The present invention is directed to novel metal organocomplexes as catalysts for the reaction of compounds with isocyanate and hydroxy functional groups to form urethane and/or polyurethane and the process employing such catalysts. More particularly, the present invention is directed to novel complexes of zirconium or hafnium with diketones or alkylacetoacetoates. These novel catalysts are useful for the production of urethanes and polyurethanes which are important in many industrial applications, such as: coatings, foams, adhesives, sealants, and reaction injection molding (RIM) plastics.

The reaction of isocyanate and hydroxy compounds to form urethanes is the basis for the production of polyurethanes. Metal compounds (e.g., tin, zinc and bismuth compounds) and tertiary amines have been known to catalyze the reaction of isocyanate and hydroxyl groups to form urethane. See, Proceedings of Water Borne and High Solids Coatings Symposium, Feb. 25-27, 1987, New Orleans, at Page 460. Compounds useful for the isocyanate-hydroxy reaction are also referred to as urethane catalysts. At present, the commercially available catalysts used in this reaction are organotin compounds (e.g., dibutyltin dilaurate and dibutyltin diacetate), zinc carboxylates, bismuth carboxylates, organomercury compounds and tertiary amines.
There are several problems with these commercially available catalysts. When they are used in the process for polyurethane coatings, the cure of the coatings under high humidity or at low temperature conditions is not satisfactory. They catalyze the undesirable side reaction of isocyanate with water to form amines and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide may cause blisters in the coating and the amines react with isocyanates resulting in low gloss coatings. Moreover, the cure rate at low temperatures is too slow. The commercially available catalysts also catalyze the degradation of the resulting polymer product. Furthermore, several of the commercially available urethane catalysts, particularly those containing heavy metals and tertiary amines, are highly toxic and are environmentally objectionable.
The testing of zirconium acetylacetonate and zirconium tetra-3-cyanopentanedionate, as catalysts for the isocyanate-hydroxy reaction have been described in GB Patents 908949, 890,280 and 869988. Subsequent testing by others, however, has shown that zirconium acetylacetonate is a poor catalyst for the urethane reaction. B. D. Nahlovsky and G. A. Zimmerman, Int. Jahrestag. Fraunhofer--Inst. Treib-Explosivst., 18th (Technol. Energ. Mater.), 39:1-12, reported that the catalytic efficiency of zirconium acetylacetonate for the isocyanate-hydrox reaction to form urethane is low. The solubility of zirconium acetylacetonate and zirconium tetra-3-cyanopentanedionate in solvents commonly used in the production of coatings is poor. Examples of such solvents include esters ketones, glycolesters and aromatic hydrocarbons, such as: butyl acetate, methyl iso-amyl ketone, 2-methoxy propylacetate, xylene and toluene. Because of the low catalytic efficiency and the poor solvent solubility, the use of these compounds as catalysts in processes involving urethane or polyurethanes have been limited.
Further testing using zirconium acetylacetonate in our laboratory has shown that zirconium compounds disclosed in the prior art, will only catalyze the isocyanate-hydroxy reaction when carried out in a closed system, i.e., in a closed pot. This is impractical for many of the polyurethane applications. The zirconium diketonates of the prior art failed as catalysts when the reaction is carried out in the open atmosphere, unless there is present a large excess of the corresponding diketone. For zirconium acetylacetonate, the presence of over 1000 to 1 mole ratio of 2,4-pentanedione to zirconium acetylacetonate is required. However, 2,4-pentanedione and other similar diketones are volatile solvents which, when used in an open vessel, pollute the air, and pose both an environmental and a fire hazard. In addition, the presence of the free diketone causes discoloration of the catalyst, resulting in an undesirable, discolored product.
The objective of this invention is to develop catalysts with high catalytic efficiency for the isocyanate-hydroxy reaction to form urethane and/or polyurethane.
A second objective of the present invention is to develop catalysts which provide improved cure at a lower temperature and is less sensitive to the presence of water.
A further objective of the present invention is to develop metal diketonates as catalysts which would not be deactivated when the reaction is exposed to the atmosphere nor require an excess of free diketone.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide catalysts for the isocyanate-hydroxy reaction which would not catalyze the undesired side reaction of water with isocyanates or the undesired degradation of the polyurethane.


A sensor for contactless electrocardiographic measurement on a person includes a carrier for mounting to a seat, an electrode for registering a measurement signal, a pressure sensor supporting the electrode on the carrier, and moisture and temperature sensors mounted to the carrier to detect conditions adjacent to the electrode and the subject person. The moisture sensor and the temperature sensor may be adjacent to at least one opening in the electrode. A processing unit receives information generated by the pressure sensor, the moisture sensor, and the temperature sensor, and filters the measurement signal based on the information. An acceleration sensor may also be mounted to the carrier and/or electrode and send signals to the processor.

Measurement of the electrical potential, or electrical field strength, on the skin of a person by means of electrocardiographic sensors forms the basis of many medical diagnostic methods. In this way, for example, an electrocardiogram (ECG) may be recorded or the heart rate may be determined from the measured electrical potentials.
In conventional measurement methods for measuring the electrical potential on the skin, the latter is acquired by electrodes which are in direct electrical contact with the surface of the skin. An electrically conductive connection is thus established between the skin, on the one hand, and the electrode, on the other hand. In this case, however, it often proves difficult to ensure a sufficiently good electrical contact between the electrode and the skin, and therefore the body of the person being examined (the subject). Furthermore, the use of such diagnostic methods is also increasingly being provided in application fields in which direct access to the skin of the subject is not available, for example in vehicle applications for monitoring body functions and/or vital parameters of vehicle passengers on seats or bunks.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,684,854 B2 discloses a sensor for contactless electrocardiographic measurement on a person. The person may in this case be on a stool, in a bed or on a vehicle seat. The electrocardiogram can be recorded from the body of the person wearing clothing without direct contact with the skin. The sensor comprises a flat electrically conductive electrode which comprises a measurement surface facing toward the person and a connection surface which faces away from the person, lies opposite the measurement surface and is electrically connected to a preamplifier. The electrode and the preamplifier of the sensor are enclosed by shielding.
Another contactless sensor for recording an electrocardiogram of a person is disclosed by EP 2 532 306 A1. The sensor comprises an electrically conductive electrode and a detection device, which is electrically connected to the electrode and is configured in order to amplify the signals received by the electrode. The sensor is intended to be arranged in a vehicle seat and to determine particular physiological parameters of a driver sitting on the vehicle seat.
DE 20 2012 001 096 U1 discloses capacitive sensors for capacitive recording of vital parameters of a driver of a vehicle. To this end, the sensors are fitted in or on the backrest of the seat of the vehicle. In particular, according to one embodiment it is proposed to arrange the sensors in or on the backrest of the seat while being distributed in two rows separated by a distance corresponding to the width of the spinal column of the driver. In each row, the sensors, with an area of from 16 to 36 cm2, are arranged at equal distances of from 1 to 5 cm from one another. In another embodiment, instead of the two separate sensor rows with sensors distributed over the entire height of the seat at a distance of 1-5 cm, two membrane sensors with a width of from 4 to 10 cm are arranged over the entire seat height with a separation corresponding to the spinal column.
Furthermore, DE 10 2008 049 112 A1 discloses a capacitive textile electrode for measuring body functions and/or vital parameters of persons for vehicle applications, for example in a seat or a bunk, which electrode has a multilayer structure. This comprises two textile layers, each of which has an electrically conductive electrode region, a further textile layer being provided in order to establish a distance between the other two textile layers.
In general, contactless electrocardiographic measurement is distinguished in that there may, for example, be clothing between the skin of the subject and the electrode of the sensor. The signal quality of a measurement signal registered in this way by the electrode may, however, be substantially influenced by various factors. Such factors may include, for example, the vibrations to which the sensor is exposed at the time of the measurement, the contact pressure which exists between the subject and the electrode at the time of the measurement, the microclimate between the electrode and the skin of the subject, the materials of the clothing, as well as the electrostatic charge in the vicinity of the electrode.

