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The present invention relates to a network of lights used in, for example, a job site. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a wheel chair comprising at least two rear wheels, at least one front wheel, a supporting frame, a seat assembly, simply called xe2x80x9cseatxe2x80x9d hereinafter and in the claims, and a backrest assembly, simply called xe2x80x9cbackrestxe2x80x9d hereinafter and in the claims.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wheel chair of this kind is known from Dutch patent No. 1001164 (Revab BV). The supporting frame of the prior art wheel chair consists of tubular sections, whilst the seat is built up of a seat cushion which is positioned on a seat edge, a flap and a supporting strap. When the supporting strap is fully tightened, the flap is positioned approximately level with the seat edge, and in effect a user does not experience a seat angle. When the supporting strap is adjusted less tight, the seat cushion sinks slightly along with the flap, as a result of which a relatively larger angle of inclination of the seat is obtained. The prior art backrest consists of a backrest cushion, deformation of which can be adjusted individually for each user through adjustment of the straps present therebehind.
One objection of the wheel chair as known from the aforesaid Dutch patent publication is that it does offer an disabled person a possibility to slightly adjust the seat, as regards the angle of inclination thereof, to his or her individual requirements, to be sure, but that it has become apparent in practice that this enables an acceptable seating position only in passive condition, that is, at rest, when the user is for example eating, writing or reading. In active condition, when the user is driving, the prior art wheel chair does not enable an acceptable seating position from an ergonomic point of view.
The object of the invention is to provide a wheel chair which creates an optimum seating position for a user, both at rest and while driving.
In order to accomplish that objective, a wheel chair of the kind referred to in the introduction is characterized in that the seat can be moved from a sitting position to a driving position, and vice versa, wherein the center of gravity of a user""s body is moved parallel to the direction of movement of the wheel chair.
The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to illustrations of a preferred variant of the invention which are shown in a drawings, wherein: | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The leads of semiconductor packages are often solder plated after the package is formed. Many packages are moisture sensitive and cannot be placed in solder flux or other solutions which may be used in the plating process. A wave soldering process is often used in plating leads by moving the device leads across the top of a solder source to coat the leads with solder. This can cause buildup of solder on the leads and also forms solder bridges between the leads.
The use of a soldering bath is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,727. A non-oxidizing atmosphere is used above a solder bath and a conveyor is used to move the parts to be solder plated over the solder bath. This patent defines in particular the housing for providing the non-oxidizing atmosphere above the solder bath.
An apparatus for circulating hot air and a method for wave soldering is defined in U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,943. A fluxed is used to apply the flux to the item to be soldered. High pressure air is circulated within the apparatus and directed against the fluxed surfaces prior to the application of solder.
Additional solder apparatus are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,240,169, 5,228,614 and 5,722,581. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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In international patent application PCT/AU98/00550, the present applicant has proposed an ink jet printing device which utilises micro-electro mechanical (mems) processing techniques in the construction of a print head driven by thermal bend actuator devices for the ejection of fluid such as ink from an array of nozzle chambers.
Devices of this type have a number of limitations and problems.
It is an object of the present invention to provide various aspects of an inkjet printing device which overcomes or at least ameliorates one of or more of the disadvantages of the prior art or which at least offers a useful alternative thereto. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to power tools, and more particularly concerns a lightweight hand held saw adapted to sever overhead tree limbs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous proposals have been made adapting circular saw blades and cutting disks for cutting standing trees. In the majority of the known devices, the circular saw blade is mounted on a central axle and is rotated at high speeds, i.e. rim speeds in the range of 10,000 to 20,000 f.p.m. It is felt that these speeds are necessary to give a high quality cut, and perhaps more importantly to build up a reservoir of energy which can be applied to produce a rapid cut. Varying degrees of success have been achieved by the devices now known.
One problem with the majority of circular saw devices is that they are bulky and heavy. One reason for this is that the rotary cutter running on a central axis must have a diameter at least twice that of the tree or limb to be cut plus space required for the hub and axle. It has been found that a minimum size for the saw is about 21/2 times the diameter of the largest tree to be cut.
Another reason contributing to the bulkiness of circular saws is that, in many cases they require protection, particularly where slim disks are used to minimize the kerf loss. Also, in many instances, the saw blade is retractably mounted in a housing which increases the bulk of the device and requires additional apparatus to effect a reciprocating stroke at least equivalent to the largest diameter to be cut.
Another major drawback to the use of circular cutting blades in the cutting of trees and limbs is that as the teeth of the blade are advanced through the tree, the trunk or branch flexes due to its own weight. Although the teeth of the saw are relatively unaffected, the central portion of the blade may become pinched and bound. Blade binding creates a greater load under which the saw must work. Often, the blade's speed slows significantly or stops altogether. In such cases, it becomes difficult to merely remove the saw blade. In other instances, the saw may "kick-back" against the additional load, placing the saw operator in danger of injury. Binding further acts to reduce blade and tool life.
General procedures have evolved in tree work to deal with blade binding. Tree workers often must tie ropes around limbs or trunks in order to pull against binding forces. Such ropes must be fastened to high tree regions, creating greater work effort and risk for workers. Usually branches are cut in a stroke from top to bottom of the branch in order to prevent blade binding. However, the downward stroke seldom makes a clean cut through the branch. Usually, once the branch is substantially weakened at some point during the cut, the remaining wood, no longer capable of sustaining the weight of the distal branch portion, snaps and bends. A ragged portion of the stump is left, often with resultant splitting or peeling of wood and bark on the stump.
Numerous saw devices have been disclosed in the prior art which seek to eliminate the potential for binding, most notably the annular saw blade. Various annular blades have been employed in attempts to make a clean pass through a tree trunk or branch. Annular blades have further been introduced in order to reduce the diameter of blade necessary and the attendant weight and bulk of apparatus necessary to drive and protect the blade. This reduction is achieved through the greater portion of the blade which may be cleanly passed through the trunk or branch owing to tangential rather than central disposition of drive mechanisms.
Annular saws have been known for more than a hundred years. In relation to conventional circular saws they have, however, until recently had little importance. The fitting of an annular saw with a suitable power unit requires considerably more advanced technical solutions than the fitting and driving of a conventional circular saw. It can be said that there are two main principles for fitting and driving an annular saw blade. In one principle, both drive rollers and support rollers work on the web portion of the blade. The drive rollers operate through either a gear drive acting upon a cut-out in the saw blade, or a friction drive which is more usual and often preferred. In order that such friction drive may function properly, the drive rollers must be pressed forcefully against the body of the saw blade. This leads to severe heating of the saw blade so that the latter buckles. Annular saws with drive rollers which work through a friction coupling against the body of the saw blade are described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,930,310 and 4,316,328.
In a second principle of drive, the inner rim of the saw blade is acted upon, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,880. The annular saw of this patent is an improvement over earlier designs. The design, however, is not completely without disadvantages. In order that a safe friction coupling may occur between the drive surfaces on drive pulleys which form part of the drive system, and which are pressed in opposite directions towards each other at right angles to the plane of symmetry of the saw blade so that the rim section of the saw blade is gripped between the drive pulleys, the pressing force must be great. This produces severe heating of the rim section. This does not bring about buckling of the saw blade, especially as the design permits the saw blade to be cooled with cooling liquid, but it entails considerable loss of energy, so that the drive effect is considerably impaired. Liquid cooling requires additional hoses, fittings and connections which also add weight and limit the effective distance at which the saw may be operated from the user and coolant source.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,793,065 and 5,009,011, both to Johansson each disclose annular blade saws which may be hand held. However these saws are powered by a hydraulic motor through which hydraulic fluid must be pumped. The hydraulic motor, pressure, and return hoses add significant weight to the saw. It is evident that use of this saw must occur in close proximity to the hydraulic pumping means because a long expanse of hydraulic hose would preclude manual lifting to significant heights. Furthermore, the friction drive rollers are proportionally large and contribute weight.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,733 to Hamilton discloses a tree felling head which includes a frame having a grapple mounted thereon with a grapple jaw which may be selectively opened and closed to respectively receive and grasp a standing tree. Power means selectively open and close the grapple. A severing device mounted on said frame below said grapple device is a rim driven circular saw mounted on an arm pivotally attached to the frame for movement in a horizontal plane. A second power means effects rotation of said severing device. The Hamilton cutting head does not disclose an annular cutting ring blade, however, it makes use of a rim gear drive means comprising a power means having a drive shaft adapted to rotate in an axis which is parallel rather than orthogonal the plane of the cutting blade. A pinion gear disposed upon the drive shaft, meshes with gear teeth adjacent the rim of the saw blade, and thereby provides rotational drive to the blade. Although the Hamilton device discloses this drive means, it is particularly adapted to fell standing trees at the base and is not amenable to cutting a substantially horizontal branch, due to its design and weight.
In order that a ring saw may be used to sever an overhanging limb, certain characteristics are desirable and/or necessary. The preferred saw device must be lightweight in order that it may be mounted upon an elongated handle capable of reaching the limb by the operator standing upon the ground below. None of the aforesaid devices are of sufficiently lightweight construction. The use of gasoline and hydraulic motors contribute significant weight to the devices. Furthermore, energy sources such as gasoline, and cooling means contribute weight and bulk. Extended hydraulic and cooling hoses are heavy and not amenable to extension of the saw means to significant heights. Furthermore, hydraulic and gasoline motors overhead can leak fluids upon the operator.
Gasoline motors are furthermore not amenable to the task of cutting overhead limbs due to fire hazards. Often a limb to be severed may have a plurality of dried leaves attached. Hot engine exhaust can ignite such leaves, and if the engine unit falls to the ground, a fuel tank rupture may occur.
It is furthermore desirable to have a well balanced saw means to enable the unit to be extended overhead. The effective weight of an unbalanced unit may be multiplied many times when supported by a long lever arm in the form of an extension handle. Additionally, the cutting extremity of the blade should preferably by symmetrically opposed to the handle means in order that force used to support the unit overhead may be efficiently transmitted in a vertically upward direction into the cutting stroke.
The use of a saw in an overheat cutting job brings with it a number of considerations. In addition to the weight of the cutting head, other forces are transmitted through an extended handle. Merely raising a long assembly, comprised of a saw unit mounted at the distal extremity of a pole, in a arcuate manner from horizontal to vertical disposition by an operator holding the proximal extremity may require a vectored force greater than an individual may be capable of. Once cutting commences, a torque force is exerted in the direction opposite to the direction of blade rotation. This force may be greater than an individual may be capable of restraining, causing the blade to "walk" across and out of contact with the overhead hub.
Due to design constraints, the ring saw devices heretofore proposed are not amenable to the task of extended overhead cutting of tree limbs.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a rotary saw which may be positioned overhead to effect an upwardly directed cutting stroke.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a saw of the aforesaid nature which is durable in construction, simple to use, easily maintained, and amenable to low cost manufacture.
These and other beneficial objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description. | {
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Classical hemophilia A is the result of a chromosome X-linked deficiency of blood plasma coagulation factor VIII and affects almost exclusively males with a frequency of about 1 case per 10,000. The X-chromosome defect is transmitted by female carriers who do not themselves have the disease. Factor VIII is also known as antihemophilic factor (AHF), hemophilic factor A, platelet cofactor, thromboplastinogen, thrombocytolysin, and antihemophilic globulin (AHG). The designation “factor VIII:C” is used to indicate that it is the compound that affects clotting. Factor VIII is a high molecular weight protein of 280 kDa and is composed of two polypeptide chains of 200 kDa and 80 kDa, respectively. Andersson et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 83:2979–2973 (1986). These chains are held together by a metal ion bridge.
The principal symptom of hemophilia A is bleeding without clotting or coagulation. Prior to the discovery that administration of factor VIII concentrates could ease the symptoms of an individual diagnosed with the disease, the average life expectancy of a sufferer was about 20 years.
Until recent years, the major source of factor VIII for therapeutic purposes was normal blood plasma; however factor VIII isolated by this method, while of some use, has several important disadvantages. For instance, factor VIII isolated from blood plasma is fairly impure, typically having a specific activity of less than 2 units factor VIII/mg protein and an overall factor VIII content of less than 1%. Additionally, the purification process is expensive because the starting material, i.e., human plasma, is expensive. Many precautions must also be taken to decrease the risk of transmitting infectious agents to the patient. For example, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Hepatitis B virus, Hepatitis C virus and other disease-causing agents are commonly detected in donated blood. Another disadvantage of using factor VIII obtained by this method is that approximately one-tenth of the patients with severe hemophilia A develop antibodies against factor VIII, making the disease difficult to treat.
Research efforts have focused on the development of methods for creating and isolating highly purified, biologically active factor VIII in full-length and derivative forms. Advantages of a highly purified protein include reduced levels of extraneous proteins in the therapeutic mix as well as a decreased likelihood of the presence of infectious agents. A more purified form of factor VIII can also be administered in smaller doses, possibly reducing the risk of developing anti-factor VIII antibodies, as lower doses would be less challenging to the immune system.
Significant steps have been taken toward the recombinant production of factor VIII beginning with the isolation of biologically active factor VIII fragments. See, Andersson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,780; Andersson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,614. The gene encoding the full-length human factor VIII protein was isolated by taking advantage of its sequence homology with porcine factor VIII. See, Toole et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,006. Toole et al. also report the expression of human and porcine protein having factor VIII:C procoagulant activity.
However, severe side effects involving the production of anti-factor VIII antibodies still exist with the administration of the protein isolated from both human and non-human sources. Antibodies that react with human factor VIII:C are also known to react, to a certain extent, with factor VIII:C from other species, and porcine factor VIII itself is antigenic in humans. Also, non-hemophiliacs can develop or acquire the disease when their immune systems become sensitized to factor VIII:C.
As a possible solution to this problem, a truncated, lower molecular weight protein exhibiting procoagulant activity has been designed. See, Toole, U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,112. Toole reported an alternative method of treatment with lower molecular weight porcine factor VIII of approximately 2000 amino acids exhibiting similar procoagulant activity as full-length factor VIII Evidently, the removal of certain amino acids and up to 19 of the 25 possible glycosylation sites, reduced the antigenicity of the protein and thereby the likelihood of developing anti-factor VIII antibodies. However, one difficulty with the development of recombinant factor VIII is achieving production levels in sufficiently high yields.
Recently, deleted factor VIII cDNA molecules coding for recombinant factor VIII derivatives, which were likely to give sufficiently high yields of a biologically active recombinant factor VIII protein for use in an industrial process for a pharmaceutical preparation have been developed. See, Almstedt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,008. Almstedt et al. designed a modified factor VIII derived from a full-length factor VIII cDNA, that, when expressed in animal cells, produced high levels of a factor VIII-like protein with factor VIII activity. The protein consisted essentially of two polypeptide chains derived from human factor VIII, the chains having molecular weights of 90 kDa and 80 kDa, respectively.
According to the Almstedt et al. process, the factor VIII cDNAs are assembled into transcription units and introduced into a suitable host system for expression. The cell lines can be grown on a large scale in suspension culture or on solid support. The protein produced in the culture medium is then concentrated and purified. The final active protein is made up of amino acids 1 to 743 and 1638 through 2332 of human factor VIII This polypeptide sequence is commercially known as rFVIII-SQ or REFACTO®. See also, Lind et al., Euro. J. Biochem., 232:19–27 (1995).Other forms of truncated FVIII can also be constructed in which the B-domain is generally deleted. In such embodiments, the amino acids of the heavy chain, consisting essentially of amino acids 1 through 740 of human Factor VIII and having a molecular weight of approximately 90 kD are connected to the amino acids of the light chain, consisting essentially of amino acids 1649 to 2332 of human Factor VIII and having a molecular weight of approximately 80 kD. The heavy and light chains can be connected by a linker peptide of from 2 to 15 amino acids, for example a linker comprising lysine or arginine residues, or alternatively, linked by a metal ion bond.
Currently, there is a need in the field for efficient and cost-effective methods for obtaining purified, active factor VIII directly from various solutions such as blood or cell culture supernatants.
The present invention provides new materials and methods for identifying, isolating, and purifying factor VIII and factor VIII-like proteins, including REFACTO®, from a solution that contains such proteins, in an active form. The factor VIII binding molecules of the present invention exhibit high affinity for factor VIII and factor VIII-like peptides. The current invention thus provides a cost-effective means for rapid purification of commercial quantities of proteins useful in the treatment of hemophilia A. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical contact, and more particularly to an electrical contact for electrically connecting a package and a circuit substrate, and having two separated part assembled together which can provide two contacting points for the package.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electrical connectors for removably mounting an LGA package on a PCB are known as LGA sockets. An LGA socket typically comprises a substantially flat dielectric housing which is positioned between the LGA package and the PCB. The housing defines an array of passageways with electrical contacts received therein in correspondence with the array of pads of the LGA package. Each contact has a pair of oppositely extending free ends spaced apart with a predetermined distance in an original position. The two free ends extend beyond the housing for respectively engaging with corresponding contacting pads on a bottom surface of the LGA package and on a top surface of the PCB thereby establishing an electrical connection between the LGA package and the PCB.
Various electrical contacts for LGA sockets are disclosed in the prior art, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,653,598 issued to Dimitry on Aug. 5, 1997 and 6,905,377 issued to Keith on Jun. 14, 2005. Typically, a contact for an LGA socket comprises a single contacting portion at an upper end thereof and a single soldering portion at a bottom end thereof. The single contacting portion extends upwardly beyond an upper face of the socket to contact with a corresponding contacting pad of an LGA package. The single soldering portion extends downwardly beyond a lower face of the socket to contact with a corresponding solder pad of a PCB. Therefore, an electrical connection is established between the single contacting portion of the LGA package and a corresponding soldering pad of the PCB via a single contacting portion.
However, as the pads of the LGA package are increasing and the socket is reduced in size because of quick development of science, there is limited space for arranging the array of increasing contacts. Contacts for an LGA socket are usually designed in a trend of miniaturization; such will increase impedance of transmitting signal. Furthermore, the pads of the PCB must also be increased as the increasing pads of the LGA package and such increases the cost of the PCB manufacture. Thus, an improved contact for an LGA socket is required to overcome the disadvantages of the conventional contact.
In view of the above, a new electrical contact that overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages is desired. | {
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Movement disorders, i.e. neurological diseases or other problems that result in movement or muscle control problems are debilitating to a great number of individuals worldwide. In general, various movement disorders are characterized by uncontrolled or poorly controlled movement, involuntary movement, an inability or reduced ability to move, or improper muscle tone.
Parkinson's Disease is generally characterized by tremor, an involuntary movement of the limbs and extremities that leads to an inability to perform normal daily life activities. It is believed that the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease are caused at least in part by a loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, a brain structure with an inhibitory effect on movement. Other symptoms of Parkinson's Disease include rigidity (undesired increased muscle tone, often leading to a “locking” effect in the limbs) and bradykinesia (slower-than-desired movements, and difficulty in initiating movements).
Essential Tremor, as its name suggests, is also characterized primarily by tremor in the limbs and extremities. Tremor can also result as a symptom of Multiple Sclerosis and other diseases and disorders.
Other movement disorders are characterized by different symptoms. Dyskinesias, such as Huntington's Chorea, result in other forms of unwanted movement. Huntington's Chorea, in particular, is a congenital disorder that causes undesired “dance-like” movements of the limbs. It is believed to be caused by degeneration of the striatum. Hemiballismus, another dyskinesia, causes flailing of the limbs on one side of the body and is believed to be caused by degeneration of the subthalamic nucleus.
While drug therapy provides good results for a substantial number of patients suffering from various movement disorders, particularly in the early stages before the disorders have progressed, there are some disadvantages to using drugs. In particular, patient compliance is particularly difficult to achieve when complex drug regimens are necessary to maintain an effective serum concentration. If drug levels are too low, the therapy may be ineffective; high levels can be damaging—they may cause serious side effects or even exacerbate the patient's movement disorders.
Surgery has also shown some promise and is effective with some patients, especially since there are fewer ongoing patient compliance issues (although patients who have had resective brain surgery are frequently kept on drug therapy as well). For example, lesions can be produced in the thalamus, globus pallidus, and other brain structures in an attempt to regulate patients' symptoms. However, clearly, resective brain surgery is irreversible and risky—neurological deficits have been known to occur.
Accordingly, described herein are two types of disorders of the human brain that have been shown to be effectively treated by the use of electrical stimulation. A first type of disorder is involuntary motion disorders such as the tremor associated with Parkinson's disease, familial tremor, tics or any other disorder that results in a shaking of a patient's hand, head or any other body part. A second type of disorder is associated with loss of muscular control as for example dystonia, spasticity or rigidity.
Continuous deep brain stimulation, particularly in the ventralis intermedius (Vim) nucleus of the thalamus, also has been shown to provide some relief from the symptoms of various movement disorders. However, this approach has resulted in some unpleasant side effects, in particular paresthesias, numbness, and slurring of speech. Moreover, a relatively small implantable device capable of performing continuous stimulation would tend to have a shorter battery life than would be desirable. Unlike other surgical treatments, continuous deep brain stimulation is reversible, in the event the side effects or neurological deficits resulting therefrom are more debilitating or unpleasant than the movement disorder. See, e.g., A. L. Benabid et al., “Long-Term Electrical Inhibition of Deep Brain Targets in Movement Disorders,” Movement Disorders 1998, 13(Supp. 3): 119-25; and R. E. Gross et al., “Advances in Neurostimulation for Movement Disorders,” Neurological Research 2000, 22: 247-258.
Deep brain recordings from patients with tremor have shown an abnormal rhythmic electrical activity in the thalamus, globus pallidus, and subthalamic nucleus at a frequency of approximately 3-5 Hz. This rhythmic activity is associated with tremor, i.e., there is a substantially constant frequency and phase relationship between tremor and the electrophysiological activity. When electrical stimulation is applied in this same region of the brain where the 3-5 Hz signal is detected, the involuntary motion can be eliminated or at least moderated. Applying an electrical signal at 30-180 Hz using 300 microsecond biphasic pulses has been shown to eliminate or attenuate tremor. Stimulation by deep brain electrodes at 60-70 Hz using 300 microsecond biphasic pulses at 3-6 volts has been shown to cause a reduction in spasticity thereby allowing more normal movements.
Even voluntary and intentional movement causes observable signals in the thalamus; tremor is manifested by regular oscillations at a patient-specific frequency. It is of course understood that other regimens of electrical stimulation can also be used for treating involuntary motion and muscle tone disorders.
Both the detection of abnormal deep brain electrical signals and the control of abnormal motion and motor control disorders have been reported by Cooper, Upton and Amin. See I. S. Cooper et al., “Chronic Cerebellar Stimulation (CCS) and Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in involuntary movement disorders,” Applied Neurophysiology 1982, 45(3): 209-17. There is no currently available device that can provide either or both responsive and/or continuous electrical stimulation via deep brain electrodes to reduce or eliminate involuntary motion disorders and/or muscle tone disorders. The Medtronic Activa implantable pulse generator is now in use for Parkinson's disease. The Activa provides periodic or continuous stimulation to the thalamus through deep brain electrodes but has no responsive capabilities. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,449, Fischell et al. describe a sophisticated cranially implanted neurostimulator with responsive electrical stimulation capabilities, generally described as being used in the treatment of epilepsy. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention is directed to polishes, and more particularly to polishes having a controlled rate of evaporation and capable of withstanding large temperature differentials which can be applied to an automobile as a dilute dispersion in hot water and which imparts thereto a high and deep luster which is resistant to detergents and requires little buffing. | {
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid jet head for ejecting and recording droplets on a recording medium, a liquid jet apparatus, and a method of manufacturing the liquid jet head.
2. Related Art
In recent years, there has been utilized an ink jet type liquid jet head for ejecting droplets, such as ink, on a recording paper or the like and recording characters or graphics, or an ink jet type liquid jet head for ejecting a liquid material on a surface of an element substrate and forming a functional thin film. In this system, ink or a liquid material (hereinafter, referred to as “liquid”) is guided to a channel from a liquid tank via a supply tube, a pressure is applied to the liquid filling the channel, and the liquid is ejected from a nozzle communicated with the channel. When the liquid is ejected, the liquid jet head or the recording medium is moved and characters or graphics are recorded, or a functional thin film having a predetermined configuration is formed.
FIG. 20 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view (FIG. 3 in JP 2009-532237 W) of an ink jet head 100 which is a liquid jet head of this type. The ink jet head 100 has a laminate structure including a nozzle plate 124, a cover member 126, a piezoelectric member 128, and a base material 136. A pair of nozzles 130 is formed on the nozzle plate 124, which is an uppermost layer. A straightedge-shaped opening 129 corresponding to each of the nozzles 130 is formed at the cover member 126, which is a layer under the nozzle plate 124. The pair of piezoelectric members 128 formed by two trapezoidal walls and a frame member 138 which is on the outside thereof are provided between the cover member 126 and the base material 136. A manifold 132 for introducing liquid and a manifold 134 for discharging the liquid are formed at the base material 136. The plurality of piezoelectric members 128 as trapezoidal walls is arrayed separately in a direction vertical to the paper surface, and a channel is formed between the two piezoelectric members 128 arrayed in the direction vertical to the paper surface. Accordingly, the ink jet head 100 is provided with a plurality of paired two channels formed in parallel in the direction vertical to the paper surface.
FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the ink jet head 100, from which the above-described nozzle plate 124 and cover member 126 have been removed (FIG. 4 in JP 2009-532237 W). The manifold 132 for introducing the liquid and the manifold 134 for discharging the liquid are formed at the base material 136, which is a lower layer. The piezoelectric members 128, which are trapezoidal walls, are provided between the manifolds 132, 134 in parallel in two rows and a periphery thereof is surrounded by the frame member 138. Accordingly, the ink jet head 100 has a structure in which the liquid introduced through the manifold 132 flows in the channel between the trapezoidal walls formed by the piezoelectric members 128, is discharged through the manifolds 134 on both sides, and does not flow to the outside of the frame member 138. A drive electrode (not illustrated) is formed on each side surface of the trapezoidal piezoelectric member 128. When a voltage is applied to the drive electrodes on these side surfaces, the piezoelectric member 128 is deformed in a shear mode, generating a pressure wave in the liquid in the channel. Droplets are ejected from the nozzle 130 by this pressure wave.
Here, a plurality of wiring electrodes is formed on a surface of the base material 136 on the channel side. One end of the wiring electrode is connected to the drive electrode on the side surface of the piezoelectric member 128 and another end thereof is connected to an electrode terminal or a driver IC, which is provided outside an outer periphery of the frame member 138. Consequently, a drive signal for driving the piezoelectric member 128 is supplied from the nozzle plate 124 side of the base material 136. It should be noted that JP 2009-532237 W describes an example in which the cover member 126 illustrated in FIG. 20 can be removed and the nozzle plate 124 is directly provided on a top surface of the piezoelectric member 128, which is a movable wall.
FIG. 22 is a schematic cross-sectional view of another liquid jet head 101 (FIG. 4 in JP 2011-104791 A). The liquid jet head 101 has a laminate structure including a nozzle plate 102, a piezoelectric plate 104, a cover plate 108, and a flow path member 111. Liquid is ejected from a pair of nozzles 103a, 103b. A deep groove 105a and a shallow groove 105b are alternately formed at the piezoelectric plate 104 in a direction vertical to the paper surface. The deep groove 105a has a depth reaching the nozzle plate 102 and communicates with the pair of nozzles 103a, 103b. The shallow groove 105b has a depth not reaching the nozzle plate 102. The deep groove 105a and the shallow groove 105b of the piezoelectric plate 104 are partitioned by a wall formed by the piezoelectric plate 104, and a drive electrode (not illustrated) is formed on each side surface of the wall. Liquid supplied from a supply joint 114 flows into the deep groove 105a via a liquid supply chamber 112 and a liquid supply port 109, flows out to a pair of liquid discharge ports 110a, 110b, and is discharged from a pair of liquid discharge chambers 113a, 113b and discharge joints 115a, 115b. Meanwhile, since an upper opening of the shallow groove 105b is blocked by the cover plate 108, the liquid does not flow therein.
By applying a drive signal to the drive electrodes on the wall partitioning the deep groove 105a and the shallow groove 105b, the wall is deformed in a thickness-shear mode, generating a pressure wave in the liquid filling the deep groove 105a. As a result, droplets are ejected from the nozzles 103a, 103b. Wiring electrodes (not illustrated) are formed on a surface of the piezoelectric plate 104 on the cover plate 108 side. One end of the wiring electrode is connected to the drive electrode formed on the wall and another end thereof is connected to an electrode terminal formed on a surface of the cover plate 108 side. The electrode terminal is connected to a drive circuit via a flexible substrate or the like. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a universal remote control device of the type which is hand held and which can be coupled via coded infrared signals with a remote control receiver built into a television or other remotely controlled electrical apparatus to turn on the apparatus, such as the television, at a distance, to adjust the volume, tone and brightness, to change channels, and to turn the television off.
