically, as the housing is rotated, a portion thereof is dipped into the static oil bath. As the housing is dipped into the static oil bath, oil is transferred therefrom into the interior of the housing via the channels defined in the side walls of the housing. Once located within the housing the oil can lubricate and cool the components contained therein.
Components located exterior to the housing are also typically lubricated with "splash lubrication". However, in some situations "splash lubrication" will not adequately lubricate these components. In these situations a lube jet is typically located adjacent to the component to be lubricated. These lube jets spray oil onto the component thereby lubricating the same.
A problem with the above described arrangement is that under certain conditions the rotation of the housing generates enough centrifugal force such that oil is forced from the interior of the housing, through the channels, and back into the static oil bath. Therefore, under these conditions, the components contained within the housing are essentially being run without any lubrication. Running the components without lubrication is detrimental to the differential assembly. Another problem with the above described arrangement is that positioning stationary lube jets adjacent to various components exterior to housing is difficult and costly and thus adds to the manufacturing costs of the work machine.
What is needed therefore an arrangement for lubricating a differential assembly of a work machine which overcomes one or more of the above-mentioned drawbacks.

Arrangement for lubricating a differential assembly of a work machine


A probe apparatus is provided with a plurality of probe tiles, an interchangeable plate for receiving the probe tiles, a floating plate being disposed between the respective probe tile and a receiving hole on the interchangeable plate, and a control mechanism providing multi-dimensional freedom of motions to control a position of the probe tile relative to the respective receiving hole of the interchangeable plate. A method of controlling the floating plate is also provided by inserting a pair of joysticks into two respective adjustment holes disposed on the floating plate and moving the pair of joysticks to provide translational motions (X-Y) and rotational (theta) motion of the floating plate, and turning the pair of jack screws clockwise and counter-clockwise to provide a translational motion (Z) and two rotational (pitch and roll) motions of the floating plate.

The semiconductor industry has a need to access many electronic devices on a semiconductor wafer. As the semiconductor industry grows and devices become more complex, many electrical devices, most commonly semiconductor devices, must be electrically tested, for example, for leakage currents and extremely low operating currents. These currents are often below 100 fA. In addition, the currents and device characteristics are often required to be evaluated over a wide temperature range to understand how temperature affects a device, thereby having controllable device characteristics. To effectively measure at currents below 100 fA, a measurement signal must be isolated from external electrical interference, leakage currents through the dielectric material, parasitic capacitance, triboelectric noise, piezoelectric noise, and dielectric absorption, etc.
Additionally, due to the wide variety of die pitches (referring to the spacing between adjacent devices on a die/wafer or the corresponding spacing between adjacent probe tiles on a base plate), users need the flexibility of reusing probe tiles in a variety of base plates. These base plates match different die pitches. Die pitch relates to the size of a die. The size of a die pitch may vary, for example, from 10 mm2 to 30 mm2, etc. Further, the shape of a die pitch may vary as well, for example, a rectangular shape, a square shape, etc.
At present, semiconductor test equipment is designed such that a user has to use different probe tiles (or sometimes referring to as "probe cards") if the size or shape of die pitches on a die/wafer is different.
Thus, it is desirable to have a probe apparatus that allows the flexibility of reusing probe tiles. Further, it is desired that external electrical interference, leakage currents through the dielectric material, parasitic capacitance, triboelectric noise, piezoelectric noise, and dielectric absorption are significantly reduced or eliminated.