Sensor for contactless electrocardiographic measurement


A novel and improved method and apparatus for signal acquisition in a wireless telecommunication system having large transmission delay uncertainty is described. A terminal first acquires the forward link signal from a hub and extracts timing information from that forward link signal. Using the timing information the terminal estimates the time at which a next search window takes place during an access slot, and the time and pseudorandom code state necessary to transmit an access probe so as to arrive at during the search window assuming the terminal is located a maximum distance from the hub. The terminal proceeds to transmit additional access probes at times occurring one access slot period plus a delta time interval after the previous transmission. The delta time interval has a duration less than that of a search window associated with each access slot. Each access probe is processed with various transmission codes the states of which are incremented by an access slot period for each access probe transmitted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless telecommunications. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for signal acquisition in a wireless telecommunication system having large distance uncertainty between a terminal and hub.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital wireless telecommunication systems interface multiple terminals to a hub via the use of digitally modulated radio frequency (RF) signals. This allows each terminal to provide telecommunication service to an individual user or subscriber without the need of wirebased connections. One example of a digital wireless telecommunication system that incorporates the hub and terminal architecture is a cellular telephone system. The hub in a cellular telephone system is referred to as the base station, and the terminals are referred to as mobile units or cellular telephones. In general, the digitally modulated RF electromagnetic signals used in a digital wireless telecommunication system are transmitted between the hub and terminals in a manner that allows various telecommunication services to be provided including audio based telephone service as well as fax and digital data transmission service. An RF signal transmitted from the hub to a terminal is referred to as the forward link signal, and an RF signal transmitted from a terminal to the hub is referred to as a reverse link signal.
Code division multiple access (CDMA) digital signal modulation is one example of a digital signal modulation technique that is employed within digital wireless telecommunication systems. In order for a wireless communication link to be established between a hub and a terminal utilizing CDMA modulated signals, the forward and reverse link signals must be "acquired" by the terminal and hub respectively. Signal acquisition is the process of synchronizing the state of a set of pseudorandom noise (PN) codes used to modulate the digital data before transmission with the state of another set of PN codes used to demodulate the data upon reception. The use of PN codes for modulating and demodulating data being transmitted is in accordance with CDMA technology. To acquire a forward link signal, a terminal performs multiple searches for a pilot channel carried by the forward link signal until the pilot channel is detected. To acquire a reverse link signal, the hub searches for access probes from any terminals during search windows that take place during the beginning of access slots that occur periodically at the hub. The access probes signify the beginning of a series of reverse link transmissions from a terminal. In general, a terminal becomes synchronized with the forward link signal before the hub becomes synchronized with the reverse link signal because the pilot signal from the hub is made available constantly, while access probes are only generated when communication with the associated terminal is being initialized.
In any wireless telecommunication system, transmissions between the hub and a terminal are delayed a certain amount because of the distance between the two systems. The amount of this delay will vary as the distance between the hub and terminal is modified by the movement of either system. This variation in delay can complicate the signal acquisition process since the exact amount of variation in delay is often unknown at a particular time. For the acquisition of the forward link signal, an unknown delay presents less of a problems because the terminal must already search in time to acquire the forward link signal, and, therefore, any time delay will be accounted for once the forward link signal is acquired. For the acquisition of the reverse link signal, however, the unknown delay is problematic because the access probe must arrive during the appropriate search window and have been modulated with a set of PN codes in the correct state in order to be detected. Therefore, any error in estimating the transmission delay will cause the access probe to go undetected. In cellular wireless telephone systems, the use of a search window at the hub is normally sufficient to compensate for the possible range of delays, as multiple searches for an access probe are performed during the search window, each offset in time. Since the range of distances between a hub and terminal in a land based cellular telephone system varies at most a by few miles, the delay uncertainty will be minimal and the use of a relatively small, or short, search window at the hub will ensure that the access probe is detected.
In satellite based wireless telecommunications systems employing the use of the hub and terminal architecture the RF signals associated with the forward and reverse links are reflected from a space based satellite during transmission. This makes the total distance traveled by the signals hundreds or thousands of miles. This increase in absolute distance also increases the variance in the distance between the hub and a terminal when compared to cellular telephone systems, which in turn increases the delay variation experienced by messages such as access probes transmitted from a terminal to the hub. In general, the delay variation is sufficiently large that the use of a search window at the hub of similar duration to that used in a digital wireless cellular telephone system is not sufficient to ensure the proper detection of an access probe. Therefore, a new method of performing signal acquisition is necessary for satellite based digital wireless telecommunications systems employing CDMA technology.
Despite the need for a new method of performing signal acquisition, it is preferable to implement and utilize as much existing cellular telephone equipment as possible in any new satellite based telecommunication system. Using existing cellular telephone equipment provides increased economy, and also allows one to incorporate new advances achieved in digital cellular telephone systems including higher efficiency and higher quality signal transmission. Thus, a method and apparatus for signal acquisition that allows existing cellular wireless telecommunications equipment to be used in the context of large delay uncertainty satellite based telecommunications system would be highly desirable. Additionally, because modifications in software can be implemented far more easily and with less expense than modifications in hardware, any new method for signal acquisition that allowed existing cellular wireless telecommunication systems or equipment to be used via modification of software would be more desirable still.

Signal acquisition in a wireless communication system by transmitting repeated access probes from a terminal to a hub


A vehicular lighting fixture is provided which includes a combination of an aiming mechanism and a leveling mechanism that can reduce deformation of an aiming/leveling bracket. A vertical aiming mechanism and a leveling mechanism include an aiming/leveling bracket that is integrally molded with a resin. A rectangular recess is formed in the aiming/leveling bracket so as to accommodate an aiming nut serving as a point of load for the vertical aiming and an actuator output shaft serving as a point of effort. The rectangular recess is located on or near the central axis of the aiming nut where the central axis substantially coincides with the front-rear direction of a vehicle.

In general, vehicular lighting fixtures can include a vertical aiming mechanism and a horizontal aiming mechanism configured to adjust the optical axis of a lamp unit in the vertical and horizontal directions within certain ranges in order to irradiate light with a desired distribution pattern on the road surface. Furthermore, there have been known vehicular lighting fixtures with a leveling mechanism used in addition to a vertical aiming mechanism. Here, the aiming mechanisms are intended to initially adjust the optical axis of a lamp unit at the time of vehicle assembly or vehicle inspection, while the leveling mechanism is intended to adjust the optical axis of the lamp unit using a built-in motor in accordance with the weight or the like of the vehicle or in response to operation methods.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional vehicular lighting fixture, in part, with a vertical aiming mechanism and a leveling mechanism in combination (see Patent Literature 1, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-061810 or US 2019/092219A1 corresponding thereto). The vehicular lighting fixture illustrated in FIG. 1 is, for example, a right low beam headlamp.
In FIG. 1, reference number 100 denotes a housing, 200 a leveling mechanism, and 300 a bracket for use in both aiming and leveling (aiming/leveling bracket). The aiming/leveling bracket 300 is composed of a cross plate-like member and is integrally injection molded from a resin. The leveling mechanism 200 can be composed of a leveling actuator 201 and an actuator output shaft 202. The leveling actuator 201 is fixed to a light body bracket (not illustrated). The actuator output shaft 202 protrudes from the leveling actuator 201 and is movable. Furthermore, the cross plate-like member of the aiming/leveling bracket 300 includes first and third end portions at opposite sides in a first direction (in FIG. 1, a rear-front direction) and second and fourth end portions at opposite sides in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction (in FIG. 1, a left-right direction). Included in the aiming/leveling bracket 300 are: an aiming bolt 301 rotatable and which penetrates the housing 100 and located at the first end portion; an aiming nut 302 for the vertical aiming mechanism, configured to be screwed onto the aiming bolt 301; a rectangular recess 303 and a stepped lowering portion 304 configured to accommodate the actuator output shaft 202 at the second end portion; an elastic piece 305, disposed at the third end portion opposite to the first end portion, configured to elastically press the aiming nut 302 in the second direction (left-right direction); and a stopper 306 disposed at the fourth end portion opposite to the second end portion. The actuator output shaft 202 is offset in the second direction from a central axis Ax along which the aiming nut 302 rotates, thereby improving the degree of freedom in the arrangement of the leveling mechanism 200.
However, within the aiming/leveling bracket 300 of the above-mentioned conventional vehicular lighting fixture illustrated in FIG. 1, the aiming nut 302 that serves as a fulcrum and the rectangular recess 303, where the actuator output shaft 202 is accommodated, that serves as a point of effort are spaced apart from each other in the left-right direction. That is, the fulcrum and the point of effort are not located on the same axis but are separated by a certain distance. As a result, when a force is applied to the rectangular concave portion 303, where the actuator output shaft 202 is accommodated, in the front direction and the rear direction, it is inferred that a rotational moment is generated in the rectangular concave portion 303 (point of effort), where the actuator output shaft 202 is accommodated, with respect to the central axis Ax of the aiming nut 302 (fulcrum), and the amount of displacement of the rectangular concave portion 303 of the aiming/leveling bracket 300 increases, thereby being likely to deform the aiming/leveling bracket 300. As a result of the aiming/leveling bracket 300 being deformed, a problem may arise where 100% of the force of the actuator output shaft 202 cannot be transmitted to the lamp body bracket (not illustrated). In order to suppress this deformation, the elastic piece 305 is provided, however, the force applied to the elastic piece 305 becomes large. Thus, in this conventional vehicular lighting fixture, the main part of the elastic piece 305 is made of a metal, and the left side portion of the elastic piece 305 is made of a resin as an abutment portion (sliding portion) with the housing 100 (see FIG. 9 of Patent Literature 1). As a result, although the deformation of the aiming/leveling bracket 300 can be reduced, the elastic piece 305, which is made of a metal, cannot be integrally formed with the aiming/leveling bracket 300 resulting in the increase of production costs.