Additionally, the present invention relates to a method for acquiring the infrared codes for a controlled apparatus, such as a television, generating code data related to these infrared codes for storage in a remote control device and methods for using the remote control device for finding, in a library or table of code data for generating infarared codes for operating different electrical apparatus manufactured by different manufacturers stored in a RAM of the remote control device, the code data for generating infrared coded signals for operating a particular apparatus, such as a television, and then for using the stored code data for generating the coded infrared signals for operating the controlled apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore it has been proposed to provide a reconfigurable remote control device and programmable functions for such a remote control device which will enable one to learn, store and retransmit infrared codes that are emitted from the controller for a remotely controlled apparatus, such as a television.
For example, in the Welles II U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,887 and the Ehlers U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,848, there is disclosed a reconfigurable remote control device which has the ability to learn, store and repeat remote control codes from any other infrared transmitter. Such a reconfigurable remote control transmitter device includes an infrared receiver, a microprocessor, a non-volatile random access memory, a scratch pad random access memory, and an infrared transmitter.
According to the teachings of the Ehlers patent, the infrared signals received by the remote control device are in bursts of pulses and the device counts the number of pulses in each burst as well as the time duration of each pause in a transmission between bursts.
As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the universal remote control device of the present invention utilizes a single non-volatile RAM does not provide a separate scratch pad RAM or, more importantly, a ROM.
In learning the infrared code and transforming same to code data which is then stored in a RAM of the control device and later used to generate infrared codes, a novel method is utilized wherein no counting of pulses takes place, and only the time duration of the pulses in a burst of pulses from the leading edge of the first pulse in a burst of pulses to the trailing edge of the last pulse in the burst as well as the time duration of the pause between bursts are sensed and used to learn and later to generate the infrared codes.
Additionally, unique methods for use of the remote control device are provided so that a number of infrared operation code sequences can be generated by the remote control device for operating various types of electronic apparatus.
According to the invention there is provided a universal remote control system having input means for inputting commands, signal output means for supplying infrared signals to a controlled device, a central processing unit (CPU) coupled to the input means and to the signal output means, a single non-volatile, read-write RAM (such as a battery-backed RAM) coupled to the central processing unit and data coupling means including terminal means coupled to the CPU for enabling new code data to be supplied from outside the system to, or retrieved from the RAM through the terminal means and the CPU.
Further according to the invention, there is provided a method of loading a RAM in a ROM-less microprocessor system comprising a central processing unit, a single non-volatile, read-write RAM, input means, output means, and means for coupling said central processing unit, said RAM, said input means, and said output means together, said method including the steps of:
(a) disabling the central processing unit;
(b) connecting a separate microprocessor system to said RAM;
(c) transferring instructions and/or data to said RAM;
(d) re-enabling the central processing unit to enable the central processing unit to execute the instructions so transferred.
Still further according to the present invention, there is provided a process of learning, storing and reproducing the remote control codes of any of a diverse plurality of remote control transmitters, comprising the steps of:
(a) receiving a transmission of a train of pulses from a remote control transmitter;
(b) recording the point-in-time of an edge of each pulse in a train of said pulses;
(c) transforming the recorded point-in-time data into a list of instructions for generating a replica of said train of pulses;
(d) timing the duration of a train of said pulses;
(e) timing the period between trains of pulses;
(f) associating a function key of a universal remote control device with said time duration of said train of pulses and said list of instructions for generating a replica of said train of pulses;
(g) determining whether or not repetitions of the transmission of train of pulses is present;
(h) ignoring repetitions of the train of pulses;
(i) noting that repetitions are present; and
(j) storing for use in a universal remote control device, the information acquired in steps (c), (d),
(e), (f) and (i). | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Conventional orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) networks and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) network improve channel reliability by spreading and/or coding data traffic and control signals over multiple subcarriers (i.e., tones). Different user devices (i.e., subscriber stations, mobile stations, etc.) are allocated different sets of subcarriers (or tones) for transmitting and receiving the data and control signals. The subcarrier frequencies are orthogonal to each other, thereby minimizing interference between user devices.
OFDM techniques are particularly advantageous in multiple-input, multiple output (MIMO) wireless networks that employ multiple antennas (i.e., Smart antennas) to transmit OFDM signals to the user devices. However, in conventional MIMO techniques based on OFDM transmission, the same subband (or set of subcarriers) is allocated to a given user device from each of the transmit antennas. However, due to independent fading from each of the transmit antennas, the user device may experience different channel quality for each of the transmit antennas even for the same subband. Therefore, transmitting on the same subband from each antenna for each user devices results in less than optimal performance, because the subband selected for transmission may not be good on each of the transmit antennas.
Additionally, conventional MIMO techniques allocate subcarrier to subscriber stations using inefficient control signaling schemes that create a large amount of overhead. In some conventional systems, a subscriber station is allocated to a set of subcarriers using a control message containing a bitmap. The bitmap contains a Logic 1 or 0 for each subcarrier in the frequency band. Thus, a subscriber station is allocated to 64 subcarriers out of a total of 512 subcarriers by means of a 512-bit bitmap containing 64 Logic 1 values at the allocated subcarriers.
Alternatively, groups of subcarriers (i.e., subbands) may be allocated together. Thus, for example, the 512 subcarriers may be divided into 16 groups (or subbands), each subband (SB) containing 32 subcarriers (contiguous or non-contiguous). These subbands may be allocated by a control message containing a 32-bit bitmap. In still another embodiment, the control message may allocate logically sequential subbands using a start-end indicator that identifies the first and the last of the sequential subbands.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for improved apparatuses and methods for transmitting OFDM signals from a multi-antenna OFDM transmitter to an OFDM receiver. In particular, there is a need for a multi-antenna OFDM base station that uses an efficient control messaging scheme for allocating multiple user devices (e.g., subscriber stations) to selected subbands or subcarrier groups. | {
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Many electronic devices such as Personal Computers (PCs), portable email retrieval devices, cellular phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), laptops, and other communication devices as well as point-of-sale (e.g., cash registers) systems utilize a touch-screen as a user input device. The popularity of touch-screens has further increased as a result of their increased functionality. More specifically, legacy touch-screen technology reacts to only a single point-of-contact. Now, touch-screen technology recognizes commands that include multiple points-of-contact on the touch-screen.
As electronic devices have become increasingly smaller and capable of providing increased functionality, so too has the need to maintain the security of such electronic devices. Traditionally passwords were used to maintain the security of such electronic devices. While the use of passwords helps to ensure that only licensed users are allowed access to the electronic device and applications stored thereon, the passwords can become cumbersome to enter, especially when the user needs to enter it quickly to access the electronic device (i.e., like when the user is attempting to answer a call to their cellular phone).
The primary means of entering a sign-in password with touch screen devices is via a “stylus pen,” where the user is required to enter the password by either pressing keys on a virtual keyboard or using specialized graffiti language. This specialized graffiti language can also tend to take a long time to enter a password. Moreover, passwords on these portable electronic devices tend to be short and weak, given the inconvenience of requiring the user to enter a complex password with current methods.
It would be desirable to provide a portable electronic device that leverages the emerging technology of touch-screen devices as well as the drivers associated therewith to provide a more secure portable electronic device that is also easily accessible. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a negative planographic printing plate precursor for infrared exposure having a photopolymerizable image recording layer which can be cured by infrared exposure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, various systems have been developed for direct plate making from digital data of a computer. For example, since photopolymerization system image recording materials that are exposed using lasers, which emit blue or green visible light, are sensitive to an argon laser and the like, and make possible direct plate-making utilizing a photopolymerization initiating system with high sensitivity, such recording materials are being paid attention as recording layers for planographic printing plate which can attain high printing endurance due to a toughness of a coated film cured by photopolymerization.
For example, as a laser printing plate utilizing a photopolymerization initiating system, which is sensitive to visible lasers, such as argon lasers and the like, there is used a laser printing plate obtained by providing a photopolymerizable composition layer comprising a compound containing an addition polymerizable ethylenic double bond and a photopolymerization initiator, and optionally comprising, an organic polymer binder, a photopolymerization inhibitor and the like on an aluminium plate, which acts as a support, and providing on the photopolymerizable composition layer an oxygen intercepting layer, which inhibits polymerization. These photopolymerizable planographic printing plates provide an image by exposing a desired image to polymerize-cure an exposed portion, and removing (developing) an unexposed portion with an aqueous alkali solution.
Recently, development of lasers has been remarkable, and high output and compact solid lasers and semiconductor lasers, which radiate an infrared-ray having a wavelength of 760 nm to 1200 nm, in particular, are easily available. These lasers are very useful as a recording light source when direct plate-making from digital data, from a computer or the like. Therefore, in addition to the above-mentioned numerous and useful photosensitive recording materials, which are sensitive to a visible light region of 760 nm or shorter, materials on which recording can be performed with these infrared lasers are being developed.
As a material which is selectively sensitive to infrared light, positive image recording materials and negative image recording materials are known. A positive image recording material that utilizes a phase change of a novolak resin is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 9-43847. However, such positive image recording material has poor scarring (scratching) resistance, and there is a problem regarding handling properties thereof. On the other hand, as a negative image recording material which is excellent in scarring resistance, a material requiring no pre-heating is disclosed in JP-A Nos. 6-1088, 9-43845 and the like. However, there is a problem that such materials are inferior in image quality, in particular, in dot-reproducing properties.
In addition to make these planographic printing plate precursors, there are cases of using an image forming apparatus for supplying a plate material, and continuously performing imagewise exposure and development processing on-line, and cases of performing image formations successively off-line using an exposing device for continuously performing imagewise exposure to a plurality of planographic printing plate precursors and a developing device for developing the exposed plate material. In particular, in the latter, there is a problem that a time elapses after exposure by plate-making, thereby, a variation is generated in the sensitivity, and an image as designed can not be obtained. | {
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Most dryers for particulate material, such as grain, make relatively inefficient use of the energy which is expended in the drying process. The commonest dryers of this type burn a fuel such as liquid propane and utilize the heated air and products of combustion as the sole source of heat for drying the grain, except to the extent that metal parts of the drying chamber may also become heated by the air and combustion products.
A patent which discloses a different heat source is McOmber U.S. Pat. No. 2,777,212, which discloses a grain drying system mounted upon a combine in which the heat from an internal combustion engine for driving the combine is utilized to heat the air for drying grain.
Either of the above types of dryers is relatively inefficient because they continually introduce unheated air from the ambient atmosphere, heat it, pass it through the grain, and then discharge the moisture laden air to the ambient atmosphere.
Closed circuit drying systems for laundry dryers are disclosed in Whitesel U.S. Pat. No. 2,660,806 and Shewmon U.S. Pat. No. 2,676,418. They utilize a thermal pump system with a heat exchanger in a duct upstream from a tumbling drum and the heat pump condenser in the duct downstream from the drum. The heat pump compressor delivers compressed fluid through the heat exchanger to the condenser. A similar arrangement for removing cleaning solvent from textiles is disclosed in Freze U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,294, except that there is an air heating coil upstream from the drum and an air cooling coil downstream from the drum; but without utilizing a thermal pump system.
The foregoing systems make relatively inefficient use of the energy which heats the fluid for the heat exchanger because only the circulating air, rather than the material to be dried, comes into contact with the heat exchanger. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transfer molding apparatus and a method of manufacturing semiconductor devices.
2. Related Art
In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, transfer molding apparatuses for encapsulating semiconductor devices mounted on lead frames are conventionally used. As shown in FIG. 7, the transfer molding apparatus comprises a transfer pot 10 into which solid thermosetting resin (tablets) is loaded, a plunger 12 for transferring the thermosetting resin 28 (hereafter referred to as the resin 28. See FIGS. 8(a)-8(d)) that has been fluidified in the transfer pot, a position sensor 14 for detecting the position of the plunger 12, a top-half mold 16a fixed to a top platen 26a, a bottom-half mold 16b fixed to a bottom-half platen 26b, heaters 18 for heating the top-half and bottom-half molds 16a, 16b to a predetermined temperature, and a suction pump 24 for reducing the pressure in the cavities 20 by extracting the air from a chamber 30 where the top-half and bottom-half molds 16a, 16b are disposed.
When the top-half and bottom-half molds 16a, 16b are closed, two cavities 20 each for setting up a molding space for a plastic IC package, and runners 22 and gates 23 as resin supply paths leading to the cavities 20 are formed.
When the top-half and bottom-half molds 16a, 16b are closed, air-vent slots 25 are also formed at the outer end positions of the two cavities 20 opposite the gates 23 located at the inner ends thereof. When the chamber 30 is placed at reduced pressure by extracting air by a suction pump 24, the air is sucked out from the runners 22 and the gates 23 through the air-vent slots 25, so that the cavities 20 are placed at reduced pressure. The runners 22 guide the resin 28 into the cavities 20 through the gates 23 that are open to the corresponding cavities 20.
Referring to FIGS. 8(a)-8(d), description will be made of a method of manufacturing semiconductor devices on a transfer molding apparatus structured as described above. FIGS. 8(a)-8(d) show only the principal portions for convenience of explanation. First of all, a semiconductor-device-mounted lead frame (not shown) is set in the bottom-half mold 16b, a resin tablet is loaded in the transfer pot 10, and by lowering the top platen 26a, the top-half mold 16a and the bottom-half mold 16b are closed, so that a cavity 20, for example, is formed as shown in FIG. 8(a). At this point in time, the semiconductor device has been placed almost in the center of the cavity 20. In addition, the pressure in the chamber 30 has been reduced to about 30 to 99 Pa by the suction pump 24.
While the resin tablet charged in the transfer pot 10 is being melted by heating it to 160° to 190° C. with the heaters 18, the resin is extruded from the transfer pot 10 by raising the plunger 12. By this operation, the molten resin 28 is introduced into the runner 22 as shown in FIG. 8(b).
By the increasing the forcing pressure from the plunger 12, the resin 28 in the runner 22 is guided through the gate 23 into the cavity 20 as shown in FIG. 8(c). As shown in FIG. 8(d), when the resin 28 has been filled into the cavity 20, the forcing pressure from the plunger 12 is stopped, and the resin 28 in the cavity 20, the runner 22, and the gate 23 is cured. After the resin 28 is cured sufficiently, the top platen 26a (see FIG. 7) is raised, and the semiconductor device with a lead frame in a package of resin 20 that hardened around the semiconductor element is ejected. Subsequently, the excess resin is removed and whittled down to shape, and the lead-frame portion is cut off and the outer leads are formed to thereby produce a semiconductor package. Subsequently, the excess resin is removed, the package is whittled down to shape, the frame portion of the lead frame is trimmed, and the outer leads are formed. Thus, a semiconductor device is produced.
In the transfer molding apparatus constructed as described, there are possibilities of an unfilled region (voids) 29 being formed in the top-cavity portion or the bottom-cavity portion of the mold due to a difference in resin-filling speed between the top-cavity portion and the bottom-cavity portion, which partition is made by the semiconductor element loaded in the cavity 20. Voids are unwanted because they give rise to a warp or deformation in the package or decreases its strength or humidity resistance.
There have been countermeasures against the voids. One is to provide a suction port communicating with the cavity, and directly reduce the pressure in the cavity by the use of a suction pump to decrease the remaining air in the top-cavity portion or the bottom-cavity portion to prevent the occurrence of voids. The other is to place the chamber 30 itself in a reduced-pressure atmosphere so that the remaining air in the top-cavity portion or the bottom-cavity portion should be extracted through the air-vent slot 25 and to thereby prevent the occurrence of voids.
However, in the transfer molding apparatus constructed as described above, because the resin passes through the gate of a smaller diameter than that of the runner when it enters a cavity, the resin is subjected to pressure at the gate, and the resin in compressed state is injected into the cavity. Therefore, if the cavity is at reduced pressure when a specified amount of resin is introduced into the cavity, there is a relatively large pressure difference between the pressure in the cavity and the pressure in the resin. A problem here is that when there is such a large pressure difference, the air bubbles in the resin expand notably, and remain as voids in the package.
Thermosetting resins have a characteristic that curing does not progress in proportion to the passage of time, but curing occurs after the viscosity decreases once. Therefore, with some kinds of thermosetting resins, the viscosity sometimes drops temporarily while the cavity is being filled with a molding compound. Also in this case, there is a problem that the air bubbles expand remarkably in the resin and remain as voids in the package. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a side dump trailer and more particularly to a stiffening structure for the side dump body of a side dump trailer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Side dump bodies for use on trucks and trailers have become extremely popular in recent years since the introduction of a side dump trailer of co-applicant Ralph R. Rogers, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,214. Co-applicant Ralph R. Rogers has also received U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,845,971; 5,967,615; 6,056,368; 6,089,670; 6,179,385; 6,199,955; 6,257,670; and 7,360,843 all of which relate to side dump bodies for use on trailers or trucks.
Conventional side dump bodies for use with trucks or trailers normally have a bottom wall and side walls which extend upwardly and outwardly therefrom with the forward and rearward ends of the side dump body being closed by bulkheads. In many cases, a side stiffening rail is secured to each of the upper ends of the exterior sides of the side walls to prevent undesirable flexing of the side dump bodies during the use thereof which can result in structural cracks in the side dump body. In some cases, a side stiffening angle member is also secured to the exterior of each of the side walls below the upper stiffening rail. Although the side stiffening rails used on the prior art trailers do reduce flexing of the side dump body, applicants have developed an unique stiffening structure for further reducing flexing of the side dump body during use. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a structural form, and more particularly to such a form which is constructed of sheet material which is folded to provide a relatively rigid structure. Although the structural form of the present invention has particular application as a concrete form, it is to be understood that it may be employed as any form which is intended to support weight or forces imposed thereon.
Prior Art
A variety of forms constructed of a foldable or pliable material, such as cardboard, are available for supporting a mass, such as wet concrete. Such structural forms are available in a variety of shapes for performing a specific function, such as the casting of concrete to a desired shape. In this respect, such presently known forms are limited in their ability to concrete in a variety of shapes, and are generally capable of casting concrete in only one shape. Reference is made, for example, to U.S. Pat. No. 2,296,352 in which a concrete form is disclosed for casting concrete piers. The concrete form disclosed in that patent is limited to a cylindrical shape. Other cylindrically shaped forms for casting a cylindrical aperture in concrete are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,659,134 and 2,694,847. It can be appreciated that the concrete forms disclosed in the above mentioned patents are limited to only one shape.
A problem which has long existed in the building construction industry is that of casting concrete columns, particularly such columns having a rectangular cross-section. It has been the practice in the past to construct forms for such columns of relatively heavy material, such as wood planks. After the concrete has been poured in such a from and has set, it is usually not possible to salvage the material of the form. Accordingly, it can be appreciated that such forms can be relatively expensive. Also, the construction and fabrication of such forms requires the use of relatively expensive labor.
With the exception of such custom-made forms, no other forms are available for casing concrete columns having a rectangular cross-sectional shape. Of the known prefabricated structural forms which are capable of casting a shape which is other than cylindrical, none are capable of casting a column.
It can be appreciated that the concrete forms dislosed in the above mentioned patents rely entirely upon the shear strength of the sheet material from which they are constructed. Such shear strength is that strength which resists a force exerted in a direction which is orthogonal to the plane of the sheet material. However, the strength of sheet material, such as cardboard, is considerably greater in a direction which is parallel to the plane thereof. This strength is called the axial strength. That is, if a force is exerted at right angles to sheet materal, it will flex, thereby providing relatively little restraint to such a force. However, if such a force is directed against an edge of the sheet material and parallel to the plane thereof, a relatively large force can be supported. Accordingly, it can be appreciated that the axial strength of sheet material, such as cardboard, is considerably greater than the shear strength thereof.
A number of prefabricated structural forms employ the axial strength of sheet material. Representative examples of such forms are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,101,019; 2,775,019; 3,148,444 and 3,358,960. However, the structural forms disclosed in these patents are not capable of casting a concrete column, but are limited to casting a void in a concrete slab. Accordingly, there is no known structural form presently available for casing a concrete column which employs the axial strength of sheet material to support forces imposed thereon. | {
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A virtual space may comprise a simulated space (e.g., a physical space) instanced on a computing device, such as a server, desktop computer, laptop computer or handheld device. The virtual space may have one or more characters. Some characters may be associated with one or more users of the virtual space. Such characters may be controlled by the associated users (e.g., avatars). The virtual space may also have topography (2D or 3D), expressing ongoing real-time interaction by a user, and/or include one or more objects positioned with the topography. The topography may include dimensions of the virtual space, and/or surface features of a surface or objects that are “native” to the virtual space. In some instances, the topography may describe a volume with one or more bodies positioned therein. For example, picture a virtual space that simulates an underground dungeon having a human protagonist, dark walls, obnoxious monsters, unexpected obstacles and etc. A user controlled character, or avatar is typically subject to user's control commands (e.g., user directed commands instructing his/her avatar to move around in the virtual space). A virtual space may also comprise characters not associated with any user (e.g., a character generated and controlled by artificial intelligence (hereinafter “AI character”).
Characters, topography, objects within a virtual space may be presented visually through different display techniques, such as modeling, skinning, texturing, lighting, and/or other suitable display techniques. They may also be presented by accompanying audio, such as voices, sound effects, game narrations, and/or other suitable audio presentation methods. Accordingly, an instance of a virtual space (i.e., the virtual space at a particular moment) may be provided by presenting characters, topography and objects through graphics and/or audio in ways to reflect whatever the state they may be in at that moment to form the virtual space. The characters and objects may be presented based on past events and activities that have transpired within the virtual space in previous instances. As an improvement, some virtual spaces are provided adaptively such that characters and objects are presented in the virtual spaces based on certain evolving traits of characters and objects. For example, a character may be displayed within a virtual space having textures that reflect a growing age of the character—the character may be displayed with features of a younger person at early stages of a video game and with features of an older person at later stages of the game. However, in the aforementioned virtual spaces, the character's personality does not evolve and neither does the character evolve based on changes in the character's and/or user's personality. As a result, the user's interaction and level of engagement in the virtual space can decrease as the user may feel somehow detached from the virtual space. | {
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Various types of hand tools have been devised for performing various operations such as power actuated drills, nailers, grinders, stitchers, meat cutting and trimming tools, etc. which are operated by a power driven flexible drive shaft, or an air motor mounted within the hand tool and powered by pressurized air supplied to the motor by a fluid supply line. The flexible drive shafts are driven by an electric motor located remote from the hand tool. Of these various hand tools power driven meat cutting knives have been used extensively in the meat industry to facilitate the removal of meat from a carcass, primarily in a trimming operation, or for removing the meat remains from the bones. The present invention is described below with particular reference to such meat trimming knives, although the control system is adaptable for other power operated hand tools and need not be limited to such meat trimming knives.
Prior examples of electrically driven trimming knives using flexible drive shafts are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,269,010; 4,179,063; 4,178,683; 4,198,750; 4,494,311 and 4,575,938. In these electrically driven knives, the flexible drive shaft is connected at one end to the electric motor which is located adjacent to the work area and enters the rear of the handle portion of the knife and extends through the handle bore and terminates in a squared end. The squared end is engaged in a complementary-shaped opening formed in the rear of a pinion gear which rotatably drives the cutting blade mounted on the front of the handle. In pneumatically driven knives, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,852,882, the output shaft of the air motor is engaged through a gear assembly with the rear opening of the pinion gear for driving the gear and correspondingly driving the cutting blade in a similar manner as does the pinion gear of the electric knives.
These power driven tools, or trimming knives as they are generally referred to in the industry, whether electrically or pneumatically driven, consist of a tubular handle terminating in a generally arcuate-shaped front end and have a hollow bore extending throughout the longitudinal length of the handle. An annular blade holder is attached to the arcuate front end of the handpiece and has a ring blade removably mounted thereon by various mounting arrangements. The blade is formed with gear teeth extending around the top edge which are in driving engagement with the pinion gear rotatably mounted within the front end of the handpiece adjacent the ring blade.
These meat trimming knives, whether pneumatically or electrically driven, are used for relatively long periods of time by an operator at a work station in a relatively cold environment, which is required to maintain the meat being trimmed in a safe condition. The operator usually is positioned at a work station and the meat is continuously brought to the work station on a conveyor, or the like, for trimming the meat from the carcass or bones by the operator.
An operator will start and stop the rotation of the cutting blade of the electrically driven knife by actuating the main switch on the electric drive motor mounted overhead of the work station. This necessitates the operator reaching overhead each time he or she wishes to start and stop the electric drive motor and, consequently, the cutting blade. Due to the amount of motion that must be performed by the operator to start and stop the trimming knife, the operator usually will permit the main electric motor and knife blade to continue to run between brief pauses in the trimming of meat from different carcasses as they are brought to the operator. This requires the operator to continually maintain his grip on the handle of the trimming knife with sufficient pressure to prevent the handpiece from twisting or turning in his hand. This continuous pressure over extended periods of time, or throughout a usual work shift, fatigues the operator which decreases the amount of production or meat trimmed during a work shift. Also, the handles of the trimming knives, whether electrically operated or pneumatically operated, become coated with grease from the fat of the meat being trimmed, requiring sufficient pressure to be maintained on the handle to prevent the handle from turning in the operator's hand due to the rotational motion applied on the handle by the energy of the rotating blade.
Preferably an electric switch is not mounted on the handpiece itself for controlling the overhead electric motor due to the safety involved since the handpiece is usually used in a wet and damp environment and must be cleaned during and after each work shift for sanitary reasons. Therefore, it is impractical to have an electric control switch on the handpiece itself, which would permit an operator to conveniently stop and start the drive motor during momentary work stoppages throughout a work shift.
The pneumatic driven trimming knives have the disadvantage of requiring a control lever mounted on the handpiece which must be maintained in a depressed condition to maintain the air motor in an On condition. Such levers require the use of various sealing valves which, after periods of time, occasionally will leak causing a self-refrigeration effect due to the escaping of pressurized air around the sealing rings. This further increases the cooling or chilling of the operator's hand adding to the discomfort and fatigue. It has been found that operators will occasionally lock the control lever in a permanently ON position in order to eliminate maintaining the lever in the depressed position which results in an unsafe condition.
Futhermore, it is important that when actuating the power source for rotating the cutting blade of either the electrically or pneumatically operated handpieces that the operator have at least one hand on the handpiece with the other hand being at a sufficient distance from the blade to prevent accidental cutting upon starting the drive motor.
Another problem with prior art electric and pneumatic driven knives having a usually manually actuated ON/OFF switch is that the continuous running of the flexible drive shaft and pneumatic motor throughout much of the work shift increases the maintenance cost of the knife. This continuous operation requires more frequent replacement of the cutting blade, the blade housing, drive pinion gear, flexible drive cable and outer casing since the blade is rotating continuously even when the knife is not being actually used by the operator to trim the meat.
Therefore, the need exists for an improved ON/OFF control system for power operated hand tools, and in particular for power operated meat trimming knives, both electrically and pneumatically driven, which enables the knife to be stopped and started in a simple, economical, efficient, and particularly in a safe manner. | {
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The modulatory sites on the GABAA receptor complex, such as for example the benzodiazepine receptor, are the targets for anxiolytic drugs, such as the classical anxiolytic benzodiazepines.
Multiple isoforms of the GABAA receptor exist; each receptor is a pentameric complex comprising subunits drawn from α1-6, β1-3, γ1-3, δ, ε, and θ subunit isoforms. The classical anxiolytic benzodiazepines show no subtype selectivity. It has been suggested that one of the key elements in the disadvantages of the classical benzodiazepanes (such as sedation, dependency, and cognitive impairment) is relates to the α1 subunit of the GABAA receptors. Thus compounds with selectivity for the α2 and/or α3 subunits over the α1 subunit are expected to have an improved side effect profile.
EP 616807 describes benzimidazole compounds for use as benzodiazepine receptor ligands.
WO 96/33194, WO 96/33191 and WO 96/33192 describe benzimidazole compounds having affinity for the GABA receptor complex.
WO 98/34923 describes phenylbenzimidazole derivatives as ligands for the GABA receptor complex.
WO 98/17651 and WO 00/78728 describe benzimidazole compounds for use as e.g. anaesthetics.
However, there is a continued strong need to find compounds with an optimized pharmacological profile. Furthermore, there is a strong need to find effective compounds without unwanted side effects associated with older compounds. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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In an optical communication, pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM) encodes information in the amplitude of a series of optical signal pulse. With the increasing demand for more efficient ways to transmit optical signals, some optical networks use multi-level PAM such as PAM-8, 16, 32 or higher, which can have multiple distinct amplitude levels. Optical devices that employ such a high-order PAM, however, may exhibit nonlinear effects or saturation effects, which lead to a degradation of the quality of the optical signal. | {
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} |
The present invention relates generally to an anti-fuse repair control circuit, and more particularly to an anti-fuse repair control circuit which regulates transmission of a power voltage and a back-bias voltage that are converted to repair an anti-fuse to a circuit part.
