To achieve a secure and fast handover in a distributed mobile communication environment (10), the control functionality is lying at the borderline between wireless and wire-bound communication network elements, and it is proposed to, firstly, execute a mutual authentication between a mobile device (26) and a new access point (14) using security context information previously transmitted to the new access point. Then, after successful mutual authentication, a handover will be executed from the current access point (12) to the new access point (14).

Future generation mobile communication networks will have a control intelligence distributed to the edge between wireless and wireline infrastructure elements. Thus, distribution of intelligence to the edge of the mobile communication environment will be referred to as distributed mobile communication environment in the following. While in the following reference will be made to specific examples of such distributed mobile communication environments, it should be clear that any type of distributed mobile communication environment, e.g., GSM, UMTS/EMT2000, PDC, AMPS, DAMPS, IF-95, WLAN, . . . , and any hybrid form thereof, is well considered as covered by the technical teachings to be explained in the following.
Today, problems arise, e.g., for intra-domain handover, i.e. a handover between access points and/or base stations of the same mobile communication environment. In particular, existing solutions do not allow for a fast and at the same time authenticated handover between a first network access point and a second network access point in support of a fast, secure, and seamless handover. Actually, this is a big problem for future generation mobile communications using distributed networks.
An existing solution is known from IEEE 802.11f, IEEE, Draft Recommended Practice for Multi-Vendor Access Point Interoperability via an Inter-Access Point Protocol Across Distribution Systems Supporting IEEE 802.11 Operation, IEEE 802.11f, January 2003, which provides a solution for fast handover within a single domain of a mobile communication environment using context information and caching of context information at access points. Typically, access points are in a so-called neighbourhood relation graph of a currently activated access point AP, also referred to as multicast domain of the current access point. While this standard provides a solution for secure transfer of context information to a new access point, it does nevertheless not define what a context information should actually contain. Further, the standard IEEE 802.11f does not define how mutual authentication should take place at the new access point.
Further, the standard IEEE 802.11i, Medium Access Control Security Enhancements, IEEE 802.11i, September 2003, discusses a solution for pre-authentication, however, without support of fast handover. The pre-authentication is basically achieved by a mobile station roaming in the mobile communication environment using a key in a cache to identify itself to a current access point. Here, the current access point checks with the old access point. The key is derived from a master key which is stored with an authentication server, also referred to AAA server, and the mobile device. The authentication server sends a derived authentication key to an access point.
While fast handover security is under consideration in IEEE 802.11i, there is nothing decided yet. While a keying mechanism and fast handover solution are proposed, the described approach is used for the authentication server for roaming, see N. Cam-Winget et al., Keying for Fast Roaming, IEEE 802.11-02/241r2, May 2003. The authentication server derives a roaming key for each access point and sends it to the access point, and the mobile device also derives the roaming key and therefore the two can authenticate each other. Therefore, the approach described in IEEE 802.11i is certainly not suitable for fast roaming, in particular when there is a lot of traffic in the backbone network and the access server is located far away from the access point or equivalently hotspot. Still further, this standard IEEE 802.11i does not discuss about context transfer.
In conclusion, the approaches proposed by IEEE bodies are still at preliminary stages, and nothing is defined on fast handover. Also security issues during handover are mainly left aside, while IEEE LinkSec http://grouper.ieee.orq/groups/802/linksec// is working towards a common security solution for IEEE devices. Here, the attention is mainly towards wired communication.
Therefore, what is also missing is a solution for inter-domain handover, i.e. handover between distributed wireless communication environments operated by different stakeholders and a solution for efficient re-authentication during handover.
The same also applies to 3G standardization proposals. According to 3GPP Technical Specification 33.102, 3Gsecurity; Security Architecture, V5.1.0, December 2002. There is proposed a procedure of context transfer in UMTS and GSM wireless communication networks. However, what is not discussed is the issue of sending context information with different stakeholders and technologies spread out over different wireless communication networks.
Another proposal, B. Aboba, and T. Moore, A Model for Context Transfer in IEEE 802, Internet Draft, expired, draft-aboba-802-context-02.txt, April 2002, and IETF Seamoby W G: http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/seamoby-charter.html, is related to IETF Seamoby WG and working towards seamless mobility solutions. Here, the draft on context transfer requirements <draft-ietf-seamoby-ct-reqs-o5.txt> has a requirement which states that context information transfer should be based on priority. However, it is not discussed how to prioritize context information. Further, <draft-ietf-seamoby-ctp-reqs-o1.txt> defines a context information transfer protocol for the IP layer. Nevertheless, this protocol does not relate to distributed mobile communication environment and inter-domain handover and it does also not discuss issues related to re-authentication and mutual authentication during handover, in particular with respect to different stakeholders.
Yet another proposal is IST Moby Dick aiming at solutions for fast and seamless handover between different access technologies. Here, most of the proposed handover technologies do not focus on security issues while at the same time aiming at providing fast handover, Hasan, J. Jähnert, S. Zander, and B. Stiller, Authentication, Authorization, Accounting, and Charging for the Mobile Internet, TIK-Report No. 114, version 1, June 2001.
Yet another approach to handover between heterogeneous mobile communication environments has been discussed in H. Wang, and A. R. Prasad, Security Context Transfer in Vertical Handover, in Proc. Of the 14th International Symposium on Personal, Indoor, Mobile Radio Communication (PIMRC 2003), Beijing, China, September 2003, but also this approach does not discuss fast and simultaneously secured handover for a distributed mobile communication environment in the sense outlined in the following.


A method of printing with phase change ink on an ink jet printer that contains multiple levels of black gray scale ink and a clear or slightly tinted wax ink base and which is applied to the roughened surface of an adhesion promoting coating applied to a transparent substrate is disclosed. The adhesion promoting coating has a surface roughness of greater than about 0.5 micrometers and contains a binder and an inorganic particulate material.

Solid or phase change inks that are solid at ambient temperatures and liquid at elevated operating temperatures employed in ink jet printers have been utilized for an extended period of time. These printers eject liquid phase ink droplets from the print head at an elevated operating temperature. The droplets solidify quickly upon contact with the surface of the receiving substrate to form a predetermined pattern.
Among the advantages of solid ink is the fact that it remains in a solid phase at room temperature during shipping and long-term storage. Problems with clogging in the print head are largely eliminated, or are less prevalent than occur with aqueous based ink jet print heads. The rapid solidification or hardening of the ink drops upon striking the receiving substrates permits high quality images to be printed on a wide variety of printing media.
It is known that printed images formed from deformation of solid inks on receiving substrates during or following the printing process is possible. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,420 to Gerstenmaier discloses a solid ink that is ejected onto a receiving substrate and subsequently spread by the application of pressure to increase the coverage and minimize the volume of ink required. This has been used in direct solid ink printing. Deformation of solid ink drops also has occurred in direct printing as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,235 to Rise, where a high pressure nip defined by a pair of rollers applies pressure to cold fuse solid ink drops to receiving substrates.
An indirect printing process has been successfully employed with solid ink drops to apply droplets of solid ink in a liquid phase in a predetermined pattern by a print head to a liquid intermediate transfer that is supported by a solid support surface, and then transfer the solid ink after it hardens from the liquid intermediate transfer surface to a final receiving surface. Some deformation of the ink drops occur in the transfer process, as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,852 to Titterington et al.
Solid ink printing on transparencies has its resolution of the final printed image affected by the amount of light transmitted through the base media, any coatings on the media and the ink itself. Transparency materials can have an increased dynamic range, which is the difference between the maximum and minimum density, when compared with reflection hard copy materials such as paper. In order to achieve improved transmissivity, the lowest density materials must transmit as much light as possible. To accomplish this, the base media has as few components as possible so that the scattering of light passing through the media is minimized and the maximum amount of light can be transmitted rectilinearly through the medium. Use of solid or phase change ink in ink jet printers to make transparencies is known as evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,801,473; 4,889,761; and 4,853,706.
In addition to creating transparencies with rectilinear light transmission, solid ink printer manufacturers have had to ensure that the ink has strong adherence to the base material. Various adhesions promoting coating have been applied to transparency basis to improve the adhesion of the solid ink to the media. These coatings are typically rough-textured on their exposed surface to create more bonding sites for the solid ink upon solidification. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,992,304 and 5,110,665 address the use of adhesion promoting coatings on transparent substrates.
With the recent innovation of using solid ink to perform medical diagnostic imaging using multiple gray scale levels of black ink, there has been increased attention to creating a compatible adhesion promoting coating with the standard Mylar film used in x-ray medical diagnostic imaging employing silver halide. In addressing the problem of creating maximum transmittance of light to achieve the necessary contrast and imaging quality on the transparencies when they are viewed on a light box, it was anticipated from prior experience that the highest transmittance would be where there was an absence of printed ink, or what has been called "white space." The only materials through which light would pass in these non-imaged areas would be through the transparent media and the compatible adhesion promoting coating. Surprisingly, however, it was discovered that the rough surface of the coating itself caused light to scatter and thus not pass rectilinearly through the combined substrate adhesion promoting coating on the surface to thereby decrease the amount of light transmitted to an unacceptable level. The deflected light in the "white" areas was bent and scattered into adjacent imaged areas with the ink further reducing the quality of the image and image contrast.
These problems are solved in the present invention by the use of a clear or slightly tinted or colored wax base that is applied over the adhesion promoting coating adjacent to the imaged areas in what would have been the unoccupied or "white" space. The clear or slightly tinted wax base has a refractive index that is substantially the same as the refractive index of the adhesion promoting coating and thereby prevents the scattering of light rays that would have occurred as the light passed from the transparent substrate through the adhesion promoting coating. The light rays pass in a generally rectilinearly path through the media substrate, the adhesion promoting coating, and the clear or slightly gray wax base.