Vehicular lighting fixture with leveling mechanism


The filter circuit arrangement provides the properties of an FIR filter of length N, with K (K.gtoreq.2) cascaded FIR-filter members. One FIR-filter member (5.K) is formed as an equalizer filter of length N.sub.A and the remaining FIR-filter members (5.1 to 5.(K-1)) are 1/M band filters of length N.sub.k, so that ##EQU1## wherein EQU P.sub.k =N.sub.k -2.left brkt-bot.[1/2(N.sub.k -1)]/M.sub.k .right brkt-bot..

The present invention relates to a filter circuit arrangement having a plurality of cascaded FIR-filter members each of which has a length N and a group of N-1 state memories connected in series with each other to obtain the properties of an FIR-prototype filter, in which the input values and output values of the state memories are multipliable with filter coefficients and the resulting products can be added to obtain an output signal.
FIR (finite impulse response) filters of this type are known and are used in many different fields. They especially provide the advantage of high stability. In making a low-pass or high-pass FIR filter the aim often exists to obtain steep pulse sides at the input and output at the same sampling frequency. The position of the transmission range or the suppressed range should be arbitrarily selectable. Besides exacting requirements are necessary for attenuation in the transmitting region or in the cutoff region.
These goals make it indispensable to use a filter with a large filter length N. At the same time the word length of the filter coefficients must be increased with an increase of the filter length so as to counter frequency errors adding statistically by coefficient quantization.
This however has the consequence that the circuitry expense climbs to the same extent, especially the multiplier circuits are expense to make.
Expenditure limits regarding the number of multiplication circuits are described in the paper "The Optimum Design of One and Two-Dimensional FIR Filters Using the Frequency Response Masking Technique" by Y. C. Lim and Yong Lian, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems, Vol. 40, No. 2, February 1993 and in "Handbook for Digital Signal Processing", John Wiley & Sons, New York. The described process is called "frequency response masking" engineering. This technique replaces each state memory in an FIR filter by several cascaded state memories. Pulse steepness or transient steepness can be increased relative to the original FIR filter without increasing the number of coefficients and of course the number of multiplication circuits. However this filter becomes complicated and expensive, because of the considerably increase in the number of state memories.

Filter circuit arrangement having a plurality of cascaded FIR filters


In one embodiment there is provided a method for preparing a hair dye mixture. The method includes a scale and control system in communication with each other. The control system provides for a memory and a display, wherein the memory contains a formula that defines instructions for blending a hair dye mixture. The method displays the instructions on the display. The stylist may then view the display of instructions and add colorant(s) and dye blending material(s) to a receptacle on the scale, in accordance with the instructions, using current product packaging, such that specialized packaging requirements are not required.

The present disclosure can be used in various fields and have various applications. In one such field, namely, cosmetics and hair dye preparations, the current field packages hair dyes in small containers, including but not limited to, various sizes of tubes and bottles. They further provide salons with recipe chart(s) that show how much of ingredient "A" is to be mixed with how much of ingredients "B" and "C" and "D" to produce the desired end color. To produce the desired color, the colorist must first locate the required ingredients. This can be a challenge unto itself at a busy salon with multiple colorists. In addition, with as many as 60 or more ingredients in each manufacturer's colorant lines, using the correct materials in the right amounts is very important. After selecting the color to be used, the next step is to squeeze or pour the approximate amounts of each ingredient into a mixing bowl. Various coarse measurement techniques are currently used, so there is very little control over the end product. This current method employed by most salons lacks precision and control and does not ensure correct results. Stock color recipes are listed on a color chart provided by the colorant manufacturer. Color formulations are often adjusted to suit a particular customer's needs. These custom colors are typically recorded on 3×5 cards or other manually prepared means and filed away for future reference. The drawbacks to this approach include: inaccurate volumetric measurements (" . . . add ½ capful . . . " "squeeze tube to line . . . "); end results that are highly dependent on operator skill level or chance; no controls are available to monitor outcomes; and reliance on hand-written customer records that have no backups; as well as the whole process being devoid of meaningful information and control. Overall, this creates a cluttered, improper, and disorganized process totally devoid of accurate measurement.
Fully-automatic, computer-controlled dispensers designed for hair coloring materials were introduced in the 1990's to address the weaknesses of the current hand-mixing process. Most of these models sold for $10,000 to $20,000, making these dispensers unaffordable for virtually all salons. These dispensers automatically measured the correct amount of each ingredient with great precision and a software database stored the stock color recipes as well as specially created blends, and since the formulation and customer information were stored electronically, locating the required information was easy. Files could also be backed up so valuable customer history data was more secure and easily shared with other locations.
However, these earlier automatic dispensers had one very serious drawback; they required specially-designed internal storage bags for the various color components. These containers typically were designed to hold one or two liters and were specially constructed to eliminate the possibility of air infiltration, which could oxidize and ruin the dye. Unfortunately, the required bulk packaging further required manufacturers to incur very sizeable, multi-million dollar capital costs to add additional manufacturer's filling lines and to produce the special containers. Additionally, major drawbacks of the automatic dispensers included their high cost, extreme complexity, high maintenance requirements, and cost for hair color producers to adopt due to specialized packaging requirements (e.g., the requirement that hair color producers incur high cost capital investments to meet the automatic dispensers' unique packaging requirements). Therefore, the project was deemed uneconomical and did not go forward. This failure created a need for a much simpler, more cost-effective approach which eliminates the drawbacks of earlier designs.
When a person needs to blend or mix a number of components, the need to eliminate waste, create a cost-effective approach to aid the user, and provide a process that produces the desired mixture is highly desired. There is a need to provide a monitored approach, coupled with accurate measurement means to eliminate the potential for error and improve overall accuracy, while producing accurate measurements and information to control the whole process.

System and method for color preparation and management


The present invention relates to oral composition and the method of preparation and use of such composition for inhibiting, reducing, and/or disrupting oral biofilm. The composition comprises a stabilizing matrix, a cationic biocide, and a peroxide source.

Biofilm is a collection of micro colonies with water channels in between and an assortment of cells and extra cellular glycoproteins, polysaccharides and proteins, nucleic acids, or combinations of these macromolecules, and which protects the inhabiting organisms from antiseptics, antibiotics, and host cells.
In the oral environment, biofilms form when bacteria adhere to surfaces in the oral cavity and begin to excrete a slimy, glue-like substance that can adhere to all kinds of substrates found in the oral environment, including biological tissues (gingival tissues and oral mucosa tissues), enamel, dentin, cementum, restoratives, metals, alloys, composites, plastics, porcelains, medical implant materials and devices of prosthodontics and orthodontics.
Biofilms in the oral environment contain communities of disease-causing bacteria and their uncontrolled accumulation has been associated with oral diseases, caries and periodontal diseases (both gingivitis and periodontitis). An established oral biofilm can be very difficult to disrupt, whether by mechanical or chemical means.
The biofilm matrix may provide protection to biofilm-forming bacteria from biocides. It has been well documented that antimicrobials have difficulty penetrating the biofilm's surface layer and because of that, they are less effective on bacteria in an established biofilm, as compared to planktonic bacteria. It has been estimated, for example, that bacteria within biofilms are upwards of 1,000-fold more resistant to conventional antibiotics (Rasmussen et al., Int. J. Med. Microbiol., 2006, 296: 149). As a result, antimicrobial agents (such as antibiotics or antiseptics) are generally not very effective in killing or inhibiting the microorganisms that are deeply embedded within the biofilm. For similar reasons, herbal extracts and essential oils also have very low efficacy against biofilms.
In other contexts, strong antimicrobials have been used to kill bacteria in a biofilm, such as Bisguanide, halogenated diphenyl ether (e.g. triclosan); halogenated quaternary ammonium compounds (e.g., hexadecylpyridinium chloride, benzalkonium chloride, tetradecylpyridinium chloride, N-tetradecyl-4-ethylpyridinium chloride); halogen compounds (e.g., elemental halogens, halogen oxides (e.g., NaOCl, HOCl, HOBr, ClO.sub.2); interhalides (e.g., iodine monochloride, iodine dichloride, iodine trichloride, iodine tetrachloride, bromine chloride, iodine monobromide, or iodine dibromide); polyhalides, hypochlorite salts, hypochlorous acid, and hypobromite salts. Generally, these materials are effective in preventing the unwanted growth of microorganisms. But, most of these compounds are not suitable to be used in oral cavity due to the toxicities and irritations to human body and oral tissues. Bisguanide antiseptics have a bitter taste and stain tooth surfaces, making it unpleasant to users. Triclosan is a potential mutagen, may cause hormone imbalances, and may harm the immune system. Trislocan may also increase the calcium levels inside neurons and with this, theoretically, affect mental development.
Therefore, a high efficacy biocide without unwanted side effects is in need for dental care.
Peroxides are known to be useful for cleaning and whitening teeth, as well as killing cariogenic bacteria. However, peroxide compounds are highly reactive and can spontaneously decompose. Some known dentifrice compositions that include peroxide may exhibit an unacceptable level of peroxide decomposition and loss of efficacy as a result of being stored prior to sale or use. Moreover, peroxide is not compatible with many commonly used ingredients in toothpaste. Consequently, it has been difficult to formulate a stable peroxide containing toothpaste.
Therefore, there is an ongoing and unmet need for an effective composition for oral care, which combines a high efficacy biocide without unwanted side effects and peroxide for effective biofilm removal through the synergistic effect of a cationic biocide and peroxide. The embodiments of the present invention aim to meet these needs.