A failure in a packaged semiconductor device can be repaired using an anti-fuse. In the anti-fuse repair method (unlike a prior method in which a fuse is cut using a laser beam) voltages with a large potential difference are applied to both ends of the anti-fuse corresponding to the failed portion in order to melt the anti-fuse.
The abovementioned anti-fuse repair method is typically used in DRAMs for mobile devices of semiconductor apparatuses.
As previously stated, two voltages with a large potential difference are used to repair the anti-fuse. Typically, a low back-bias voltage and a high power voltage are used.
For normal operation, the back-bias voltage may have a level of −0.8V and the power voltage may have a level of 1.8V. For anti-fuse repair, the back-bias voltage is converted to a lower level of −3.5V, and the power voltage is converted to a higher level of 3.5V.
The anti-fuse repair melts the anti-fuse by applying the back-bias voltage converted to the lower level and the power voltage converted to the higher level to both ends of the anti-fuse.
However, when repairing the anti-fuse, a cell, a peripheral circuit, a core region, and the like of a semiconductor device are subject to stress when the power voltage is converted to the higher level or the back-bias voltage is converted to the lower level.
When the power voltage converted to the high level through a driver supplying the power voltage is applied to the cell or the peripheral circuit, the cell or the peripheral circuit is subject to stress caused by the high power voltage, and consequently may be damaged.
Similarly, when the low back-bias voltage is applied to the core region, the core region is subject to stress caused by the low back-bias voltage, and consequently may be damaged.
Therefore, it is necessary to find a method capable of performing the anti-fuse repair without causing stress on the circuit parts of a semiconductor device, such as the cell, the peripheral circuit, and the core region. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Electron probe microanalyzers and electron microscopes having an attached x-ray spectrometer are used to determine the composition of microscopic or nanoscopic regions of a surface. The detectors determine the energy or wavelengths of x-rays emitted from the sample and infer the composition of material under the electron beam from the energy or wavelength of the x-rays. Detectors that use a crystal to disperse and analyze x-rays of different wavelengths are referred to as wavelength dispersive spectrometers (WDS) and detectors that measure the energy of incoming x-rays are referred to as energy dispersive spectrometers (EDS). While a WDS can provide better resolution and faster counting for a particular wavelength of x-ray, an EDS is better adapted to measuring x-rays of different energies from multiple elements.
Two types of semiconductor energy dispersive x-ray detectors are commonly used in electron microscopy: lithium-drifted silicon detectors “Si(Li)” and silicon drift detectors “SDD”. Si(Li) detectors typically require cooling to liquid nitrogen temperatures and normally have a standardized active detection of area of 10, 30 and 50 mm2. SDDs can operate at a higher temperature and can provide better resolution at high count rates. To avoid ice formation and contamination on the detector, as well as damage from backscattered electrons, a window of a light element such as berrylium is often attached in front of the detector to stop the electrons. A magnetic field can also be used near the detector entrance to divert electrons away from the detector. A collimator is often used in front of the detector to reduce x-rays from sources other than the sample from entering the detector. Some detectors, such as the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,925 to Quinn et al., include a shutter in front of the detector. When the electron microscope is operated under conditions that would generate high energy x-rays and electrons that could damage the detector, the shutter can be closed to protect the crystal.
Ice formation is also reduced by providing a colder surface near the detector. For example, in the system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,237 to Gallagher et al. for a “Deicing Device for Cryogenically Cooled Radiation Detector,” the heat generated by the detector circuitry maintains the detector a few degrees warmer than the collimator surface so that moisture sublimes from the detector surface onto the collimator surface. The heat generated by the circuitry provides a temperature difference of only about five degrees, which may not be adequate to maintain an ice-free surface on the detector. U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,650 to Lowe et al. for “X-ray Detectors” describes periodically heating the detector above its operating temperature while maintaining a heat sink at operating temperature. Periodically heating the detector above its operating temperature does not stop the build-up of ice during operation and requires periodic interruption of the system operation to remove the ice.
For greatest sensitivity, the detector should cover a large solid angle from the sample to collect as many of the emitted x-rays as possible. To increase the solid angle, the detector can provide a larger active surface area, or be placed closer to the sample. In a transmission electron microscope, the pole pieces and sample holder take up most of the space around the sample and it can be difficult to position X-ray detectors close to the sample to increase the solid angle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,399 to Taira et al. teaches a configuration that puts a detector closer to the sample and allows the detector to subtend a larger solid angle. Another configuration is shown in Kotula et al., “Results from four-channel Si-drift detectors on an SEM: Conventional and annular geometries,” Microscopy and Microanalysis, 14 Suppl 2, p. 116-17 (2008). Kotula et al. describe a four-segment detector, with each segment being kidney-shaped and having an active area of about 15 mm2. The detector is positioned above the sample below the pole piece of an SEM, with the four segments distributed in a ring that is coaxial with the electron beam. This configuration is not normally possible in a high-resolution TEM. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention concerns electronic modules intended particularly to be fixed in electronic units in the form of cards, comprising a medium with at least one side provided with contact pads and a microcircuit which is fixed on said medium and which comprises exit hubs, each connected to a contact pad on the medium.
Electronic systems in the form of cards comprise, in particular, integrated circuit cards, also called chip cards, along with electronic element media for televisions, VCR""s, etc. A chip card comprises a card body and a module comprising the chip integrated within the body of the card. A chip card module comprises a medium, generally made of epoxy glass, with a metal plated surface in order to provide contact pads and a chip which is glued to the other side of the medium and which includes exit hubs on its outer side. Connection holes in the medium allow for passage of connecting wires which connect exit hubs to contact pads.
The connecting wires, made of stainless metal such as gold or aluminium, are soldered using various technologies such as soldering via ultra-sound or thermocompression which requires later coating (xe2x80x9cglob topxe2x80x9d) of the connecting wires with a resin to protect them. It is sometimes necessary to first fix a retaining barrier for the resin, such as a metallic or silicon ring, to the medium.
The mass of the resin is deposited in a non-controllable way and, when it is polymerized, it forms a very thick drop which exceeds the height of the chip card specifications. A milling operation is therefore necessary to reduce the thickness of the module to the required value. This milling operation can damage the module and is the main cause of production rejects.
In the body of a chip card, a cavity is made which is to receive the module and which must be relatively deep in order to receive a thick module. The thickness of the body of the card at the cavity is low, leading to significant deformation when the body of the chip card is bent, thus limiting the reliability and the working life of the card.
In addition, polymerization of this drop of resin provokes swelling of the module. This swelling can lead to deterioration of chip card readers.
The main purpose of the invention is to provide a shorter electronic module in order to eliminate the above mentioned problems.
An electronic module according to the invention has connections between the exit hubs and the contact pads that are made of a cord of an adhesive conducting substance which conforms to the profile of the medium.
These connections do not require a protective coating, allowing for reduction in the height of the module. Production is thus simplified and in particular the milling operation is eliminated, substantially reducing the rate of production rejects.
Preferably, the conducting substance is an isotropic conducting glue. A metal deposited by screen printing can also be used.
If the medium has connection holes, these are filled with the conducting substance. The medium may have two sides provided with contact pads and the connections are made directly on two sides without using the connection holes. Preferably, one of the sides of the medium is covered with an activatable adhesive film. This is an additional protection for the microcircuit and makes it possible to simplify the fixing of the module into the body of the card.
The microcircuit exit hubs may have connection bumps in order to reduce contact resistance.
Another aspect of the invention is a method for making an electronic module, in which the cord is made by depositing a viscous conducting substance. This technique of depositing using a syringe or similar device is rapid and easy to use.
In another aspect of the invention, a chip card has at least one electronic module of the previously mentioned type. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a microstructure array, such as a microlens array that is usable in the field of optoelectronics and the like, a mold or a master of a mold (in the specification the term “mold” is chiefly used in the broad sense including both a mold and a master of a mold) for forming a microstructure array, a fabrication method of the microstructure array, and so forth.
2. Description of the Related Background Art
A microlens array typically has a structure of arrayed minute lenses each having a diameter from about 2 to 3 microns to about 200 or 300 microns and an approximately spherical profile. The microlens array is usable in a variety of applications, such as liquid-crystal display devices, light receivers and interfiber connections in optical communication systems.
Meanwhile, earnest developments have been made to develop a surface emitting laser and the like that can be readily arranged in an array form at narrow pitches between the devices. Accordingly, there exists a significant need for a microlens array with narrow lens intervals and a large numerical aperture (NA).
Likewise, a light receiving device, such as a charge coupled device (CCD), has been increasingly downsized as semiconductor processing techniques develop and advance. Therefore, also in this field, the need for a microlens array with narrow lens intervals and a large NA is increasing. In the field of such a microlens, a desirable structure is a microlens with a large light-condensing efficiency that can highly efficiently utilize light incident on its lens surface.
Further, similar needs exist in prospective fields of optical information processing, such as optical parallel processing-operations and optical interconnections.
Furthermore, display devices of active or self-radiating types, such as electroluminescent (EL) panels, have been enthusiastically studied and developed, and a highly-defined and highly-luminous display has been thus proposed. In such a display, there is a heightened need for a microlens array that can be produced at a relatively low cost and with a large area, as well as with a small lens size and a large NA.
There are presently a number of conventional methods for fabricating microlenses. In a conventional microlens-array fabrication method using an ion exchange method (see M. Oikawa, et al., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 20(1) L51-54, 1981), the refractive index is increased at plural locations in a substrate of multi-component glass by using an ion exchange method. A plurality of lenses are thus formed at high-refractive index locations. In this method, however, the lens diameter cannot be large, compared with intervals between lenses. Hence, it is difficult to design a lens with a large NA.
Further, the fabrication of a large-area microlens array is not easy, since a large scale manufacturing apparatus, such as an ion diffusion apparatus, is required to produce such a microlens array. Moreover, an ion exchange process is needed for each glass, in contrast with a molding method using a mold. Therefore, variations of lens quality, such as a focal length, are likely to increase between lots unless the management of fabrication conditions in the manufacturing apparatus is carefully conducted. In addition to the above, the cost of this method is relatively high, as compared with the method using a mold.
Further, in the ion exchange method, alkaline ions for ion-exchange are indispensable in a glass substrate, and therefore, the material of the substrate is limited to alkaline glass. The alkaline glass is, however, unfit for a semiconductor-based device which needs to be free of alkaline ions. Furthermore, since the thermal expansion coefficient of the glass substrate greatly differs from that of a substrate of a light radiating or receiving device, misalignment between the microlens array and the devices is likely to occur due to a mismatch between their thermal expansion coefficients as the integration density of the devices increases.
Moreover, a compressive strain inherently remains on the glass surface which is processed by the ion exchange method. Accordingly, the glass tends to warp, and hence, the difficulty in joining or bonding between the glass and the light radiating or receiving device increases as the size of the microlens array increases.
In another conventional method, an original plate of a microlens is fabricated, lens material is deposited on the original plate and the deposited lens material is then separated. The original plate or mold is fabricated by an electron-beam lithography method (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1(1989)-261601), or a wet etching method (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5(1993)-303009). In these methods, the microlens can be reproduced by molding, variations between lots are unlikely to occur, and the microlens can be fabricated at a low cost. Further, the problems of alignment error and warping due to the difference in the thermal expansion coefficient can be solved, in contrast with the ion exchange method. In the electron-beam lithography method, however, an electron-beam lithographic apparatus is expensive and a large investment in equipment is needed. Further, it is difficult to fabricate a mold having a large area more than 100 cm2 (10 cm-square) because the electron beam impact area is limited.
In another conventional method, a mask layer with serially or two-dimensionally arranged openings is formed on a mother substrate, and etching is performed through the openings (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8(1996)-136704). In this method, however, since the etching is conducted through the resist opening, the bottom of a dug portion inevitably becomes flat and it is hence difficult to condense light into an area less than the area of the opening. Further, in a wet etching method, since an isotropic etching using a chemical action is principally employed, formation of the mother substrate into a desired profile cannot be achieved if the composition and crystalline structure of the mother substrate vary even slightly. In addition, etching will continue unless the plate is washed immediately after a desired shape is obtained. When a minute microlens is to be formed, a deviation of the shape from a desired one is possible due to etching lasting during a period from the time a desired profile is reached to the time the microlens is reached.
In yet another conventional microlens-array fabrication method using a resist reflow (or melting) method (see D. Daly, et al., Proc. Microlens Arrays Teddington., p 23-34, 1991), resin formed on a substrate is cylindrically patterned using a photolithography process and a microlens array is fabricated by heating and reflowing the resin. Lenses having various shapes can be fabricated at a low cost by this resist reflow method. Further, this method has no problems of thermal expansion coefficient, warping and so forth, in contrast with the ion exchange method.
In the resist reflow method, however, the profile of the microlens is strongly dependent on the thickness of the resin, the wetting condition between the substrate and the resin, and the heating temperature. Therefore, variations between lots are likely to occur while fabrication reproducibility per a single substrate surface is high. In addition, if adjacent resin comes in contact due to the reflow, the resist cannot maintain its desired profile due to surface tension. Therefore, it is hard to fabricate a microlens array in which adjacent microlenses are brought into contact and unusable regions between microlenses are reduced to increase the light-condensing efficiency. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to model or toy vehicles, and more particularly to a remote controlled model vehicle with simulated lowrider type motion control.
2. Description of Related Art
Model or toy cars are very popular and are produced to simulate or emulate a real vehicle albeit in reduced scale or exaggerated form. One relatively new area of model car products is with respect to remote controlled toy vehicles which may be propelled at various speeds and are rendered steerable by wireless components controlled by an independent radio transmitter.
An area of full size vehicle emulation as embodied in toy vehicles is that of a lowrider vehicle with “hip hop” suspension which simulates the hip hop raising and lowering motions that are well known to be associated with full-size lowrider vehicles. Fluid actuation mechanisms installed onto full scale vehicles rapidly raise and lower all or a selected number of suspension assemblies at each corner area of the full scale vehicle so that it may be raised in total, lowered close to the ground and raised and lowered rapidly from front to back or from side to side or from corner to corner as the operator of such vehicles desires.
A number of prior art patents disclose miniature or toy self-propelled vehicles, mostly operable by remote or wireless controller which emulate this lowrider motion activity: U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,023 to Yeung U.S. Pat. No. 6,383,054 to Rauch U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,872 to Simmons, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,576 to Belton U.S. Pat. No. 5,334,077 to Bailey U.S. Pat. No. 6,599,169 to Edmisson, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,246 to Suto U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,126 to Banse U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,494 to Ishimoto
More specifically, the Yeung patent 6,620,023, teaches a tilt and lift suspension for a model vehicle which emulates “hydraulics” in a full size vehicle. A wheel carriage is coupled to the chassis and movement therebetween is controlled by one or more actuators.
The articulated model vehicle disclosed in the '054 patent by Rauch also teaches a model vehicle having a lowrider configuration with independently repositionable roadway wheels into temporary roadway wheel hop positions.
Simmons, in U.S. '872, incorporates a counterbalance lift assembly to achieve a lowrider model suspension action. Lifting action is accomplished by a solenoid acting on an L-shaped lever arm to cause the rise and fall of the front suspension simulating a lowrider hopping action.
At least one hopping actuating motor is mounted on a frame and has a second rotatable arm connectable to the front axle as taught in U.S. Patent '576 by Belton. A simplistic lift assembly for lowrider model cars is taught by Bailey in U.S. Patent '077 wherein a lifting assembly is provided on the chassis for lifting the chassis relative to the axle between a lowered position and a raised position to simulate lowrider type movement. Both front and back and side-to-side hopping movement is achievable.
The present invention provides a toy lowrider model vehicle with very realistic suspension and actuator components. Each of the independent suspension assemblies function similarly to that of a full scale vehicle having upper and lower control arms which are pivotally connected to the chassis and an axle or spindle which extends transversely outwardly to support a wheel. The front suspension also includes a steering mechanism with independent steering motor to effect direction control of the vehicle. Moreover, each of the independent suspension assemblies is controlled in vertical movement of the wheel axle or spindle by a separate lifting motor which moves only through a limited arc of travel which, by pivoted linkage, is connected to one of the suspension assembly control arms, preferably the lower control arm.
By this arrangement, a fully functioning steerable radio controlled or manually controlled toy lowrider model vehicle, preferably in a larger 1:6 scale, may be selectively raised and lowered to achieve virtually any combination of lifting and lowering in lowrider vehicle fashion while also providing the satisfaction and pleasure of operation of a scaled down version of a full scale vehicle. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of fabricating a thermoelectric device for use in a thermoelectric power generator taking advantage of the Seebeck effect, or a cooler taking advantage of the Peltier effect, and more particularly, to a method of fabricating a small sized thermoelectric device incorporating a plurality of thermocouples.
2. Description of the Related Art
In each of the thermocouples making up a thermoelectric device, a voltage is developed by providing a difference in temperature between the opposite ends thereof. This is due to the effect of the Seebeck effect, and a device designed to extract the voltage as electric energy is a thermoelectric power generator. The thermoelectric power generator wherein heat energy can be converted directly into electric energy has attracted much attention as effective means of utilizing heat energy, as represented by the case of waste heat utilization.
Meanwhile, the flow of a current caused to occur through a thermocouple results in generation of heat at one end thereof, and absorption of heat at the other end thereof. This is due to the Peltier effect, and a cooler can be manufactured by taking advantage of such phenomenon of heat absorption. This type of cooler which does not comprise mechanical components and can be reduced in size has an application as a portable refrigerator, or a localized cooler for lasers, integrated circuits, and the like.
Thus, the thermoelectric power generator or cooler made up of the thermoelectric device is simple in construction, and is in a more favorable condition for miniaturization as compared with other types of power generators or coolers, offering high usefulness. For example, with the thermoelectric device for use in the thermoelectric power generator, there will not arise a problem of leakage or depletion of electrolyte as with the case of a redox cell, and the thermoelectric device has therefore promising prospects for application to portable electronic devices such as an electronic wrist watch.
The general construction of a conventional thermoelectric device, and a conventional method of fabricating the same, have been disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 63-20880 or Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 8-43555. The descriptions disclosed therein are concerned with a thermoelectric device for use in generation of power. However, the basic construction thereof is the same as that of a thermoelectric device for use in cooling. Hence, the thermoelectric device for use only in generation of power is described hereinafter to avoid complexity in explanation.
In the conventional thermoelectric device disclosed in the publications described above, p-type and n-type thermoelectric semiconductors are alternately and regularly arranged so that a multitude of thermocouples are formed on a horizontal plane, and the thermocouples thus formed are electrically connected to each other in series.
The thermoelectric device is formed in a sheet-like shape by disposing the thermocouples on a plane, and the upper surface and under surface of the thermoelectric device become faces on which hot junctions and cold junctions of the thermocouples are located, respectively. Generation of electric power in the thermoelectric device is caused to occur by a difference in temperature between the upper surface and the under surface of the device having a sheet-like shape.
Meanwhile, an output voltage of a thermocouple using a BiTe-based material, said to have the highest figure of merit of thermoelectric power generation at present, is about 400 .mu.V/.degree. C. per couple.
When such thermocouples as described above are employed in a portable electronic device for use at around room temperature, for example, in an electronic watch, a satisfactory difference in temperature can not be expected to be developed inside the device. For example, in the case of a wrist watch, the temperature difference in a wrist watch developed between body temperature and the ambient temperature will be 2.degree. C. at most.
It follows that not less than about 2000 couples of BiTe-based thermocouples are required to obtain a voltage not lower than 1.5V, necessary for driving an electronic watch.
Furthermore, in the case of an electronic wrist watch, wherein mechanical components and electric circuit components need to be encased therein in spite of a small internal volume thereof in the first place, it is required that a thermoelectric device for power generation, very small in size, be used.
The conventional method of fabricating a thermoelectric device small in size and composed of a multitude of thermocouples has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 63-20880.
In the method disclosed, a multi-layered body is formed by stacking p-type and n-type thermoelectric semiconductors, in a thin sheet-like shape, on top of each other in layers while interposing a heat insulating material between respective layers, and then by bonding them together. Subsequently, grooves are formed at a given spacing in the multi-layered body, whereupon the grooves are filled up with a heat insulating material, and connecting portions of individual thermoelectric semiconductors are removed, thereby forming n-type and p-type thermocouples, surrounded by the heat insulating material and isolated from each other. By electrically connecting the thermocouples with each other in series, a thermoelectric device is completed.
Then, in the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 8-43555, p-type and n-type thermoelectric semiconductors, each having a plate-like shape, are first bonded to separate substrates, and thereafter, a grooving process of forming a multitude of grooves at very small spacings in the longitudinal and transverse directions is applied to respective thermoelectric semiconductors.
As a result of the grooving process described above, a multitude of thermoelectric semiconductors, each columnar in shape, and upstanding regularly on top of the respective substrates, resembling a kenzan (a needle-point flower holder for flower arrangement), are formed. The kenzan-like bodies composed of the n-type and p-type thermoelectric semiconductors, respectively, are thus prepared, and joined together such that the respective thermoelectric semiconductors, columnar in shape, are mated with each other. Thereafter, an insulating material is filled between the respective thermoelectric semiconductors.
In the final step of processing, the substrates are removed, and a thermoelectric device is completed by electrically connecting thermocouples with each other in series.
However, with the methods of fabricating the thermoelectric device as described in the foregoing, there will arise a problem that the material used for the thermoelectric semiconductors is prone to breakage during the process of forming the thermoelectric semiconductors into a sheet-like shape, during the grooving process of forming the kenzan-like bodies, and the like, because of the fragile nature of the material itself for the thermoelectric semiconductors.
In particular, for forming as many as not less than 2000 couples of thermocouples in an ultra-small sized thermoelectric device which can be encased in a wrist watch, it is required that the thickness of the respective sheet-like thermoelectric semiconductors or the diameter of the respective columnar thermoelectric semiconductors be set to on the order of 100 .mu.m or less, and consequently, the problem of fragility described above will become quite serious. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to heat dissipating devices, more particularly to a heat dissipating device with a plurality of interlocked fins that are easily and securely interlocked.
2. Description of Related Art
It is well known that during operation of a computer, electronic component thereof such as a central processing unit (CPU) generates large amounts of heat. The generated heat must be quickly removed from the electronic component to prevent it from becoming unstable or being damaged. Generally, a heat dissipating device is attached to the electronic component for a cooling purpose. A typical heat dissipating device includes a base plate and a plurality of fins extending from the base plate. The base plate is attached to the electronic component to absorb heat from the electronic component, and the heat absorbed by the base plate is then dissipated to ambient air via the fins. However, the fins are easily disengaged from the adjacent fins when the assembled fins are subject to mechanical shocks.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a heat dissipating device which has a plurality of fins securely interlocked with each other. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to a capacitor and more particularly, to a variable capacitor for use in electrical and electronic equipment.
Recently, variable capacitors, especially those of extremely small sizes and yet having sufficiently large electrostatic capacity have come into wide use in various fields of electrical and electronic industries, following the miniaturization of circuit constructions of electrical and electronic equipment.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown one example of such conventional variable capacitors which comprises a stator S having a stator electrode Se which is formed on the upper surface thereof with suitable electrode material through baking or coating. A rotor R is rotatably disposed on the stator electrode Se and fixed, for example, by soldering to a rotary shaft A for rotation therewith. A rotor electrode Re is formed in the recess at the upper surface of the rotor R through baking or coating of suitable electrode material. In addition, a rotor terminal lead Rt having a resilient plate spring portion Rt1 extends over the under surface of the stator S and includes a terminal end Rt2 which extends downwardly from the spring portion Rt1. Further, a stator terminal lead St soldered at an upper end thereof to the stator S and extends downwardly through the stator S. The lower end of the rotary shaft A extends through the resilient spring portion Rt1 of the rotor terminal lead Rt and is staked thereat as shown.
Referring also to FIG. 2, the conventional variable capacitors of the above described type have various disadvantages in that if the capacitor itself is of small size, the width l of the recess formed in the upper surface of the rotor R is limited in length, therefore making it impossible for the rotor electrode Re to have a sufficiently large area. In addition, the thickness t between the rotor electrode Re and the under surface of the rotor R can not be made small enough from the viewpoint of maintaining strength of the rotor R itself. From such restrictions, it is quite difficult to provide the variable capacitors of known constructions with large electrostatic capacity. Furthermore, in the conventional variable capacitors of the above described type, troublesome procedures for the electrode formation and soldering are inevitably involved, thus it is difficult to save labor in the manufacturing processes. This results in consequently higher cost and increased probability of producing faulty products. In addition, since the rotor R is exposed, the same rotor R is liable to be damaged, especially at the electrode Re thereof, during transit or incorporation into the circuit of a particular piece of equipment. Further, since the variable capacitor can not be placed in close contact with other components, miniaturization of the equipment itself is hard to be achieved, while the variable capacitor itself tends to be affected by dust and dirt. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Processors, and specifically network processors, route packets to and from destinations on a network. In doing so, the processors can perform direct memory access of packets. Certain processors can route the packets to various internal, and in some cases external, functions. | {
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Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium cultivar Foxy Yonatasha.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium, commercially known as a garden-type Chrysanthemum and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Foxy Yonatashaxe2x80x99.
The new Chrysanthemum is a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of the Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium cultivar Yonatasha, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,907. The new Chrysanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within a population of plants of the cultivar Yonatasha in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla. in April, 2002. The selection of this plant was based on its desirable inflorescence form, attractive ray floret color and good garden performance.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal vegetative cuttings in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla. since June, 2002, has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Foxy Yonatasha has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Foxy Yonatashaxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Foxy Yonatashaxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright and outwardly spreading plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit; dense and full plants.
3. Uniform and very freely flowering habit.
4. Large daisy-type inflorescences with elongated oblong-shaped ray florets.
5. Red-colored ray florets and bright yellow-colored disc florets.
6. Natural season flowering in mid September in the Northern Hemisphere.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the parent, the cultivar Yonatasha in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered several days later than plants of the cultivar Yonatasha when grown under natural season conditions.
2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum and the cultivar Yonatasha differed in ray floret coloration as plants of the cultivar Yonatasha had coral pink-colored ray florets.
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum can be compared to plants of the Chrysanthemum cultivar Hot Salsa, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,918. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the cultivar Hot Salsa in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were larger and more rounded than plants of the cultivar Hot Salsa.
2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered about three weeks earlier than plants of the cultivar Hot Salsa when grown in southern climates.
3. Ray florets of plants of the new Chrysanthemum were darker red in color than ray florets of plants of the cultivar Hot Salsa.
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum can also be compared to plants of the Chrysanthemum cultivar Red Temptress, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the cultivar Red Temptress in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were smaller and more rounded than plants of the cultivar Red Temptress.
2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had larger inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Red Temptress.
3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered about four weeks earlier than plants of the cultivar Red Temptress when grown in southern climates. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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With the increasing use of mobile communications systems, operators of mobile communications systems need more transmitters, receivers and/or transceivers relaying into cells of the mobile communications systems, such as for example base stations, in order to meet the increased demand for telecommunications.
It is expensive for the operators to increase the number of the base stations. Maintenance of the base stations may, for example, require an engineer to be present at the site of the base station. The increased number of the base stations therefore requires an increased number of service engineers to maintain the increased number of base stations.
With the increased number of the base stations a level of interference is increased between the cells of the mobile communication network. A signal transmitted from a handset of a user outside an individual cell may be sensed as an interference signal by the antenna array of the individual cell. The interference signal is in particular present if users within the individual cell and users outside the individual cell share the same frequency, as is normally the case with modern communication protocols in mobile communication networks.
The antenna array uses a beam to transmit radio signals in a downlink to the handset of the users within the cell. Likewise, the antenna array uses an uplink beam for receiving radio signals from the handsets of the users within the cell. In the prior art the uplink beam pattern and the downlink beam pattern are identical. The prior art teaches as one option an increase in a downlink tilt angle for the antenna array of the cell in order to reduce the interference caused by the base station to users outside the cell. In the prior art the increase in the downlink tilt angle would also cause an increase in an uplink tilt angle. The increase in the uplink tilt angle causes a reduction in interference from the users outside of the cell in the uplink relaying to the base station for the users within the cell. A reduction in coverage area is a trade off when increasing the downlink tilt angle of the downlink beam shape.
With a roll-out of the telecommunications network a network provider is focusing on different aspects during the progression of the telecommunications network. Coverage of the cell, more precisely a sector of the cell is paramount when first setting up the antenna array of the cell. Later in time, the number of the antenna arrays has concomitantly increased with the number of the cells. Therefore the interference caused by users outside the cell is increased. In the prior art it was common to progressively down tilt the antenna arrays in order to reduce the interference from the users outside the cell. It is quite common that radio signals are scattered along a multitude of paths when relayed into the cell. If for example a scattering of radio signals within the cell was substantially changed, it was necessary for a network provider to replace the antenna arrays originally provided by new antenna arrays that are more suitable for the changed scattering conditions present.