Method to improve solid ink output resolution


A system to determine, from inertial reference apparatus and from GPS receiver apparatus, acceleration signals along a predetermined axis to determine the failure of a GPS satellite signal by comparison of the acceleration signals and to monitor newly acquired GPS satellite signals to determine if a satellite drift was present prior to acquisition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to aircraft navigation and more particularly to a system employing a Global Positioning System(GPS) and an Inertial Reference System (IRS) to allow for an early determination of when a satellite signal becomes undependable and when a newly acquired satellite signal is undependable.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, GPS systems have been used to determine aircraft position by receiving signals from a plurality of satellites. The signals each have information as to the position of the satellites and the time of transmission so that the GPS receiver, on the aircraft, can calculate its own position. Since there are four variables (position in 3 axes and time), signals from at least 4 satellites are necessary for a determination of receiver position. If there are at least five satellites having good geometry each subset of four signals can be used for positioning and they can be compared with each other to determine if one of the signals is in error (Fail safe). If there are at least six satellites in view, then, when there is a faulty signal, it is possible to use the groupings to determine which signal is in error (Fail operational). This procedure has heretofore been accomplished with a system identified as RAIM (Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitor)which is described in a Honeywell Inc. article titled "Implementation of a RAIM Monitor in a GPS Receiver and an Integrated GPS/IRS" found in a publication entitled Global Positioning System Volume V published by the Institute of Navigation, Alexandria Va.
Since RAIM cannot detect an erroneous satellite signal with only four satellites or identify which signal is in error with only five satellites, the pilot cannot rely on the position information he receives in these situations and the GPS input must be disregarded. Accordingly, a need has arisen to provide a system which can produce a reliable output when only four satellites are in view.
In a patent application entitled "Navigation System with Solution Separation Apparatus for Detecting Accuracy Failure" Ser. No. 08/712,232, filed Sep. 11, 1996 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, one solution to this problem is disclosed. More particularly, that application discloses an integrity monitor and positioning algorithm which receives signals from a plurality of remote transmitters, detects failures and determines a protection limit (i.e. the furthest statistical distance by which the position determined by the apparatus will have an almost certain probability of being bounded in a situation where one satellite is in error). This positioning algorithm preferably uses Kalman filtering techniques and incorporates inertial reference data therein to enhance the detection capability. While this system allows confident use of signals from four satellites for a limited time, the protection limit provided by the Kalman filter bank will sometimes exceed the required protection for the most stringent phases of flight (non- precision approach and terminal area navigation) and is therefore not sufficiently available. Furthermore, the bank of Kalman filters is computationally expensive and complex to implement in other equipment than the inertial reference unit. Therefore, a need has arisen for a system which is less complex and expensive, which can more readily be incorporated into equipment of suppliers and which can detect satellite signal errors at an early point in the operation.


A proxy which is part of a firewall program controls exchanges of information between two application entities. The proxy interrogates attempts to establish a communication session by requesting entities with a server entity in lower layers in accordance with defined authentication procedures. The proxy interfaces with networking software to direct a communication stack to monitor connection requests to any address on specific ports. The requestor's address, and the server's address are checked against an access control list. If either address is invalid, the proxy closes the connection. If both are valid, a new connection is setup such that both the requestor and server are transparently connected to the proxy with variable higher levels being connected in a relay mode. Protocol data units are interrogated for conformance to a protocol session, and optionally further decoded to add additional application specific filtering. In one embodiment, an OSI architecture comprises the levels.