An automated computer controlled ground water system for monitoring and analysis for an analyte, has a sampling device in a well casing with a valve and sensor to provide a predetermined sample volume, a treatment assembly to prepare a calibration standard, a calibration assembly to provide a standard of known concentration and volume, an analytical assembly to analyze for analyte concentration, and a communication system to receive analysis data and transmit it to a cognizant agency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to analysis systems for determining the presence and concentrations of hazardous, carcinogenic, etc., chemicals in ground water. In particular, the invention relates to an automated system for operation on site to automatically and independently assay concentrations of analytes of interest, and to communicate analysis data to agencies concerned with health and safety.
2. The Prior Art
Analysis of ground water for analytes of interest has become progressively more important because of concern regarding soil and ground water contamination by industrial chemicals and the like, and by nuclear waste.
The prior art comprises a wide assortment of liquid sampling systems and devices. These fall into three general categories:
(a) devices lowered into a liquid to collect a sample;
(b) devices lowered into a liquid and which pump the liquid to the surface for analysis; and
(c) devices lowered into the liquid and which embody self-contained means for analysis of the liquid and the transmitting of analysis data to a processing station.
Among the prior art patents relative to such liquid sampling devices are the following: U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,934 to Burge et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,551 to C. Grantom, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,708,220 to R. Burge.
Liquid sampling devices of the prior art involve certain disadvantages and shortcomings, which it is the purpose of the present invention to overcome.
Devices which obtain samples by lowering a device into the liquid to be sampled, withdrawing the sample from the liquid, and retrieving and collecting samples, involve time-consumption, tedious processes and expense. A primary disadvantage is that contamination of the sample analyzing means within a submersible sampling device necessarily restricts the accuracy of sample analyses which may be performed, expose the instrumentation to risk of damage, unnecessarily increase the cost and complexity of sampling devices, and preclude utilizing such instrumentation for other purposes, as in laboratories.
Devices lifting a column of water equal in height to the distance from the submerged sample collection device to the surface require very high pump outlet pressure, particularly when a sampling device is a substantial distance below ground surface, such as 1,000 ft. or much more.
There has existed substantial and increasing need for an improved water sampling system and method which provides a complete automatic procedure from sampling through analysis, and under computer program control from sampling to disposal of waste samples and communicating the analysis results automatically to provide an assay for use by appropriate agencies.

Automated ground water monitoring and analysis system


In an image pickup apparatus having an openable and closable shutter mechanism to protect an image pickup lens portion of a ultra-small and light-weight video camera, the shutter mechanism is composed of a drive mechanism 34 including an output shaft rotated by a motor 36 through a deceleration mechanism, a cam plate 24 engaged with the output shaft of the drive mechanism 34 to be rotated through a shaft mechanism coaxial with the output shaft, a shutter plate 23 engaged with a cam groove 27 of the cam plate 24 to be slidably lowered and elevated in the longitudinal direction of a video camera body portion to open and close the front surface of the image pickup lens portion and a clutch mechanism provided in the drive mechanism 34 to isolate a drive transmission system of the output shaft and the motor 36 when external force stronger than predetermined external force is applied to the shutter plate 23 which is being opened and closed. In the ultra-small micro MV video camera, the shutter mechanism to protect the image pickup lens portion can be miniaturized, the shutter mechanism can be avoided from being broken and the highly-precise shutter mechanism can be obtained by simple and easy assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an ultra-small and light-weight image pickup apparatus such as a so-called micro MV video camera and a digital still camera, and particularly to an image pickup apparatus including a miniaturized shutter mechanism serving as a lens cover to protect an image pickup lens and a clutch mechanism for avoiding a shutter mechanism from being broken and in which a highly-precise shutter mechanism can be obtained by simple and easy assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
As digital video cameras including an external liquid-crystal display monitor panel openable and closable to the video camera body through a hinge mechanism and digital video cameras with a memory card such as an IC (integrated circuit) recording media that can record or reproduce a recorded image as a moving picture or a still picture become progressively small in size and light in weight recently, video cameras which are more miniaturized and light-weighted, that is, so-called palm-held size digital video cameras are now under development.
On the other hand, in the above-mentioned ultra-small digital video camera, it is requested that its shutter mechanism to protect an image pickup lens should be smaller in space and that such shutter mechanism should be simple in arrangement and high in assembly accuracy. In addition, it is requested that the above ultra-small digital video camera should have a safety mechanism for avoiding a shutter mechanism from being broken when external force is applied to a shutter plate unintentionally or preventing a motor from being applied with an overload during the shutter plate is being opened or closed by a motor drive mechanism.
The cited patent reference 1 has disclosed a small and light-weight lens cover apparatus for opening and closing a lens cover reliably and which can prevent a lens cover drive mechanism from being damaged even when external force is applied to the lens cover.
[Cited Patent Reference 1]
Official gazette of Japanese laid-open patent application No. 2000-261699
The above-mentioned lens cover apparatus comprises a cam portion integrally formed with a rotary dial type operation mode selecting switch for selecting camera operation modes and which has cams with different radiuses required in the shooting mode and the non-shooting mode, a substantially V-like protruded portion slidably in contact with a cam portion with its one member, a lens cover drive arm for engaging one end of the lens cover with the tip end of the other member of the V-like protruded portion, a spring for spring-biasing one member and the other member in the direction in which they become distant from each other and a drive lever composed of a stopper member for restricting the detachment between one member and the other member under spring force of this spring and a resilient member for spring-biasing the protruded portion of one member so that the protruded portion may constantly and slidably contact with the cam portion under spring force to open and close a lens attachment opening by the lens cover moved when the drive lever is moved in unison with the cam portion. The lens cover apparatus having the above-mentioned arrangement is extremely complex in arrangement, and therefore it is not suitable for use with the ultra-small digital video camera. Also, although such lens cover apparatus can easily be assembled into an image pickup apparatus such as a so-called camera which is long in the horizontal direction and which has a wide front surface to mount an image pickup lens, it is not suitable for use with a so-called video camera having a wide side surface portion to mount a holding portion and which has a narrow oblong surface in the longitudinal direction to mount an image pickup lens.

Image pickup apparatus having a shutter clutch


A fluid production computation apparatus using the electromagnetic induction theory is disclosed. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the fluid production computation apparatus includes a line through which a current flows according to fluid production; a magnetic sensor, measuring magnetism induced by the current; and a fluid production computation unit, computing the fluid production through magnetism measured by the magnetic sensor. The conventional flow measurement apparatus measures the flow by measuring a current or a voltage induced by magnetism formed by a fluid or by using a fluid measurement sensor. However, with the present invention, an apparatus can be miniaturized and the measurement can be precisely performed by measuring a magnetic field induced by a current flowing according to fluid production.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flow measurement apparatus, more specifically to a fluid production computation apparatus that computes fluid production by measuring a magnetic filed induced by a current flowing according to a produced fluid.
2. Background Art
A conventional flow measurement apparatus measuring fluid production can be approximately divided into two types. A first type flow measurement apparatus measures the flow by transforming the magnetism, formed by a fluid flowing through a pipe, to an electric signal. In other words, the first type flow measurement apparatus measures the flow based on a current or a voltage induced by the change of a magnetic filed, which is formed by the fluid flowing through the pipe. However, since this flow measurement method can be performed in the only case that the fluid flows through the pipe, if the pipe through which the fluid flows is blocked or leaks, the fluid production is unable to be exactly measured.
A second type flow measurement apparatus measures the flow by mounting a flow sensor in the pipe through which the fluid flows. In other words, the second type flow measurement apparatus acquires a flow value measured by a sensor, directly measuring the flow, mounted in the pipe through which the fluid flows. However, the second type flow measurement apparatus is unable to be used in a small sized apparatus such as a portable apparatus.