Replaceable probe apparatus for probing semiconductor wafer


There can be performed the best power-generation control without enlarging the apparatus, deteriorating the reliability, and raising the cost. The power-generation control apparatus is provided with a power-generation amount suppression determination unit that determines whether or not to change a power-generation amount suppression level for suppressing the power-generation amount of the in-vehicle electric rotating machine, based on a present generation-voltage command value generated by a generated-voltage command unit and a generated-voltage past command value based on a past generated-voltage command value stored in a generated-voltage command storage unit, and that determines whether or not the power-generation amount suppression control is required, based on at least one of a past value and a present value of the generated-voltage command; therefore, there can be performed the best power-generation control without enlarging the apparatus, deteriorating the reliability, and raising the cost.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power-generation control apparatus that controls power-generation operation of an in-vehicle electric rotating machine mounted in a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
To date, an electric power generator that serves as an in-vehicle electric rotating machine mounted in a vehicle such as an automobile has been controlled by a voltage adjuster (regulator) in such a way that the generated voltage becomes constant regardless of the condition of the vehicle. However, in recent years, there has been employed a technology that variably controls a voltage to be generated by an electric power generator, in accordance with the traveling condition of a vehicle, the conditions of electric loads, the condition of a battery, or the like, in order to protect the environment, to improve the gasoline mileage, to raise the drivability, or the like. According to the foregoing technology, for example, the power-generation control is performed in such a way that, when a vehicle is accelerated, an in-bound power generation voltage command value for an electric power generator is set to a low value so that load torque for the engine is reduced, and when the vehicle is decelerated or when the accelerator pedal is released, the voltage to be generated is sharply raised so that the power generation is actively performed.
On the other hand, a widely spread gasoline engine is very powerless in a low rotation speed region and is characterized in that the torque responsiveness thereof is considerably low, compared to the responsiveness of the power-generation torque of the electric power generator mounted in the engine. Accordingly, in order to stabilize the rotation of the engine, there has been performed a so-called load-responsive control in which, even in the case where the electric load on the electric power generator drastically increases, the output of the electric power generator is raised not drastically but gradually.
Moreover, as an in-vehicle power generator control apparatus for controlling the output voltage of an in-vehicle power generator that charges a battery, there has been proposed a power-generation control apparatus (e.g., refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-315221) in which there are included a duty ratio detection means that detects the duty ratio of a pulse signal as a command signal inputted from an external control apparatus, a load-responsive control means that suppresses increase in the magnetic-field current of the in-vehicle power generator, and a nullification control means that nullifies the operation of the load-responsive control means when a duty ratio detected by the duty ratio detection means falls within a predetermined range; by making the external control apparatus set the duty ratio of the pulse signal to a value within the predetermined range, it is determined whether or not the load-responsive control is required, and then by concurrently utilizing generated-voltage control and the load-responsive control in such a way that these controls compensate their shortcomings each other, the stabilization of the rotation of the engine and reduction of fuel costs are achieved.
A power-generation control apparatus, for an electric rotating machine, that performs suppression control of a power-generation amount through conventional load-responsive control operates even in a rapid power-generation period, such as a vehicle-speed deceleration period, during which electric power is actively generated; therefore, there has been a problem that a sufficient power-generation amount cannot be secured in a short-time rapid power-generation period. In the case of the conventional power-generation control apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-315221, by regarding, as a rapid-charging required period, only the period during which the duty ratio as a present generated-voltage command is within the predetermined range, a power-generation amount suppression means is nullified. Accordingly, in a period during which the duty ratio is not within the predetermined range, the power-generation amount suppression means cannot be nullified; therefore, there has been a problem that fine control, of the power-generation amount, which complies with demands cannot be performed.