Networks connect many computers together allowing them to exchange data via communications lines. Several standards defining how such data exchanges should occur have been developed and implemented to ensure that computers and computer programs use the same protocols can successfully exchange data. One of the problems associated with the ability to exchange data is ensuring that a requestor entity, such as a user on a network is authorized to access data in a server entity, such as another computer.
Firewalls are devices, such as programs or separate computer systems which were introduced in order to address the security problems associated with connecting a once private network such as a local area network connecting computers in an office, to an "Internet", where the data transmissions are open to eavesdropping, and the potential exists for "hostile" outsiders to disrupt network service or tamper with or attack systems residing on the private network.
There are a number of different classes of firewalls, each designed to address different types of security concerns. In spite of the different approaches, all firewalls perform a function known as "relaying", where Protocol Data Units (PDUs) are received by the firewall from a sending application entity and forwarded to a receiving application entity, possibly with some modifications to the original PDU. Since firewalls are designed to enforce a security policy, some information, or context, must be extracted from the PDUs and subjected to a set of rules. Based on the outcome of the rules check, the firewall performs an action; the PDU is either relayed, modified and relayed, or rejected in some fashion. The precise action is chosen by the designer of the firewall in order to affect the behavior of the system such that the security policy is satisfied. The action is of course subject to the constraints of the protocol the firewall is designed to support.
One suite of protocols used by application entities to exchange data is called Open Systems Interconnect (OSI). OSI Applications are built on the notion of a 7 layer model. Starting at the top, layer 7 is referred to as the application layer, layer 6 is the presentation layer, 5 is session, 4 is transport, 3 is network, 2 is data link and 1 is physical. Starting at the bottom and working up, the physical layer handles the transmission of bits over a communications medium such as a telephone line. The data link layer collects the bits into a group of bits called a frame. The network layer routes the frames between nodes in the network, but calls the frames packets of data. These three lower layers are implemented by communication devices, including switches in the network. The transport layer treats the packets as messages and is the bottom layer in a computer. It interfaces between the internal routing or session layer in the computer and the network. The session layer provides the glue that ties together different data streams, such as the audio and video portions of a teleconferencing application. The next layer up is the presentation layer which deals with the format of data exchanged. Finally, the application layer is the topmost layer and in terms of the Internet, may be thought of as including File Transfer Protocol (FTP) one of the mechanisms used to exchange data in file format on the Internet.
Each layer N provides services to the layer above it (layer N+1) and requires services of the layer below (N-1). Firewalls typically operate as a protocol peer at a particular layer (e.g. the transport layer, N=4), and will forward or relay the protocol information and data (PDUs) at that layer. A layer-4 relay operating over the Internet protocol suite would operate at the Transaction Control Protocol (TCP) protocol layer and forward TCP segments (application data) between communicating application entities, and is considered a protocol peer at the TCP layer.
For applications designed to run on the Internet suite, the application layer is layer 7 when mapped to the OSI model, with layers 5 and 6 being implicitly provided by the TCP. Thus Internet firewalls can perform application specific security checks by simply monitoring the PDUs carried by the transport layer. If a security violation is detected, a meaningful application specific protocol response can be created from context information captured during the session. Internet firewalls respond to security violations by fabricating a response at layer N or N+1, where N is the layer at which the firewall acts as a peer (relay). For example, an FTP firewall acting as a layer-4 relay may reject a connection attempt from an unwanted client by performing a TCP close (layer 4 action), or may reject an attempt to PUT, or store a file by generating a FTP error response (layer 7 action). Note that the layers 5 and 6 actions are implicitly provided by the TCP.
Since Internet application protocols tend to be text based, the data capture and response mechanism can be constructed from relatively simple parsers and encoders, and do not require large amounts of state information to be maintained. Internet firewalls can identify the application context by examining the destination TCP port number that the client Internet application attempts to connect to. An Internet firewalls need not examine any application layer PDUs to determine the type of service being requested. E.g. an Internet firewall can distinguish between a request for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) service for email from that of FTP based on port number only. Thus, an Internet firewall can be configured to allow SMTP but deny FTP simply by accepting requests destined to the SMTP port but denying requests to the FTP port.
For OSI applications, the configuration is more complex. OSI applications are expected to conform strictly to the 7 Layer model (no implicit layers), and make use of the OSI session and presentation layers. Each of these layers introduce extra states into the session, and they operate as protocol entities in their own right. A failure at a higher layer must be conveyed via and onto services provided lower layers.
During a connection establishment phase, the transport layer, session layer, and presentation layer will all attempt to form an association with their corresponding protocol peer, and will negotiate session parameters. The application layer is actually made up of several Application Service Elements (ASEs), each providing support for a different set of related services and protocols, and they can be arranged to form "sub-layers" of the application layer. Common ASEs include the Association Control Service Element (ACSE) and the Remote Operations Service Element (ROSE), and are the core elements found in most OSI applications. ACSE is used to form and tear down associations (connections) and ROSE is used to convey requests and in a uniform fashion. Identifying user credentials and authentication information are exchanged on the protocol chosen (X.500, X.400 or FTAM to name a few), such as the user's Distinguished Name and a password or cryptographic signature. The process of forming an OSI application layer association is known as binding.
Once an application is bound to its protocol peer, the application is said to be in session and processing enters a steady state where application layer PDUs are exchanged and processed until one of the application peers initiates the closing of the session. An orderly release of the association is called unbinding.
All OSI application PDUs are transmitted as binary. Application and presentation layers are typically encoded in a binary format called ASN.1; the session and transport layers fragment the information.
OSI applications are designed to operate in an environment where the OSI Transport layer is employed. A method was developed to map OSI transport services to the Internet stack. This method is described in Internet Request For Comment-RFC-1006 which is stored on many servers on the Internet under a file named rfc1006.txt. In the RFC-1006 method, the OSI Transport Class 0 (TP0) is selected, and TP0 PDUs (T-PDU) are encapsulated with a short four octet header called a T-Packet (TPKT). The RFC suggests that servers which implement this method respond to TCP port 102 which has been reserved for OSI over TCP, but the actual port chosen is left to an administrator or implementor's discretion.
An IP transparent relay would listen on both wires for specific IP data frames to be sent. The IP transparent bridge would contain a list of network addresses associated with each wire so that when one of these frames is received a list is examined and the IP bridge would `grab` it and put it on the other network. The problem with this simple IP transparent bridge solution is that it can only `filter` information based on the IP addresses contained within the data. IP address spoofing is very easy, therefore this solution alone is not secure enough for the needs of securing an OSI application.
The transparent relay functionality must be moved up higher again, this time to the OSI Transport layer service. The transport layer over IP is TCP. A TCP transparent relay solution would look for data on specific TCP ports. The TCP bridge would filter based on a specific TCP port which generally maps to a unique application. The problem however, is that the OSI applications are not required to operate on any specific TCP port. Therefore the solution must further examine the data being passed to ensure it matches the content expected of an application communicating through it. But to verify that data, the TCP bridge itself must reply to the connection request. Once the reply is received, the originator would begin sending application data to the TCP bridge. The TCP bridge would then examine the data and decide if it matches the form expected for this application. If it does, the TCP bridge would establish an independent session with the "real" destination device and pass the senders data on to it. Adding this additional processing to accept a connection request and further examine the data takes the functionality beyond a simple transparent bridge. Generally this complete combination of functionality is what is termed a "proxy" solution.
Internet firewalls approach the question of how to securely provide support for OSI protocols using two major approaches, application gateways or proxies. Application gateways are a special form of firewall where the firewall accepts and processes PDUs at the application layer, and appears on the network as a protocol peer to both the client and the server. For OSI protocols, all seven layers are processed by the application gateway, and separate application layer associations are maintained between the firewall and the client, and between the firewall and the server. Thus the firewall is said to be "visible" to the client and the server since it is a directly addressed application entity; the client application thus needs to be aware of how to address the firewall in order to contact the server.
Application gateways are able to glean the full context of the information being processed by virtue of it's operating at the highest layer, giving it a distinct advantage over traditional N-layer proxies (discussed below) when attempting to enforce a protocol specific security policy.
For the Internet applications, application gateways provide the most security, and are feasible to implement due to the simplicity of the protocols. However, OSI protocols are very complex, involving several layers above the TCP layer. Also, since the gateway is a protocol peer, it must support all the necessary protocol elements required to be an actual server for that application.
Because of the complexity of the required service elements and the upper layers of the OSI stack, application layer gateways for OSI services tend to be implementations of the application server themselves sometimes with limited functionality. For example, an application gateway for one communication protocol published by the International Telecommunication Union called X.500 usually takes the form of a X.500 Directory System Agent (DSA), which is the server component of X.500. The DSA is modified to support the security policy decisions in support of the firewall functionality.
While this arrangement offers the potential for very good security, performance is an issue because the firewall must implement or simulate the functionality of the server, often involving complex calculations, data manipulation and a fair amount of saved state information. The firewall may have to buffer large amounts of data before being able to relay the data to the other independent application association. The complexity of this solution also makes it very difficult to prove the correctness of the implementation and to analyze the resulting implementation for security flaws and vulnerabilities.
The second major approach involves filtering N-layer relays (proxies) An N-layer relay acts as a bridge which picks up PDUs sent on one network and retransmits them onto a different network. These devices are called "transparent" because neither end station application entity is aware of the relay.
In order to be termed a proxy, an N-layer relay must perform a firewall function in support of a security policy. Proxies always operate below the application layer, and filter PDUs based on attributes visible at that layer.
If a proxy were to operate at a data link layer, referred to as a MAC layer, it would capture Ethernet frames and examine the addresses in the MAC header, and filter the payload portion (IP datagrams) to determine Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Higher layer filtering would be infeasible because data would have to be buffered and reassembled in order to gain enough context, and the semantics of TCP are such that only limited number of frames could be buffered and examined before it would become necessary to send them in order to receive more. So if only a partial security context has been determined when the buffer threshold was reached, the data would have to either be discarded or sent without full validation--in either case, an unacceptable alternative for OSI application.
IP layer proxies have essentially the same characteristics as the MAC proxy in terms of policy and limitations. IP proxies gather IP datagrams and can filter on the IP, header, and usually filter on the TCP header as well. IP proxy firewall behavior is available in most modern commercial routers.
TCP proxies can filter on IP addresses, TCP port numbers and other attributes visible at the TCP layer, and relay TCP segments from one network to the other. TCP proxies can be fitted with protocol specific filtering and appear "in-situ", with application data being examined and relayed in real time with only limited buffering, in contrast with the application gateway which would collect a full application context before relaying the data. Most firewalls use the term proxy to refer to a TCP layer relay. A TCP proxy maintains separate TCP connections between the client and the firewall, and between the firewall and the server. In order to satisfy the transparency requirements, a TCP proxy must be capable of accepting a connection attempt from the client on behalf the server.

Secure network proxy for connecting entities


A crutch enabled to fold on itself so the crutch can be stored in small places or confined areas. The crutch attaches to the forearm of a user with a flexible cuff during use. After use, an upper section and lower section of the crutch rotate toward one another using a pivoting joint. Further, the lower section of the crutch has telescoping sections, allowing the crutch to use substantially less space during storage.

Walking sticks have aided man since the beginning of time. A major design change from the T shaped crutch was replaced by the "bow" underarm crutch. These basic crutches were called "Splits", because a piece of wood was cut vertically then spread apart in a "V" shape and affixing a wooden cradle shaped underarm piece to the top and a handle lower down. The early models did not have tips or padding. A deluxe and more expensive crutch was later designed. The unforgiving wooden underarm was replaced with a firm leather wrapped hammock-like pouch stuffed with the long hairs of a horse's tail for strength. The tips of these early manufactured crutches and canes were non-existent or made of metal because the terrain at the time was mostly soft and rugged. It wasn't until the 19th century when hard, smooth manmade surfaces became dominant that rubber tips became common.
World War I provided more advances in crutch tip technology. In 1919, George Hippwood patented a crutch tip with an air bladder inside. His patent included one of the first height adjustable underarm supports.
The Polio epidemics effected people with both affected legs and weakened arms it was necessary to support the biceps and the triceps. With Theodore Roosevelt's help, the Warm Springs Crutch was designed with a metal cuff above and below the elbow for the extra needed support. Others who had paralyzed legs but unaffected arm strength were issued the Kenny "arm-band" crutch. The Kenny crutch is a wooden bow crutch similar to the sling top wooden bow crutch but instead of the sling top there is a wide circular leather band attached to the top of the crutch. This fits loosely around the forearm.
World War II and the Korean War along with another polio epidemic provided the handicapped for the next major change in crutch design. The forearm style crutch often referred to as the Loftstrand crutch, the brand name of one of the early manufactures. The forearm style crutch now dominates the world's long-term crutch user market. In fact in Europe the forearm crutch is the style of choice for the short-term user market as well.
The forearm crutch does not put constant pressure on the underarm that can cause nerve damage, resulting in a serious medical condition, like traditional crutches, and therefore are more appropriate for people with long-term needs. However, the crutches must be carried by the disabled individual at all times, which can be inconvenient. Traveling can be especially troublesome, as crutches cannot be held on the disable individual's lap on airplanes since the crutches pose a danger in the event of an emergency on take-off or landing. Further, long periods of time spent in close quarters make the bulk of crutches troublesome.


The present invention relates to a method for the recognition and tracking of a moving object, in particular of a pedestrian, from a motor vehicle, at which a camera device is arranged. An image of the environment including picture elements is taken in the range of view of the camera device (20) by means of the camera device at regular time intervals and those picture elements are identified with the help of an image processing system which correspond to moving objects to be tracked. A picture element is extracted for each of these objects which represents a projection in image coordinates of that spatial point at which the object contacts a road plane The movement of the corresponding spatial point in the road plane is tracked by means of a state estimator which uses an at least four-dimensional state vector whose components are a position of the spatial point in the road plane and an associated speed in the road plane, wherein the tracking of the movement by the state estimator includes the steps that a prediction is generated for the state vector, this prediction is converted into image coordinates via suitable projection equations, an error to be expected for this prediction is calculated in image coordinates by means of a covariance matrix, and this prediction is compared with the picture element extracted in a later image and is updated.