Fluid production computation apparatus using electromagnetic induction theory and fluid producing apparatus capable of computing fluid production


This present invention relates to a soda bottle cap having a shell with a spout and a flexible top, and a seal that has an opening through which liquid can flow out when the flexible top is pressed down. With the structure of this soda bottle cap it is possible to release the carbonated liquid from the soda bottle using the high pressure of CO.sub.2 gas inside. When the flexible top is pressed down, the seal changes shape and does not block inner hole (6) so that the liquid in the bottle can be pushed out through the tube(12), and then through the center hole(9) of the seal, and then through channels (10) of the seal, and then through the inner hole (6) of the shell, and then through the spout (4) by the inner hole (6) of the shell, and then through the spout (40 by the high pressure of CO gas in the bottle. When the force on the flexible top (7) is released after use, the flexible top and the seal go back to its original shape.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to soda bottle cap of simple structure that enables discharge of liquid from a soda bottle while keeping high pressure gas inside to maintain the carbonated taste of liquid until it is consumed.
2. Background
Because the commonly used cap for soda bottle that contains carbonated liquid, such as cola, cider, and beer, is simply made of shell (1) and seal (2) as is shown in FIG. 1, the cap should be removed from the bottle (3) before the liquid can be poured from the bottle. As soon as the cap is opened, the high pressure CO.sub.2 gas inside the bottle is released from the bottle. When the cap is closed after use, the space above the carbonated liquid is slowly pressured again by the CO.sub.2 released from the carbonated liquid inside the bottle. When the cap is opened again to pour out the liquid from the bottle, the high pressure CO.sub.2 gas is lost again as this opening and closing of the cap is repeated, the CO.sub.2 gas that is dissolved in the carbonated liquid is lost repeatedly, the carbonated taste of carbonated liquid becomes weak, and the liquid turns stale and flat.
To avoid such problems the soda bottle cap of this invention enables release of liquid from a soda bottle while keeping high pressure up. The soda bottle cap of this invention can be manufactured easily for lost cost as it has simple structure and, therefore, can be used widely on soda bottles for general consumers.


In a packet transmission method and device, when a received packet is written in a packet buffer, an address of the packet buffer is stored as a read address for each destination corresponding to a physical port and storing information of the received packet. The read address of a destination designated by the received packet information is read and saved when the received packet is read out of the packet buffer in accordance with a scheduling control. Then, the saved read address is taken out in accordance with an arbitration control and a received packet corresponding to the saved read address is read from the packet buffer.