WO 99/17576 to Ericsson Radio Systems AB discloses a method and an apparatus for optimizing an antenna tilt angle. The Ericsson patent provides a method for optimizing an advantage of the increased down tilt angle and the concomitant effect of the reduction in the coverage area. The optimum antenna down tilt angle can be identified as the antenna down tilt angle reflecting a maximum interference reduction with respect to a reduction in coverage area. For the Ericsson patent the downlink tilt angle and the uplink tilt angle are identical.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,682,434 to Ericsson incorporates an uplink and downlink transmission quality improvement by differentiated base station antenna beam down tilt angles. A method and an apparatus are disclosed for providing a substantial gain in downlink coverage over interference by means of differentiated beam down tilt angles while still maintaining the coverage limiting signal strength in the uplink by the use of different antenna beam down tilt angles for the transmit and receive antenna beams. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Wagering game machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines depends on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing wagering game machines and the expectation of winning at each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines, features, and enhancements available because such machines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to the operator. Therefore, there is a continuing need for wagering game machine manufacturers to continuously develop new games and gaming enhancements that will attract frequent play. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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There is an increasing demand for the use of biomass for partly replacing petroleum resources for the synthesis of fuels. The use of bioethanol for the synthesis of base stocks for fuels therefore arouses a great interest. The production of liquid hydrocarbons on acid solids has been mentioned by some authors during ethanol conversion reactions (H. Van Bekkum et al., Applied Catalysis, 3 (1982)). However, they took no interest in the optimization of the gas oil yield.
The reaction at the root of the method of converting ethanol to a base stock for diesel fuel is dehydration-oligomerization of the ethanol in a single stage according to Equation (1) below:2C2H5OH→2CH2═CH2+2H2O→oligomerization/cyclization(aromatics, paraffins, olefins, etc.) (1)
It is well known that dehydration of ethanol occurs quite easily on acid solids of low acidity at temperatures above 300° C. and at atmospheric pressure. The reaction products are then mainly water and ethylene, ethylene being obtained with a selectivity above 96%. The most commonly used catalysts are silica-aluminas, unprocessed zeolites (ZSM-5) or zeolites modified by steaming, or asbestos-derived zeolites. The use of a triflic acid-treated ZSM-5 zeolite (R. Le Van Mao et al., The Bioethanol-to-Ethylene (B.E.T.E.) Process, Applied Catalysis, 48 (1989)), or of a microporous niobium silicate AM-11 (P. Brandao et al., Dehydration of Alcohols by Microporous Niobium Silicate AM-11, Catalysis Letters, 80, 3-4 (2002)) have also been mentioned in the prior art. A relatively old study mentions the production of aromatics up to 50% from ethanol over ZSM-5 at temperatures above 260° C. For lower temperatures, only the formation of ethylene is mentioned. The presence of water in the ethanol feedstock seems to promote the formation of aromatics, in opposition to the conclusions of A. T. Aguayo et al. (J. Chem. Technol. And Biotechnol., 77 (2002)). The presence of water would also have the effect of limiting the deactivation of the catalyst(5,6). On the other hand, for temperatures above 450° C., there is a risk of catalyst dealumination.
Ethylene oligomerization requires high pressures, generally ranging between 2 and 4 MPa, but lower temperatures, generally between 20° C. and 200° C. The catalysts used are in most cases transition metals deposited on silica-alumina type supports, zeolites (ZSM-5) or mesoporous solids (MCM-41) as described by V. Hulea et al., J. Catal., 225 (2004).
Few authors have reported the dehydration-oligomerization of ethanol in a single stage. The few studies mentioned (S. Sivasanker et al., S. Assam Science Society, 36(3), (1994) or D. R. Whitcraft et al., Ind. Eng. Chem. Process Dev., 22, (1983)) thus show the production of gasoline cuts by reaction of ethanol at high pressure and temperature over ZSM-5. However, the yields obtained are rather low and the heavy cut (Tboiling>220° C.) represents a small percentage (<3%). The formation of aromatics is mentioned: it depends on the pressure and on the Si/Al ratio of the zeolite. Advanced kinetic studies concerning the conversion of aqueous ethanol over H-ZSM-5 zeolites to hydrocarbons were carried out by A. T. Aguayo et al. as mentioned above. However, the reactions occur at atmospheric pressure and at high temperature; the products obtained are not detailed, but their molecular mass is low (C5+).
The reaction of converting ethanol to produce hydrocarbons (dehydration-oligomerization in a single stage) has mainly been studied on ZSM-5 zeolite (M. M. Chang et al., “The Conversion of Methanol and Other O-Compounds to Hydrocarbons over Zeolite Catalysts”, J. Catal. 47, 249-259). The main goal was to produce gasoline type effluents, but no author attempted to optimize the yield in liquid hydrocarbons with a boiling point temperature above 150° C.
K. G. Bhattacharyya et al. (“Production of Hydrocarbons from Aqueous Ethanol over HZM-5 under High Pressure”, Journal of Assam Science Society 36(3), pp 177-188 (1994)) are the only ones who took an interest in the results in terms of diesel cut production. However, they have not tried to optimize the operating conditions or the catalyst. The tests were carried out at 3 MPa and 400° C. on an H-ZSM-5 zeolite of Si/Al ratio 103, i.e. of relatively low acidity. The diesel cut fraction (270-370° C.) obtained is then only 0.6%. The operating conditions vary a lot from one study to the next but the pressure generally favours the formation of liquid products (>C5+), temperatures above 350° promote the oligomerization of ethylene, the primary product from the reaction of ethanol from 300° C. Above 350° C., the formation of aromatics becomes significant, notably over H-ZSM-5. This catalyst is by far the most stable of all the zeolites studied (mordenite, Y or beta).
The addition of metals by ionic exchange has been studied by J. F. Schulz et al. (“Conversion of Ethanol over Metal-exchanged Zeolites”, Chem. Eng. Technol. 16 (1993) 332-337), who showed the influence of nickel on the formation of aromatics. According to them, addition of this metal allows to stabilize the aluminium sites of the zeolites, thus preventing crystallinity loss. A low Si/Al ratio of the catalyst favours the formation of aromatics. According to Valle B. et al. (“Effect of Nickel Incorporation on the Acidity and Stability of HZSM-5 Zeolite in the MTO Process”, Catalysis Today 106 (2005) 118-122), in the case of the “Methanol to Olefins” process, which requires a high temperature and takes place in the presence of a large amount of water, addition of nickel by impregnation allows the H-ZSM-5 zeolite to be stabilized. The presence of nickel causes the acidity of the catalyst (strength and number) to fall. However, a 1% nickel content allows the catalyst to be made regenerable without activity loss, unlike the parent solid that deactivates. Machado et al. (“Obtaining Hydrocrabons from Ethanol over Iron-modified ZSM-5 Zeolites”, Fuel 84, 2064-2070) modified a ZSM-5 of Si/Al ratio 20 (previously exchanged to obtain the protonic form) by impregnation with Fe(NO3)3, 9H2O) or by ion exchange with FeCl3, 6H2O.
The ZSM-5 zeolite is considered to be microporous since the major part of its pores is smaller than 20 Å.
On the other hand, some authors have compared the dehydration and oligomerization mechanisms of ethanol and of methanol. Derouane et al (J. Catal, 53, 40-55 (1978)) notably showed that the behaviour of these two alcohols in the conversion reaction over acid solids was different. Thus, under identical conditions, at 250° C., more than 98% of the ethanol is converted to ethylene whereas the main product detected from methanol (74%) is dimethyl ether. Espinoza et al (App. Catal, 6, 11-26 (1983)) show that 93% of the ethanol is converted to ethylene at 380° C. and 49% of the methanol is converted to C5+.
The mechanism is obviously different for the two alcohols: in fact, methanol first has to react with itself to form dimethyl ether by eliminating a first water molecule, then the elimination of a second water molecule allows to obtain the ethylene that can thereafter grow via the formation of a longer ether (by addition of a methoxy group on a C2 carbocation thus leading to the formation of propylene), or by reaction with another ethylene molecule.
Above 300° C., the conversion of ethanol predominantly goes through the formation of ethylene (directly produced by intramolecular dehydration of the alcohol or via the diethyl ether), the growth of the chains thus occurring via carbocationic intermediates (formation of even chains).
In conclusion, the state of the art as regards patent applications for a method allowing conversion of ethanol to a base stock for diesel fuel by means of dehydration-oligomerization in a single stage comprises no pertinent anteriority. The scientific literature essentially took an interest in the conversion of ethanol to an aromatic base, insofar as the diesel fraction obtained did not exceed 1% by mass. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates, in general, to semiconductor devices, and more particularly to a semiconductor package having leads that break-away from supports.
It is common in the semiconductor art to employ surface mount packages for placement on printed circuit boards and the like. Typically, the leads of a surface mount package are soldered directly to the printed circuit board so that electrical coupling occurs therebetween. An often arising problem is that the surface mount package and the printed circuit board on which it is mounted have different coefficients of thermal expansion. As a result, thermal contraction causes stress throughout the package and printed circuit board, especially at the leads and solder joints. The stress often causes the solder joints to break and the semiconductor package to function improperly.
One solution to reduce the problems caused by thermal contraction stress is to employ surface mount packages having thin metal leads that are flexible. The thin leads flex during thermal contraction and reduce damage to both the leads and solder joints. However, flexible leads on surface mount packages have a tendency to become misaligned. Lead misalignment results in open solder joints and has many deleterious effects in the mounting of surface mount packages. These problems are especially prevalent when very thin leads are required due to high lead counts and the like.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to have a semiconductor package that may be employed in surface mount applications that adequately counters the stress problems caused by the differing thermal expansion coefficients of the package and the printed circuit board on which the package is mounted while not having serious misalignment problems. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to panel fasteners of the stud assembly and stud receptacle variety and in particular to panel fasteners having self-locking stud structures and structure to insure retention of the stud portion of the fastener with a removable panel.
Self-locking fasteners are employed for locking two structural members together such as access panels to structural frame members or to other panels. These self-locking fasteners are particularly useful in aircraft and missile installations where it is desired to provide quick access to electronic, hydraulic and other equipment housed therein. Inasmuch as any access panel would ordinarily carry a multiplicity of such self-locking fasteners, they must be capable of quick action, permitting ready removal and ready replacement of the access panel within the shortest possible time. Further, since a considerable number of access panels and fasteners are utilized in any aircraft or missile, another requirement for such fasteners is that they be constructed as inexpensively as possible yet perform under adverse conditions.
Presently used self-locking fasteners normally comprise some type of stud which may or may not be attached to the removable access panel and a complex stud receptor which is attached to an inner panel. Although these panel fasteners are quite useful they do have disadvantages. For example, during aircraft flight, vibrations are set up which tend to loosen the studs from the stud receptors causing the studs to fall away and be lost; during maintenance operations the studs are not positively retained with the access panel and become misplaced or lost. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Several embodiments of light emitting probes designed to be transcutaneously introduced into the body of a patient and positioned at a desired treatment site to administer photodynamic therapy (PDT) using a plurality of light sources are taught in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,608, the drawings and disclosure of which are specifically incorporated herein by reference. Several different embodiments of such probes are illustrated and discussed il this prior patent. Each of the probes disclosed in this reference includes a plurality of light sources that are mounted on a relatively stiff or inflexible substrate and enclosed within a transparent envelope through which light emitted by the light sources is transmitted to irradiate a tumor or other cells that are to be destroyed by PDT. The light sources used on the probes taught by this reference are preferably light emitting diodes (LEDs); however, almost any light source capable of emitting light in a waveband corresponding to an absorption waveband of a photoreactive agent that has been applied to the tumor or other tissue to be destroyed can be used. By inserting one of these probes into a patient's body, moving the probe to an internal treatment site, and using the probe for applying PDT, abnormal cells or other organisms at the treatment site can be destroyed without significant adverse impact on adjacent normal tissue.
None of the implantable light emitting probes disclosed in the above-referenced patent include light sources mounted on flexible substrates. There are many applications for PDT in which it would be advantageous to use a flexible substrate for mounting the LEDs or other light sources on a probe employed to administer the PDT, e.g., so that the probe can be threaded into a treatment site through a curved passage within the patient's body without risk of perforation of the wall of the passage. In contrast to the relatively inflexible substrate used in the probes disclosed in the above-referenced patent, a flexible PDT probe having a small cross-sectional size, e.g., less than 2 mm, can be more readily maneuvered through body passages using conventional endoscopic techniques, enabling the flexible probe to be inserted to provide a medical therapy, such as the administration of PDT, to a treatment site. In addition, a small cross-sectional area flexible probe is less likely to cause bleeding upon insertion interstitially at a treatment site and become infected after insertion. The prior art does not disclose a flexible probe capable of providing these capabilities.
To address the need for such devices, commonly assigned U.S. patent applications, Ser. No. 08/613,390 filed Mar. 7, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,478, and a continuation-in-part thereof, Ser. No. 08/633,171 filed Apr. 16, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,234, both entitled "Flexible Microcircuits for Internal Light Therapy," disclose several different embodiments of flexible probes. These embodiments include a relatively small diameter, elongate flexible probe. The elongate probe comprises a flexible substrate on which are mounted a plurality of light emitting devices, in a spaced-apart array. The light emitting devices are mounted on each side of the substrate, and are electrically connected to two flexible conductive traces that extend along the surface of each side. The light sources each include terminals disposed on opposite sides of the device. One terminal is electrically connected using solder or a conductive adhesive to one of the two traces. A fly wire (very small gage) couples the other terminal to the other conductive trace. While this arrangement provides a workable flexible probe that is able to bend without damage as the probe is inserted through a small diameter passage, the probe has a larger diameter than desired because the width of the flexible substrate required for this configuration is slightly greater than the sum of the width of the light emitting devices and the width of the two conductive traces. The resulting configuration is also subject to damage when handled before final fabrication of the probe is completed, because the fragile fly wires are exposed until the substrate and mounted light sources are encapsulated in a flexible, optically transparent, biocompatible material. Thus, a more compact arrangement that is more robust and capable of automated fabrication is desirable. Ideally, it should be possible to fabricate a flexible elongate probe having a cross-sectional diameter of less than 0.15 cm, i.e., the width of the substrate should be only slightly greater than the width of the light sources mounted thereon.
It will also be apparent that a flexible probe having a smaller diameter so that it can more readily be introduced to a treatment site has utility for implementing medical therapies other than PDT. For example, a small diameter flexible probe that includes an ultrasonic transmitter and/or ultrasonic receiver can readily be inserted into an organ or through a lumen to carry out an ultrasound scan of surrounding tissue. Furthermore, a small diameter flexible probe that is used to administer PDT can be provided with electronic components capable of carrying out additional functions. For example, a sensor to determine the efficacy of the PDT treatment might be included on the flexible probe, in addition to the plurality of light sources that are used to provide light to a treatment site.
A relatively smaller diameter flexible probe on which one or more electrical circuits for administering a medical treatment or a sensing device is mounted can more readily be threaded into an internal site within a patient's body than a larger diameter probe, and the insertion procedure can be implemented with less trauma to the patient. In addition, a configuration that eliminates use of the fly wires to couple the terminal of a device to a conductive trace should improve the durability of the probe. Producing a smaller diameter probe that is more robust than that of previous designs is clearly a desirable objective. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The human eye in its simplest terms functions to provide vision by transmitting light through a clear outer portion called the cornea, and focusing the image by way of the lens onto the retina. The quality of the focused image depends on many factors including the size and shape of the eye, and the transparency of the cornea and lens.
When age or disease causes the lens to become less transparent, vision deteriorates because of the diminished light which can be transmitted to the retina. This deficiency in the lens of the eye is medically known as a cataract. An accepted treatment for this condition is surgical removal of the lens and replacement of the lens function by an artificial intraocular lens (IOL).
In the United States, the majority of cataractous lenses are removed by a surgical technique called phacoemulsification. During this procedure, a thin phacoemulsification cutting tip is inserted into the diseased lens and vibrated ultrasonically. The vibrating cutting tip liquefies or emulsifies the lens so that the lens may be aspirated out of the eye. The diseased lens, once removed, is replaced by an artificial lens.
The placement of an IOL is very important in order to ensure the best possible vision for patient's with cataracts. Oftentimes there is not a good feedback process during surgery to ensure that the IOL is properly placed and oriented within the eye. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor memory device, and particularly to the detection of a memory cell failure.
Transistor elements are being miniaturized for high integration. In parallel with miniaturization, voltage scaling is needed from the viewpoint of transistor element reliability and power consumption. However, when the transistor elements are miniaturized, an error in a manufacturing process (mask misalignment and impurity implantation quantity error) exerts a significant influence so that the characteristics of transistor elements greatly vary. Therefore, a write margin decreases, for example, in an SRAM (static random-access memory), thereby causing a problem in which an operating margin is decreased.
As a method of addressing the above problem, a write operation failure may be prevented by applying a negative voltage to a bit line during a write operation in order to increase the current drive capability of an access MOS transistor in a memory cell (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-295246 and J. Chang, et al, “A 20 nm 112 Mb SRAM Design in High K/Metal Gate Technology with Assist Circuitry for Low Leakage and Low Vmin Applications”, ISSCC '13).
According to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-295246, a boost circuit is formed of a boost capacitor and an inverter driving the boost capacitor is provided and coupled to bit line pairs through switches. A method described in this patent literature is to transfer a negative voltage by selecting a switch on the bit line side, which is driven by a ground potential.
According to “A 20 nm 112 Mb SRAM Design in High K/Metal Gate Technology with Assist Circuitry for Low Leakage and Low Vmin Applications”, an inverter is provided as a write drive circuit for each bit line pair. Sources of two write inverters are short-circuited and coupled to a low-voltage side power supply VSS through a power switch. A boost capacitor is coupled to the short-circuited sources of the write inverters. When the power switch is turned off, only the output node of an inverter on the ground voltage output side is placed in a floating state. A method described in this patent literature is to transfer a boosted negative voltage to a bit line through the NMOS and Y switch of a write inverter that outputs a ground voltage. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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In mass spectrometry, radio frequency (“RF”) components may be used. Examples of radio frequency components used in a mass spectrometer include ion guides, mass filters, and ion traps. Such RF components may be implemented using a quadrupole configuration. Quadrupole components such as quadrupole mass filters require a temperature-stable RF voltage applied to the quadrupole. Variation in the RF voltage results in a variation from the desired operation of the quadrupole. For the example of a quadrupole mass filter, variation in the RF voltage results in a variation in mass position or mass resolution which degrades the performance of the mass spectrometer.
To stabilize an RF voltage applied to an RF component an RF voltage detector circuit is used to measure the RF voltage. The RF voltage detector circuit includes a feedback control to the RF voltage source to compensate for detected changes in the RF voltage on the RF component. As such, the stability of the RF voltage on the RF component is dependant on the stability of the RF voltage detector to ensure proper detection of changes in the RF voltage.
Such an RF voltage detector circuit or system includes a capacitor used to detect the RF voltage. The stability of the RF voltage detector depends on the ability to maintain the capacitor at a desired capacitance value. Moreover, changes in capacitance as a result of temperature variations, humidity and contamination problems also reduce stability of an RF voltage detector. For example, ceramic capacitors have a temperature drift specification of approximately 30 parts per million per degree Celsius. For this reason, as the temperature of the RF voltage detector changes, so does the capacitance of the capacitor. And, the change in capacitance affects the stability of the RF voltage detector.
Because of the high degree of stability needed in an RF voltage detector, some approaches use custom capacitor designs. These designs can include capacitor designs using air or vacuum dielectric. Typical designs include using materials such as Invar™ and ceramics with custom machining which increase the cost of such designs. In addition, these capacitors are still susceptible to changes in capacitance because of humidity and contamination. Other problems with custom capacitor designs is that the size of the capacitors are very large as required to handle the voltage standoff requirements. As such, placing these large detectors close to the RF components is problematic. The result of not having the RF voltage detector close enough to the RF components is that stray capacitances can result. These stray capacitances further degrade the stability of the RF voltage detector. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The lithium-sulfur battery (Li—S battery) is a rechargeable battery, notable for its high energy density. Li—S batteries may be a successful alternative to lithium-ion cells because of their higher energy density and reduced cost from the use of sulfur. However, Li—S batteries do present some challenges that must be addressed before the advantages of Li—S batteries can be fully appreciated. For example, during discharge, polysulfides form at the cathode of the batteries. Certain higher order, soluble polysulfides may migrate to the anode and react with the anode, causing a reduction in battery performance. These polysulfides diffuse through the electrolyte to the anode where they are reduced to lower polysulfides that, in turn, diffuse back through the electrolyte to the cathode to be oxidized to higher polysulfides. This causes a continuous shuttle effect, resulting in low battery efficiency. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices that utilize evaporative, convective, and/or conductive cooling to cool the human body in aid of surgery, medical treatment, therapy, or comfort. Some exemplary cooling structures include various configurations of thermal cooling devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Temperature control in humans has important medical consequences. In order to maintain optimum health, the human body must maintain a core temperature within a very narrow range. Core body temperature changes as small as 0.1xc2x0 Celsius trigger thermoregulatory responses such as vasoconstriction, vasodilation, shivering, or sweating. A narrow temperature range is optimal for human cellular functions, biochemical reactions, and enzymatic reactions. Outside this range of temperatures, the human body experiences hypothermia (excessive cold) or hyperthermia (excessive hot).
Hyperthermia can result from illness or environmental heat stress, among other causes. In some cases, healthy people suffer hyperthermia when their natural cooling mechanisms, such as sweating, are overwhelmed during heavy physical work in a hot environment. This situation can become even worse if the person fails to drink enough fluids, and therefore cannot sweat adequately. Heat stress disorders, categorized in ascending order of severity, include: heat cramps, heat syncope, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. Normally, discomfort causes people choose to stop working before the onset of heat exhaustion, but competitive athletics or military activities sometimes push people beyond the limits of health.
Hyperthermia can also result from fever associated with illness. Fever may arise from infection, tumor necrosis, thyroid storm, malignant hyperthermia, brain injury, and other causes. Brain injuries that cause hyperthermia usually involve the hypothalamus, and may be caused by tumors, stroke, head injury, or cardiac arrest (in the case of ischemic brain injury).
Some consequences of hyperthermia include fluid and electrolyte imbalances, increased cellular metabolic rates, and cognitive impairment. More serious consequences include motor skill impairment, loss of consciousness, and seizures. Ultimately, hyperthermia can cause irreversible cellular injury (especially of the highly metabolic brain and liver cells), organ failure, and death. Hyperthermia is a condition that, depending on its severity, may require immediate cooling treatment to return the person""s core temperature to normal.
Cooling treatment may also have other important uses. In some situations, mild or moderate hypothermia is believed to provide beneficial protection against injury. Moreover, induced hypothermia can be beneficial when the blood flow to some or all of the brain has been interrupted. Brain ischemia due to an interruption of blood flow may occur during cardiac arrest, surgery on the blood vessels of the brain, stroke, traumatic brain injury, or open heart surgery. Cooling the brain before (or in some cases after) these events can protect the brain from injury, or at least decrease the severity of the ultimate brain damage.
Physicians have used various devices and techniques to cool the human body, including pharmacological cooling and various types of mechanically induced cooling. Mechanically induced cooling approaches generally fall into one of these categories: conductive, convective, or evaporative. While different implementations have been tried, many are limited by lack of practicality, difficulty of use, ineffectiveness, and/or excessive power consumption.
One example of conductive cooling involves packing a hyperthermic person""s body in ice, or immersing the person in cool or cold water. While ice is an effective cooling agent, it is painful to the person, potentially damaging to the skin, difficult to obtain in large quantities, and impractical for long term use. Water baths can be effective, although they are not practical for the comatose or intensive care patient, or for long term use. In one less effective, but common method of conductive cooling, a person may be placed in contact with a cold-water-circulating mattress and/or cover. Water inside the mattress removes heat from the person by conduction wherever the surface of the mattress thermally contacts the person""s skin. Although there is some benefit to such devices, they are often uncomfortable and heavy, and provide inefficient thermal contact because they are not precisely shaped to the body.
In contrast to conductive cooling, convective cooling involves blowing air onto a person. Convective cooling is the least effective method of cooling from a thermodynamic point of view. Room temperature air can be blown very inexpensively with a fan. However, its cooling effectiveness is severely limited due to the thermal capacity of air, and related heat transfer coefficients.
For more efficient convective cooling, the air can be cooled before being blown onto the person. Air can be cooled, for example, with a traditional compression or heat-pump air conditioner, vortex cooling, or with thermoelectric cooling. Cooled air can also be generated using the xe2x80x9cswamp coolerxe2x80x9d principle of vaporizing water into the air stream. When water evaporates into the air, it cools the air. Then, the cooled air is applied to a person.
After the air is cooled with one of the foregoing techniques, it can be delivered to a person by cooling the air in the person""s room. To save energy, cooling can be confined to the person rather than the whole environment surrounding the person. One technique that uses this approach is the convective thermal device, which has been implemented in a variety of forms.
Although convective cooling removes the stress of environmental heat, it is minimally effective in active cooling. This limited thermodynamic effectiveness is particularly evident when trying to cool people with fevers. Generally, in order to be cooled by convection, a feverish person must be anesthetized and paralyzed to prevent the body""s heat-producing shivering response. Further, due to the thermodynamic inefficiency of convective cooling, this method of cooling uses considerable electrical power and generates considerable waste heat, which can be a problem in emergency rooms or intensive care units.
Having discussed conductive and convective cooling, the final mechanically induced cooling mechanism is evaporative cooling. Sweating is a principal example of evaporative cooling. Because water has a large heat of vaporization, large amounts of beat can be removed from the body by evaporating relatively small amounts of water. For example, when a gram of water evaporates, it extracts 540 calories of heat (2.26 kJ) from the skin. On hot summer days, many people practice basic evaporative cooling by wetting their skin or clothing with water, and permitting the water evaporate. Medical staff employ evaporative cooling by giving sponge baths to patients, where the unclothed patient is wetted with water and allowed to dry by evaporation. Sometimes a fan is pointed at the person to increase the evaporation rate. While sponge baths are indeed effective, they are labor intensive, messy, demeaning to body-conscious people, and impractical for prolonged cooling. Finally, evaporative cooing has limited effectiveness in high humidity environments
Therefore, as shown above, conductive, convective, and evaporative cooling systems each have certain benefits and limitations. And, although some of the foregoing cooling products have certain advantages and might even enjoy some commercial success, engineers at Augustine Medical, Inc. are continually seeking to improve the performance and efficiency of human cooling systems. Some areas of possible focus include simplifying hardware designs, boosting the effectiveness of cooling systems, and cooling specific body parts.
An additional area of focus concerns the management of the liquid source during evaporative cooling. Introducing too much liquid causes liquid to spill over the area of focused cooling (the xe2x80x9ccooling fieldxe2x80x9d), and pool under the person. Pooling of contaminated liquids presents hygienic and esthetic problems in the medical environment. On the other hand, if too little liquid is supplied, the cooling field may dry out and stop or reduce cooling effectiveness.
Broadly, the present invention introduces cooling devices that utilize evaporative, convective, and/or conductive cooling to reduce a person""s temperature in aid of surgery, medical treatment, therapy, or comfort.
One improved cooling device maximizes evaporative cooling by aiding the flow of air to the body and also removing vapor-laden air from the body. This device includes an upper sheet and a base sheet adhered in many locations such that the sheets cooperatively form an inflatable structure. The inflatable structure includes numerous elongated, substantially parallel, inflatable cooling chambers, and between each pair of neighboring cooling chambers, a connecting membrane. The inflatable structure also includes numerous ventilating cross-members, each of which spans and interconnects the cooling chambers. Air enters the chambers through an air inlet in the inflatable structure, and then exits the chambers toward the person through numerous exhaust holes located in the base sheet. After being heated by the person""s body, this air can exit the inflatable structure through evaporation openings in the connecting membranes.
In a different embodiment, upper and base sheets may be adhered in different locations to provide a cooling device with a cooling chamber that forms a continuous a serpentine path. The serpentine cooling chamber is held in this configuration by connecting membranes between neighboring segments of the path. In this embodiment, ventilating cross-members are unnecessary because all regions of the cooling chamber are in fluid communication with each other. After air enters the chamber through an air inlet in the structure, the air exits the chamber toward the person through numerous exhaust holes located in the base sheet. After being heated by the person""s body, this air can exit the inflatable structure through evaporation openings defined in the connecting membranes.
Another embodiment of the invention concerns a generally rectangular cooling device that includes certain body-conforming features. Namely, the device has a number of body-contour slits extending inward from the perimeter. Due to the slits"" locations, they permit the inflatable structure to conform to a person""s legs and outstretched arms.