Power-generation control apparatus for in-vehicle electric rotating machine


A self-cooling transcutaneous energy transfer system is provided for transmitting power to an implantable medical device, such as a defibrillator. The system includes a housing that is supported above the human body by a base so as to define a space between the housing and the body. A primary induction coil is disposed within the housing for transferring electromagnetic energy to the implantable medical device. A cooling fan is attached to the housing for providing forced convective heat transfer from the body. Various power and control circuitry are provided. The system can transfer away heat generated by eddy currents induced in the implantable device by the magnetic flux produced by the induction coil.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to recharging systems for implantable medical devices, and more particularly to an external recharging system with forced convection cooling for a battery powered implantable medical device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many types of implantable medical devices rely on an internal battery pack for primary or backup electrical power. Ventricular assist devices, implantable infusion pumps, pacemakers, and defibrillators represent just a few examples of such devices. Early implantable devices used disposable storage cells almost exclusively, although rechargeable storage cells have also been used in some devices for several years.
Early pacemakers were powered by primary zinc-mercuric oxide cells. Although this system was used for about 15 years, high self-discharge and hydrogen gas evolution presented problems. Furthermore, since these early cells operated at a voltage of 1.5 V, several cells had to be connected in series to obtain the required voltage for pacing.
Over the years, designers have considered many alternative means of power generation and power storage, including primary chemical batteries of all sorts, nuclear batteries, and rechargeable batteries. Consideration was also given to separating the cardiac stimulator system into two parts, a power pack located outside the body that transmits pulses of energy to a passive implanted receiver and a lead. Cardiac pacemakers based on rechargeable nickel-cadmium systems (1.2 V per cell) and rechargeable zinc-mercuric oxide systems (1.5 V per cell) were developed. Although commonly incorporated into many cardiac pacemakers, these systems were unpopular among patients and physicians primarily because the frequency of the recharges was too high (weekly), and the nickel-cadmium system suffered from memory effects which reduced the battery capacity exponentially after each recharge. In addition, the specific energy density of both types of rechargeable batteries was poor, the cell voltages were low, there was no clear state-of-charge indication, and hydrogen gas liberated during overcharge was not properly scavenged either through a recombination reaction or hydrogen getters.
Many present day cardiac pacemakers use non-rechargeable batteries based on a lithium-iodine chemistry. These cells are low current drain devices with a very high energy density and thus can provide a substantial amount of electrical power from a relatively compact sized cell. In addition, lithium-iodine cells are generally not plagued by hydrogen gas evolution. Thus, the housing or can used to enclose the particular implantable device may be hermetically sealed.
Other cardiac stimulators, such as an implantable cardioverter/defibrillator, require higher output currents than lithium-iodine batteries can supply. Such devices typically use a different type of lithium battery employing lithium-silver vanadium oxide chemistry that still functions as a primary battery. Depending upon the severity of the patient's arrhythmia, these implantable defibrillator batteries may last from eighteen months to up to seven years.
Various schemes, such as the use of larger cells and/or the exclusion of collateral or otherwise optional circuitry have been used over the years to lengthen the life of non-rechargeable cells and thus temporarily delay the attendant risks, discomforts, and cost of surgical excision. Larger cell sizes generally yield longer cell life, but also increase the size of the can enclosing the implantable device. Reducing the power consumption of the circuitry in the implantable devices may yield a longer life span for the cell, but will also typically require elimination of collateral circuitry and/or other structure in the implantable device that may provide useful, though not necessarily medically critical functions.
Despite the size and reliability advantages associated with nonrechargeable batteries, there remain several disadvantages associated with these devices. A non-rechargeable cell will, by definition, become depleted within a finite period of time following implantation. Replacement of a depleted non-rechargeable cell requires surgical excision of the entire implantable device.