1. Field
The present invention relates to a packet transmission method and device, an in particular to a packet transmission (transfer) method and device for reading a packet such as an Ethernet (trademark) frame from a packet buffer having temporarily stored the packet for each destination in a scheduling control in the field of art providing a function such as QoS (Quality of Service) control, priority control, bandwidth control, etc. in an layer 2 (L2) switch device used in an IP network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a prior art device for switching a packet between networks or within a network, a scheduler (scheduling portion), an input FIFO and output FIFO have been employed to achieve a QoS control, priority control, or bandwidth control etc. This will be described referring to FIGS. 20-41 as follows:
Overall Arrangement of Packet Transmission Device: FIG. 20
As shown in FIG. 20, a packet transmission device 1 is generally composed of LIU (Line Interface Unit) cards 2#1-2#4 . . . (hereinafter, represented by reference numeral 2) and a switch (SW) card 3.
In this arrangement, packets coming from a network NW1 are received at physical ports P#0-P#n (hereinafter, a represented by a reference character P) of e.g. the LIU cards 2#1, 2#2 as shown by dotted routes R1, R2, and multiplexed respectively within the LIU cards 2#1, 2#2 to be provided to the switch card 3.
The switch card 3 identifies or discriminates the destination (output physical port) of each packet, and multiplies the packets and outputs them to e.g. the LIU card 2#3 where the corresponding physical port P exists. The LIU card 2#3 having received the packets from the switch card 3 performs a scheduling control and an output control, and outputs the packets to the network NW2 from the physical port P.
Conventional Arrangement of LIU Card: FIGS. 21-23
A conventional arrangement of the LIU card 2 is shown in FIG. 21 in which each block shown has the following functions:    (a) Write controller 11: Notifying, upon receiving a packet, received packet information (destination physical port number, packet length, etc.) to an address manager 14, and performing a write control of the packet in an address of a packet buffer 12 indicated by a free or vacant address from the address manager 14;    (b) Packet buffer 12: Storing an actual packet and outputting the packet in accordance with the scheduling control;    (c) Read controller 13: Performing, upon transmitting a packet, a read control of a packet from an address of the packet buffer 12 indicated by a read address from the address manager 14;    (d) Address manager 14: Controlling the following memories 141-144 with an address controller 140 to issue a write address and a read address:            Free address managing memory 141: Storing an available address;        Address chain managing memory 142: Managing connection of the order of packets stored in the packet buffer 12 and connection of data within the packets for each destination in the form of chain of address values (hereinafter, occasionally simplified as address);        Head address managing memory 143: Storing an address value in which a head packet for each destination physical port exists;        Tail address managing memory 144: Storing an address value in which a tail (final) packet for each destination physical port exists;            (e) Scheduler 15: Performing a scheduling control for selecting a destination (physical port) to be read by e.g. a round robin method while performing a bandwidth control by monitoring a contract bandwidth of a customer;    (f) Packet controller 16: Comprising the following three portions:            Destination discriminator 161: Discriminating or identifying a destination physical port number, determining which of packet FIFOs 162 should be used for the storage for each destination, and performing a write control;        Packet FIFO 162: Storing actual packets for each of the physical ports P#0-P#n;        Arbiter 163: Selecting the packet FIFO 162 to be read, performing a read control, and stopping reading packets for each physical port with a back pressure signal BP;            (g) Output portion 17: Comprising a demultiplexing (Dmux) portion 17 and "n" number of physical ports (P#0-P#n) 172, in which the Dmux portion 171 performs arranging transmission packets and generating the back pressure signal BP.
FIG. 22A shows a composition or format of the packet buffer 12, FIGS. 22B-22E show compositions of the memories 141-144, and FIG. 22F shows a composition of the packet FIFO 162, where the memories 143 and 144 store an address value for each physical port, and the packet FIFO 162 stores a packet for each physical port. The packet FIFO 162 shown has a memory composition for a single physical port.
Also, FIG. 23 shows a general composition of a packet.
Packet Receiving Operation: FIGS. 24 and 25
An operation of the LIU card 2 shown in FIG. 21 at the time of packet reception will now be described along flows indicated by reference numerals (1)-(4) shown in FIGS. 24 and 25, where in this receiving operation, only a read address counter value RAC of the memory 141 is incremented by only one address for one packet input but a write address counter value WAC does not run:
First, an operation (i) at the time of receiving the first packet for a certain destination will be described referring to FIG. 24 as follows:    (1) At the time of receiving a packet, the write controller 11 notifies received packet information (destination physical port number, packet length, etc.) to the address controller 140, which acquires a free address from the address managing memory 141;    (2) The address controller 140 writes a free address value acquired in the above (1) in an address of the corresponding physical port number (P#0-P#n) in the head address managing memory 143 (update of the head address value), and also writes a free address value in an address of the corresponding physical port number in the tail address managing memory 144 as well (update of the tail address value);    (3) The address controller 140 notifies received packet information for read controls to the scheduler 15;    (4) Address controller 140 outputs the free address value acquired in the above (1) to the write controller 11, which stores the received packet in an address of the packet buffer 12 indicated by the free address value.
Next, an operation (ii) at the time of receiving a packet toward a physical port having the same destination will be described along flows indicated by reference numerals (1)-(5) referring to FIG. 25 as follows:    (1) At the time of receiving a packet, the write controller 11 notifies received packet information (destination physical port number, packet length, etc.) to the address controller 140, which acquires a free address value from the free address managing memory 141;    (2) The address controller 140 writes the free address value acquired in the above (1) in an address of the corresponding physical port number in the tail address managing memory 144 (update of tail address value);    (3) The address controller 140 reads the head address value of the corresponding physical port number from the head address managing memory 143, and writes the free address value acquired in the above (1) in an address area indicated by the head address value in the address chain managing memory 142 (chaining operation of address value);    (4) The address controller 140 notifies the received packet information for read controls to the scheduler 15;    (5) The address controller 140 outputs the free address value acquired in the above (1) to the write controller 11, which stores the received packet in an address of the packet buffer 12 indicated by the free address value.Transition of Memory Contents: FIGS. 26A-26E to 33A-33E
The above receiving operations will now be described more specifically referring to FIGS. 26-33 showing contents of the memories 141-144 as follows:    1) Default state (before packet input): FIGS. 26A-26E
The memory contents at this initial setting are as follows:                Packet buffer 12: All addresses=free;        Free address managing memory 141: All addresses=available;        Address chain managing memory 142:                    All addresses=no chained next address;                        Head address managing memory 143:                    All addresses=no head address;                        Tail address managing memory 144:                    All addresses=no tail address.                            2) Input of packets A1, B1, C1: FIGS. 27A-27E
When having sequentially received three packets A1, B1, C1 respectively of destinations (physical ports) A, B, C, the memory contents are as follows:                Packet buffer 12:                    Packets A1, B1, C1 are respectively stored in addresses 0, 1, 2;                        Free address managing memory 141:                    Data of addresses 0, 1, 2 are unavailable;                        Address chain managing memory 142: Unchanged;        Head address managing memory 143:                    Head address of destination A=0,            Head address of destination B=1,            Head address of destination C=2;                        Tail address managing memory 144:                    Tail address of destination A=0,            Tail address of destination B=1,            Tail address of destination C=2.                            3) Input of packet A2: FIGS. 28A-28E
When having received the second packet A2 having the destination A, the memory contents are as follows:                Packet buffer 12: Packet is stored in address 3;        Free address managing memory 141:                    Data of address 3 is unavailable;                        Managing memory 142:                    Chained next address of address 0=3;                        Head address managing memory 143: Unchanged;        Tail address managing memory 144:                    Tail address of destination A=0→3 (changed from 0 to 3).                            4) Input of packet C: FIGS. 29A-29E
When having received the second packet C2 of the destination C, the memory contents are as follows:                Packet buffer 12: Packet is stored in address 4;        Free address managing memory 141:                    Data of address 4 is unavailable;                        Address chain managing memory 142:                    Chained next address of address 2=4;                        Head address managing memory 143: Unchanged;        Tail address managing memory 144:                    Tail address of destination C=2→4                            5) Input of packet A3: FIGS. 30A-30E
When having received the third packet A3 of the destination A, the memory contents are as follows:                Packet buffer 12: Packet is stored in address 5;        Free address managing memory 141:                    Data of address 5 is unavailable;                        Address chain managing memory 142:                    Chained next address of address 3=5;                        Head address managing memory 143: Unchanged;        Tail address managing memory 144:                    Tail address of destination A=3→5.                            6) Input of packet B2: FIGS. 31A-31E
When having received the second packet B2 of the destination B, the memory contents are as follows:                Packet buffer 12: Packet is stored in address 6;        Free address managing memory 141:                    Data of address 6 is unavailable;                        Address chain managing memory 142:                    Chained next address of address 1=6;                        Head address managing memory 143: Unchanged;        Tail address managing memory 144:                    Tail address of destination B=1→6.                            7) Input of packet C3: FIGS. 32A-32E
When having received the third packet C3 of the destination C, the memory contents are as follows:                Packet buffer 12: Packet is stored in address 7;        Free address managing memory 141:                    Data of address 7 is unavailable;                        Address chain managing memory 142:                    Chained next address of address 4=7;                        Head address managing memory 143: Unchanged;        Tail address managing memory 144:                    Tail address of destination C=4→7.                            8) Input of packet B3: FIGS. 33A-33E
When having received the third packet B3 of the destination B, the memory contents are as follows:                Packet buffer 12: Packet is stored in address 8;        Free address managing memory 141:                    Data of address 8 is unavailable;                        Address chain managing memory 142:                    Chained next address of address 6=8;                        Head address managing memory 143: Unchanged;        Tail address managing memory 144:                    Tail address of destination B=6→8.Packet Transmitting Operation: FIGS. 34 and 35A, 35B
Next, an operation of the LIU card 2 shown in FIG. 21 at the time of transmitting packets will be described along flows indicated by reference numeral (1)-(5) referring to FIGS. 34 and 35, where the read address counter value RAC of the memory 141 does not run but only the write address counter value WAC is incremented by one every time one packet is outputted:    (1) The address controller 140 having received a read physical port number determined by the scheduling control in the scheduler 15 reads a destination corresponding to the physical port number from the head address managing memory 143;    (2) The address controller 140 reads a chained next address value from the address chain managing memory 142 with the head address value acquired in the above (1), and writes the chained next address value in the address of the corresponding physical port number in the head address managing memory 143 (update of head address value);    (3) The address controller 140 returns the head address value acquired in the above (1) to the free address managing memory 141;    (4) The read controller 13 reads a packet from the packet buffer 12 with the head address value acquired in the above (1), and a destination discriminator 161 of the packet controller 16 discriminates the destination physical port number to be accumulated in the packet FIFO 162 of the corresponding physical port;    (5) The packets accumulated in the packet FIFO 162 are read therefrom at a read request from the arbiter 163 (e.g. a simple round robin operation) and outputted from the corresponding physical port 172 through the Dmux portion 171 of the output portion 17, where the Dmux portion 171 performs an output control in accordance with the actual rate, in which the outputting is stopped at the occurrence of a state exceeding the actual rate due to a burst or the like and the back pressure signal BP is transmitted to the arbiter 163, which controls the destination discriminator 161 to stop packet reading from the packet FIFO 162 of the corresponding physical port.
Specifically describing the above referring to FIGS. 35A and 35B, under contract of 1 Gbps on a physical basis for the output port, packets read from the packet buffer 12 beyond 1 Gbps in a burst mode can not be outputted, so that the back pressure signal BP is outputted from the Dmux portion 171 to the packet controller 16 to stop the packet outputting. When the packet outputting is stopped, the packets read from the packet buffer are accumulated in the packet FIFO 162 up to a level where any further packets can not be accumulated, at which the back pressure signal BP is outputted from the destination discriminator 161 of the packet controller 16 to the scheduler 15 to stop reading the packets from the packet buffer 12.
This keeps the rate of 1 Gbps in average as shown in FIG. 35B. It is to be noted that the issuance of read addresses to the packet buffer 12 is performed while the scheduler 15 is monitoring the contract bandwidth of the customer, as shown in FIG. 35A.
Transition of Memory Contents: FIGS. 36A-36E to 41A-41E
The above transmitting operation will be now described more specifically referring to FIGS. 36-41 showing contents of the memories 141-144, where the memory contents at the start of transmission are supposed to have the contents shown in FIG. 33:    1) Output of packet A1: FIGS. 36A-36E
When outputting the first packet A1 of the destination A based on the instructions of the scheduler 15, the memory contents are as follows:                Packet buffer 12: Address 0=free;        Free address managing memory 141:                    Data of address 0 is available;                        Address chain managing memory 142: Unchanged;        Head address managing memory 143:                    Head address of destination A=0→3;                        Tail address managing memory 144: Unchanged.            2) Output of packet A2: FIGS. 37A-37E
When outputting the second packet A2 of the destination A, the memory contents are as follows:                Packet buffer 12: Address 3=free;        Free address managing memory 141:                    Data of address 3 is available;                        Address chain managing memory 142: Unchanged;        Head address managing memory 143:                    Head address of destination A=3→5;                        Tail address managing memory 144: Unchanged.            2) Output of packet B1: FIGS. 38A-38E
When outputting the first packet B1 of the destination B, the memory contents are as follows:                Packet buffer 12: Address 1=free;        Free address managing memory 141:                    Data of address 1 is available;                        Address chain managing memory 142: Unchanged;        Head address managing memory 143:                    Head address of destination B=1→6;                        Tail address managing memory 144: Unchanged.            4) Output of packet B2: FIGS. 39A-39E
When outputting the second packet B2 of the destination B, the memory contents are as follows:                Packet buffer 12: Address 6=free;        Free address managing memory 141:                    Data of address 6 is available;                        Address chain managing memory 142: Unchanged;        Head address managing memory 143:                    Head address of destination B=6→8;                        Tail address managing memory 144: Unchanged.            5) Output of packet C1: FIGS. 40A-40E
When outputting the first packet C1 of the destination C, memory contents are as follows:                Packet buffer 12: Address 2=free;        Free address managing memory 141:                    Data of address 2 is available;                        Address chain managing memory 142: Unchanged;        Head address managing memory 143:                    Head address of destination C=2→4;                        Tail address managing memory 144: Unchanged.            6) Output of packet C2: FIGS. 41A-41E
When outputting the second packet C2 of the destination C, the memory contents are as follows:                Packet buffer 12: Address 4=free;        Free address managing memory 141:                    Data of address 4 is available;                        Address chain managing memory 142: Unchanged;        Head address managing memory 143:                    Head address of destination C=4→7;                        Tail address managing memory 144: Unchanged.
It is to be noted that for a reference document, there has been proposed a packet exchanging device and method in which an input buffer portion corresponding to an input line transmits the data assembled by forming a block with packets sequentially having a higher priority for the same output path destination; a scheduler performs a competitive arbitration for the data transmitted and an N×N switch portion switches over the connection of the data to the output line based on the competitive arbitration (see e.g. Patent document 1).
Also, there has been proposed an ATM cell multiplexing method and device in which a single cell buffer is used to manage the storage of the cell buffer with pointer values, the cell buffer is accumulated with ATM cells mixed with different quality classes, and reading from the cell buffer per quality class is made based on the pointer values of the cell buffer stored in a class buffer (FIFO) provided per quality class for a pointer buffer (see e.g. Patent document 2).
Furthermore, there has been proposed a switch and switching method in which a controller included in NIU extracts destination information included in the received data to determine a destination line by associating the destination information and transfer information based on a table; then the received data is transferred to a buffer area through a bus and is temporarily stored in the buffer area; then the controller writes in a queue together with a pointer indicating the address of the data in the buffer area to the effect that the data to be transmitted exists in the buffer area; NIU properly checks the status of the queue and reads the data to be transmitted from the buffer area at a suitable timing based on the pointer in the presence of the data and transmits it to the line (see e.g. Patent document 3).    [Patent document 1]
Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2001-298477    [Patent document 2]
Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2000-78139    [Patent document 3]
Japanese patent application laid-open No. 10-327175
As described above, in the LIU card of the prior art packet transmission device as shown in FIG. 21, packets inputted from the physical ports are once saved or accumulated in the packet buffer, and then transmitted under the control of the scheduler in accordance with a priority class of the packets and transmission rates of the output physical ports.
In this case, the scheduler can not perform a rate control in response to a burst output, so that the packet controller is required to have a packet FIFO by physical port. This enables the packet transmission to be monitored in conformity with the actual rate, where at the occurrence of an abnormal transmission rate due to a burst or the like the packet transmission is stopped while notifying the back pressure signal to the scheduler, thereby stopping the scheduling control for the corresponding physical port.
Meanwhile, a device processing a large quantity of data has been recently required as the number of subscriber increases. Therefore, in case a packet FIFO is provided by physical port as described above, it has been disadvantageous that a time delay of data processing due to packets remaining in the packet FIFO, incurring an increased power consumption and heat generation due to increase of a circuit scale because of the free address managing memory and the address chain managing memory being separately used, as well as an increased heat generation due to downsizing.