Methods of this type for object tracking, so-called tracking methods, are generally known. Applications are also already known in the automotive sector in which tracking methods are used to track and predict the movement of a pedestrian or also of a cyclist or of another vehicle, so that an impending collision can be predicted at an early stage. The vehicle can be braked via a driver assistance system in the event of an impending collision, in particular with a pedestrian, or suitable safety devices can be activated. Alternatively or additionally, an alarm signal can be emitted to warn the driver.
A difficulty of such applications in this connection is that not only the object to be tracked, for example a pedestrian, is moving, but also the camera fixed to the vehicle. These two movements overlap and the resulting movement between two images taken sequentially by the camera device is difficult to model. It has previously not been possible to provide a satisfactory method for object tracking with the assistance of a moving camera. On the one hand, the quality of the predictions which can be achieved with conventional processes is often not satisfactory; on the other hand, a comparatively large computing power is needed to evaluate the images taken by the camera in real time.


A sparging device (10) includes a number of sparger or screen passages (14) each extending from a respective passage inlet to a respective passage outlet. The sparging device (10) further includes a fluid chamber (25) that defines a chamber area through which at least one of the sparger passages (14) extends. A fluid communication device (34) is associated with each sparger passage (14) extending through the fluid chamber (25) to enable fluid communication between the fluid chamber and the interior of the respective sparger passage. The sparging device (10) allows a processing fluid in the fluid chamber (25) to be added to a foodstuff pumped through the sparger passages (14). Multiple fluid chambers may be formed in the sparging device to facilitate the addition of multiple processing fluids to a foodstuff.

Many food processing operations require adding a processing fluid or other material to a foodstuff. The traditional method for adding materials to a foodstuff comprises placing the foodstuff together with the material to be added in a suitable mixing vessel and then mixing the two materials together. This mixing process is well adapted for many applications, but may over-work the foodstuff and produce undesirable results in some cases.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,795 discloses an apparatus and process for adding pH modifying materials to foodstuffs, particularly comminuted meats. The system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,795 applies the pH increasing or pH decreasing material in gaseous form. Ammonia gas is given as a specific example of a pH increasing gas useful in the system, while carbon dioxide gas is listed as an example of a pH decreasing gas that may used in the system. Modifying the pH of the foodstuff in the process described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,795 has been shown to reduce microbe counts in the foodstuff and may have other benefits in processing the foodstuff.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,067 discloses a system for adding ammonia to finely comminuted meats. In this apparatus, the comminuted meat is pumped through a narrow conduit, a portion of which passes adjacent to a chamber containing the ammonia. A number of small openings extend from the ammonia chamber to the interior of the conduit and provide fluid communication from the ammonia chamber to the conduit. This arrangement of a meat conduit, ammonia chamber, and openings from the chamber to the conduit may be referred to as a sparger or sparging device. The pressure is regulated in the ammonia chamber to cause the desired amount of ammonia to be "sparged" into the foodstuff, that is, to flow through the small fluid communication openings into the meat conduit and make contact with the meat product.
In the system shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,067 the meat product and added ammonia is directed through a grinder or other similar device. Grinding or otherwise further comminuting the foodstuff after addition of ammonia operates to evenly distribute the ammonia throughout the comminuted meat. This system of adding ammonia to comminuted meat and then further comminuting the meat has been shown to provide a substantially even pH increase throughout the comminuted meat and allows significant pH increases without leaving the meat with an ammonia odor.
The systems shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,871,795 and 6,142,067 work well for adding a processing fluid to a foodstuff, especially comminuted meats. However, it is desirable to provide alternative arrangements for quickly and uniformly adding various processing fluids to foodstuffs. It is also desirable to provide an arrangement for adding several different processing fluids to a foodstuff in rapid succession.

Sparging device and method for adding a processing fluid to a foodstuff


A method and apparatus for recovering viscous hydrocarbons from a subsurface reservoir holding the same using an essentially horizontal well bore having a production inlet and containing steam injection tubing that carries a plurality of jet nozzles oriented to emit steam along said injection tubing towards said production inlet.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the drilling, completion, and production of an essentially horizontal (hereafter "horizontal") well section into and along a subsurface, geological formation that contains heavy, viscous hydrocarbons, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,289,881 and 5,607,018, both issued to Frank J. Schuh.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,881 discloses in its FIG. 1 a horizontally extending well bore and casing section which contains steam injection tubing (injection tubing) 32. This injection tubing is terminated at its far down stream end by a choke 22 through which all vaporous steam (steam) injected from the surface of the earth leaves the tubing and enters the well bore casing annulus 42 for injection, through casing perforations 18, into producing zone 14. Zone 14 contains the viscous hydrocarbons that are desired to be produced to and recovered at the earth's surface. U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,881 is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,018 discloses a related production scheme in its FIG. 9 except that steam leaves the interior of steam injection tubing 132 by way of a series of holes 133 in that tubing. Holes 133 allow steam to exit the tubing in a direction that is directly toward casing 116, i.e., a direction that is essentially perpendicular to the long axes of both the injection tubing and the casing (liner) 116. Put another way, the exiting steam from the injection tubing is pointed directly at the inner surface of the casing, and its perforations 118, for injection of that steam into the hydrocarbon bearing formation 114 to liquefy such hydrocarbons for ultimate production to and recovery at the earth's surface. It is also disclosed in this patent, column 12, that the horizontal portion of the well bore can deviate less than 90° or more than 90° from the essentially horizontal portion of the well bore. U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,018 is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference.
For sake of clarity, the horizontal sections of the well bore, casing and injection tubing are all shown in both of the aforesaid patents to be essentially straight along their longitudinal axes. In reality, this is not always the case. In drilling the horizontal portion of a well bore, the driller uses a commercially available instrument known as a three axis accelerometer to direct the drilling of that horizontal section. The typical accuracy for this instrument ranges from ¼ to ½ degree and can cause the driller to unknowingly deviate from the desired path. If the drilling path for any of a number of well known reasons, e.g., subsurface heterogeneities, tends too far upward or downward while drilling in the formation, the driller makes adjustments either up or down to the drilling apparatus to get the drill bit back on the desired drilling path. As explained hereinafter in greater detail, these adjustments, which are made while drilling proceeds unchecked, can result in the horizontal section of the well bore having, at least in parts thereof, a sinusoidal shape along the longitudinal axis of the well bore. Any sinusoidal configuration of the well bore is, upon completion of the well, transferred to the casing and injection tubing contained in the horizontal section of that well bore.
Thus, in reality, there can be one or more low spots in the horizontal sections of the well bore, casing, and injection tubing which can be substantial. For example, it is not uncommon for a low spot to deviate from about one to about five feet lower in elevation than the adjacent high spot.
Produced fluids, as used herein, are primarily a combination of liquid water (largely condensed steam) and liquid hydrocarbons that have been mobilized by contact with the steam injected into the formation from the injection tubing by way of the casing perforations. Produced fluids can collect in the aforementioned low spots. Undesired pools of produced fluids in such low spots not only mean lost production of desired hydrocarbons to the earth's surface, but can adversely affect the hydrocarbon production operation, e.g., by impeding or otherwise altering in a deleterious way the flow of steam in the casing annulus that surrounds the injection tubing.
Accordingly, it is highly desirable to have a horizontal well bore production scheme that overcomes the ill effects of hydrocarbons collecting in casing low spots, and this invention does just that.