Still another embodiment of the invention concerns an inflatable cooling device that includes an evaporative cooling layer. This layer comprises a sheet of absorbent material capable of holding a substantial amount of water. The absorbent sheet is placed in thermal contact with the person""s skin, saturated with water, and then evaporatively cooled by the overlying thermal cooling device. As this layer cools (by evaporation), it has the effect of cooling the person (by conduction). The absorbent sheet may advantageously comprise a super-absorbent material such as starch-grafted sodium polyacrylate.
Accordingly, as discussed above, the invention may be implemented to provide various types of apparatus, such as cooling devices described herein. In contrast, certain other embodiments concern methods for utilizing such apparatuses.
The invention affords its users with a number of distinct advantages. By using a blower to induce evaporative cooling, the invention avoids the need for power consuming refrigeration equipment. As another advantage, evaporative cooling is thermally self-limiting, because it will not produce surface temperatures that would freeze skin, as is the case with ice packs. Also, unlike ice and other phase change materials that can only maintain fixed temperatures for a limited time, cooling with this invention can be sustained indefinitely by periodically adding water to the cooling field.
As another advantage, absent from previous approaches, this invention may incorporate a super-absorbent material into cooling devices. The super-absorbent material is capable of holding a large volume of water relative to its mass. This material, once wetted, can provide hours of evaporative cooling without the need for a liquid reservoir and piping system to replenish the cooling field. Consequently, cooling devices of this invention help discourage the introduction of too much cooling liquid, and help prevent the cooling liquid from overwhelming the cooling field and spilling over.
Furthermore, the cooling devices of this invention include improved means to direct air flow through the device, maximizing delivery of dry air to all areas of the cooling field. Additionally, the invention employs ventilation openings to aid the escape of saturated vapor from the cooling field and allow an increased influx of dry air. The invention also provides a number of other advantages and benefits, which should be apparent from the following description of the invention. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to a baby bottle and, more particularly, to a baby bottle having a disposable liner and being configured for ease of holding by an infant during feeding.
Conventional baby bottles are of a generally cylindrical configuration and are designed to contain and dispense a certain quantity of liquid. The liquid can be received in the baby bottle in either of two ways: (1) by a closed-end bottle, as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 3,746,198; or (2) by a disposable liner received within a bottle, as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 3,075,066.
The above-discussed closed-end bottle has been known for quite some time and is still quite popular. On the other hand, the disposable liner type is more recent and is characterized by improved convenience and hygiene.
Either of these types of baby bottles necessarily has an outer circumference larger than that easily surrounded by the small hands of the baby. As a result, it is difficult for the baby to support the bottle during feeding. This is a disadvantage in that an attendant is usually required to hold the bottle and feed the baby.
Attempts to overcome this disadvantage have been made, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 595,414, issued to ROACH. ROACH discloses a baby bottle having a semicircular opening extending entirely through the upper body of the bottle. The opening is intended specifically to receive a nipple attachment to preclude loss or swallowing of the nipple by the baby. As a coincidental benefit, the opening creates handles to facilitate holding of the bottle by the baby.
EPC published patent application No. 0063033, of McFARLANE, shows a substantially triangular cross section baby bottle including a disposable liner, each side of the bottle being indented and the edges being rounded. Although this bottle attempts to combine the benefits of a disposable liner and a shape which is intended to be held by a child, this bottle has not proved very easy for the baby to hold.
In light of the convenience and improved hygiene associated with baby bottles having disposable liners, it is desired to have a baby bottle which is very easy for a baby to hold and which can incorporate a disposable liner. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Obesity is an epidemic in the United States. It presents health risks, which often requires more medical care. In addition to the need for increased care, the size and shape of the body impacts the quality of medical care. This is particularly true for medical procedures that require access to the abdomen or groin area when the patient has developed a pannus.
A pannus is a region of loose skin and fatty tissue in the lower abdomen. It descends below the abdomen and appears as an apron often obscuring the abdomen and groin area due to its lack of musculature and mass. It can be a serious obstacle for any doctor that is attempting to examine, treat or otherwise access that area of the patient, particularly in surgical procedures such as a cesarean section. Further, when the doctor is performing a surgical procedure, it is necessary that it be done in a sterile environment and preferably with devices that maintain and encourage a sterile environment, particularly at an incision site.
Current operating room procedures for handling a pannus are limited and ineffectual, particularly for cesarean sections. In some instances, the pannus is restrained using tape to lift it out of the groin region. The tape attaches the pannus to the body itself or attaches to the bedrail. The tape is several strips running along the body. This is not comfortable to the patient and the practice is unreliable as the tape is unable to reliably maintain the retraction under the weight of the pannus, which often releases itself during the procedure, making it difficult to maintain sterility of the surgical field. The sudden release of the pannus is also dangerous as it may obstruct the incision site as the physician is performing the procedure. Other times, medical professionals simply proceed with the medical procedure while attempting to work around, over, and through the pannus. This is also dangerous as a large pannus significantly obscures the view. And, as with the makeshift taping practice, it presents issues with maintaining sterility as the medical professional is forced to interact with parts of the body that are not necessarily a part of the surgical field.
Many surgical procedures employ a surgical incise drape to maintain sterility. Typically, the surgical area of the patient is cleaned and treated with an antimicrobial. The surgical site is then squared-off using a surgical drape that has an opening that is larger than the expected size of the incision. An incise material is then used to cover all or a portion of the patient's skin left exposed by the surgical drape. The incise material helps to reduce the migration of germs into the incision site. This is necessary because the skin's pores still contain germs and bacteria that can migrate to the surface as the skin is moved and worked during the course of a surgical procedure despite cleansing of the skin. By covering the skin with incise material, a lower incidence of surgical site contamination occurs.
Surgical incise drapes are well known in the art. In their simplest form, they are a clear polymeric body portion with an adhesive on one side that is covered by a release liner. There are two suppliers of incise drapes: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, St. Paul, Minn., and T. J. Smith and Nephew Ltd. Examples of incise material can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,310,509; 4,323,557; 4,452,845; Re. 31,886; and Re. 31,887. These incise drapes, however, function strictly to provide a sterile environment. They have no functionality for retraction of a pannus.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,938,121 provides an abdominal restraint (tension band) that includes a base and a support. The abdominal restraint may include a lateral member that is selectively attachable to a longitudinal member that may be attached to an operating or examining table. This device presents challenges. First, it does not provide protection from contamination from bacteria that can be found on other portions of the patient's body or that may be airborne or conveyed by the surgical staff. Second, given that the abdominal restraint is made of an opaque tension band, it may interfere with the incise site or obscure the doctors view. U.S. Publication 20100145155 discloses a garment in the shape of a girdle or athletic shorts with apertures on the front of the garment such that the apertures expose the inguinal regions of a patient. The garment may include an upper portion that allows for retraction of the pannus. This device is also problematic as it works as a garment, inhibiting access to certain incision sites. It is also problematic as it is difficult to dress and undress the patient, particularly after a surgical procedure.
As such, there is a need for a pannus retraction device that can retract and retain the pannus from the lower abdominal/groin area and maintain sterility while the medical professional exams or treats the patient. The retractor should be flexible and elastomeric to provide comfort to the patient. The retractor should also allow the physician to cut though it if necessary. The present invention serves these purposes.
The abdominal elevator of the present invention retracts and retains the pannus while providing a completely sterile field with an unobstructed view of the incision site. The abdominal elevator comprises a body portion made from a flexible foam, paper, polymer, or fabric having at least one upper edge and, optionally, two or more side edges, with a shape ranging from triangular to rectangular to oval with one or more straps attached to one or more of the edges and also having an anterior surface and a posterior surface having a adhesive applied to the posterior surface. The abdominal elevator of the present invention is flexible and comfortable for the patient. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a microscope apparatus for viewing microscopic features. More specifically, the present invention relates to an optical microscope which provides high contrast and sharp images, providing for higher detail.
2. Background Art
Microscopes have assisted scientists and researchers for hundreds of years. From chemistry to the construction of computer chips to genetics to medical research, nearly every imaginable discipline has benefited from the ability to magnify the very small.
The oldest of microscopes were optical in nature, and were comprised of little more than a few lenses and a light source. These microscopes use the visible wavelengths of light to observe the microscopic. Over time, such optical microscopes have become more and more complex using dozens of lenses and reflecting/refracting elements. Medical researchers often use optical microscopes, as they allow living specimens to be observed without causing harm to the specimens. Today, such optical microscopes are considered to have a “theoretical limit” of resolution of about 200 nanometers—more precisely, 187 nanometers—because of the resolution limitations of lenses, the limited wavelengths of visible light, and limitations on the angular apertures of lenses. Thus, things smaller than approximately 0.2 microns are not readily viewable through standard optical microscopes. Even when viewing features at this lower resolution limit, some contrasts and color are often lost.
More recent developments in microscopy have resulted in electron microscopes, which use beams of electrons instead of beams of light. As electrons can be accelerated to produce a much smaller wavelength than visible light, electron microscopes allow much higher resolution than standard optical microscopes.
However, while electron microscopes can resolve features less than 0.2 microns, they typically cannot be used on living specimens. Electron microscopes use very high energy electron beams which can be harmful to living specimens. Also, to be viewed by an electron microscope, each specimen must be placed in a vacuum for viewing, as a gas would improperly scatter the electron beam, which vacuum would cause the death of a living specimen. Further, electron microscopes are often quite expensive to purchase and maintain, and require special power sources and a stable building.
Therefore, it would be preferable to combine the higher resolution qualities of an electron microscope with the lower expense and the ability to view living specimens of an optical microscope. It would further be preferable to view true color and high contrast images through an optical microscope. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Generally, users employ keywords in conducting searches in different domains, including online media. Keywords tend to be predetermined by search engines or other online media being accessed by a user. Lists of keywords, as such, are typically static and then may be partly refreshed based on retrieved search results. However, the evolution of an event or other item associated with a keyword (and that may be sought in a search) is normally not considered, nor is temporal or spatial information relating to the event or other item.
As such, conventional keyword management arrangements tend not to take into account complexities such as those just mentioned. More particularly, such methods tend only to focus on expanding a query based on words which are thought to increase precision and recall, while no contextual, spatial or temporal information is considered. Query expansion methods thus become static, and terms that may be useless or outdated may well not be removed, even if such may be warranted on the basis of a realtime status of the event or item in question. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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With an advance of recent wide variety of mobile communication standards, the technical demand for more accurate and more efficient control of output power from the mobile transmitter system has emerged. The control of output power is required from various reasons such as a) to prevent one cell from interfering with the reception of other neighboring cells, b) minimizing output to reduce the power consumption from the limited source of energy while keeping the communication capability. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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It is becoming more important to be able to provide telecommunication services to subscribers which are relatively inexpensive as compared to cable and other land line technologies. Further, the increased use of mobile applications has resulted in much focus on developing wireless systems capable of delivering large amounts of data at high speed for mobile users.
Development of more efficient and higher bandwidth wireless networks has become increasingly important and addressing issues of how to maximize efficiencies of such networks is an ongoing. One such issue relates to efficient scheduling of transmissions between a base station and multiple user stations in a multiple access wireless network such as a network using orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) protocols. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates in general to diode pumped solid state lasers and, more particularly, to an improved laser wherein the diode pump is butt-coupled to the laser gain material. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Technical Field
Some embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a power supply.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, electronic products meeting various needs of a user have been implemented variously and may adopt a power supply which supplies operating power to implement the corresponding functions. The power supply may generally adopt a switching mode power supply scheme which has advantages, such as power conversion efficiency and miniaturization.
Meanwhile, these electronic products adopt a standby mode which consumes minimum power while awaiting an operation selection from a user. To support the standby mode, the power supply may consume minimum power while awaiting the operation selection from the user.
Recently, as power consumption is increased, there is a tendency to reduce power consumption during the standby mode, that is, reduce the standby power. Therefore, the power consumption may be regulated depending on a load condition.
For example, in the case of an LED lighting power driver, a current standby power regulation may be requested to consume power less than 300 mW in the standby mode which is, for example, a no-load state or a light load state and to satisfy the standby power regulation, a burst mode which may repeatedly perform an operation of performing a switching operation for a predetermined time and/or an operation of stopping a switching operation for a predetermined time through feedback at the time of the standby mode may be used.
The burst mode type may somewhat satisfy a current standby power regulation, but a section in which the switching operation stops, that is, a skip section may be short, and therefore when the standby power regulation is more strengthened with the increase in power consumption in the future, for example, when the standby power regulation is strengthened from less than 300 mW at present to about 10 mW or less, the power supply of the current burst mode type may not satisfy the strengthened standby power regulation.
Therefore, a type of making the skip section longer by improving the burst mode type as described above, and the like may be considered. This type may be a type of stopping only the switching operation and may have a difficulty in steadily satisfying the standby power regulation which is expected to be continuously strengthened in the future.
Therefore, the development of a new type of power supply which may steadily satisfy the standby power regulation expected to be continuously strengthened may be needed. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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With the widespread use of wireless technologies additional signal coverage is needed in urban as well as suburban areas. One obstacle to providing full coverage in these areas is steel frame buildings. Inside these tall shiny buildings (TSBs), signals transmitted from wireless base stations attenuate dramatically and thus significantly impact the ability to communicate with wireless telephones located in the buildings. In some buildings, very low power ceiling mounted transmitters are mounted in hallways and conference rooms within the building to distribute signals throughout the building. Signals are typically fed from a single point and then split in order to feed the signals to different points in the building.
In order to provide coverage a single radio frequency (RF) source needs to simultaneously feeds multiple antenna units, each providing coverage to a different part of a building for example. Simultaneous bi-directional RF distribution often involves splitting signals in the forward path (toward the antennas) and combining signals in the reverse path (from the antennas). Currently this can be performed directly at RF frequencies using passive splitters and combiners to feed a coaxial cable distribution network. In passive RF distribution systems, signal splitting in the forward path is significantly limited due to inherent insertion loss associated with the passive devices. Each split reduces the level of the signal distributed in the building thereby making reception, e.g. by cell phones, more difficult. In addition, the high insertion loss of coaxial cable at RF frequencies severely limits the maximum distance over which RF signals can be distributed. Further, the system lacks any means to compensate for variations of insertion loss in each path.
Another solution to distributing RF signals in TSBs is taking the RF signal from a booster or base station, down converting it to a lower frequency, and distributing it via Cat 5 (LAN) or coaxial cable wiring to remote antenna units. At the remote antenna units, the signal is up converted and transmitted. While down-conversion reduces insertion loss, the signals are still susceptible to noise and limited dynamic range. Also, each path in the distribution network requires individual gain adjustment to compensate for the insertion loss in that path.
In another approach, fiber optic cables are used to distribute signals to antennas inside of a building. In this approach, RF signals are received from a bi-directional amplifier or base station. The RF signals directly modulate an optical signal, which is transported throughout the building as analog modulated light signals over fiber optic cable. Unfortunately, conventional systems using analog optical modulation transmission over optical fibers require highly sophisticated linear lasers to achieve adequate performance. Also, analog optical systems are limited in the distance signals can be transmitted in the building. Typically, this limitation is made worse due to the use of multimode fiber that is conventionally available in buildings. Multimode fiber is wider than single mode fiber and supports a number of different reflection modes so that signals tend to exhibit dispersion at the terminating end of the fiber. In addition, analog installation typically includes significant balancing when setting up the system. Further, RF levels in the system need to be balanced with the optical levels. If there is optical attenuation, the RF levels need to be readjusted. In addition, if the connectors are not well cleaned or properly secured, the RF levels can change.
Digitization of the RF spectrum prior to transport solves many of these problems. The level and dynamic range of digitally transported RF remains unaffected over a wide range of path loss. This allows for much greater distances to be covered, and eliminates the path loss compensation problem. However, this has been strictly a point-to-point architecture. One drawback with digitally transported RF in a point-to-point architecture is the equipment and cost requirement. A host RF to digital interface device is needed for each remote antenna unit. In particular, for use within a building or building complex the number of RF to digital interface devices and the fiber to connect these devices is burdensome. For example, in a building having 20 floors, the requirement may include 20 host RF to digital interface devices for 20 remote antenna units, 1 per floor. In some applications more than one remote antenna unit per floor may be required. As a result, there is a need in the art for improved techniques for distributing RF signals in TSBs, which would incorporate the benefits of digital RF transport into a point-to-multipoint architecture. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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While children's play equipment has been around for decades, many parents are unaware of the fundamental role that play equipment has in a child's physical, mental and social development. Generally, many articles of play equipment, such as well-known playground slides and monkey bars, do not offer the fullest opportunity for children to develop. Moreover, some prior art provided limited protection in the event of a fall. In particular, there is a need for play equipment that allows children to practice climbing and balance skills, while safely taking risks. Specifically, there is a need for play equipment that minimizes risk of injury of children playing thereon. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates to brushless direct current (DC) motors and, more particularly, to a stator structure and method of manufacture of a claw-pole stator structure for such motors.
One form of brushless DC motor includes a stator structure comprising a pair of opposed, complementary, claw-pole stator members with a stator winding formed on a bobbin and sandwiched therebetween. Each of the stator members comprises a planar base component with a plurality of circumferentially spaced stator poles extending in a normal direction from adjacent a periphery of the base component. A central core member extends from at least one of the base components of each pair and passes through a center of the winding bobbin. A permanent magnet rotor circumscribes the stator structure and is radially spaced therefrom by a small air gap.
Prior art methods of manufacture of claw-pole stators include machining the complementary stator pairs from solid blocks of ferromagnetic material, typically a block of molded magnetic material such as a powdered iron in a plastic matrix. While this method produces a structure with good electrical and magnetic characteristics, the cost of manufacture is generally excessive. Another method that is more economically viable is to form the stator structure by stamping a magnetic metal plate and then bending circumferential extensions of the plate to form the depending magnetic poles. In general, such stamped and bent structures have unsatisfactory electrical and magnetic characteristics. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a clawpole, brushless DC motor and method of manufacture which is both economical and has good electrical and magnetic characteristics. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field
The present invention relates generally to computer security and ubiquitous computing and, more specifically, to authentication of a user at an un-trusted public access computing system.
2. Description
User authentication is a central component of currently deployed computer security infrastructures. User authentication involves determining if the person attempting to gain access to a system is indeed a person authorized for such access. There are three main techniques for user authentication: 1) knowledge-based systems, which involve allowing access according to what a user knows; 2) token-based systems, which involve allowing access according to what a user possesses; and 3) biometrics-based systems, which involve allowing access according to what the user is. Although biometrics can be useful for user identification, one problem with these systems is the difficult tradeoff between imposter pass rate and false alarm rate. In addition, many biometric systems require specialized devices, which may be expensive. Token-based schemes are problematic if the token is misplaced or stolen. Most token-based authentication systems also use knowledge-based authentication to prevent impersonation through theft or loss of the token. An example is automated teller machine (ATM) authentication, which requires a combination of a token (e.g., a bank card) and secret knowledge (e.g., a personal identification number (PIN)). For these and other reasons, in today's computer systems knowledge-based techniques are predominantly used for user authentication.
Despite their wide usage, textual passwords and PINs have a number of shortcomings. Many users forget their passwords and PINs. Simple or meaningful passwords are easier to remember, but are vulnerable to attack. Passwords that are complex and arbitrary are more secure, but are difficult to remember. Since users can only remember a limited number of passwords, they tend to write them down or will use similar or even identical passwords for different purposes. This of course weakens the security of systems used with the passwords. As ubiquitous computing becomes more widely used, a single user may have many computing devices available, each with its own password for access to the device. In addition, some systems may be vulnerable to a keystroke-saving program or a device that supports a “replay attack.” Such a technique may be used surreptitiously to capture the inputting of the password by the authorized user in order to facilitate subsequent unauthorized access by another.
This problem of replay attacks is exacerbated for the situation where a user desires to use an un-trusted public access computing system. For example, an un-trusted public access computing system may be sited in a café, an airport lounge, a public library, a hotel lobby, or other public place. An individual user makes only temporary use of the system, and has little control over its overall security. Unknown to the user, a malicious person may have instituted an input capturing device or program in the system to capture the user's password or other user data.
Hence, techniques to deter replay attacks by malicious persons in the situation of un-trusted public access computing systems are desirable. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Attenuation, or insertion loss in decibels, is the metric by which all hearing protection is judged by consumers and labeled as required by United States Environmental Protection Agency law. The standard solution to provide such protection has been physically occluding the ear canal with either a compressible, oversized earplug, typically constructed of expandable foam, silicone, putty/resins, or fibers. Thus a bias in the metrics of hearing protection performance to date has always been attenuation; however, this is a very narrow viewpoint which completely ignores often-important interface issues for the users. For example, a user's situation awareness and ability to localize sound stimuli is compromised. Comfort is often gained at the expense of attenuation. The occlusion effect causes unnatural sounding feedback of the user's own voice, making it difficult to modulate the voice output resulting in objections to using the protector and increasing the difficulty of achieving effective in-canal voice pickup for radio communications.
To further elaborate, current technology designed to provide both hearing protection and communications is based on the principle of occluding the outer ear in order to shelter it from the ambient environment. Most common is an earplug of some type which is inserted in the open ear canal, expanding along the radial surfaces of the canal as necessary until a physical seal is established. Furthermore, hearing protection devices, also known as HPDs, are only valuable when properly selected and fit to the user, and worn properly, to counteract imminent acoustical hazards, which unfortunately is often too late. Earplugs, by their very nature, introduce their own set of problems. They are frequently uncomfortable to wear, with the user being very aware of their presence. Additionally, due to significant differences between individuals with respect to the size and shape of their ear canals, it is difficult to provide a single earplug device that fits all users comfortably and effectively. As a result, many currently available earplugs suffer from the following problems, among others: Production of the occlusion effect Impaired localization Compromised speech understanding Severely degrades the user's situation awareness Often ineffective protection due to improper sizing and insertion Uncomfortable and unnatural feeling Harbor and introduce bacteria and promote fungal infection Challenges in compliance, that is, convincing the user to wear a HPD they “might” need User's speech is too loud or too low User's lack of confidence in actual protection provided and impaired situation awareness Occlusion effect provides its own unnatural 15 dB of amplification of the user's voice in the ear canal Impaction of cerumen, that is, earwax Not compatible and interoperable with a user's (e.g., a soldier's) current ensemble and communications equipment.
Thus, there remains a need to develop improved earplug devices which avoid or minimize the above-mentioned issues. In particular, it would be highly desirable to provide automatic attenuation for the preservation of a user's hearing functionality during and after noise hazards, while simultaneously providing for external signal detection and localization, as well as radio-connected and selectively attenuated ambient pass-through speech communications. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Software applications, such as virtual machines (VMs), may be executed by a group, or “cluster,” of host computing devices. Each VM creates an abstraction of physical computing resources, such as a processor and memory, of the host executing the VM and executes a “guest” operating system, which, in turn, executes one or more software applications. The abstracted resources may be functionally indistinguishable from the underlying physical resources to the guest operating system and software applications.
The amount of computing resources allocated to each VM on a host can be designated manually by an administrator of the cluster and/or automatically according to resource policies set by the administrator. In some clusters, an operator attempts to uniformly distribute, or “balance,” the use of computing resources, also known as the computing “load,” across multiple hosts. For example, cluster monitoring software may be used to monitor the load on hosts in the cluster and present load information to a user. The load information presented may include statistics, such as the load of each host in the cluster, an average load of hosts in the cluster, and/or a standard deviation of the loads in the cluster. Further, such software may determine and present load balancing recommendations, such as a recommendation that a VM be migrated from a host with a high load to a host with a lower load. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to electronic devices and, particularly, to an electronic device with a sensor sensitive to magnetism which functions as a switch.
2. Description of Related Art
A switch to be physically pressed is usually used in an electronic device for generating signals to control the electronic device. However, the pressing switch, over many use-cycles and over time, deteriorates or ceases to function altogether.
Therefore, what is need is an electronic device with a magnetically-sensitive switch to overcome the described limitations. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle doors, in particular tailgates.
2. Description of the Related Art
In particular for city vehicles presenting a body with a small rear opening, it is known to provide a tailgate that does not include a box structure. A tailgate box structure is a structural element of the tailgate that serves to provide interfaces with the body, such as sealing or fastening interfaces, and that has a window glass associated therewith that forms a rear window and possibly also a bodywork part.
In contrast, the above-mentioned tailgate comprises solely a window glass forming the rear window of the vehicle, with at least one bodywork part and its lining fitted thereto. The tailgate is fastened to the body-in-white by means such as hinges, with the movable portions of the hinges likewise being fitted to the window glass. The tailgate is also connected to the body via props to assist in opening the tailgate, the props being fastened to the window glass. In addition, the window glass of that vehicle also provides a sealing track serving to provide sealing for the cabin when the door is closed.
Since such a tailgate does not include a lining forming a box structure, it is of small weight.
Nevertheless, fastening the window glass to the body via hinges enabling the tailgate to be pivoted relative to the body gives rise to high levels of stress in the glass. As a result, in order to ensure that it possesses mechanical properties that enable it to withstand such stresses, it is made to be quite thick, thus causing its weight to be relatively great.
What is needed, therefore, is a door and tailgate that enables a weight of the door to be reduced. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
With the advent of the Internet and the prevalent use of electronic systems, increased attention has been paid to protecting the interests of content owners and to ensuring that the integrity of electronic transactions is not compromised. These are difficult tasks, however, as the differences between electronic systems and their physical counterparts can have a profound effect on the feasibility of such protections and the ease with which they can be implemented.
While increasing attention has been paid to the development of systems that address these problems, these systems often lack interoperability with other such systems, are overly complex, and/or place an unduly large burden on a relatively small number of entities to provide the bulk of the system's security and functionality.
Systems and methods are thus needed for providing content creators, application developers, consumers, and regulators with increased power and flexibility to define and create efficient markets for the exchange, control, and protection of digital goods and for the performance of electronic transactions. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In OFDM systems, blocks of data are converted from the frequency domain to the time domain using an inverse fast Fourier transform function (IFFT). Effectively, one data element is carried on each of one of a large number of sub-carriers which are closely but orthogonally spaced.
An example of this is shown in FIG. 1 where three OFDM symbols are indicated at 10,12,14. Symbol 10 is referred to as IFFTk−1, symbol 12 is IFFTk and symbol 14 is IFFTk+1. These OFDM symbols 10,12,14 constitute the transmitter output 15. These are transmitted over the wireless channel which in the illustrated example is shown to have a channel impulse response 16 or, equivalently a sampled channel response 20. The effect of transmitting over this channel is that the transmitter output 15 is linearly convoluted with the multi-path channel. This is indicated symbolically at 18. Then, at a receiver, three OFDM symbols 22,24,26 are received. These will again contain the IFFTk−1, IFFTk, and IFFTk+1 respectively. However, due to the multi-path channel IFFTk−1 will result in inter-symbol interference in IFFTk. More specifically, the OFDM ISIk−1 28 is the inter-symbol interference which is caused by IFFTk−1 in IFFTk, and similarly OFDM ISIk 30 is the inter-symbol interference caused by IFFTk 24 in IFFTk+1 26. This inter-symbol interference makes the first part of each OFDM symbol effectively useless for transmitting information. Various approaches have been employed to combat this problem. FIG. 2 shows a first known approach. With this approach, a guard interval is left between each pair of consecutive OFDM symbols, and a prefix for each OFDM symbol is formed by copying a part of the data (the so called Identical Cyclic Prefix), typically from the end of the OFDM symbol. In the example of FIG. 2, shown are three OFDM symbols 40,42,44 represented by IFFTk−1, IFFTk and IFFTk+1. The latter part of IFFTk is shown copied into the prefix 46 and the latter part of IFFTk+1 44 is copied into a second prefix 48. Now, the ISI due to preceding symbols will only interfere with the prefix, and the actual OFDM symbol will be left undistorted. This can be seen in the figure where OFDM ISIk−1 50 is shown to overlap with the prefix 46 upon reception, and OFDM ISIk 52 is shown to overlap with prefix 48 upon reception. An important side benefit of this approach is that by copying the end part of each IFFT to the prefix, the convolution which occurs between the transmitter output and the multi-path channel becomes mathematically a cyclic convolution rather than a standard linear convolution after the removal of the corresponding prefix part in the receiver end. A cyclic convolution has some important advantages when it comes to performing channel estimation and compensation and multipath cancellation. The disadvantage of this Identical cyclic Prefix method is the power and bandwidth used by this prefix is a pure overload.