A device that facilitates the simultaneous tenderizing and flattening of meat is provided. The device uses a modified rolling pin like structure and has a meat preparation central section between two opposing handles. The meat preparation area has a greater circumference in the middle which decreases where the meat preparation area meets each handle. The meat preparation area consists of alternating bands of a tenderizing element and a flattening element arranged in a non-linear fashion. Each tenderizing element consists of an array of serrations of varying sizes.

It is well known in the art that tenderized meat tastes better, cooks easier and faster, and absorbs seasonings and aromatic spices better than meat that is not tenderized. A particular portion of meat may be tender or tough depending on the species of the animal slaughtered, its breed, its health, its feed, the amount of exercise it got, whether it was fed at a feed lot before slaughter, and a variety of other factors. People tend to prefer tender meat because it is easier to eat, easier to digest, and tends to be more flavorful.
Various devices and methods for tenderizing meat are also well known in the art. Pounding meat with meat tenderizing mallets is the most common means of tenderizing meat, but has the drawbacks of destroying the texture of the meat, and causing a great mess through splattered meat particles.
Chemical tenderizers, e.g. Mono Sodium Glutamate (MSG), are used to tenderize meats but these have the drawbacks of frequently changing the flavor of the meat, and generating potential health risks to some people.
The invention solves the problem of having the control at your fingertips for applying a controlled amount of pressure to a piece of meat so to gently tenderize and flatten meat without tearing. Tearing is a problem especially, when working with more delicate cuts of meat like veal, chicken, pork and the like.
Other methods of tenderizing meat include marinating, aging, and the like, but these methods require extra time to be fully effective and can change the texture and flavor of the meat being treated.
Known art related to a meat tenderizing device includes the following.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,735, issued to Stagg on Oct. 22, 1850 discloses a hand cranked meat tenderizer.
U.S. Pat. No. 150,893, issued to Robbins et al. on May 12, 1874 discloses a two-handed roller meat tenderizer.
U.S. Pat. No. 443,482, issued to Ginter on Mar. 17, 1891 discloses a one-handed roller meat tenderizer.
U.S. Pat. No. 725,840, issued to Hastings on Apr. 21, 1903 discloses a two-handed roller for cutting and tenderizing beefsteak.
U.S. Pat. No. 866,106, issued to Baker on Sep. 17, 1907 discloses a one-handed meat tenderizer.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,694,221, issued to Dura on Nov. 16, 1954 discloses a two-handed meat tenderizer.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,138,823, issued to Langner on Jun. 30, 1964 discloses a one-handed meat tenderizer device.
U.S. Pat. No. D253,155, issued to Jurida on Oct. 16, 1979 illustrates a one-handed meat tenderizer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,753, issued to Marchese on Oct. 3, 1995 discloses a modular food processing assembly of the present invention includes a rigid support frame, and two elongated horizontally oriented generally cylindrical rollers being rotatably supported by the frame. The rollers may be provided with a plurality of serrated teeth distributed radially and axially about the surface of the rollers, and the rollers are oriented generally parallel to each other. A hand crank is frictionally and removably connected to an end of a roller. Unified translation and compression means connect the rollers proximate the ends of the rollers translating rotation of the hand crank into rotation of the two rollers and further causing the rollers to be compressed against the food being processed. A clamp assembly is also included which is adapted to secure the frame to a fixed base, whereby when the hand crank is rotated, the food passes through the rotating rollers and becomes processed.
U.S. Pat. No. D365,971, issued to Brockmann on Jan. 9, 1996 illustrates a two-handed roller meat tenderizer.
U.S. Pat. No. D401,815, issued to Filipovic on Dec. 1, 1998 illustrates a one-handed meat tenderizing roller.
U.S. Pat. No. D423,888, issued to Kaposi on May 2, 2000 illustrates a meat tenderizer head for a one-handed held mallet tenderizer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,090, issued to Thompson on Dec. 12, 2000 discloses a two-handed roller apparatus used to tenderize meats and poultry products.
U.S. Pat. No. D481,268 S, issued to Hibbert et al. on Oct. 28, 2003 illustrates a one-handed meat tenderizer with spiked roller and marinate dispensing handle.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not utilize or disclose a tenderizing device having alternating non-linear arrays of serrations and flattening elements on two opposing graduated handles where the serrations vary in size.
A need exists for an apparatus and a method of tenderizing meats that is safer than a mallet, provides for a quick and efficient tenderization of the meats such that it will not shred or otherwise harm the meat, and allows for a more sanitary way to tenderize meats.
Therefore, a need exists for a tenderizing device with these attributes and functionalities. The tenderizing device according to embodiments of the invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art. It can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved tenderizing device which can be used commercially. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills these objectives.
The foregoing patent and other information reflect the state of the art of which the inventors are aware and are tendered with a view toward discharging the inventors' acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information that may be pertinent to the patentability of the present invention. It is respectfully stipulated, however, that the foregoing patent and other information do not teach or render obvious, singly or when considered in combination, the inventors' claimed invention.


A latching apparatus controls the motion of a first member relative to a second member. The first member is reciprocally moveable relative to the second member in forward and reverse directions along the line of motion. The second member carries a latch which is movable within a plane parallel to the line of motion. The latch has a first pawl and a second pawl. The second member carries a pivot for carrying the latch so that the latch is rotatable relative to the second member about the pivot which is orthogonal to the line of motion. The latch is shiftable between first and second positions relative to the pivot. The first member bears a plurality of engagement features linearly arrayed along the line of motion. Each engagement feature has a generally forward facing first face and a generally rearward facing second face. When the latch is in the first position, it is biased for its first pawl to engage the engagement features. When the latch is in the second position it is biased for its second pawl to engage the engagement features.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to latching, and more particularly to latches useful for controlling movement of objects such as doors, windows, and drawers.
2. Background Information
With objects such as sliding windows and doors, especially vertically sliding windows and doors, it is desirable to be able to selectively lock the window or door in a selected intermediate position within its available range of motion. A variety of manual latching systems are in common use. Many such systems require a user to manually actuate an actuator to disengage the latch and permit movement of the window or door. When the window or door is at the selected position, the user releases the actuator (for example, a push-button or lever) to lock the window or door in place. Such systems are often difficult to use, with the actuators requiring that relatively significant force be exerted by the user's fingers at the same time as the user is moving the window or door.
It is therefore desirable that a latching system be provided which combines the action of moving an object with the actuation of the latching mechanism so that the user is confronted with but a single task and can accomplish that task without undue exertion.


A communication system that can quickly perform the processing of the data re-transmission when error occurs in the data. The communication system includes an automatic original feeder and an image reader that transmit and receive data simultaneously. A CPU provided in the automatic original feeder determines error of reception data. The CPU adds the result of the determination to transmission data being transmitted to the image reader. One of the automatic original feeder and the image reader acts as a slave, and the other acts as a master.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication system, a communication control method, and a program for implementing the method, and relates to, for example, a communication system including a master apparatus and a slave apparatus, where the master apparatus controls communication of the slave apparatus, a communication control method applied to the communication system, and a program causing a computer to execute the communication control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional communication system where a master apparatus controls communication of a slave apparatus, and data transmission and data reception are carried out simultaneously, the slave apparatus notifies the master apparatus of a result of determination of an error in Nth reception data by returning N+1th reception data with the determination result added thereto to the master apparatus. For example, according to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H07-276743, if an error occurs in data transmitted from a master apparatus, a slave apparatus transmits an error status at the time of transmission of the next command (next data transmission).
It should be noted that the error determination method carried out by the slave apparatus includes a method which determines that reception data is normal if the sum of the reception data and a checksum in the reception data coincide with each other, and a method which determines that reception data is normal if parity data added to the reception data has a predetermined value.
However, in the conventional communication system where the data transmission and data reception are carried out simultaneously, since the slave apparatus requests the master apparatus for re-transmission of data by returning N+1th reception data with the determination result added thereto to the master apparatus, the Nth reception data is re-transmitted to the slave apparatus when N+2th reception data is transmitted.
As a result, if there is an error in the reception data, there is a delay before correct data is re-transmitted, and this delay slows down the communication processing speed.
Further, for a conventional system where one apparatus controls another apparatus, there has been proposed a method in which communication control is carried out between these apparatuses, and these apparatuses control each other via the communication (for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications (Kokai) No. H02-37438, No. H11-143842, and No. 2000-244689). In such a system, if a master-slave type method in which one apparatus acts as a master apparatus, and the other apparatus acts as a slave apparatus, it is possible to provide a system where the one apparatus controls the other apparatus with a relatively inexpensive and simple construction.
However, in the conventional master-slave type communication system, if an error occurs in a data reception control section of the slave apparatus, the slave apparatus can run away while the slave apparatus is out of control of the master apparatus.
Further, when such an error occurs, the master apparatus cannot restore the slave apparatus into a normal operative state, and to cope with this, it is necessary that at least the power of the slave apparatus is turned off, and then turned on to restart the slave apparatus.
Another way to cope with this problem involves providing a signal line (reset control line) between the master apparatus and the slave apparatus for resetting the slave apparatus from the master apparatus. However, this way of providing a reset control line between the apparatuses leads to increased costs.