Disclosed are detergent compositions containing a cleaning effective amount of a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants and from about 0.01 to about 5 weight percent of substantially pure EG III cellulase. Preferably, the detergent composition contains no more than about 5 weight percent of CBH I type components based on the total weight of cellulase proteins. When employed in aqueous wash media, the detergent compositions impart color retention/restoration properties as well as improved softening and feel properties to cotton-containing fabrics.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to detergent compositions containing substantially pure EG III cellulase from Trichoderma spp. as well as to methods for employing such compositions. In particular, the detergent compositions of the present invention comprise a cleaning effective amount of one or more surfactants and substantially pure EG III cellulase.
2. State of the Art
Cellulases are known in the art as enzymes that hydrolyze cellulose (.beta.-1,4-glucan linkages) thereby resulting in the formation of glucose, cellobiose, cellooligosaccharides, and the like. While cellulases are produced (expressed) in fungi, bacteria and the like, cellulase produced by certain fungi and, in particular by the fungal class Trichoderma spp. (especially Trichoderma longibrachiatum, have been given the most attention because a complete cellulase system capable of degrading crystalline forms of cellulose is readily produced in large quantities via fermentation procedures.
In regard to the above, Schuleius, "Methods in Enzymology", 160, 25, pages 234 et seq. (1988), disclose that complete fungal cellulase systems comprise several different enzyme classifications including those identified as exo-cellobiohydrolases (EC 22.214.171.124) ("CBH"), endoglucanases (EC 220.127.116.11) ("EG"), and .beta.-glucosidases (EC 126.96.36.199) ("BG"). The fungal cellulase classifications of CBH, EG and BG can be further expanded to include multiple components within each classification. For example, multiple CBHs and EGs have been isolated from a variety of fungal sources.
The complete cellulase system comprising CBH, EG and BG components is required to efficiently convert crystalline cellulose to glucose. Isolated components are far less effective, if at all, in hydrolyzing crystalline cellulose. Moreover, a synergistic relationship is observed between the cellulase components particularly if they are of different classification.
On the other hand, cellulases and components thereof, used either singularly or in combination, are also known in the art to be useful in detergent compositions. For example, endoglucanase components of fungal cellulases have been used for the purposes of enhancing the cleaning ability of detergent compositions, for use as a softening agent, and for use in improving the feel of cotton fabrics, and the like. However, there is a problem with using the EG I and EG II components derived from Trichoderma spp. and especially Trichoderma longibrachiatum detergent compositions. Specifically, such components have their maximal activity at acidic pHs whereas most laundry detergent compositions are formulated for use at neutral or alkaline (pH>7 to about 10) conditions. While it is disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 07/668,640 that the use of one or more acidic endoglucanase components of Trichoderma longibrachiatum in detergent compositions will provide improvements in softening, color retention/restoration and feel to cotton-containing fabrics even when treated under alkaline conditions, the present invention is directed to the discovery that the EG III component of Trichoderma spp. provides for superior and unexpected advantages in detergent compositions as compared to the EG I and EG II components of Trichoderma longibrachiatum.
Specifically, this component has been found to possess significant enzymatic activity under alkaline conditions.

Detergent composition for treating cotton-containing fabrics containing a surfactant and a cellulase composition containing endolucanase III from trichoderma ssp


Improved methods and apparatuses are provided for use in printing color swaths in a bi-directional printing device. The bi-directional printing device is configured to use a plurality of color inks including at least one light color ink and at least one dark color ink. One method includes selectively printing at least one dark color ink on a print media based on a non-uniform probabilistic print mask function, and selectively printing at least one light color ink on the print media based on a substantially uniform probabilistic print mask function.

Color printing devices, such as, for example, ink-jet printers operate by applying small drops of ink to a print media (e.g., paper), thereby forming dots. Different colored dots are combined to form a variety of desired colors. By way of example, certain ink-jet printers utilize four different colors of ink, namely, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. These inks are typically supplied by ink printheads having several nozzles, which can be selectively controlled to eject drops of ink onto the print media. The printheads are typically arranged in a printhead carriage that is moveably controlled by a transport mechanism such that a swath of color can be applied to a portion of the print media by selectively controlling the ink printheads moving in relation to the print media.
Certain printing devices are configured to print bi-directionally. This means, for example, that swaths may be printed as the carriage moves across the print media from a right hand side to a left hand side and then back across the paper from the left hand side to the right hand side. This bi-directional movement is then continued on down the print media, as needed to print the desired content.
To reduce the visibility of certain print errors in the resulting print, some printing devices apply selected probabilistic or other like functions in the printing logic to control the usage of nozzles within the printheads. Such probabilistic functions typically print less ink from nozzles near the ends of the printhead. In printing devices such as these, it has been found, however, that for certain colors the bi-directional printing of swaths can lead to the formation of other print errors such as undulating color variations. These variations form unwanted hue shifts that may cause visually noticeable bands in the resulting print.
Consequently, there is a need for improved methods and apparatuses for significantly reducing or eliminating visible hue shift banding in bi-directional color printing devices.
In accordance with certain aspects of the present invention, improved methods and apparatuses are provided for significantly reducing or eliminating visible hue shift banding and/or other like defects produced in bi-directional color printing.
The above stated needs and others are met, for example, by a method for use in printing color swaths in a bi-directional printing device. The bi-directional printing device is configured to use a plurality of color inks including at least one light color ink and at least one dark color ink. The method includes selectively printing at least one dark color ink on a print media based on a non-uniform print mask function. The method further includes selectively printing at least one light color ink on the print media based on a substantially uniform print mask function.
In accordance with still other implementations of the present invention, a printing device that is capable of printing color swaths bi-directionally is provided. Here, the printing device includes a printing mechanism that is controlled by logic. The printing mechanism is configurable to selectively print color swaths on a print media using a plurality of color inks including at least one light color ink and at least one dark color ink. The logic is operatively configured to cause the printing mechanism to selectively print the dark color ink on the print media in a non-uniform probabilistic manner, and selectively print the light color ink on the print media in a substantially uniform probabilistic manner.

Methods and apparatuses for printing with uniform and non-uniform print mask functions


A cable signal detector includes a detection unit that is provided in a connector attached to an end of a communication cable or in a relay connector to be connected to the connector, and branches, extracts and sends a portion of signal transmitted through the cable, and a visualization unit that is provided separately from the connector or the relay connector and includes a light-emitting circuit to emit a light when receiving the signal sent from the detection unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a cable signal detector and a connectorized communication cable using the cable signal detector.
2. Description of the Related Art
In data centers etc., the connection of communication cables such as LAN (local area network) cables may be changed in accordance with layout change, displacement or addition of information communication device such as a server or hub.
Some information communication devices are provided with a connection check lamp for checking the connection of communication cable.
An information communication device has also proposed in which the connection of a communication cable is monitored by detecting the insertion and removal of the connector of the communication cable (see, e.g., JP-B-5274671).

Cable signal detector and connectorized communication cable


An internal combustion engine control system including an internal combustion engine including at least one cylinder configured to perform combustion of an air/fuel mixture therein during a drive cycle. An electronic engine control module is configured to selectively execute at least one soot-based diagnostic operation that diagnoses the internal combustion engine based on exhausted soot. An electronic diagnostic evaluation module is in electrical communication with the engine control module and is configured to disable the at least one soot-based diagnostic operation based on at least one transient drive event of the internal combustion engine during the drive cycle.

Exhaust gas generated from combusting an air/fuel mixture stored in a cylinder of an internal combustion engine is a heterogeneous mixture that contains gaseous carbon emissions such as, but not limited to, carbon monoxide ("CO"), unburned hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen ("NOx") as well as particulate matter and soot comprising condensed phase materials (liquids and solids).
Vehicles typically include exhaust gas treatment systems that include one or more exhaust treatment devices such as, for example, a particulate filter. The particulate filter includes a filter substrate that is disposed in fluid communication with the exhaust gas. The filter substrate is configured to collect the particulate matter and soot as the exhaust gas flow therethrough.
Federally mandated engine output performance requirements are becoming stricter as concerns regarding carbon emissions continue to increase. Engine out soot models are typically used to estimate engine soot output, which in turn is used diagnose the in-use performance of an internal combustion engine and the particular filter. Conventional engine out soot models, however, may not estimate engine soot output with the accuracy needed to satisfy federally mandated in-use rate performance requirements. When operating an internal combustion engine in transient conditions, for example, conventional engine out soot models in combination with particular matter sensors can result in a false failing diagnosis or potentially false passing diagnosis.

Engine output soot diagnostic control system based on transient drive cycle detection


A method is provided for operating a wireless communication network (10) including a plurality of nodes (12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e). Each of the nodes has a user database and is equipped to conduct authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) functions for the network (10). The method includes employing a subset (optionally, two) of the plurality of nodes (12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e) as active nodes. The active nodes use their respective user databases to conduct the AAA functions for the network (10). Changes to the user databases for the active nodes are logged to thereby update the same to reflect changes in information contained therein, and the user databases of the active nodes are synchronized. The active nodes are monitored to detect if one becomes disconnected from the network, and, if one of the active nodes becomes disconnected from the network, another of the plurality of nodes (12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e) is employed as an active node.

To carry out the Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) functions of a wireless communications network, a user database is typically employed. The user database is updated as the user information (e.g., identification, permission, location, AAA information, etc.) maintained therein changes.
In high reliability networks it is desirable to have redundancy in functionality and/or resources so that one or more back-ups may take over when functions and/or resources are lost due to failure or otherwise. For example, in a military wireless communications network, the nodes of the network may be targeted and destroyed by an enemy, or the adverse conditions of the theater of operations may otherwise cause one or more of the nodes to become unavailable to or disconnected from the network. Should a node be the only one capable of AAA functionality and/or be the sole location for maintenance of the user database, the destruction of that node or its separation from the network would undesirably disrupt the entire network. Therefore, particularly in military applications, the threat of a focused attack on and/or the higher potential for destruction of network nodes (as compared to civilian networks) makes redundancy in AAA functionality and/or the user database a real advantage.
One approach for achieving the desired redundancy is to have every node in the network carry out AAA functions and distribute a duplicate copy of the user database to every node for maintenance thereon. In this manner, the destruction or lost of any one node is not fatal to the network as a whole. In an implementation of the aforementioned approach, however, when a change in one user database is introduced at a given node, it is broadcast to all the others to keep the duplicate copies of the user database synchronized with one another. This database synchronization traffic can be considerably large and undesirably burdensome on the network.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved method and/or system which overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.