FIG. 3 shows a second known approach to dealing with the problem. In this case, rather than transmitting a prefix containing a copy of part of the IFFT, a prefix which is simply all zeros is transmitted. This is illustrated in the example which shows three OFDM symbols 60,62,64 and a zero padded prefix before OFDM symbols 62 and 64. At the receiver, the OFDM ISIk−1 66 due to OFDMk−1 60 will occur in the zero-padded prefix of OFDM symbol 62. Similarly, the OFDM ISIk 68 due to OFDM symbol 62 will occur during the zero-padded prefix for symbol OFDMk+1 64. An advantage of this method is that the power wasted in the previous method is saved. However, the bandwidth occupied by those zeros is still a pure overload. | {
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As described in my U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/543,342, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, a perfect bound book comprises a book block having a plurality of text pages, one edge of which constitutes a spine. The book typically has a one piece cover of a stock heavier than the stock from which the text pages are printed. The cover has a center spine area that is adhesively bound to the spine of the book by a suitable adhesive (preferably a hot melt adhesive) that has been applied to the spine at an adhesive application station immediately prior to being brought into contact with the cover. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 9 of the above-identified U.S. patent application, the adhesive application station typically includes a heated reservoir in which a quantity of the desired hot melt adhesive is melted and contained. The adhesive is maintained at a suitable elevated temperature (e.g., up to about 400° F., depending on the adhesive). The adhesive application station has a rotary wheel or drum that is partially immersed in the liquid adhesive such that when the wheel is rotated about a horizontal axis, the periphery of the wheel will be coated with the adhesive such that when the spine of the book block is brought into engagement with the wheel and when the wheel is moved lengthwise along the spine (or when the spine is moved relative to the wheel), the adhesive will be transferred to the spine.
Because of this, the low density molecules in the adhesive are evaporated (boiled off) thus altering the chemistry and viscosity of the hot melt adhesive. This, in turn, changes the application and performance of the bind.
It has also been found that the viscosity of the adhesive is inversely proportional to the temperature of the mixture and inversely proportional to the amount of low density molecules in the mixture. Viscosity of the adhesive has an important bearing on the speed and height of the glue wave (as described in my above-noted U.S. patent application) to achieve a proper application of glue to the spine of the book block. As the level of low density molecules are reduced, it becomes more difficult to “wet” the spine of the book block because the more viscous adhesive has more surface tension, which inhibits the application of the adhesive to the spine. Of course, if the spine is not properly wetted by the liquid adhesive, the adhesion of the adhesive to the spine and the adhesive of the cover to the adhesive on the spine is diminished. This adversely affects the strength of the bind. Thus, replacement of the supply of adhesive in the heated reservoir required. Of course, when it becomes necessary to drain the old adhesive from the reservoir, to replace the adhesive with new adhesive, and to bring the new adhesive up to operating temperature, this requires the POD book publishing system to be out of service for up to about an hour.
It will be understood that for print on demand (POD) book publishing systems, such as disclosed in the above-identified U.S. patent application, books are not continuously produced, but rather are typically produced as they are ordered by customers. Accordingly, significant periods of time may pass between the time one book is produced and the next book has been ordered. Because it takes time to heat the adhesive in the reservoir (e.g., 30-45 minutes or more), the reservoir is typically maintained in its heated state such that a book may be immediately produced upon the system being commanded to print the next book. As further disclosed in the above-noted U.S. patent application, one preferred adhesive is adhesive HM8101 commercially available from Capital Adhesives of Mooresville, Ind. However, other hot melt adhesives may be used, depending on a number of factors. Typically, such hot melt adhesives are complex organic compounds and admixtures having a wide array of molecules of different molecular weights, and different temperature and vaporization characteristics. As these hot melt adhesives are maintained at their elevated application temperatures in the heated reservoir for extended periods of time, certain of the more volatile organic compounds will vaporize and outgas from the adhesive thus changing the makeup of the remaining adhesive. If sufficient amounts of the more volatile compounds are vaporized, the adhesive or binding characteristics of the remaining adhesive may be adversely affected, thus resulting in improper binding of the book. Thus, from time-to-time, it has been necessary to change the adhesive in the reservoir to insure that satisfactory binding will result.
However, it has been difficult to judge when the adhesive in the reservoir should be replaced with fresh adhesive. It will be understood that upon changing the adhesive, it may again take a considerable time to allow the new adhesive to be heated to its desired application temperature (e.g., about 30-45 minutes, or more), during which time the apparatus will be down unable to bind books. It will be appreciated that if the print on demand (POD) book publishing system is used to produce books in sufficient quantity, adhesive must be added to the reservoir on a regular basis such that the adhesive is not resident in the reservoir for extended periods and such that the adhesive characteristics of the adhesive may be maintained for extending periods of time such that it is not necessary to drain and replace the adhesive in the reservoir On the other hand, if the POD system is only used occasionally and if the adhesive remains heated in the reservoir for extended periods so that the POD system will be ready for use with little or no warm-up period, the quality of the adhesive in the reservoir may be degraded relative quickly, depending on the characteristics of the adhesive being used. Thus, it is only desirable to change the adhesive when the adhesive in the reservoir has degraded to the point where it will not satisfactorily bind books. However, there has been a long-standing problem for the operator of the POD system to know when it would be desirable to change the adhesive in the reservoir so as to maintain the quality of the bound books without having to unnecessarily change the adhesive, which will result in the POD apparatus being out of service. | {
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In the prior art, single jet nozzles or arrays of jet nozzles which, for example, may be used in ink jet printers, are approximately tubular in shape. These nozzles are formed by drilling holes in plates by mechanical or electromechanical means, by the use of an electron beam or laser or the like. The plates, for example, are made of stainless steel, glass or quartz, vitreous carbon, jewels such as sapphire and the like. The technique set forth above for forming nozzles or arrays of nozzles suffer from at least some of the following disadvantages, namely: (1) holes are formed one at a time, (2) control of the individual size and shape of nozzles is relatively poor; (3) fabrication of arrays of such nozzles is even more difficult, with attendant nonuniformity of hole size, shape and spatial distribution of the array.
In ink jet printing applications, a jet of ink is formed by forcing ink under pressure through a nozzle. The jet of ink can be made to break up into droplets of substantially equal size and spacing by vibrating the nozzle or by otherwise creating a periodic pressure or velocity perturbation on the jet, preferably proximate to the nozzle orifice. Printing is effected by controlling the flight of the droplets to a target such as paper. Important characteristics for ink jet printing applications are the size of respective nozzles, spatial distribution of the nozzles in an array, and the means for creating the periodic perturbations on the jet. Such factors affect velocity uniformity of fluid emitted from the respective nozzles; directionality of the respective droplets, that is, the directional alignment of the respective fluid streams with respect to parallel alignment; and breakoff distance of individual droplets, that is, the distance between the exit aperture of a nozzle and the position at which a droplet is formed.
According to the present invention, a jet nozzle or an array of such nozzles having appropriate jet orifice characteristics are fabricated from a semiconductor such as a single crystalline region of silicon by chemical etching techniques. Etching technology suitable for establishing structures of a given geometry in single crystalline silicon include U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,553, issued Nov. 6, 1973, which is directed toward a method for producing high resolution patterns in single crystals of silicon. There is, however, no teaching in the referenced patent concerning the use of the disclosed etching techniques for etching completely through a substrate of silicon or for fabricating jet nozzle structures in silicon.
Also according to the present invention, individual nozzles or an array of such nozzles are batch fabricated easily due to the crystallographic perfection of the starting material, namely the semiconductor used, and the selectivity of the etchant. There is a high degree of control of nozzle size resulting from precise control of processes used in fabrication, namely the formation of openings in thin films by photolithographic techniques and control of etch rates of semiconductor materials as a function of crystallographic orientation; and etching characteristics of anisotropic etching solutions as a function of their composition, temperature and the process environmental characteristics.
The fluid flow properties of the nozzle of the present invention are superior to those of pipes due to the minimization of wall effects. The wall effects are minimized since the nozzle according to the present invention is tapered from the entrance orifice to the exit orifice. The superior flow characteristics result in more uniform distribution of velocity across an array of jets operating from a common manifold.
Another advantage of the nozzle of the present invention is that inspection of a given nozzle may be accomplished visually, and such inspection is sufficient to anticipate the performance of the inspected nozzle. That is, the nozzle is inspected for orifice size and integrity of the structure without having to actually check the performance of the nozzle in an ink jet printer. In tubular shaped nozzles it is difficult, if not impossible, to see inside the nozzle.
The nozzle of the present invention may pass fluid in either direction, but in the preferred mode of operation fluid flow is in the direction of the larger opening to the smaller opening of the nozzle which results in less pressure drop.
The directionality of the jet is closely related to the directions in the crystallographic planes of the substrate material resulting in more uniform directional characteristics for an array than might otherwise be achievable. | {
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The present invention relates generally to alternating current motor drives and, more particularly, to a variable speed induction motor drive of the type using semiconductor devices capable of being turned on and turned off in response to control signals. Such drives include Gate Turn Off thyristors (GTO) and power transistors. The GTO is, however, becoming increasingly popular, generally has a higher power rating and it is toward systems employing GTOs that the present invention is particularly applicable, although not so limited.
There are a number of instances where it is desired to have a variable speed motor drive using an alternating current induction motor. Typically, these drives using alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) source side converter connected to a polyphase (e.g., three phase) source of power. The output of the source side converter, voltage and current, is supplied via a dc unit circuit to a load side converter, normally referred to as an inverter which converts the DC link current into polyphase currents of variable frequency for application to the indicator motor load. Often, a large induction is included in the DC link circuit and the overall configuration is what is generally referred to as a current source inverter.
In such systems, the basic operation is that the source side converter is controlled to regulate the motor current through the DC link circuit while the load side inverter is frequency and phase controlled to regulate speed and motoring and braking torque. Both the converter and inverter are responsive to a basic speed or frequency command signal which is applied to two separate regulating channels, one for each of the converters. Control of such a system, however, may be lost when the source side converter is for some reason unable to maintain control of the DC link current. This can happen in a number of ways. For example, if a line disturbance occurs on the polyphase AC line source, the value of the line voltage may dip. If the dip is large enough, the maximum DC voltage which can be produced at the output of source side converter may be less than the DC voltage at the input side of the load inverter. In such condition, in a motoring mode, current in the link circuit will be reduced to zero. Even though the source side converter senses this condition, it cannot drive the current into the load side inverter. In a generating mode of operation, while the opposite situation exists, control is also lost with current larger, rather than smaller than desired.
Another condition under which control may be lost occurs at high speed under no load condition of the motor. Here the motor voltage on the line between the motor and the load side inverter rises to an extent that it can exceeds the AC source voltage. In this situation, the source side converter is unable to generate the DC voltage which is greater than the load voltage when motoring is again required causing current in DC link to fall to zero with subsequent loss of control.
It is known to provide a cross tie arrangement between the control circuits of the two converters such that when a potential loss of control situation exists, the system is operative to alter the firing angle of the load side inverter to regulate the DC link current in the event the source side converter is unable to maintain the 5 required current regulation. Such a system, applied to load commutated inverter drive, may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,719, "Cross-Tied Current Regulator for Load Commutated Inverter Drives" by John D. D'Atre et al. issued Dec. 13, 1983, which patent is assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
The system in that patent works quite well when the load side inverter is a standard thyristor type bridge, typically operating a synchronous motor, since such a system normally operates with the firing angle of the load side inverter at or near the limit, except at light load conditions or when transitioning from motoring to generating.
This limit load firing angle is set at the best load power factor angle and will still provide enough volt seconds for commutation of the load inverter thyristors. This cross tie arrangement, therefore, moves the load firing angle to a more conservative load firing angle, that is, one with more volt seconds for commutation. Also, the gain characteristics of the cross tie are predictable and equivalent to what effect the same amplitude signal would have had on a source converter.
In a GTO induction motor drive, however, the load firing angle is being varied continuously and the inverter is not normally operated in a clamp limit. This is particularly true in the case of the system in which notching is utilized to control harmonics. Injection of a cross tie signal as was done in the foregoing patent would cause the speed regulator to try to eliminate the contribution from the spillover of the cross tie circuit. That is, that particular scheme would not be applicable to a system of this nature. | {
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This invention relates to an electrical plug which includes an electrical connector for connecting conducting prongs and entering insulated conductors without stripping off the insulating layer.
In common practice, to connect a wire to a conventional plug as shown in FIG. 1a, it is necessary to disassemble the plug and strip off the insulating layer of a conductor to expose some extent of the conductor so that it can be made contact with the conducting prongs of the plug. For simplifying the connecting work this inventor offered an improved form of plug, as shown in FIG. 1b, that is disclosed in a U.S. Application Ser. No. 151,199. This form of plug is provided with conducting prongs having teeth at the ends thereof to be driven into the conductors which enter the plug body so that the insulating layer of the conductors are perforated and the inner conductors thereof respectively come into contact with the teeth. The driving force is given to a screw, by which the insulated conductor is pushed against the teeth, by using tools, such as, screw drivers. Although the requirement of stripping the insulated layer is neglected in that case, inconvenience still exists due to the need of tools. | {
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Perceptual modeling is often used in media signal processing applications to assess the extent to which changes to a media signal are noticeable to the human eye or ear. A perceptual model analyzes a media signal's ability to hide or mask changes. Such models are used in lossy signal compression and digital watermarking to minimize the perceptibility of these processes to a viewer or listener of the processed signal.
Lossy signal compression typically quantizes signal samples to reduce the memory or bandwidth required to store and transmit image and audio signals. Media signal codecs, like those defined in MPEG standards, use perceptual models to identify parts of media signal that can be more heavily compressed while staying within a desired quality.
Digital watermarking is a process for modifying media content to embed a machine-readable code into the data content. The data may be modified such that the embedded code is imperceptible or nearly imperceptible to the user, yet may be detected through an automated detection process. Most commonly, digital watermarking is applied to media such as images, audio signals, and video signals. However, it may also be applied to other types of data, including documents (e.g., through line, word or character shifting), software, multi-dimensional graphics models, and surface textures of objects.
Digital watermarking systems have two primary components: an embedding component that embeds the watermark in the media content, and a reading component that detects and reads the embedded watermark. The embedding component embeds a watermark signal by altering data samples of the media content. The reading component analyzes content to detect whether a watermark is present. In applications where the watermark encodes information, the reader extracts this information from the detected watermark.
In digital watermarking, one aim is to insert the maximum possible watermark signal without significantly affecting signal quality. Perceptual models may be used to determine how to embed the watermark in a host media signal such that the signal masks the watermark. In image watermarking, a watermark embedder can take advantage of the masking effect of the eye to increase the signal strength of a watermark in busy or high contrast image areas. However if this is done for all high frequency areas, a visually objectionable watermark or ‘ringing’ may become visible on connected directional edges.
In audio watermarking, busy or high contrast segments of an audio signal tend to have a greater masking effect. However, embedding a watermark in portions of an audio signal that represent pure tones may make the watermark more audible.
The invention provides methods for perceptual analysis of media signals. While particularly adapted to image signals, the invention applies to other types of media signals as well. One aspect of the invention is a method for perceptually analyzing a media signal to reduce perceptible artifacts around directional edges. The method analyzes the media signal to compute a measure of directional edges. Based at least in part on the measure of directional edges, the method computes control data used to control changes to the media signal in a manner that controls perceptibility of the changes around directional edges.
For digital watermark applications, this method may be used to reduce perceptible artifacts around connected edges. The method may also be used to reduce artifacts around directional edges in lossy signal compression schemes.
Another aspect of the invention is a method for perceptual analysis of a media signal based on local contrast. This method analyzes the media signal to compute measures of local contrast at samples within the media signal. Based at least in part on the measures of local contrast, it computes a measure of visual sensitivity to changes of the media signal at the samples. To compute visual sensitivity to the local contrast, it applies a human visual model that relates local contrast to visual sensitivity.
In one implementation, the human visual model performs a non-linear mapping function that is tuned to the eye's sensitivity to local contrast. In a plot of visual sensitivity versus contrast, visual sensitivity initially increases with contrast and then decreases. The mapping function exploits this attribute.
As in the case of the perceptual analysis based on directional edges, the perceptual analysis based on local contrast may be applied to a variety of media signal processing applications. Some examples include digital watermarking and lossy signal compression.
The perceptual analyses based on directional edges and local contrast may be used independently, in combination with each other, or in combination with other perceptual models.
Further features will become apparent with reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. | {
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Deep ultraviolet light sources, such as those used for integrated circuit photolithography manufacturing processes have been almost exclusively the province of excimer gas discharge lasers, particularly KrF excimer lasers at around 248 nm and followed by ArF lasers at 198 nm having been brought into production since the early 90's, with molecular fluorine F2 lasers also having also been proposed at around 157 nm, but as yet not brought into production.
To achieve resolution reduction at a fixed wavelength and fixed NA (i.e., an 193 nm XLA 165 on a XT:1400 with an NA of 0.93), one must optimize k1, where k1 represents process-dependent factors affecting resolution.
Based on Rayleigh's equation, for dry ArF tools today smaller resolution of state-of-the-art high-numerical-aperture ArF lithography can only be achieved with Resolution-Enhancement Techniques (RET's). RETs are a cost-effective way to maintain the aggressive evolution to smaller dimensions in IC manufacturing and are becoming integral to manufacturing lithography solutions.
These Process-related resolution enhancement efforts (lowering k1) have focused on reticle design, using methodologies such as phase shifting or pattern splitting on dual masks. While these techniques improve imaging, they also have significant drawbacks, including throughput loss. So when k1 is optimized for an application the only way to improve resolution further is to go back to the wavelength or NA.
Immersion lithography does just this for the 45 nm, the wavelength is constant at 193 nm so introducing water allows for NA's up to 1.35 and this relaxes the k1 requirement until processing at the 32 nm is required.
Since first introduction of excimer laser light sources in the DUV wavelength manufacturers of these light sources have been under constant pressure not only to reduce the wavelength, but also to increase the average power delivered to the wafer in the manufacturing process carried out by the steppers and scanners of the principle customers for such light sources, the stepper/scanner manufacturers, now including Canon and Nicon in Japan and ASML in the Netherlands.
This requirement for smaller and smaller wavelength has come from the need of the integrated circuit manufacturer customers for the stepper/scanner makers to be able to print smaller and smaller critical dimensions on the integrated circuit wafers. The need for higher power has generally been driven by either the need for more throughput or higher dose for exposing certain photo resists on the wafer, or both.
This steady progression down the road formed by the so-called Moore's law about the progression of integrated circuit capabilities, and thus, the number of transistors per unit area and thus also basically smaller and smaller critical dimensions, has created various and serious problems for the light source manufacturers to address. Particularly the move to the 193 nm wavelength node of light sources has resulted in several challenges.
The lower wavelength photons from an 193 nm laser system has having higher energies than the prior KrF 248 nm light sources has caused problems both for the light source manufacturers and the present day scanner manufacturers. Regions in both the light source and scanner receiving these higher energy photons, particularly at high energy density levels per unit area have been required to be made of what is currently the single window/lens material that can stand up to these optically damaging photons for any reasonably economical period of time, i.e., CaF2. Such single material lenses in the scanners have required the scanner manufacturers to, e.g., demand virtually monochromatic light out of the laser light source systems, e.g., to avoid chromatic aberrations in the lenses.
The demand for smaller and smaller bandwidths (more and more monochromatic light) has required more and more precisely sensitive line narrowing units, e.g., containing etalon or grating line narrowing optical elements. Older style single chamber laser light sources suffered from short life of such line narrowing units because, among other things, much of the light entering the line narrowing unit is lost in the line narrowing process, the narrower the output bandwidth being required the larger the loss. Thus, the requirement was to send higher and higher pulse energy into the line narrowing unit in order to get a given pulse energy out of the laser system. Thus, e.g., formerly utilized single chamber ArF laser systems were capable of laser output pulses of around 5 mJ with reasonably cost effective lifetimes for the line narrowing units.
A first approach of the light source manufacturers, among other things, to address these issues with ArF light sources to get progressively narrower bandwidths and higher output average power was to increase pulse repetition rate, with essentially the same pulse energy per pulse. Thus through about 2002 pulse repetition, rates increased from hundreds of pulses per second to 4 kHz. This kept the optical damage per pulse down, but increased the overall exposure of the laser optics in the line narrowing units and elsewhere as the pulse repetition rate increased. In addition, higher pulse repetition rates created other problems for the light source manufacturers, principal of which were, e.g., increased electrode deterioration rates and requirements for faster gas circulation rates within the lasing chamber, i.e., requiring more fan motor power and adding more heat to the chamber and the fan motor and bearing assembly, resulting in reductions in mean time between replacement for the lasing chambers.
Higher pulse repetition rates also caused problems that the light source manufacturers had to address, e.g., in the magnetic switched pulse power supplies with timing and component lifetimes negatively impacted by the higher thermal loads, e.g., on the magnetic switching elements in the pulsed power system at the higher pulse repetition rates.
To add to the difficulties to be addressed by the light source manufacturers the integrated circuit have also continued to demand improvements in other laser pulse parameters, e.g., beam profile and beam divergence and pulse-to-pulse stability requirements, e.g., for bandwidth and energy and timing from the trigger signal from the scanner, etc. The ability to provide the various controls of the laser output and operating parameters of this nature can be negatively impacted by either or both of increased pulse energy demands and higher pulse repetition rate, along with variations in such things as the duty cycle (percentage of time the laser is firing) during operation), pulse energy selected by the scanner, rates of depletion of F2 in the lasing chamber, etc.
For example the applicant's assignee's product the ELS-6010, The world's first variable 248 nm KrF excimer single chamber laser system, introduced in the late nineties, provided what was then advanced optical performance applicable to 130 nm node of semiconductor manufacturing. It provided what was then also a highly line-narrowed bandwidth of about 0.5 pm at full-width half-maximum (FWHM) and about 1.4 pm (95% energy integral), thus enabling lithography steppers and scanners to achieve full imaging performance using lenses with numerical apertures of >0.75. The ELS-6010 supported higher throughput rates for its day, e.g., operating at up to 2.5 kHz, 8 mJ pulse energy, for 20 W average power, the ELS-6010 also delivered what was then improved dose stability at the wafer for better CD control and higher yield. The ELS 6010 also provided for precise energy control to reduce the need for attenuation, optimize pulse usage, and extended the useful lifetime of laser consumables. Improvements to signal processing components in the wavelength stabilization module provided faster data acquisition and more reliable wavelength stability.
The ELS 6XXX models were followed by a later model, called by applicant's assignee the ELS 7000, addressing even more aggressive requirements of the semiconductor industry for the sub-130 design node. This also KrF 248 nm wavelength excimer single chamber laser system delivered even more tightly constricted bandwidth at higher power in order to reduce CD geometry in semiconductor photolithography, further improving throughput, and reducing operating costs. The 7000 was also made available in an ArF 193 nm wavelength version. More average power was delivered by increasing pulse repetition rate from 2.5 kHz to 4 kHz. The 7010 added improved line narrowing performance (selecting bandwidth) and wavelength stabilization, e.g., to insure better focus control, maximize exposure latitude, and improve semiconductor circuit critical dimension (“CD”) control. Improvements were also made in the gas injection algorithm, e.g., for injecting small, precise amounts of gas into the laser chamber during exposure sequences to provide superior energy stability. The ELS-7000 was aimed to meet the requirements of high volume product of sub-0.13 micron devices on 248 nm exposure tools. Offering 4 kHz, 7.5 mJ, 30 W optical output, plus the same ultra-low bandwidth performance as the 6010, and high-speed wavelength control, the ELS-7000 also reduced laser consumables costs.
The ELS 7000 was followed in about 2001 by applicants' assignee's ELS 7010 model that further aggressively addressed the performance and cost requirements of the semiconductor industry for the sub-100 nm design nodes. The ELS-7010, also a 4-kHz krypton fluoride (KrF, 248 nm), excimer light source addressed the demands of the photolithography by the semiconductor industry for sub-100 nm design nodes. The ELS-7010 offered further increased power and bandwidth performance parameters for KrF light sources and still further decreased the cost of consumables (CoC). The ELS-7010 provided a 50 to 100 percent improvement on the expected life of each of the major consumable modules, while at the same time increasing power and further reducing bandwidth. The ELS 7010 was a 4 kHz, 10 mJ, 40 W, (FWHM) 0.35 pm and (E95%) 1.2 pm, single chamber laser system
Another follow on, and probably the further extent of single chamber excimer laser technology was applicants' assignee's Nanolith 7000 ArF (193 nm) single chamber laser system introduced in about 2002. The Nanolith 7000 was an ArF laser system with about the same bandwidth specifications at 193 nm as the ELS 7000, i.e., ≦0.5 pm FWHM and ≦1.3 pm (E 95% intensity integral) at 5 mJ and 4 kHz (20 Watt) operation to power next-generation lithography tools with superior spectral power and highly focused line-narrowed bandwidth, while again reducing laser consumable costs, a more difficult task at 193 nm, due mostly to increased optical damage resulting from the reduced wavelength light. The 193 nm Nanolith ArF light source for volume photolithography semiconductor manufacturing, with its highly line-narrowed, high power and high accuracy tuned wavelength control enabled the most advanced imaging of that time, e.g., with NA>0.75 below the 100 nm node, still meeting the then current such other requirements as image contrast and wafer throughput, enabling chip design to shrink even further, accommodating, e.g., faster processor speed, larger memory capacity per chip, and at the same time better yield per wafer.
Featuring, e.g., a new chamber design, the NanoLith 7000 incorporated new technological advances in power design, laser discharge chamber, and wavelength control to enable tight control of exposure dose energy (<±0.3%) and laser wavelength stability (<±0.03 pm). On-Board laser metrology provided pulse-to-pulse data acquisition and feedback control to minimize transient wavelength instabilities, thereby enhancing exposure process latitude and CD control.
However, as even further demands for shrinking bandwidth and increased power moved even beyond the technological advances of applicant's assignees world-class single chamber laser systems, it became clear that something would have to replace the single chamber system. Further optimizing such beam parameters as bandwidth, including keeping it within some specific range, e.g., for OPC reasons, rather than just a not to exceed specification, was becoming impossible at the necessary average power levels. At the time, it was also deemed that increasing repetition rate was not the effective path to take for a number of reasons.
Applicant's assignee's chosen solution was a two chambered laser system comprising a seed laser pulse beam producing laser chamber, e.g., a master oscillator (“MO”), also of the gas discharge excimer variety, seeding another laser chamber with an amplifying lasing medium, also of the same excimer gas discharge variety, acting to amplify the seed beam, a power amplifier (“PA”). Other so-called master oscillator-power amplifier (“MOPA”) laser systems had been known, mostly in the solid state laser art, essentially for boosting power output. applicants' assignee came up with the concept of the utilization of seed laser chamber in which a seed laser was produced, with the view of optimizing that chamber operation for selecting/controlling desirable beam parameters, e.g., bandwidth, beam profile, beam spatial intensity distribution, pulse temporal shape, etc. and then essentially amplifying the pulse with the desirable parameters in an amplifier medium, e.g., the PA. This breakthrough by applicants' assignee was able to meet the then current demands attendant to the continually shrinking node sizes for semiconductor photolithography DUV light sources.
The first of these two chamber laser systems was the XLA-100, providing leading edge optical and power performance in an ultra line narrowed, high power argon fluoride (ArF) production light source. The dual chamber Master Oscillator Power Amplifier (MOPA) architecture developed by applicants' assignee, was capable of 40 W of average output power, double the output power of Cymer's earlier, single chamber-based Nanolith 7000 ArF models, while also meeting even increasingly stringent performance and cost requirements necessary for semiconductor chip production at the <100-nm node. Providing an ultra line-narrowed spectral bandwidth of about 0.25 pm FWHM, and about 0.65 pm E95% integral, the tightest spectral bandwidth performance of any deep-ultraviolet (DUV) production light source up to that time, i.e., about 2003, the XLA 100 provided the light that enabled high contrast imaging for lithography tools with an numerical aperture (NA) up to 0.9.
This was mostly because less energy was wasted in the MO chamber in producing the beam with selected optical parameters, e.g., bandwidth, and the amplifier medium provided plenty of amplification to get an output of the MO at about, e.g., 1 mJ up to a PA output of 10 mJ, 40 watts average output power at 4 kHz operating pulse repetition rate. This allowed, e.g., fewer pulses per exposure window, e.g., enabling the use of less pulses per exposure. The same tight exposure controls were available, i.e., exposure dose (about ±0.3 percent) and wavelength stability (about ±0.025 pm) by providing pulse-to-pulse data acquisition and feedback control to its in-situ metrology system, involving sampling at the outputs of both the MO and PA.
In about the end of 2005 applicants' assignee introduced the XLA-200, a second generation two chamber XLA laser system which became the world's first immersion photolithography enabling gas discharge laser light source even further reduced the ultra line narrowed output at 50% more average output power than the original XLA-100 series. In a quest for smaller feature sizes, new and innovative technologies were needed to meet the mandate of Moore's law and the concomitant ever smaller CD sizes, especially with extreme ultraviolet sources (EUV”) delivery dates being moved out to the end of the first decade of the new millennium or further. The introduction of a fluid of different refraction index than air, e.g., water, to the exposure process, known as Immersion Lithography, was becoming a cost-effective and production-viable technique for extending 193 nm wavelength lithography technologies to meet sub-65 nm process nodes, i.e., ultra-high numerical aperture (NA), immersion-scanner systems.