Communication system, communication control method, and program for implementing the method


A plurality of high-frequency beam-forming RF antenna arrays are used to enable parallel data transmission at multi-Gigabit per second data rates. In one embodiment, the 60 GHz band is used for parallel transmission of data from an antenna array printed on the substrate or packaging of an integrated circuit.

There has recently been a pronounced increase in the types of communication applications that require the use of wireless data transfer. Such applications include, for example, video conferencing, video-on-demand, high speed Internet access, high speed local area networks, online gaming, and high definition television. In the home or office, for example, computing devices continue to be connected using wireless networking systems. Many additional types of devices are also being designed with wireless communication in mind.
At frequencies below about 3 GHz, signals tend to be less directional, thereby causing them to impact and reflect off of nearby objects. These reflected signals result in what is known as "multipath," which involves the reflected signal arriving at the intended receiver later than the original signal. One way to minimize this effect has been to parcel the frequency spectrum by licensing a given spectrum band to a single signal provider in a given area.
At higher frequencies (e.g. from about 3 to about 60 GHz), signals become somewhat directional, which largely reduces the multipath issue mentioned above. As such, the number of signal providers that can coexist in a given space and/or frequency increases dramatically. The 57-64 GHz ("60 GHz band") band is located in the millimeter-wave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum and has been largely unexploited for commercial wireless applications. This spectrum is unlicensed by the FCC in the United States and by other bodies world-wide. In addition to the higher-data rates that can be accomplished in this spectrum, energy propagation in the 60 GHz band has unique characteristics that make possible many other benefits such as excellent immunity to interference, high security, and frequency re-use.
Transmissions at 60 GHz can be much more directional in nature, and can co-exist with other signal sources placed in very close proximity to each other. Directivity is a measure of how well an antenna focuses its energy in an intended direction. Highly focused antennas minimize the possibility of interference between links in the same geographic area, minimize the risk that the transmission will be intercepted, and maximize performance by only expending energy in the intended direction.
Low power transmissions (i.e. lower than the FCC allowed 40 dBm) in the 60 GHz range are limited in range in both free air, attributable to oxygen absorption of the energy, and is easily stopped or reflected by structures such as walls. These seeming limitations contribute to the inherent security of the transmissions.
Omni-directional transmissions are useful in point to multi-point transmissions, but are energy wasteful in the case of point to point transmissions. Focused, or directional, transmitters of the same power as an omni-directional transmission will far exceed the range of the omni-transmitter OR if the same range is desired, then the focused transmitter will use significantly less power. The focused transmitters enable like-frequency focused transmitters to co-exist in closer proximity than omni-directional transmitters. By placing multiple directional transmitters in parallel the data rate capability is multiplied by the number of transmitters. Data rates are directly related to available bandwidth and signal-to-noise (SNR) in the bandwidth. The available SNR & bandwidth dictate modulation schemes, which in turn affects bits per symbol. For example, 1 GHz of bandwidth using a simple, robust DQPSK modulation scheme (2 bits per symbol) yields 2 Giga bits per second (Gbps). To achieve more bits per symbol requires a quieter data channel as well as more sophisticated modulators and demodulators. In the case of 60 GHz where data rates easily exceed 2 Gbps this results in extraordinarily high data rates across relatively short ranges.
One method to focus or direct the transmission is to use a "horn" antenna, but these are expensive, large, and fixed in terms of direction and focus. There is still a need for more directed transmissions than what is possible with typical 60 GHz transmissions, and for higher-data rate transmissions. Thus, there exists a need for a system and method for high frequency parallel RF transmissions that overcomes the aforementioned problem, while still maintaining the benefits of 60 GHz transmissions.

Systems and methods for high frequency parallel transmissions


A method and apparatus for adjusting timeslot fragments of multiple links in an Automatically Switched Optical Network (ASON). The method includes the steps of: obtaining link information of multiple links necessary for timeslot fragment adjustment, calculating adjusted link information of each link according to the link information, and adjusting a timeslot allocation of each link according to the adjusted link information.

The Automatically Switched Optical Network (ASON) has a function of automatic discovery of network control topology and resource topology, and the function of automatic establishment, rerouting recovery or soft rerouting when in failure can therefore be implemented for Label Switched Path (LSP) of Switched Connection (SC) or Soft Permanent Connection (SPC).
If multiple instances of SC or SPC adding/deleting, rerouting or soft rerouting adjustments are performed for the ASON networking, there will be timeslot fragments on some links, which may affect the establishment of concatenated bandwidth SC or SPC. As shown in FIG. 1, there are eight timeslots between network element A and network element B in total. When created, LSP1, LSP2, LSP3, LSP 4 and LSP 5 all go through one link between network element A and network element B, and occupy timeslot 1, timeslot 2, timeslot 3 and timeslot 4, timeslot 5 and timeslot 6, respectively.
If LSP2 and LSP4 are deleted, rerouted or adjusted to other links by manual soft rerouting, timeslot 2 and timeslot 5 change to idle state as shown in FIG. 2. Then the link has four idle timeslot bandwidths including timeslot 2, timeslot 5, timeslot 7 and timeslot 8. However, there is a cavity between timeslot 2 and timeslot 5 as well as between timeslot 5 and timeslot 8, and a timeslot label of four consecutive timeslot bandwidths can not be allocated. As a result, the link resource is not available for the establishment, rerouting or soft rerouting of an LSP occupying four timeslot bandwidths. Likewise, if timeslot 7 and timeslot 8 are occupied, the link resource is not available for the establishment, rerouting or soft rerouting of an LSP occupying two timeslot bandwidths either even though there are still idle timeslots, timeslot 2 and timeslot 5.
To solve the above problem, a conventional method of adjusting timeslot fragments is described below. The timeslot fragment rate can be calculated for a link by a timeslot fragment calculator using an algorithm (e.g. a Mobipack defragmentation algorithm as described for example in S. Acharya, et al., MobiPack: Optimal Hitless SONET Defragmentation in Near-Optimal Cost, INFOCOM 2004, IEEE, Jul. 11, 2004, pp. 1819-1829, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety herein), taking into account minimal moving times, the fragment granularity that can be contained and whether timeslots are unable to be randomly moved because of a certain particularity. A timeslot selector finds an optimal candidate timeslot capable of reducing the timeslot fragment rate of an optical interface. A circuit connection adjustor adjusts a service connection occupying a certain timeslot to the optimal candidate timeslot in a bridge-like manner; and during the adjustment, the service connection may suffer from transient disruption (several milliseconds generally). For example, LSP5 can be adjusted from timeslot 6 to timeslot 2 as shown in FIG. 2, and the timeslots after adjusted are shown in FIG. 3.
During the implementation of the present invention, the inventors discovered the following problems in the above conventional method.
The conventional method only takes the timeslot fragment adjustment for a single link into account. If the timeslot fragment adjustment is performed for multiple links, or for all links of a network, the timeslot fragment adjustment will be performed for each link respectively. Therefore, the service connection going through multiple links may repeatedly suffer from multiple occurrences of transient disruption. In addition, during the timeslot fragment adjustment for these links, their resource usage and the maintenance of a service connection going through the links would be inevitably affected. If the conventional method of adjusting timeslot fragments is applied to the adjustments shown in FIG. 5, when the timeslot fragment adjustment is performed on the links respectively between network element A and network element B, between network element B and network element C as well as between network element C and network element D, LSP5 is adjusted from timeslot 6 to timeslot 2 on the link between network element A and network element B, from timeslot 3 to timeslot 2 on the link between network element B and network element C, and from timeslot 7 to timeslot 2 on the link between network element C and network element D. During each adjustment, LSP5 will suffer from transient disruption once, and three times in total. When the timeslot fragment adjustment is performed on the links between network element B and network element C as well as between network element C and network element D, LSP3 is adjusted from timeslot 5 to timeslot 3, and suffers from transient disruption twice. In general, the more the links are, the more occurrences of transient disruption the LSP suffers from during the adjustment, and the more the service carried by the LSP is affected.

Method and apparatus for adjusting timeslot fragments of multiple links