On-demand dynamically updated user database and AAA function for high reliability networks


Described herein are techniques for regulating access to a portable storage drive, that stores an operating system securely, using information regarding a host machine. In accordance with some of the techniques described herein, when a portable storage drive that stores an operating system securely is to be accessed by a host machine, information regarding the host machine, such as information regarding the hardware of the host machine, may be retrieved and evaluated to determine whether to grant access to the host machine. When the host machine is granted access, the host machine may access secured data stored on the portable storage drive in any suitable manner. In some cases, accessing the secured data may include decrypting the secured data and transferring decrypted data to another storage of the host machine. The decrypted information may include an operating system that is booted by the host machine.

An operating system can be used to govern operations of a computing device and regulate use of hardware of a computing device, among other functions. To do so, the operating system is loaded from a storage drive accessible by the computing device, after which a processor of the computing device executes the operating system instructions. Multiple different types of storage drives can be used to store an operating system.
For example, an operating system can be stored in an internal storage device of a computing device, which could be a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD). Such internal storage devices are hardware resources that are fixed components of computing devices. As fixed hardware resources, the internal storage drives may be configured to be used with only a single computing device. Such fixed hardware resources may be attached to a computing device in several different manners, including by being removably coupled to the computing device and being disposed inside a housing of the computing device.
Another type of storage drive that may be used to store an operating system is a portable storage drive. A portable storage drive is not a fixed resource of any particular computing device. A portable storage drive is not uniquely associated with any particular computing device. Rather, multiple different computing devices may be used as host machines for the portable storage drive without changing a configuration of the portable storage drive and/or without changing a hardware configuration of the computing devices with which the portable storage drive is used. Such a portable storage drive may be used with multiple different computing devices without negatively affecting any of those computing devices when the portable storage drive is not present, in that the computing devices may still be operable when the portable storage drive is not present. In some cases, a portable storage drive may be bootable, in that the portable storage drive may include a boot sector that may be read by boot firmware of a computing device as part of bootstrapping a computing device and loading an operating system.
Where such portable storage drives are to be used with physical computing devices, the portable storage drives may be physical hardware. One example of a portable storage drive that is physical hardware is a flash memory drive adapted to interface with a computing device via Universal Serial Bus (USB). Portable storage drives may also be used with virtual computing devices (also called virtual machines) and, in these cases, may themselves be virtual. One example of a portable storage drive that is virtual is a virtual hard drive (VHD) that can be associated with one or more virtual computing devices and used to store information for the virtual computing device(s).
A portable storage drive may store an operating system that is also portable, in that the operating system is not uniquely associated with hardware of any particular computing device that may act as a host machine for the operating system. Such an operating system can be used with multiple computing devices without substantially changing the configuration of the operating system. By not substantially changing the configuration of the operating system, even while or after the operating system is used with a different computing device, the operating system may remain operable with other computing devices. In some cases, the operating system may be adapted for use with multiple different hardware configurations.
When a computing device is to act as a host machine for an operating system stored on a portable storage drive, the computer-executable instructions for the operating system may be loaded from the portable storage drive into another storage of the host machine, including one or more internal storage devices like system memories, and may be executed by one or more processor(s) of the host machine. By doing so, the host machine may be operated and governed by an operating system that is not originally retrieved from an internal storage device of the host machine, but is instead originally retrieved from a portable storage device. This might be useful in some environments where, for example, a user wants to use the portable operating system with the host machine for only a short time, without replacing the usual operating system of the host machine that may be stored on an internal storage device.
One example of a portable operating system that can be used with portable storage drives is the WINDOWS TO GO™ system available from the Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.

Regulating access using information regarding a host machine of a portable storage drive


A catheter assembly is disclosed, which includes a housing; a catheter; a catheter hub disposed in the housing and fixed to a proximal end portion of the catheter; a needle having a needlepoint, and inserted into the catheter so as to be separable; a protector displaceable in an axial direction of the housing, and disposed in the housing, and configured to cover at least the needlepoint of the needle in accordance with evulsion of the needle from the catheter; a needle support portion configured to support the needle through the catheter on a distal end side and distally of the catheter hub; the needle support portion being movable with respect to the housing in order to change from a first state of supporting needle to a second state of releasing the support of the needle and allowing the catheter hub to pass.

Conventionally, when a transfusion is performed to a patient, for example, a catheter assembly is used. The catheter assembly can include a hollow catheter, a catheter hub adhered to a base end (i.e., proximal end) of the catheter, an inner needle inserted into the catheter and having a sharp needlepoint at a leading end (i.e., distal end), and a needle hub adhered to a base end of the inner needle. In a case where a transfusion is performed to a patient by using the catheter assembly, the catheter with the inner needle punctures a blood vessel of the patient, and the inner needle is evulsed from the catheter while the catheter is puncturing the patient after the puncture. Next, a connector provided at an end portion of a transfusion tube is coupled to a base end of the catheter hub, and a transfusion material is supplied into the blood vessel of the patient through the transfusion tube, the catheter hub, and the catheter.
In the use of the above catheter assembly, in order to help prevent a user from carelessly touching an inner needle having a sharp needlepoint after the inner needle has been evulsed from a catheter, a catheter assembly including a protector, capable of covering the inner needle after the evulsion has been proposed (for example, refer to JP 3808806 B1).
In a case of the conventional catheter assembly including a protector, a needle hub is constituted as a housing. In an initial state (before use), a leading end of the housing can include a base end of a catheter hub positioned thereat, and an exposure length of the inner needle from the housing is long. When a protecting function of the protector appears, a state where the protector that has been housed in the housing protrudes from the leading end of the housing and covers the inner needle protruding from the housing with the needlepoint, is acquired. Due to the above configuration, the conventional catheter assembly including a protector has a long entire product length in both the initial state and the needlepoint protecting state.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A data terminal of a network is used for printing information retrieved from the network, by use of a printer connectable to or incorporated into the data terminal. Along with the information, ad data selected from among those periodically downloaded and stored in the data terminal is printed on the same recording sheet. The user chooses which side of the recording sheet the ad data is to be printed, on the same side as the information or on the opposite side from the information. The data terminal automatically selects those ad data which relates to the category of the information, or the user may designate categories of the ad data to print with the information. A charge modification data producer of the data terminal produces charge modification data and sends it to a provider of the information, for modifying charge for the provision of the information depending upon the amount of ad data printed with the information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates a data terminal of a network, which is used for selecting information from the network to print it as a hard copy. The present invention also relates to a data printing method for the data terminal.
2. Background Arts
Many kinds of network data terminals, such as a set top box, are getting popular. The set top box is connected to a home TV, so data of any kinds provided through a network may be observed on TV.
To have information provided through the network, the user pays a connection charge or the like to a data provider. A program sending method in an interactive service is suggested in JPA 7-303087, wherein ad data is provided through the network to charge the advertisers for the advertisement, and thereby reduce charges on the users, including the connection charges, according to the amount of ad data. In this way, the charges on the users are cut down as low as possible. In this program sending method, the user can select the service from among those accompanied with different amounts of advertisements. The charge for the service varies depending upon the amount of advertisements. For example, the lower charge is applied to the service with the larger amount of advertisement.
When information retrieved from the network is wanted to be reserved as a hard copy, a printer is connected to the network data terminal or a printer incorporated into the network data terminal is used. In that case, printing ad data along with the selected information, and adjusting the charge in accordance with the printed amount of ad data is advantageous for the sake of reducing the charge on the user. Also the network service provider could get paid for the advertisement.
It is to be noted that JPA 8-256256 and JPA 9-90832 suggest merging an ad image in a selected image when making a copy of the selected image.
Since the ad image is merged with the selected image into a composite image, the quality of the selected image can be damaged by the merge of the ad image. Furthermore, paper consumption increases with the amount of ad image. When the user wants to get a copy of the selected image separately from a copy of the ad image, the user is required to make a complicated operation.

Network data terminal and data printing method therefor


An impedance-matched IQ network includes a phase shift circuit and a back termination. The phase shift circuit includes an in-phase mixer port for receiving the in-phase signal, a quadrature-phase mixer port for receiving the quadrature phase signal, a termination port, and an output port. The back termination is coupled to the termination port of the phase shift circuit, the back termination having an impedance value substantially equal to the characteristic impedance of the phase shift circuit at the termination port.