It is anticipated that future implantable defibrillators will incorporate features such as longer waveform storage, dual chamber pacing, extra sensors, digital signal processing, a combination of defibrillation and drug infusion, among others, all of which will consume extra energy that will reduce the longevity of the storage cell even further. A rechargeable battery that stores adequate energy before recharge would be ideal in such circumstances. Present day advanced rechargeable lithium batteries do not suffer from the same problems as nickel-cadmium or zinc-mercuric oxide batteries. Today's lithium rechargeables have higher voltage and current drain capabilities, and higher capacities with no memory effects. Experiment has shown that these newer batteries require recharge only every 6-12 months, which often coincides with a patient's schedule for routine follow-up medical appointments.
Regardless of the particular chemistry utilized for the rechargeable cell, a recharging system is required to recharge the battery. One such system involves transcutaneous energy transmission. Generally, in a transcutaneous energy transmission system, the implantable medical device is provided with a charging circuit to which energy is transferred by electromagnetic induction. An appliance is placed on or over the skin proximate the implanted device. The appliance is provided with a primary coil. An alternating current in the primary coil induces an alternating current in the charging circuit within the implantable device. The induced alternating current is typically rectified and regulated to provide a direct current for charging the rechargeable cell.
As with nearly all magnetic induction systems, transcutaneous energy transmission gives rise to eddy currents in the housing and various metallic components of the implantable device. The alternating magnetic flux generated by the primary coil not only induces a charging current in the charging circuit of the implantable device, but also induces eddy currents in the device can and various metallic components. The magnitude of the induced eddy currents is a function of the frequency and magnitude of the magnetic flux. An undesirable byproduct of the creation of eddy currents in implantable devices is a temperature increase in the components in which the eddy currents are flowing. The magnitude of the temperature increase in the implantable device is a function of the magnitudes of the eddy currents and the resistances of the components carrying the eddy currents, as well as the total energy transferred during the recharging operation.
Most implantable devices are surrounded by adipose, vascular, and muscular tissues. While it is desirable for heat built up in the implantable device to conduct away through these tissues, implantable device temperatures exceeding certain limits may injure or permanently damage those tissues. The ability of human tissue to withstand hyperthermic conditions is governed by a complex set of factors including the type of tissue involved, the temperature, and the duration of exposure. Although there is no clear cut clinical consensus on the maximum temperature that human tissue can withstand on either an acute or chronic basis without damage, there appears to be a correlation between tissue damage and temperatures above 42.degree. C.
The thermal management of early pacemaker designs seldom required specialized design or unusual charging techniques. Those early designs incorporated relatively small storage cells that required low power levels necessary for recharging. Therefore, those conventional pacemaker designs required more frequent charging, (perhaps weekly), and thus only a relatively small amount of total energy transferred for each charging session. More modern, and high energy consumption systems, such as defibrillators, require a higher transfer of total energy for a given charging. This is due to the higher energy storage requirements of defibrillators as well as the design goal of producing storage cells that require less frequent recharging. Some designs may require recharging every six months. However, each charging session may last two hours or more.
Thermal management for the more powerful rechargeable lithium cell systems has become a matter of concern for designers of new implantable medical devices. Various schemes for heat abatement have been tried with mixed results. Cold packs topically applied to the bare skin transfer heat away by conduction. However, patient comfort is compromised since the icy cold packs must be left on the skin for up to two hours. Two other proposed solutions involve attempts to limit the amount of heat generated rather than transferring the heat that is generated. In one, circuitry is incorporated into the implantable device to manage the charging protocol of the storage cell. The circuitry is complex, consumes space within the device's housing and adds cost to the device. The other proposed solution involves fabricating the device can out of a material that is less conductive and prone to eddy current propagation. However, the available class of biocompatible metallic materials is narrow. No one of those materials exhibits a significantly lower conductivity than the others.
The present invention is directed to overcoming or reducing one or more of the foregoing disadvantages.