The XLA 200 met stringent performance and cost requirements necessary for the most sophisticated semiconductor chip production techniques-providing ultra-pure spectral performance of about 0.12 pm FWHM and 0.25 pm E95% integral-to support the ultra-high NA scanner systems required for sub-65 nm exposure, while simultaneously providing high power, (up to 60 W), to support the industry's high productivity needs. Leading edge spectral metrology, used in the XLA series, also enabled monitoring and maintaining the very high spectral purity, including on-board high-accuracy E95% intensity integral bandwidth metrology, e.g., for providing the process control needed for immersion lithography technologies. The XLA 200 was a 193 nm, 4 kHz, 15 mJ, 60 W two-chamber laser system.
Subsequently applicants' assignee introduced in about early 2006 the XLA 300, a 6 kHz 90 W version of the XLA 200. For 193 nm immersion lithography has emerged as the leading for the critical layer processing down to the 32 nm node XLA 300 meet the requirements. Even at the 45 nm node, requirements for critical dimensions, profiles, line edge roughness and overlay requirements of different layers impact design margin and limit yield. High throughput hyper NA (>1.2) exposure tools along with polarized illumination effects and optimized Resolution Enhancement Techniques (RET) will be required for process control, which can be met only by the introduction of applicants assignee's XLA 300 series laser systems. With the k1 physical limit at 0.25 (for memory applications <0.30 is aggressive, logic is usually higher), for 45 nm processing high NA exposure tools and high spectral power (high laser power & high spectral purity) lasers are required. This is what the applicants; assignee's XLA 300 series of lasers currently delivers.
Unfortunately, Moore's law is not done and EUV is still a development project. Therefore addressing even higher power requirements for 193 nm laser light sources is required. Two major obstacles to the typical pulse repetition rate increases evidenced in the advancement of power output in the above noted single chamber laser systems and later two chamber laser systems is the difficulty of getting excimer gas discharge laser system chambers to operate at above 6 kHz and the increased optical damage to certain optical components exposed to the most severe doses of 193 nm light during operation as the pulse repetition rate goes even higher, even with the MOPA architecture. In addition, for various reasons, including the higher pressure operation of the MO's needed, e.g., to extract as much pulse energy as possible out of the line narrowed MO chamber, e.g., around 380 kPa total gas pressure, with, e.g., around a maximum of about 38 kPa of fluorine partial pressure caused conditions advantageous to longer chamber lifetimes to not be attainable, which along with LNM lifetime issues was contributing to the increase in CoC of XLA laser systems.
This latest generation MOPA-based Argon Fluoride light source can provide an ultra-line narrowed bandwidth as low as 0.12 pm FWHM and 0.30 pm 95% energy integral laser light source supporting very high numerical aperture dioptric and catadioptric lens immersion lithography scanners. The XLA 300 introduces an extendable 6 kHz platform to deliver 45 to 90 W of power. Increased repetition rate, along with pulse stretching, minimizes damage to the scanner system optics. State-of-the-art on-board E95% bandwidth metrology and improved bandwidth stability to provide enhanced Critical Dimension control. Longer chamber lifetimes and proven power optics technology extends the lifetime of key laser modules to improve (reduce) CoC (Cost of Consumables), through, e.g., longer chamber lifetimes and proven power optics technology that extends the lifetime of key laser modules.
In the area of simply generating high average power, e.g., around 100 w and above and up to even 200 w and above, with laser systems operating at not much greater than 6 kHz, the MOPA system, eliminating the line narrowing from the required architecture for the MO still requires new technology.
One possible solution is to use an amplifying medium that comprises a power oscillator. The PA of applicants' assignee is optimized both for amplification and for preservation of the desirable output beam pulse parameters produced in the MO with optimized, e.g., line narrowing. An amplifier medium that is also an oscillator, a power oscillator (“PO”), has been proposed and used by applicants' assignee's competitor GigaPhoton, as evidenced in U.S. Pat. No. 6,721,344, entitled INJECTION LOCKING TYPE OR MOPA TYPE OF LASER DEVICE, issued on Apr. 13, 2004 to Nakao et al; U.S. Pat. No. 6,741,627, entitled PHOTOLITHOGRAPHIC MOLECULAR FLUORINE LASER SYSTEM, issued on May 25, 2004 to Kitatochi et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,839,373, entitled ULTRA-NARROWBAND FLUORINE LASER APPARATUS, issued on Jan. 4, 2005 to Takehisha et al.
Unfortunately the use of an oscillator such as with front and rear reflecting mirrors (include a partially reflecting output coupler, and input coupling, e.g., through an aperture in one of the or through, e.g., a 95% reflective rear reflector) has a number of drawbacks. The input coupling from the MO to the amplifier medium is very energy loss-prone. In the amplifier medium with such an oscillator cavity optimized beam parameters selected, e.g., in the MO chamber, may be denigrated in such an oscillator used as an amplifying medium. An unacceptable level of ASE may be produced.
Applicant's propose an architecture that can preserve the optimized beam parameters developed in an MO chamber almost to the same degree as applicants' assignee's present XLA XXX systems, while producing much more efficient amplification from the amplification medium, e.g., to give current levels of output average power with strikingly reduced output pulse energy from the MO (seed laser) resulting in, e.g., a much lower CoC for the MO. Further, applicants believe that according to aspects of embodiments of the subject matter disclosed, e.g., pulse-to-pulse stability or a number of laser output parameters can also be greatly improved.
Increased Wafer Throughput & Productivity maintaining the advancing requirements for Deep Ultra Violet lithography in mass production, and increasing importance on the economics of the laser use is satisfied in part by increasing the laser's repetition rate to 6 kHz and output power to 90 W. Resolution and critical dimension (CD) control in advanced lithography, at the 193 nm, requires a narrow spectral bandwidth, e.g., because all lens materials have some degree of chromatic aberration, necessitating a narrow bandwidth laser to reduce the wavelength variation in the light source, thereby diminishing the impact of chromatic aberration. Very narrow bandwidth can improve the ultimate resolution of the system, or, alternatively can give lens designers more focal latitude. Expensive calcium fluoride optics suffer less chromatic aberration at 193 nm than fused silica does. Narrow bandwidth lasers reduce the need for calcium fluoride optics in 193 nm exposure systems. Spectral engineering, e.g., for critical dimension (CD) control, e.g., driven by more aggressive use of optical proximity correction and higher NA lenses increased the sensitivity to BW and BW changes, including not just bandwidth specification of not to exceed, but bandwidth specification of within a relatively narrow range between a high (the formerly not to exceed type of limit) and a low. Stable BW is even more important for ArF than it has been for KrF. Even a very low BW can yield poor CD if exhibiting significant variations underneath the upper limit. Thus, both BW metrology and BW stabilization are critical technologies for good CD control.
A 6 kHz Repetition Rate results also in improved dose performance to minimize CD variation at the 45 nm node, which can reduced dose quantization errors, e.g., that occur when the exposure slit does not capture all pulses in the dose. In addition, dose errors due to laser beam dynamics can cause imperfections of the exposure slit profile. A newly designed LNM for the XLA 300, e.g., uses a higher resolution dispersive element and an improved wavelength control actuation mechanism, which improved LNM in combination with applicant's assignee's Reduced Acoustic Power (RAP) chamber provides excellent stability of bandwidth.
Other problems exist in such arrangements, e.g., ASE production can be significant enough, e.g., in the power amplification stage to cause downstream problems in the line narrowed versions, because the ASE is out of band. The ASE may also cause problems in the, e.g., broadband, e.g., LTPS versions, since the beam treatment optics, e.g., to produce an elongated and very thin, e.g., 10μ or so wide, beam may be sensitive to light well out of the broadband normally produced by excimer lasing in the amplification stage. In addition, ASE can rob gain medium and thus lower the available in-band or otherwise useable output of the amplification stage.
Buczek, et al, CO2 Regenerative Ring Power Amplifiers, J. App. Phys., Vol. 42, No. 8 (July 1971) relates to a unidirectional regenerative ring CO2 laser with above stable (conditionally stable) operation and discusses the role of gain saturation on CO2 laser performance. Nabors, et al, Injection locking of a 13-W Nd:YAG ring laser, Optics Ltrs., vol. 14, No 21 (November 1989) relates to a lamp-pumped solid-state CW ring laser injection locked by a diode-pumped solid state Nd:YAG master oscillator. The seed is input coupled into the ring laser by a half-wave plate, a Faraday rotator and a thin film polarizer forming an optical diode between the seed laser and the amplifier. Pacala, et al., A wavelength scannable XeCl oscillator-ring amplifier laser system, App. Phys. Ltrs., Vol. 40, No. 1 (January 1982); relates to a single pass excimer (XeCl) laser system seeded by a line narrowed XeCl oscillator. U.S. Pat. No. 3,530,388, issued to Buerra, et al. on Sep. 22, 1970, entitled LIGHT AMPLIFIER SYSTEM, relates to an oscillator laser seeding two single pass ring lasers in series with beam splitter input coupling to each. U.S. Pat. No. 3,566,128, issued to Amaud on Feb. 23, 1971, entitled OPTICAL COMMUNICATION ARRANGEMENT UTILIZING A MULTIMODE OPTICAL REGENERATIVE AMPLIFIER FOR PILOT FREQUENCY AMPLIFICATION, relates to an optical communication system: with a ring amplifier. U.S. Pat. No. 3,646,468, issued to Buczek, et al. on Feb. 29, 1972 relates to a laser system with a low power oscillator, a high power oscillator and a resonance adjustment means. U.S. Pat. No. 3,646,469, issued to Buczek, et al. on Feb. 29, 1097, entitled TRAVELLING WAVE REGENERATIVE LASER AMPLIFIER, relates to a laser system like that of the '468 Buczek patent with a means for locking the resonant frequency of the amplifier to frequency of the output of the oscillator. U.S. Pat. No. 3,969,685, issued to Chenausky on Jul. 13, 1976, entitled ENHANCED RADIATION COUPLING FROM UNSTABLE LASER RESONATORS relates to coupling energy from a gain medium in an unstable resonator to provide a large fraction of the energy in the central lobe of the far field. U.S. Pat. No. 4,107,628, issued tot Hill, et al., on Aug. 15, 1978, entitled CW BRILLOUIN RING LASER, relates to a Brillouin scattering ring laser, with an acousto-optical element modulating the scattering frequency. U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,787, issued to McLafferty on Jan. 23, 1979, entitled UNSTABLE RING RESONATOR WITH CYLINDRICAL MIRRORS, relates to an unstable ring resonator with intermediate spatial filters. U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,106, issued to Domschner on Oct. 21, 1980, entitled ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE RING GENERATOR, relates to a ring laser resonator with a means to spatially rotate the electronic field distribution of laser waves resonant therein, e.g., to enable the waves to resonate with opposite polarization. U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,341 issued to Carson on Dec. 16, 1980, entitled UNSTABLE OPTICAL RESONATORS WITH TILTED SPHERICAL MIRRORS, relates to the use of tilted spherical mirrors in an unstable resonator to achieve asymmetric magnification to get “simultaneous confocality” and obviate the need for non-spherical mirrors. U.S. Pat. No. 4,247,831 issued to Lindop on Jan. 27, 1981, entitled RING LASERS, relates to a resonant cavity with at least 1 parallel sided isotropic refracting devices, e.g., prisms, with parallel sides at an oblique angle to part of light path that intersects said sides, along with a means to apply oscillating translational motion to said refracting devices. U.S. Pat. No. 4,268,800, issued to Johnston et al. on May 19, 1981, entitled, VERTEX-MOUNTED TIPPING BREWSTER PLATE FOR A RING LASER, relates to a tipping Brewster plate to fine tune a ring laser located close to a flat rear mirror A acting as one of the reflecting optics of the ring laser cavity. U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,582, entitled RING LASER, issued to Karning et al. on Feb. 5, 1980, relates to a ring laser system with a folded path pat two separate pairs of electrodes with a partially reflective input coupler at a given wavelength. U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,478, issued to Verdiel, et al. on Mar. 17, 1992, entitled RING CAVITY LASER DEVICE, relates to a ring cavity which uses a beam from a master laser to control or lock the operation of a slave laser located in the ring cavity. It uses a non-linear medium in the cavity to avoid the need of insulators, e.g., for stabilizing to suppress oscillations, e.g., as discussed in Col 4 lines 9-18. Nabekawa et al., 50-W average power, 200-Hz repetition rate, 480-fs KrF excimer laser with gated gain amplification, CLEO (2001), p. 96, e.g., as discussed with respect to FIG. 1, relates to a multipass amplifier laser having a solid state seed that is frequency multiplied to get to about 248 nm for KrF excimer amplification. U.S. Pat. No. 6,373,869, issued to Jacob on Apr. 16, 2002, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING COHERENT RADIATION AT ULTRAVIOLET WAVELENGTHS, relates to using an Nd:YAG source plus an optical parametric oscillator and a frequency doubler and mixer to provide the seed to a multipass KrF amplifier. U.S. Pat. No. 6,901,084, issued to Pask on May 31, 2005, entitled STABLE SOLID STATE RAMAN LASER AND A METHOD OF OPERATING SAME, relates to a solid-state laser system with a Raman scattering mechanism in the laser system oscillator cavity to frequency shift the output wavelength. U.S. Pat. No. 6,940,880, issued to Butterworth, et al. on Sep. 6, 2005, entitled OPTICALLY PUMPED SEMICONDUCTOR LASER, relates to a optically pumped semiconductor laser resonance cavities forming part of a ring resonator, e.g., with a non linear crystal located in the ring, including, as discussed, e.g., with respect to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 5 & 6, having a bow-tie configuration. U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2004/0202220, published on Oct. 14, 2004, with inventors Hua et al, entitled MASTER OSCILLATOR-POWER AMPLIFIER EXCIMER LASER SYSTEM, relates to an excimer laser system, e.g., with in a MOPA configuration, with a set of reflective optics to redirect at least a portion of the oscillator beam transmitted through the PA back thru PA ion the opposite direction. U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2005/0002425, published on Jan. 1, 2003, with inventors Govorkov et al, entitled MASTER-OSCILLATOR POWER-AMPLIFIER (MOPA) EXCIMER OR MOLECULAR FLUORINE LASER SYSTEM WITH LONG OPTICS LIFETIME, relates to, e.g., a MOPA with a pulse extender and using a beamsplitting prism in the pulse extender, a housing enclosing the (MO+PA) and reflective optics, with the pulse extender mounted thereon, and reflective optics forming a delay line around the PA. U.S. Published application No. 2006/0007978, published on Jan. 12, 2006, with inventors Govokov, et al., entitled BANDWIDTH-LIMITED AND LONG PULSE MASTER OSCILLATOR POWER OSCILLATOR LASER SYSTEM, relates to a ring oscillator with a prism to restrict bandwidth within the oscillator.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,590,922 issued to Onkels et al. on Jul. 8, 2003, entitled INJECTION SEEDED F2 LASER WITH LINE SELECTION AND DISCRIMINATION discloses reverse injection of and F2 laser undesired radiation centered around one wavelength through a single pass power amplifier to selectively amplify a desired portion of the F2 spectrum for line selection of the desired portion of the F2 spectrum in a molecular fluorine gas discharge laser. in F2 laser.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,904,073 issued to Yager, et al. on Jun. 7, 2005, entitled HIGH POWER DEEP ULTRAVIOLET LASER WITH LONG LIFE OPTICS, discloses intracavity fluorine containing crystal optics exposed to lasing gas mixtures containing fluorine for protection of the optic.
Published International application WO 97/08792, published on Mar. 6, 1997 discloses an amplifier with an intracavity optical system that has an optical path that passes each pass of a sixteen pass through the same intersection point at which is directed a pumping source to amplify the light passing through the intersection point.
R. Paschotta, Regenerative amplifiers, found at http://www.rp-photonics.com/regenerative_amplifiers.html (2006) discusses the fact that a regenerative amplifier, may be considered to be an optical amplifier with a laser cavity in which pulses do a certain number of round trips, e.g., in order to achieve strong amplification of short optical pulses. Multiple passes through the gain medium, e.g., a solid state or gaseous lasing medium may be achieved, e.g., by placing the gain medium in an optical cavity, together with an optical switch, e.g., an electro-optic modulator and/or a polarizer. The gain medium may be pumped for some time, so that it accumulates some energy after which, an initial pulse may be injected into the cavity through a port which is opened for a short time (shorter than the round-trip time), e.g., with the electro-optic (or sometimes acousto-optic) switch. Thereafter the pulse can undergo many (possibly hundreds) of cavity round trips, being amplified to a high energy level, often referred to as oscillation. The electro-optic switch can then be used again to release the pulse from the cavity. Alternatively, the number of oscillations may be determined by using a partially reflective output coupler that reflects some portion, e.g., around 10%-20% of the light generated in the cavity back into the cavity until the amount of light generated by stimulated emission in the lasing medium is such that a useful pulse of energy passes through the output coupler during each respective initiation and maintenance of an excited medium, e.g., in an electrically pumped gas discharge pulsed laser system, the gas discharge between the electrodes caused by placing a voltage across the electrodes at the desired pulse repetition rate. Uppal et al, Performance of a general asymmetric Nd:glass ring laser, Applied Optics, Vol. 25, No. 1 (January 1986) discusses an Nd:glass ring laser. Fork, et al. Amplification of femptosecond optical pulses using a double confocal resonator, Optical Letters, Vol. 14, No. 19 (October 1989) discloses a seed laser/power amplifier system with multiple passes through a gain medium in a ring configuration, which Fork et al. indicates can be “converted into a closed regenerative multi pass amplifier by small reorientations of two of the four mirrors that compose the resonator [and providing] additional means . . . for introducing and extracting the pulse from the closed regenerator. This reference refers to the open-ended amplifier portion with fixed number of passes through the amplifier portion (fixed by the optics an, e.g., how long it takes for the beam to walk off of the lens and exit the amplifier portion as a “resonator”. As used herein the term resonator and other related terms, e.g., cavity, oscillation, output coupler are used to refer, specifically to either a master oscillator or amplifier portion, the power oscillator, as lasing that occurs by oscillation within the cavity until sufficient pulse intensity exists for a useful pulse to emerge from the partially reflective output coupler as a laser output pulse. This depends on the optical properties of the laser cavity, e.g., the size of the cavity and the reflectivity of the output coupler and not simply on the number of reflections that direct the seed laser input through the gain medium a fixed number of times, e.g., a one pass, two pass, etc. power amplifier, or six or so times in the embodiment disclosed in Fork, et al. Mitsubishi published Japanese Patent Application Ser. No. JP11-025890, filed on Feb. 3, 1999, published on Aug. 11, 2000, Publication No. 2000223408, entitled SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING DEVICE, AND MANUFACTURING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE, disclosed a solid state seed laser and an injection locked power amplifier with a phase delay homogenizer, e.g., a grism or grism-like optic between the master oscillator and amplifier. U.S. Published application 20060171439, published on Aug. 3, 2006, entitled MASTER OSCILLATOR-POWER AMPLIFIER EXCIMER LASER SYSTEM, a divisional of an earlier published application 20040202220, discloses as master oscillator/power amplifier laser system with an optical delay path intermediate the master oscillator and power amplifier which creates extended pulses from the input pulses with overlapping daughter pulses.
Partlo et al, Diffuser speckle model: application to multiple moving diffusers, discusses aspects of speckle reduction. U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,460, entitled METHOD AND MEANS FOR REDUCING SPECKLE IN COHERENT LASER PULSES, issued to Partlo et al. on Aug. 3, 1993 discusses misaligned optical delay paths for coherence busting on the output of gas discharge laser systems such as excimer laser systems.
The power efficiency of a regenerative amplifier, e.g., using a switching element, can be severely reduced by the effect of intracavity losses (particularly in the electro-optic switch). Also, the reflectivity of a partially reflective output coupler can affect both intracavity losses and the duration of the output pulse, etc. The sensitivity to such losses can be particularly high in cases with low gain, because this increases the number of required cavity round trips to achieve a certain overall amplification factor. A possible alternative to a regenerative amplifier is a multipass amplifier, such as those used in applicants' assignee's XLA model laser systems mentioned above, where multiple passes (with, e.g., a slightly different propagation direction on each pass) can be arranged with a set of mirrors. This approach does not require a fast modulator, but becomes complicated (and hard to align) if the number of passes through the gain medium is high.
An output coupler is generally understood in the art to mean a partially reflective optic that provides feedback into the oscillation cavity of the laser and also passes energy out of the resonance cavity of the laser.
In regard to the need for improvement of Cost Of Consumables, e.g., for ArF excimer lasers, e.g., for photolithography light source use, KrF CoC has long been dominated by chamber lifetime, e.g., due to the robustness of the optics at the higher 248 nm wavelength for KrF. Recent advances in Cymer ArF optical components and designs have led to significant increases in ArF optical lifetimes, e.g., ArF grating life improvements developed for the Cymer NL-7000A, Low intensity on LNMs, e.g., in two stage XLA systems. ArF etalon material improvements have contributed to longer life for ArF wavemeters, stabilization modules, LAMs, SAMs, and BAMs. In addition KrF chamber lifetime has been significantly increased with Cymer ELS-7000 and ELS-7010 products, e.g., through the use of proprietary electrode technology. However, longer life electrode technology requires specific operating parameters, such as are met in ELS-7000 and ELS-7010 KrF chambers, XLA-200 and XLA-300 PA chambers. These parameters, however, are not able to be utilized, e.g., in any of Cymer's ArF XLA MO chambers because of the overall output power requirements of the system. Applicants propose ways to alleviate this detriment to cost of consumables in, e.g., the ArF dual chamber master oscillator/amplifier products, used, e.g., for integrated circuit manufacturing photolithography.
As used herein the term resonator and other related terms, e.g., cavity, oscillation, output coupler are used to refer, specifically to either a master oscillator or amplifier portion, a power oscillator, as lasing that occurs by oscillation within the cavity until sufficient pulse intensity exists for a useful pulse to emerge from the partially reflective output coupler as a laser output pulse. This depends on the optical properties of the laser cavity, e.g., the size of the cavity and the reflectivity of the output coupler and not simply on the number of reflections that direct the seed laser input through the gain medium a fixed number of times, e.g., a one pass, two pass, etc. power amplifier. | {
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Recently, consumers have expressed significant interest in “place-shifting” devices that allow viewing of television or other media content at locations other than their primary media presentation device. Place-shifting devices typically packetize media content that can be transmitted over a local or wide area network to a portable computer, mobile phone, personal digital assistant, remote television or other remote device capable of playing back the packetized media stream for the viewer. Place-shifting therefore allows consumers to view their media content from remote locations such as other rooms, hotels, offices, and/or any other locations where portable media player devices can gain access to a wireless or other communications network.
While place-shifting does greatly improve the convenience afforded to the end user, there remain some challenges related to the manner in which different media streams are presented at the end device. For instance, the digital audio samples in one media stream may be associated with a baseline or average presentation loudness or volume, while the digital audio samples in another media stream may be associated with a different baseline/average presentation loudness or volume. Thus, if the user switches between different media streams the perceived loudness may be inconsistent, and the user will therefore need to adjust the volume control on the presentation device.
Volume normalization techniques can be utilized to automatically adjust the volume perceived by the user. Some volume normalization techniques operate in the analog domain, and others operate in the digital domain. Digital volume normalization techniques are best suited for place-shifting applications because the media streams are encoded and transmitted to the presentation device using data packets. Unfortunately, existing digital volume normalization techniques tend to be ineffective and/or they introduce audible artifacts that can be distracting to the user. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup device and more particularly to a drive apparatus for the image pickup device.
2. Related Background Art
When a solid state image pickup element, for example, a CCD, is used in a television camera, the use of so-called double-correlation sampling of the output circuit of the camera can reduce the reset noise to improve the S/N ratio. In this instance, in the double-correlation sampling circuit, the three (clamp, sample and hold, and reset) pulses are required to have predetermined phase differences among them.
In such a case, if the clamp, sample and hold (hereinafter referred to as the S/H), and reset pulses are used, each being 120 degrees out of phase with the others and each having a duty cycle of 1/3, one pulse will rise while one of the other two pulses is falling. Thus, noise is likely to be mixed into the desired signal during clamping or sampling and holding and a fixed pattern noise, etc., will increase. | {
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Herein is described an invented device for the educational purpose of demonstrating various operations with nonstandard counting procedures, mainly extending binary and other types of sequences by an additional digit or symbol to remain consistent with hereditary properties residing in the original or challenge sequence.
My methods and embodiments for extending sequences with deep hereditary structure have evolved from studies with continuous systems and generalized for discrete behavior.
For particularized versions of the original conceptual experiments, see my "Application of a Block-Wiener Mapping to a Homeostatic Learning System," Journal of Cybernetics 1971, 1,3, pp64-78. For sequences with interesting hereditary properties, see Sir Karl Popper's book: The Logic of Scientific Discovery, wherein lie many examples. | {
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Pathways such as pedestrian walkways and the like are often made from modules that typically from a plastic material or combination of plastic materials, one or more composite materials, a metal material, or any other suitable materials or combination of materials. Typically, such modules, which are also often referred to as panels, have a top deck with end walls and side walls depending from the top deck. Also, for added structural rigidity and strength, there is typically a plurality of general vertically oriented cross support members depending from the top deck.
Such modules can be found in in U.S. Pat. No. 9,353,487 entitled Securely Interconnectable Modules For Use In Constructing A Pathway For Traffic issued May 31, 2016 and various United States published patent applications including U.S. Published patent application Ser. No. 14/955,179 entitled Heatable Module For Use In Constructing A Pathway For Traffic, U.S. Published patent application Ser. No. 14/955,214 entitled Securely Interconnectable Modules For Use In Constructing A Pathway For Traffic, U.S. Published patent application Ser. No. 14/955,233 entitled Heatable Pathway System For Traffic, U.S. Published patent application Ser. No. 14/955,248 entitled Module For Use In Constructing A Pathway For Traffic, and U.S. Published patent application Ser. No. 14/955,266 entitled Securely Interconnectable Modules, with each of these patents and published patent applications having a common inventor with the present patent application.
In each of these patents and published patent applications, the module that is used in constructing a pathway for traffic comprise a base member having a top deck with side walls and end walls depending from the top deck. A plurality of substantially vertically oriented structural members, referred to as cross support members, also depend from the top plate between the sidewalls and end walls. It has been found that if such a module rests on and is therefore supported by a gravel surface or possibly a dirt surface, it is possible for the various side walls and end walls and cross support members to dig into the gravel surface or dirt surface, which can cause at least two problems. First, the module may be unevenly supported and therefore may move, which is unacceptable. Secondly, the downwardly directed vertical forces transmitted from the relatively thin side walls, end walls and cross support members are transmitted to a correspondingly very small cross-sectional area of the ground surface, which can cause shifting of the ground surface.
In general principle, in order ameliorate these problems, the downwardly directed vertical forces from the side walls, end walls and cross support members need to be distributed more evenly over the ground surface.
The closest known prior art, which is considered to be not overly relevant, is U.S. Pat. No. 7,736,088 issued Jun. 15, 2010, to Boxall et al, discloses a Rectangular Bearing pad. The generally rectangular bearing pad is for transferring loads between a first cast-in-place slab and a second cast-in-place slab separated by a joint. The bearing pad is adapted to transfer load between the first and second slabs directed essentially perpendicular to the intended upper surface of the first slab, and allows relative movement between adjacent concrete slabs along the joint between the slabs with minimal joint opening between the slabs. A pocket former embedded within the first slab may also be included to position the bearing pad and create void space on the sides of the bearing pad to permit the relative movement. A compressible material along the side of the bearing pad may also be used to permit the relative movement. Neither the void space created by the pocket former nor the compressible material are dependent upon the existence of a significant gap in the joint between the concrete slabs.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a bearing pad for receiving and retaining the substantially vertically oriented structural members of a module for use in constructing a pathway and supporting the module on a ground surface.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a bearing pad for receiving and retaining the substantially vertically oriented structural members of a module for use in constructing a pathway and supporting the module on a ground surface, wherein the bearing pad is cost effective.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a bearing pad for receiving and retaining the substantially vertically oriented structural members of a module for use in constructing a pathway and supporting the module on a ground surface, wherein the bearing pad is inexpensive to manufacture.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a bearing pad for receiving and retaining the substantially vertically oriented structural members of a module for use in constructing a pathway and supporting the module on a ground surface, wherein the bearing pad can be made from a plastic material.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a bearing pad for receiving and retaining the substantially vertically oriented structural members of a module for use in constructing a pathway and supporting the module on a ground surface, wherein the bearing pad can readily be engaged with the module.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a bearing pad for receiving and retaining the substantially vertically oriented structural members of a module for use in constructing a pathway and supporting the module on a ground surface, wherein the bearing pad can slidably receive and retain the substantially vertically oriented structural members of the module.