Image rejection circuits are well known in the art of radio frequency communication systems. These circuits are commonly used to minimize or eliminate the unwanted RF image of the received signal, the reception and processing of which can add noise and distortion to the communication system.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical image rejection system employed in a communications receiver often referred to as the Harvey architecture. An RF signal 101 is provided to quadrature and in-phase mixers 104 and 106, respectively. An oscillator (not shown) supplies the in-phase mixer with an LO frequency cos(ωLOt) and the quadrature phase mixer 106 with the same LO frequency shifted 90 degrees sin(ωLOt). The quadrature and in-phase mixers 104 and 106 produces quadrature and in-phase IF signals 107 and 109, respectively. A phase shift of 90 degrees in introduced between the quadrature and in-phase IF signals 107 and 109, typically by means of a phase shifter 108. The phase-shifted quadrature and in-phase signals 111 and 113 are summed together by means of a combiner 112, which produces a combined, image-free IF signal 115.
The phase shifter 108 and the summer 112 are collectively referred to as the "IQ network" or "IQ combiner" within the art, and several different implementations currently exist. FIG. 2A illustrates a first conventional configuration consisting of an RCA (resistor-capacitor) prophase filter. In this arrangement, an RCA network provides a 90 degree phase shift between the I and Q signal paths and sums the quadrature and in-phase signals. The implementation further includes input buffer amplifiers 202 to provide the necessary impedance buffering between the mixers and the input ports of the phase shifter, and output buffer 204 coupled to the output load. The implementation suffers some disadvantageous, however, in that the resistor elements of the phase shifter degrade signal strength and noise figure. Additionally, the non-linearity and noise of the buffer amplifiers 202 and 204 further degrade the network's performance. In addition, variation in buffer gain and in the RCA components introduce gain and phase mismatch.
FIG. 2B illustrates a second conventional IQ network. This arrangement, known as the Weaver architecture, consists of second stage quadrature and in-phase mixers 222 and 224, respectively, which are supplied with a second LO frequency 90 degrees apart cos(ωLOt) and sin(ωLOt). This architecture suffers drawbacks such as complexity in its fabrication and biasing, degraded noise figure, and higher non-linearity, due to the implementation of additional mixers 222 and 224.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved IQ network having improved performance and greater simplicity in its implementation.

Impedance-matched IQ network for an image rejection circuit


A touch panel having a film/glass structure includes an upper electrode member including a transparent insulation film having upwardly-inclined end surfaces at each entire peripheral side. A touch panel having a film/film structure includes an upper electrode member including a transparent insulation film and a lower electrode member including a transparent insulation film, wherein the transparent insulation film and the transparent insulation film have upwardly-inclined end surfaces at each entire peripheral side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a touch panel which is (i) less prone to peeling-off of a transparent insulation film during handling operations or during storage in a rack and (ii) capable of reducing the number of times that a mechanism is stopped during storage in the rack using the mechanism.
2. Background of the Related Art
Conventionally, there are touch panels installed on the display screens of LCDs (liquid crystal displays) or CRTs (cathode-ray tubes) connected to computers for enabling a person to press thereon with a finger or a pen according to instructions displayed on the seen-through display screen for inputting the pressed positions within the display screen to the computer. Transparent-electrode type (resistance-film type) touch panels which are most common include two types of touch panels, which are digital (matrix) type touch panels that detect certain matrix-shaped coordinates and analog-type touch panels that detect arbitrary coordinates. These two types of touch panels are used for different applications, and, for example, digital type touch panels are used for menu inputting while analog type touch panels are used for inputting graphics and manually-written letters. Any of the digital type and analog type touch panels may have a film/glass structure or a film/film structure.
Referring to FIG. 13, a touch panel having a film/glass structure includes an upper electrode member 101 consisting of a transparent insulation film 111 and a transparent electrode on the lower surface thereof and a lower electrode member 102 consisting of a glass plate 121 and a transparent electrode on the upper surface thereof. The upper electrode member 101 and the lower electrode member 102 are attached to each other at their peripheral edges with cohesive agent or a double-sided tape 104. In the respective drawings, illustration of the transparent electrodes is omitted and the film materials and the glass material which are laminated are simply illustrated for ease of understanding.
Referring to FIG. 17, a touch panel having a film/film structure includes an upper electrode member 101 consisting of a transparent electrode on the lower surface of a transparent insulation film 111, a lower electrode member 102 consisting of a transparent electrode on the upper surface of a transparent insulation film 122, and a glass plate (transparent supporting plate) 105 adhered to the entire lower surface of the lower electrode member 102.
The aforementioned film/glass structure and film/film structure are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2587975 and Japanese Examined Utility Model Publication No. 3-37055.
However, the conventional touch panels include the transparent insulation film 111, 122 and the glass plates 121, 105 having end surfaces which are perpendicularly cut with respect to the surfaces of the respective members and, thus, have issues as follows.
(1) First, referring to FIG. 14, there is an issue that the transparent insulation film 111 is accidentally peeled off during handling operations of the touch panel, resulting in occurrences of defective products. When the touch panel is manually treated, the end surfaces of two parallel sides of the touch panel are sandwiched by fingers in order to prevent finger prints from being adhered to the inputting region, and it is difficult to always press the fingers 106 perpendicularly to the end surfaces. Particularly, larger-sized touch panels tend to cause the aforementioned issue. When a finger is obliquely pressed against an end surface of the transparent insulation film 111 of the touch panel, the upper portion of the end surface of the transparent insulation film is compressed and if the compression can not be further advanced any more, the lower portion of the end surface of the transparent insulation film 111 will be floated, namely peeled off.
Furthermore, if a finger is obliquely pressed against an end surface of the transparent insulation film of the touch panel during handling operations of the touch panel, causing the upper portion of the end surface of the transparent insulation film to be compressed, then the cohesive agent 104 may be compressed and thus extruded outwardly from between the upper electrode member 101 and the lower electrode member 102.
In the case of a double-sided tape, since a cohesive agent 104 is applied to the surface of a core material, the cohesive agent 104 of the double-sided tape may be similarly compressed and thus extruded outwardly from between the upper electrode member 101 and the lower electrode member 102. If the extruded cohesive agent 104 is adhered to the finger 106, the cohesive agent may be transferred to the surface or the back surface of the touch panel 108 when the finger 106 touches the touch panel subsequently.
Further, if the extruded cohesive agent 104 is adhered to a pressing tool for storing the touch panel 108 into a rack 7, as illustrated in FIG. 15, after the aforementioned handling operations, the adhered substance may be removed from the pressing tool and then may be transferred to the surface or the back surface of another touch panel 108 within the rack 7 during repeated storing using this pressing tool.
The cohesive agent being transferred to the surface or the back surface of the touch panel 108 will cause issues in terms of the following points.                Viewability        Inputting characteristics (when adhesive agent is adhered to the surface)
The former issue of "viewability" is described in that adhered substances obstruct the see-through view to degrade the viewability of the display, since the touch panel is installed on a display device such as an LCD for enabling inputting while seeing through the display.
Further, the latter issue of "inputting characteristics" is described in that adhered substances degrade the smoothness of the inputting surface. Thus, degrading the writing comfort when the tip end of an inputting pen is slid along the touch panel surface for writing letters or the like using the inputting pen. Namely, the pen cannot move along the touch panel in a smooth manner, preventing accuracy of a desired input. This problem is a lethal blow to touch panels.
(2) Further, when the touch panel is transferred using a robot hand after the aforementioned handling operations, the extruded adhesive agent 104 may make it difficult to separate the chuck of the robot hand from the touch panel. In such cases, the touch panel is moved to a position different from the intended position. For example, the touch panel may fall onto a floor or the like, resulting in a fracture of the touch panel.
(3) Further, there has recently been a trend toward narrower peripheral edges of touch panels, requiring double-sided tape, etc., to have narrow widths. Therefore, if the extruded adhesive agent 104 is adhered to a finger 106, a pressing tool, or the like, the touch panel may be completely transferred to the finger 106, the pressing tool, or the like.
In such cases, the partition for attaching the upper electrode member 101 and the lower electrode member 102 of the touch panel to each other at their peripheral edges and for separating the inside (the air layer between the electrodes) of the touch panel from the outside of the touch panel is partially lost, causing the following issues.                Occurrences of Newton's rings        Operational malfunctions
The "occurrences of Newton's rings" are described in that the air layer cannot generate repulsion forces against deformation of the upper electrode member 101 since the aforementioned partition-lost portion allows air to enter or exit, and as a result of repeated inputting, the upper electrode member 101 is sagged.
The latter issue of "operational malfunctions" includes two cases. The first case occurring where the aforementioned partition-lost portion allows moisture to enter the inside (the air layer between the electrodes) of the touch panel to degrade metal portions, causing operational malfunctions. Further, the second case occurring where the aforementioned partition-lost portion allows foreign substances to enter the inside (the air layer between the electrodes) of the touch panel to establish electrical conduction between the electrodes, causing operational malfunctions.
(4) Further, when the touch panel 108 is stored on the rack 7, there is an issue of peeling-off of the transparent insulation film 111. Storing of the touch panel 108 into respective stages of a rack 7 is performed by inserting the parallel two sides of the touch panel 108 in the depthwise direction along the horizontally-cut slots 7b on the inner sides of the side plates of the rack 7 (see FIG. 15), and the tip end portion of the touch panel 108 tends to contact with a shelf 7a of the rack 7 at each insertion opening of the rack 7 since the width of the slots 7b is narrow. Consequently, if the touch panel 108 is butted against a shelf 7a of the rack 7 at only an end surface of the transparent insulation film 111, the members below the transparent insulation film 111 will be inserted into the slot 7b of the rack 7 while the transparent insulation film 111 will be halted outside of the insertion opening, causing peeling-off thereof (see FIG. 16).
Furthermore, when the touch panels 108 are successively stored into respective stages of the rack 7 by a mechanism, even if an end surface of the transparent insulation film 111 is butted against a shelf 7a of the rack 7 at a single stage, the insertion cannot be further continued from then on or the mechanism can not be ready in time for the next insertion, causing the mechanism to be stopped.
These are issues specific to touch panels.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide touch panels which are less prone to peeling-off of transparent insulation films during handling operations or during storage in a rack, and are capable of reducing the number of times that the mechanism is stopped during storing into a rack with the mechanism, by overcoming the aforementioned issues.