Self-cooling transcutaneous energy transfer system for battery powered implantable device


This device is for additional elevator equipment and may, among other things, be used for elevators in hotels, business and exhibition centers, retail complexes, etc. This device for monitoring exteriors of elevator-equipped buildings includes a number of video cameras positioned on the outer wall along the vertical span of the building, a display screen in the elevator car, a controller, an elevator position indicator and a multiplexer. Controller output is fed directly into the monitor. The output socket of the multiplexer is connected to the first input socket of the controller whose second input socket is connected to the output socket of the elevator position indicator. The device contains at least one set of additional video cameras positioned outside the building, at different heights elsewhere on the premises. Feed cables from the first, second . . . nth video cameras installed on the outer wall of the building are connected, respectively, to the 1st, 2nd . . . nth input sockets of a commutation switch; feed cables from the 1st, 2nd, . . . lnth additional cameras are connected, respectively, to the 11th, 12th, . . . lnth input sockets of the commutation switch, whose output socket is connected to the input socket of a multiplexer. In this fashion, the exterior of the building where the elevator is located can be monitored through cameras installed at a distance from the building itself.

There already exists a device (JP 7081858) that displays different information for elevator passengers, such as date, weather, day of the week and season, and may be used for virtual monitoring of the building's exterior.
This device contains an information generator and an internal monitoring device inside the elevator car.
The drawback of this device is its inability to display the exterior of the building where the elevator is located in real time.
There is yet another well-known device (JP 11079580) for monitoring the exterior of elevator-equipped buildings. It includes one video camera positioned outside the building, a controller, a display screen in the elevator car and an elevator position indicator. Controller output is fed directly into the monitor.
The video camera is attached to the outer wall of the building at mid-floor, so that the camera's lens could move vertically and sideways to allow for monitoring of the building's exterior from the first floor to the top floor.
The drawback of this device is that a single camera (rather than multiple cameras at different floors) installed at a fixed location (in this case, at mid-height of the building) will produce a distorted image on the display as the elevator moves up or down.
Besides, any mechanical devices on the outer wall of the building (the device for moving the lens or the entire video camera) must be maintained against the elements (lubrication, spare part replacement, etc.).
There is yet another well-known device (RU 55756 U1) for monitoring exteriors of elevator-equipped buildings. It includes a video camera positioned outside the building, a display screen in the elevator car, a controller and an elevator position indicator. Controller output is fed directly into the monitor. The device contains one or more additional video cameras positioned along the vertical span of the building and a multiplexer. Feed cables from the cameras are connected, respectively, to the 1st, 2nd, . . . nth input sockets of the multiplexer, which is in turn connected to the first input socket of the controller; the output socket of the elevator position indicator is connected to the second input socket of the controller.
This device is based on the above design.
Using this device, one can monitor the building's exterior from inside the elevator, with video signal being fed in from fixed observation points alongside the vertical span of the building.
However, this device does not allow for monitoring video feeds from observation points located at a distance from the building where the elevator is located.

Device for displaying the situation outside a building with a lift


A method, a system, and network elements for transmitting information between a user equipment and an IP packet gateway, are disclosed, the IP packet gateway communicating with an IP network via an interface, wherein, when the UE is requesting at least one service requiring access to the IP network, authorization of the requested service is checked, wherein an error message is sent from the IP packet gateway to the user equipment, when the requested service is not authorized. The present invention discloses several options of signaling error messages between IP packet gateway and UE, for example, via IP layer signaling (e.g. RESV ERR messages) or link layer signaling (e.g. IS2000 and IOS signaling). The solution according to the present invention, in particular, relates to a CDMA network in connection with an IP multimedia subsystem network.

In recent years, both the amount of required communications as well as the requirements on communications increased significantly. In particular, mobile communications systems such as Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) and packet data networks such as the Internet are concerned with this development. As an example, packet-switched mobile communication systems such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks have been introduced.
It is to be noted that many of the aspects discussed in the following relating to CDMA networks are only intended to be illustrative and exemplary for all kinds of comparable Third Generation (3G) networks, e.g. Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS).
An IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) provides for handling multimedia applications (e.g. still and moving images).
After an establishment of a session between e.g. a user equipment and a network element, a policy often has to be defined for the established communication session. A session can be understood as a logical/virtual connection and is to be established in the beginning of user activity. Such policy specifies communication requirements related to the respective session, e.g. the required quality of service (QoS) for the data packets to be transmitted, or required security aspects. Usually, specialized functions and/or network elements are provided for policy-related purposes.
Errors occurring during policy control are usually handled by network elements. For this purpose, predetermined error codes may be used in order to identify the type of error and to choose a procedure for handling it.

Method, system, and devices for transmitting information between a user equipment and an IP packet gateway


A structure and associated method for forming a structure. The structure comprises a first doped region, a second doped region, a third doped region, and a first shallow trench isolation structure formed within a substrate. The first doped region comprises a first dopant having a first polarity. The second doped region forms a first electrode of a capacitor. The third doped region forms a second electrode of the capacitor. Each of the second doped region and the third doped region comprises a second dopant having a second polarity. The first shallow trench isolation structure is formed between the second doped region and the third doped region. The capacitor comprises a main capacitance. The structure comprises a first parasitic capacitance and a second parasitic capacitance. The first parasitic capacitance is about equal to the second parasitic capacitance.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device comprising a symmetric capacitor structure.
2. Related Art
A device within an electrical structure typically does not comprise terminals extending from the device that comprise equivalent electrical properties. Terminals that do not comprise equivalent electrical properties may cause other devices within the electrical structure to operate inefficiently. Thus, there is a need for a structure and associated method for forming an electrical structure with terminals comprising equivalent electrical properties.

Method for symmetric capacitor formation