Touch panel having a transparent insulation film resistant to peel-off


A method of launching and retrieving a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) (10). The preferred method of launch involves carrying the UAV (10) up to altitude using a parasail (8) similar to that used to carry tourists aloft. The UAV is dropped and picks up enough airspeed in the dive to perform a pull-up into level controlled flight. The preferred method of recovery is for the UAV to fly into and latch onto the parasail tow line (4) or cables hanging off the tow line and then be winched back down to the boat (2).

Previously glider aircraft have been towed aloft and then released to fly off on their own and catapults have been used to rapidly accelerate an aircraft up to flying speed in a short distance. Also aircraft have been fitted with tail hooks or other apparatus to try to engage arresting cables or have been flown into nets in order to arrest their forward movement in a short distance.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,400 (Reuter, et al.) comes closest to one of the preferred embodiments of the proposed invention. However this prior art discloses a very complicated system with a launching parachute and parachute retainer that gets jettisoned for each recovery cycle which in turn launches a ram-air parachute which holds up a ribbon parachute which acts to capture the UAV. A ship mounted stanchion, net and rotating cradle is then required to disentangle the UAV from the ribbon parachute. In this prior art the UAV engaged the ribbon parachute just below the supporting ram-air parachute with very little arrestment distance and thus very high loads. In this prior art the UAV approaches in the turbulent, blocked flow from the ribbon parachute and the ribbon parachute also causes a very large amount of unnecessary drag for the system.
There is also another problem with this prior art. Not only is there no apparent mechanism for retaining the UAV after it impacts the ribbon parachute but it would appear that the UAV would tend to bounce off and tend to drop from the ribbon parachute. Current state-of-the-art UAV launch and arrestment systems are bulky and difficult to integrate onto smaller ships and are time-consuming to operate, erect and tear down. In addition the recovery is very sensitive to sea states and ship motion and very often results in damage to the UAV and arrestment system. The recovery also requires significant piloting skills since the UAV must hit the center of the arrestment net in close proximity to the water, ship structure and personnel while traveling at relatively high speeds through the turbulent air wake from the ship.

Launch and recovery system for unmanned aerial vehicles


A position detecting device selects sensors arranged in the order of sensor 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 in an X-axis direction and a Y-axis direction. In a first selection pattern, the device selects a sensor in the order of sensor 1, 6, 2, 5, 3, and 4. In a second pattern, the device selects a sensor in the order of sensor 1, 6, 5, 2, 3, and 4. In a third pattern, the device selects a sensor in the order of sensor 1, 6, 2, 5, 4, and 3. In a fourth pattern, the device selects a sensor in the order of sensor 1, 6, 5, 2, 3, and 4. By selecting the sensors 1 to 6 in an order different from the order of the arrangement and communicating signals with a position pointer, the device detects the position pointed by the position pointer.

The present invention relates to a position detecting device that detects a position pointed by a position pointer using electromagnetic coupling and that is used for an input device of, for example, a computer aided design (CAD) terminal, a computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cell phone, and a personal handyphone system (PHS).
Position detection devices have been used which receive an electromagnetic coupling signal from a position pointer for pointing a position so as to detect a position pointed by the position pointer and which are used for an input device of, for example, a CAD terminal, a computer, a PDA, and a cell phone.
FIG. 6 is a timing diagram of a known position detecting device in which sensor coils are arranged in an XY matrix. As shown in FIG. 6, if the known position detecting device has already recognized a position pointed by a position pointer, a predetermined number of X-axis direction sensor coils and a predetermined number of Y-axis direction sensor coils arranged in the vicinity of a position pointed by the position pointer (sensor coils 1 to 6 in FIG. 6) are alternatively scanned in a direction in which the sensors are arranged (i.e., a direction from the sensor coil 1 to the sensor coil 6) so that each of the sensor coils and the position pointer communicate signals. Thus, the position detecting device detects the position pointing signals from the position pointer and computes the position pointed by the position pointer using, for example, parabolic approximation.
At that time, as shown in FIG. 7, each sensor coil transmits a detecting signal to the position pointer and receives a position pointing signal from the position pointer several times (four times in an example shown in FIG. 7) to compute the position pointed by the position pointer by using the sum or average value of signal levels obtained from the receiving operations.
However, a position detecting device used at a position very close to the body of an electronic apparatus, such as a computer and a PDA, has a disadvantage in that a significant error occurs when detecting a position pointed by a position pointer due to electromagnetic noise which is generated by the body of the electronic apparatus and which influences a signal received from the position pointer using electromagnetic coupling.
For example, in a position detecting device used as an input device of an electronic apparatus such as a PDA or a cell phone, noise in a driving signal of a liquid crystal display (LCD) incorporated in the body of the electronic apparatus (for example, noise in a display driving signal or in a backlight inverter) disadvantageously causes a significant detection error.
In particular, when, as shown in FIG. 6, a scanning frequency of the sensor coils in the position detecting device is close to a frequency of noise from the body of the electronic apparatus, that is, when the difference between both frequencies is small, low-frequency jitter is generated, since the sensor coils are scanned in the order in which the sensor coils are arranged. Thus, it is difficult to eliminate the influence of the noise. Consequently, the detected position may vary and a significant error may occur. Alternatively, the level of a signal detected by a specific sensor coil may be high, and therefore, the signal is detected as if the position of the position pointer is displaced. Thus, a detection error becomes large, which is a problem.
FIG. 8 illustrates a frequency characteristic of jitter when an electromagnetic coupling signal received by a position pointing device from a position pointer is affected by noise generated by an LCD in an electronic apparatus. As shown in FIG. 8, when the unit interval of a sensor-coil scanning frequency is a reciprocal number 1/Ts of scanning time Ts for scanning two coils of the position detecting device (or one coil depending on a computing method of the coordinates of the position detecting device), a large low-frequency jitter occurs for noise at positions of a frequency distant from a sensor-coil scanning frequency f0 by ±0.5 frequencies, that is, at positions of f0±0.5/Ts. Accordingly, a large detection error disadvantageously occurs due to the noise.


A remote control light emitting automobile locating alarm system includes a receiver for placement within the automobile, and a remote control unit for energizing the receiver in a cordless fashion. The main unit within the automobile includes a transparent body part which can emit light and is covered with a garment selected from different kinds of animal characters, where light can radiate through the character cover. The animal character figure has appendages which can be moved up and down by a mechanical arrangement, and light bulbs are provided within the transparent body part. Upon actuation of the main unit from the remote control unit, both the mechanical arrangement and the electrical circuit are energized to cause moving motion of light emitting parts of the animal character. If desired, an alarm signal can also be sounded to assist one in locating his/her car regardless of whether or not the area is dark or bright. The moving feature can also make the driver feel more pleasant for having a pet-like toy in the car.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote controlled light emitting automobile locating alarm system.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Until now, it has been difficult for people to find their cars in a dark parking lot, and they easily forget where they have parked their cars. It often makes people confuse their car with similar looking cars and, they can easily waste time looking for their own car.
One conventionally used auto-finder turns the head light on by a cordless remote control system and produces a signal sound. There has been difficulty in installing such a system to the head light circuit wires of an automobile. Also, cars are often parked in a way that the front of the car faces a wall or a building, and in a tight area, small cars would not be visible behind a truck or large-sized cars. Thus, turning on the head light does not help them find their cars easily. The signal sound it produces also cannot be heard from a distance or in a noisy area.

Remote controlled light emitting automobile locating alarm system


A direct current (DC) traction power electric arc suppressing device is provided. The device comprises a parallel resistor-capacitor (RC) circuit electrically connected between a main traction power rail and an associated power rail incline end section with a narrow insulating joint installed between the main traction power rail and the associated power rail end section incline.

Traction power rail (sometimes referred to as third rail or power rail) distribution systems provide direct current (DC) traction power, along the railway, to subway, urban transportation trains and some light rail systems. The electric traction power current is transferred to the train's propulsion power systems via collector shoe(s) on the side of each train propulsion car. The collector shoe makes contact with a power rail, collecting electrical power, while sliding along the power (conductor) rail. Power rails have long but finite lengths (feeding sections) and gaps (section gaps) exist between successive power rail feeding sections. Each collector shoe disengages and disconnects from the power rail when it slides over the section gaps which can produce electric arcing due to the interruption of the collector shoe traction power current. The electric arcing may lead to undesirable fire hazard at track level areas affected by combustible litter or dry leaves accumulation.

Device, system and method for electrical arc suppression on a power rail