It is a further object of the present disclosure to provide a bearing pad for receiving and retaining the substantially vertically oriented structural members of a module for use in constructing a pathway and supporting the module on a ground surface, wherein the bearing pad can effectively transmit the downwardly directed forces from the module to the ground below.
It is a further object of the present disclosure to provide a bearing pad for receiving and retaining the substantially vertically oriented structural members of a module for use in constructing a pathway and supporting the module on a ground surface, wherein the bearing pad can effectively transmit the downwardly directed forces from the module to a gravel surface below. | {
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The present invention relates to a multichannel pipette with several spigots (“lugs”) for clamping up pipette tips and an ejection equipment for detaching pipette tips from spigots.
Pipettes are used for dosing liquids, notably in medical, biological, biochemical, chemical and other laboratories. The liquids are picked up and delivered in pipette tips through a tip opening. In air cushion pipettes, a displacement equipment for air is integrated into the pipette and communicatingly connected to the pipette tip through a connection hole of the spigot. An air cushion can be dislocated by means of the displacement equipment, so that liquid is sucked into the pipette tip and ejected out from there. The displacement equipment is mostly a cylinder with a piston that can be relocated therein.
The pipette tips are detachably connected to the spigot, so that they can be replaced by a new pipette tip after use. Through this, contaminations are avoided in subsequent dosings. Single use pipette tips made of plastics are available at low cost.
The spigot for holding pipette tips is also designated as “working cone” and is often a conical or cylindrical projection with respect to a casing or another base body. The pipette tip can be clamped up onto the spigot with a suitable seal seat on a plug-on opening. This can happen without touching the pipette tip by pressing the pipette with the spigot into the plug-opening of the pipette tip which is made available in a holder.
In order to avoid contact of the user with the contaminated pipette tips, pipettes have an ejection equipment with a drive device and an ejector. By actuating the drive device, the ejector is dislocated such that it detaches the pipette tip from the spigot without that the user must touch it. The drive device has often a mechanism which must be actuated by means of a button in order to detach the pipette tip from the spigot. Alternatively, the drive device has an electric motor which can be controlled by actuating a button in order to detach the pipette tip from the spigot. This applies in particular for manual pipettes, i.e. pipettes which are can be held and operated by the user with one or both hands in the utilization. In the embodiment as manually driven pipettes, these pipettes have a mechanism for the displacement equipment which is manually drivable by means of a dosing button, and in the embodiment as electronic pipettes an electric drive motor for the displacement equipment which can be controlled by means of an electric dosing button.
Detaching a pipette tip from the spigot can necessitate a significant effort when a pipette tip is to be firmly clamped up on a spigot.
Multichannel pipettes serve for picking up liquid from one or several vessels or to deliver into one or several vessels concomitantly. Multichannel pipettes are often used for the handling of microtiter plates, which have a plurality of vessels in a matrix-like arrangement. For this purpose, multichannel pipettes have several spigots, arranged parallel side by side in a row in the same height, whose through holes are each one connected to a separate displacement equipment or to a common displacement equipment. In adaptation to a frequently used format of microtiter plates with 96 (=8×12) vessels, multichannel pipettes have frequently eight or twelve spigots. The several displacement equipments or the common displacement equipment are connected to a mechanical drive device in a manually driven multichannel pipette, and to an electric drive motor in an electronic multichannel pipette. Further known are multichannel pipettes with an ejector, which squeezes all pipette tips off from the spigot by a straight-lined stop element and has a manually drivable drive mechanism for this purpose. The expense for squeezing off several pipette tips from the spigots of a multichannel pipette is significantly higher than in a single-channel pipette wherein only one pipette tip is squeezed off from one spigot.
Multichannel pipettes are already known in which, in order to reduce the effort for ejecting the pipette tips, an ejector is not realised by a straight-lined stop element, but with a stepped stop element. In these multichannel pipettes, the steps hit the pipette tips one after the other, so that only the force must be applied for ejecting those pipette tips which have contact with steps of the ejector at the same time. The maximum force to be brought up for the ejection of the pipette tips is reduced through this. A stepped stop element results in different plug-on heights of the pipette tips on spigots of a multichannel pipette. With different plug-on heights, not all the pipette tips which are plugged onto the spigots of the multichannel pipette at the same time do reach the bottoms of a microtiter plate.
The document DE 10 2004 003 433 B4, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a multichannel pipette which reduces the effort for the actuation of the ejection equipment in that it limits the force for clamping the pipette tips onto the spigots. For this purpose, the multichannel pipette has a base body, several spigots projecting from the base body and axially movably mounted on the base body for putting up pipette tips, displacement equipments which are fixedly connected to the spigots, and springs via which the displacement equipments are supported on the base body. A stop is associated to the spring loaded spigots beyond which the spigots protrude axially when they are not loaded towards the spring. An ejection equipment for detaching the pipette tips from the spigots has an ejector associated to the spigots, wherein the spigots and the ejectors are movable relative to each other. The stop may also be the ejector. In addition, the multichannel pipette has a drive device, operatively connected to the ejector and/or the spigots, for relative movement of ejector and spigot.
When the multichannel pipette is being plugged into the plug-in openings of several pipette tips with the spigots, the clamping force is introduced into the springs. When the clamping force exceeds a certain value, the springs are elastically deformed until the pipette tips clamped onto the spigots butt against the stop. As soon as the pipette tips abut on the stop, they cannot be thrust onto the spigots any farther. The clamping force of the pipette tips is limited by this. The springs are dimensioned such, and preloaded if need be, that the pipette tips abut on the stop accurately then when they sit on the spigots with the desired clamping force. The clamping force is determined such that the pipette tips sit and seal securely on the spigots.
The known pipette avoids high clamping forces, which would hamper the ejection of the pipette tips. However, the clamping force which is necessary for a safe seat and the sealing of the pipette tips on the spigots must be overcome in the ejection process. The overall ejection force to be applied is high, because several pipette tips must be squeezed off at the same time. | {
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The present invention relates to a device for transferring a medium from a first component into a rotatably driven second component, coordinated, for example, with a servo device or consuming, whereby between the two components an annular chamber is provided that has connected thereto an inlet line for the medium as well as an outlet line communicating with the consuming device for supplying the medium to be transferred to the servo device. Adjacent to the annular chamber a first and a second radially extending sealing gap are provided, whereby the annular chamber in the axial direction of the device is enclosed on one side by the first component and on the other side by the second component.
From German Offenlegungsschrift 41 24 153 a pressure transfer device of the aforementioned kind is known which has been used successfully in practice. However, it has been shown that for a sudden pressure buildup in the annular chamber, as occurs during switching processes, the first component is forced against the second component for a short period of time and rests thereat. This can cause at both components in the area of the sealing gaps damage due to the unavoidable gliding friction, especially at high rpms. This often results in the sealing gaps loosing their effectiveness already after a short service time. With additional control chambers arranged downstream of the sealing gaps this can be prevented to some extent. However, the required expenditure is considerable. Furthermore, the range of applications for such a pressure transfer device is limited.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device for transferring a medium from one component to another component with which within the annular chamber a high pressure can be built up suddenly without the two components being pressed against one another by this high pressure. Instead, the first component, upon an axial displacement resulting from a switching operation, should be resting with a low force at the second component only for a very short period of time so that frictional forces causing damage within the area of the sealing gap can be practically completely eliminated. Furthermore, during the transfer of the medium the first component should be in a floating condition so that it is substantially laterally supported by the medium whereby a long service life and reliable operation of the device should be ensured even with a low constructive expenditure. | {
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This invention claims priority of the German patent application 100 44 636.1 which is incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention concerns an optical arrangement for the illumination of specimens for confocal scanning microscopes, having an illuminating beam path and at least one light source.
Optical arrangements of the generic type have been known from practical use for some time; merely by way of example, the reader is referred to EP 0 495 930, which discloses an optical arrangement for the illumination of specimens for confocal scanning microscopes in which fluorescent specimens can be excited to fluoresce in the confocal scanning microscope with a single laser that exhibits multiple emission wavelengths. Concretely, this involves an argon-krypton laser.
Also known, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,053, is a confocal microscope in which light of an external light source is transported to the confocal scanning microscope with the aid of a glass fiber. It is thereby possible, in particular, for the vibrations induced by the laser light source (principally from cooling systems or fans) to be mechanically decoupled from the optical beam path of the confocal scanning microscope.
The generic arrangements have problems, however. For example, the argon-krypton laser known from EP 0 495 930 is very complex and expensive. It moreover requires a great deal of maintenance, creating difficulties for the continuous use of confocal scanning microscopes.
In the confocal scanning microscope known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,053, the light output remaining for the illumination of specimens after passing through a glass fiber provided for light transport is reduced, as a result of coupling-in and absorption losses, to approx. 50% of the light output emitted by the light source. Simply to achieve the goal of mechanically decoupling the confocal scanning microscope from the vibrations induced by the light source, it is accordingly necessary to use a light-guiding fiber and a light source; and the light source must have available at least twice the light output needed for illumination of the specimens arranged in the confocal scanning microscope. This, too, requires the use of a laser system that is more complex and more expensive than would actually be necessary.
As an alternative to the aforementioned possibilities known from the existing art for the illumination of specimens for confocal scanning microscopes, semiconductor lasers can be used. Because of their small and lightweight construction, these can be arranged directly on the confocal scanning microscope. They require a complex optical system to adapt the emitted light beam, however, since semiconductor lasers have an astigmatic beam cross section as a result of their design, and the light bundle emitted from the semiconductor laser usually exhibits poor beam quality. Because the wavelength range is narrow, the emission spectrum of a semiconductor laser is of very limited suitability for flexible use in confocal scanning microscopy, so that for simultaneous illumination with light of several wavelengths, several semiconductor lasers must be combined into one illuminating beam. This would also require a complex optical system, so that this, too, results in high costs. The same is also true for the use of compact solid-state lasers. In addition, semiconductor lasers and solid-state lasers must be cooled, which generally entails complex measures and also disruptive vibrations directly on the confocal scanning microscope.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to describe and further develop an apparatus which makes an efficient illumination of specimens in a confocal scanning microscope possible and the optical arrangement being intended to be economical and low-maintenance.
The object of the present invention is achieved by an optical arrangement for the illumination of a specimens comprising:
a confocal scanning microscope with at least one light source generating light for the illumination of the specimen, wherein the at least one light source defines an illuminating beam path,
a fiber defining a light entrance and a light exit and having a core, wherein the light of the light source is coupled into the fiber via the light entrance, and
laser transitions induced in the fiber and the light exiting the fiber via light exit serves for specimen illumination.
It is a further object of the present invention to describe and further develop an apparatus which makes an efficient illumination of specimens in a confocal scanning microscope possible and the optical arrangement being intended to be economical and low-maintenance while decoupling mechanical vibrations from the confocal scanning microscope
The above object of is achieved by An optical arrangement for the illumination of a specimens comprising:
a confocal scanning microscope with at least one light source generating light for the illumination of the specimen, wherein the at least one light source defines an illuminating beam path,
an up-conversion fiber laser defining a light entrance and a light exit and having a core, wherein the light of the light source is coupled into the fiber laser via the light entrance,
laser transitions induced in the fiber and the light exiting the fiber laser via light exit serves for specimen illumination,
means for selecting the light of different wavelengths is provided after light exit of the fiber laser, and
an excitation pinhole positioned after the means for selecting.
What has been recognized according to the present invention is firstly that the use of a light-guiding fiber to transport the light of a laser light source to the confocal scanning microscope makes possible effective decoupling of mechanical vibrations. The optical arrangement according to the present invention for the illumination of specimens therefore has a fiber that, however, does not serve only to transport light of a light source to the confocal scanning microscope; rather light is generated in the fiber and serves for specimen illumination. For that purpose, laser transitions are induced with the aid of the light of a light source coupled into the fiber, thereby generating the laser light serving for specimen illumination.
In a particularly preferred embodiment, the exit end of the fiber serves as the point light source of the confocal scanning microscope. The fiber defines a light entrance and a light exit. As a result, the light exit directly constitutes a point-like light source, the beam properties of the light leaving the light exit of the fiber being rotationally symmetrical with respect to the fiber axis in the light exit region.
An excitation pinhole, which otherwise is usually arranged in a confocal scanning microscope in a plane optically corresponding to the focal plane of the microscope objective being used, is not provided for the light of the fiber laser. Because of the almost ideal beam properties of the fiber laser, an excitation pinhole is thus not necessary; this advantageously reduces costs. The term xe2x80x9cfiber laserxe2x80x9d will be used hereinafter to refer to the fiber and to at least two mirror surfaces that reflect the laser light induced in the fiber. An amplification of the laser light induced in the fiber can accordingly be achieved by multiple reflection at the mirror-coated surfaces and multiple passes of the induced laser light through the fiber.
For a further reduction in the optical components arranged in the beam path, the light exit could be embodied to be coated in partially reflective fashion, so that said light exit serves as the resonator mirror of the fiber laser. The partially reflective coating of the light exit is configured to be reflective principally for light of the wavelengths of the laser transitions of the fiber. At least the light exit facing toward the microscope could also be embodied to be reflective for the light of the light source coupled into the fiber, so that the light of the light source is not coupled into the confocal scanning microscope. Very generally, both the light entrance and the light exit could be partially reflectively coated, so that only the fiber, with its two mirror-coated ends, is the active laser medium and laser resonator.
In a concrete embodiment, the fiber could be embodied as an up-conversion fiber laser that comprises a rare earth-doped core. In particular, the active medium of the fiber laser could comprise praseodymium-, erbium-, and/or thulium-doped heavy-metal fluoride glasses. In a preferred embodiment, the active medium of the fiber laser comprises ZBLAN (53 ZrF4-20 BaF2-4 LaF3-3 AlF3-20 NaF) or ZBYA (50 ZrF4-33 BaF2-10 YF3-7 AlF3), the factor preceding the individual element compounds representing the proportion, as a molar percentage, of the individual element compounds.
The fiber laser could also be a double-core fiber laser. A double-core fiber laser has two glass fibers arranged concentrically with one another, the outer glass fiber with the greater diameter serving as light-guiding medium for the light coupled into the fiber (pumping light). The inner, smaller-diameter fiber arranged concentrically with the outer fiber represents the active medium of the fiber laser.
In a preferred embodiment, the core diameter of the fiber is configured in such a way that the emitted light has a rotationally symmetrical beam profile. Preferably this is a Gaussian profile; in particular, a TEM00 profile is present.
In particularly advantageous fashion, the exit aperture of the fiber laser is adapted to the microscope optical system. The result of this is that the entrance pupil of the microscope objective is optimally illuminated, so that a diffraction-limited illumination pattern and, associated therewith, an optimum optical resolution are achieved.
A diode, semiconductor, solid-state, and/or gas laser could be provided as the pumping laser for the fiber. The beam divergence of the pumping laser is, in this context, also adapted to the entrance aperture of the fiber laser or is to be adapted thereto with a corresponding optical system. The use of a gas laser or of an air-cooled solid-state laser as pumping laser decouples the vibrations produced by the cooling system from the confocal scanning microscope in particularly advantageous fashion.
In particular with regard to biomedical applications, the emission wavelengths of the fiber laser lie in the visible region. The fluorochromes usually used therein can thus be excited to fluoresce. In particularly advantageous fashion, the fiber laser has several emission wavelengths that preferably are emitted simultaneously. As a result, different fluorochromes can be excited to fluoresce simultaneously, advantageously contributing to the application versatility of a confocal scanning microscope that is equipped with the optical arrangement according to the present invention for the illumination of specimens. It may optionally be necessary, for the simultaneous generation of laser light of different wavelengths, for pumping light of several light sources or excitation wavelengths to be coupled into the fiber. For that purpose, the light of the light sources must be suitably combined before being coupled into the fiber.
In a preferred embodiment, the emission wavelength or wavelengths of the fiber laser is or are tunable. It is thereby possible to excite different fluorescent dyes whose excitation wavelengths lie in the tuning range of the fiber laser. In particular, an emission wavelength of the fiber laser can thereby be adapted to the absorption spectrum of a fluorescent dye.
In a concrete embodiment, means for selecting light of different wavelengths are provided. The means for selecting light of different wavelengths could be arranged between the fiber laser and the microscope. The means could be configured as an electrooptical or acoustooptical component, concretely as an AOTF (acoustooptical tunable filter), AOD (acoustooptical deflector), EOD (electrooptical deflector), or AOBS (acoustooptical beam splitter). The means for selecting light of different wavelengths could comprise a color filter.
In an alternative embodiment, a means for selecting light of different wavelengths acts in the resonator of the fiber laser. The means could comprise a tiltable etalon, a grating arrangement, or at least one birefringent plate. As a function of the arrangement of the means in the resonator of the fiber laser, only one or several wavelengths are allowed to pass to the optical amplification process in the fiber laser; the remaining possible wavelengths are suppressed, without amplification, in the fiber laser. With regard to the birefringent plate, be it noted that the latter is rotatably mounted, and its interface is, in each rotational position, at a Brewster angle to the light beam in the resonator. A birefringent plate arranged in this fashion is known as a birefringent filter.
In a concrete embodiment, to block out the light coupled into the fiber, a blocking filter for that light is provided between the fiber laser and microscope. The light coupled into the fiber to induce the laser transitions is therefore not used to illuminate the specimens. This filter could be an appropriate bandpass filter or dichroic filter.
In a particularly preferred embodiment, an apparatus for compensating for light output fluctuations of the fiber laser is provided. Light output fluctuations can be caused either by light output fluctuations of the light source whose light is coupled into the fiber, or by laser operation in the fiber itself. The apparatus could have a light output sensor that detects the light output instantaneously emerging from the fiber laser, a control unit that compares the reference output to the actual output, and an adjusting unit that adjusts a corresponding component. In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus regulates the light coupled into the fiber laser. For that purpose, provision is made for the apparatus to comprise an AOTF, AOD, EOD, or an LCD attenuator.
For simple and reproducible installation of the fiber laser on the confocal scanning microscope, provision is made for at least one fiber end of the fiber laser to be equipped with a fiber connector. This fiber connector could be standardized or could correspond to one of the usually obtainable fiber connectors. Ultimately a user of the confocal scanning microscope can quickly and easily exchange different fiber lasers that have the same fiber connector; in particularly advantageous fashion, this expands application versatility. | {
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This invention relates generally to optical display systems and, more particularly, has reference to a new and improved system for displaying indicia in an automobile.
General production line automobiles typically have a plurality of instruments, indicators and gauges displayed on a dashboard panel behind the steering wheel. These instruments usually include a speedometer, a tachometer, a clock, an odometer, and a trip odometer, various auxiliary gauges for oil pressure, engine temperature, fuel level and battery charge, and a collection of system warning lights. In older cars, the instruments are often electro-mechanical devices with moving needle indicators. Newer models frequently use backlit direct view liquid crystal displays or self-illuminating vacuum fluorescent displays. The instruments are typically arranged in a planar cluster and thus appear to be equidistant from the driver's eyes.
Due to the limited space available in the interior of an automobile, the instrument panel is usually located relatively close (e.g., about two feet) to the driver's eyes. To read direct view instruments, the driver refocuses his eyes from the far range viewing (essentially at infinity) used to observe the road ahead to the near range viewing used to look at the instruments. While such systems generally have served their purposes, there remains a continuing desire for further improvements, particularly in the areas of instrument readability and reduced driver eye strain.
One foreign automobile manufacturer attempted to provide an improved instrument display having a viewing distance slightly beyond the normal dashboard panel position by mounting a transreflective flat folding mirror on the dashboard below a full-size vacuum fluorescent instrument display. Warning lamps were positioned behind the mirror in an attempt to create the effect of a 3-D image. This approach was unsatisfactory in several respects and left considerable room for improvement.
A need exists for an automobile instrument display system which minimizes driver eye strain and enhances instrument readability, particularly for older persons and persons who are far sighted or wear bifocals, by producing an instrument cluster image which is located well beyond (e.g., about one foot or more) the face of the dashboard and a considerable distance (e.g., about four feet or more) from the driver's normal viewing position and by producing an instrument cluster image which creates a dramatic visual impact in the automotive display environment, especially for warning indicators. The desired system would be configured to fit within the existing space/volume currently occupied by the conventional dashboard instrument panel, would provide a display format and viewing angle conditions which were similar to conventional direct view and planar instrument clusters, would provide a display image having comfortable visibility and legibility under all ambient light conditions, would be mass-producible at a cost comparable to a conventional direct view instrument cluster, would be simple in structure, would have an electrical interface which was compatible with an automotive electrical system, and would provide good optical characteristics, especially as regards to readability, image quality, disparity and color. Numerous problems are encountered in attempting to satisfy those needs.
For example, optical complications are caused by geometric conditions which are encountered in the typical automobile environment. For instance, the driver's head and eyes normally to do not remain stationary but move throughout an elliptical viewing area known as the eye motion box or the eyellipse. Drivers also have different seated body lengths and prefer different seat height and position adjustments. An eyellipse of about 8"H.times.5"V.times.10"D centered at about 0.5" from the instrument panel will accommodate most of the driver population. The typical instrument panel viewing angel (i.e., the line-of-sight used to see the instrument panel from the eyellipse) is about 19.degree. below horizontal and the angular subtense (i.e., the amount of scan used to see the entire instrument display) is about 24.degree. H.times.6.degree. V.
Additional complications are caused by the problem of vertical disparity or divergence. When an object field is viewed through an optical system, each eye typically sees a somewhat different view. Vertical disparity is the angular difference along the vertical axis of an object point as viewed by each eye. Vertical disparity has a bearing upon driver viewing comfort. A driver's tolerance limit to vertical disparity influences the complexity of the display optics. An instrument display system should reduce vertical disparity to a level which is commensurate with driver comfort while not unduly complicating the display optics.
Still further complications are caused by the high ambient light conditions which are present in most automobiles. Ambient light includes direct sunlight and specular reflections from surrounding objects which can shine into the driver's eyes and reduce display visibility. The instantaneous dynamic range of an eye adapted to a typical horizon sky luminance of about 3,000 foot-Lamberts (fL) is on the order of about 600:1. Hence, the black level for this eye is about 5fL and all stimuli at luminancelevels of 5fL or less look equally black. Hence, even if there were no transmission losses and no noise (i.e., ambient light falling on and being reflected from the display), the luminance desired for the bright symbols of an instrument display in order to provide the 2:1 contrast generally regarded as adequate for viewing line/graphic images would be about 10 fL. This brightness should be provided by the electrical power available in an. automobile.
A uniform high contrast and uniform bright image of the instrument is also desired, even in these high ambient light conditions. However, the two conventional ways to diffuse light across a viewing area, i.e., opaque lambertian diffusion and high gain backlit diffusion, may be unsatisfactory in certain situations. In the case of lambertian diffusion, the light is scattered equally in all directions. Where the optical system utilizes the diffused light only within a small angular cone directed into the eye motion box, radiation outside this cone tends to become stray light which causes high background levels and reduced contrast ratio. High gain backlit diffusing screens scatter the light into a narrower angular cone and thus improve the effective optical efficiency, but the resulting display uniformity over the viewing area can be unsatisfactory. There may be an undesirable drop-off in brightness at the edge of the eye motion box.
Additional complications arise from the desire to provide a display system which is harmonious with the general styling of the automobile interior and which has high customer acceptance and appeal. In this regard, the system should be packaged to fit within the existing dashboard space now occupied by a conventional direct view instrument display, should be mass-producible at a reasonable cost, should provide a multi-color image, and should provide an image source whose stability, drift, latency and persistence are such that the image is not difficult to interpret nor aesthetically objectionable. it would also be desirable to provide an instrument which had a distinctive or highly stylistic appearance.
The present invention overcomes these problems and satisfies the need for an improved instrument display system. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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DHNA has been known to be useful for industrial materials as dyes, pigments or photographic sensitive materials, and heretofore various synthetic methods by organic chemical synthesis have been developed. As a result of extensive studies by the inventors of the present invention on alternative method for production of DHNA, they have found that a large amount of DHNA could be produced by propionic acid bacteria in or outside the cell and they have found that a composition containing DHNA, or 1,4-dihydroxy-2-naphthoic acid or a salt thereof isolated from the culture had an action for reducing abdominal discomfort caused by lactose intolerance observed at the time of ingestion of milk and at the same time it was useful for prevention and treatment of metabolic bone disease (Patent document 1).
Although according to such a method, it has become possible to use DHNA for beverages and pharmaceutical products, the composition containing DHNA is not always satisfactory in terms of flavor and as a result it has been difficult to use it frequently for commercial products.
[Patent document 1]: WO 03/016544 | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to drying apparatus, and more particularly, to apparatus for drying the body of a person.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electric body dryers are convenient and efficient as a replacement for towel drying. For example, they reduce maintenance costs and improve unsanitary conditions associated with towel drying, particularly in locker rooms, hotels, and public washrooms. Problems of towel theft are eliminated. Body dryers used in public places can be mounted in the ceiling or on a wall to prevent vandalism and theft.
A body dryer would also be quite useful at home, particularly as a supplement to towel drying. Towel drying can be insufficient, particularly in a damp shower area, or in warm, humid weather. After a shower or bath, one is frequently left with a damp, sticky feeling which can be eliminated with a body dryer.
The need for body dryers is demonstrated in the art such as through U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,977,455, 3,128,161, 3,449,838, 3,621,199, 3,711,958, 3,878,621, 4,558,526, and 4,594,797. The use of portable body dryers is contemplated by U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,797, in which the means for supplying air is located near the top end of the dryer. Inclusion of a hand-held hose or other air duct adapted for drying hair is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,128,161, 3,878,621, and 4,594,797. However, none of the prior art suggests the desirability of incorporating a stationary nozzle on the dryer to facilitate hair drying or the like while allowing the operator's hands to be free. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to a kite and more specifically to a kite for use at night and having a shining and glittering effect dependent on the orientation of the kite.
Kites have been and remain one of the most interesting child's toys. Along with other technological advances the designs of kites have also changed and improved. However, most kites heretofore known can only be flown during the daytime and are not suitable to be flown at night because the user can not easily see and control the movement of the kite. Further, when flying a kite at night, one must be careful not to catch the kite on elevated objects. And if many kites are flown in the same vicinity at night, there is a risk that the kites would entangle with each other and eventually drop to the ground. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates to packages for compact discs.
Compact discs are conventionally stored in multiple-part clear plastic cases called Jewel cases. The cases often have a base, a tray inserted in the base with a rosette for gripping the inner opening of a compact disc, and a cover hinged to the base. Jewel cases are expensive and require other packaging materials, such as inserts, covers or boards for carrying graphics. The Jewel cases may be separated from the graphics once they are opened.
Because compact discs have long been popular, replacing tapes and records for audio reproductions, storage equipment for Jewel cases has been largely developed.
Attempts have been made to replace the Jewel cases with less expensive packages made out of combinations of plastic and paperboard.
Needs exist to provide improved plastic and paperboard combined packages for compact discs. The needs are particularly accelerated and emphasized by the current expansion of use of compact discs as read only memories, ROM's, for computers. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to differential amplifiers and more particularly to open-loop differential amplifiers.
2. Description of the Related Art
A differential amplifier is one whose output is proportional to the difference between two input signals. The input port of differential amplifiers is typically arranged to respond to signal differences and to suppress signals that are common to the inputs. Differential amplifiers are widely used in linear integrated circuits, e.g., they are a fundamental component of operational amplifiers. A basic building block of differential amplifiers is the differential pair; a pair of transistors whose emitters (sources) are coupled to a current source and whose bases (gates) form an input port. The difference in voltage at the input port steers the current of the current source between the collectors (drains).
FIG. 1A illustrates a typical differential amplifier 20 having a differential pair 21 of bipolar junction transistors 22 and 23. The emitters of the differential pair 21 have their emitters respectively coupled through source resistors 24 and 25 to a current source 26. The source resistors each have a resistance value of R.sub.E. The collectors of the transistors are coupled to a supply voltage V+ by collector load resistors 27 and 28 which each have a resistance value of R.sub.C. The base leads of the two transistors form a differential input port 32 and leads from their collectors form a differential output port 34. The differential voltage gain from input port 30 to output port 32 is given by an approximate gain expression of R.sub.C / R.sub.E.
This approximate gain expression ignores the effects of various transistor parameters which include the small-signal emitter resistance r.sub.e (resistance of the forward biased base-emitter junction), current gain .beta. (the ratio of collector current change to a change of base current) and the Early voltage V.sub.A (an imaginary voltage useful in defining an increase in collector current which occurs as the collector-emitter voltage is increased).
The emitter resistance r.sub.e modifies the differential amplifier's approximate gain expression because, in each of the transistors 22, 23, this resistance is in series with that transistors' external source resistor (24 or 25). Changes in current gain .beta. (e.g., because of temperature movement) cause current variations across load resistors which results in altered amplifier gain. The Early voltage is associated with collector current changes that result when the base width is modulated by variations in the collector-emitter voltage. These collector current variations cause undesirable changes in the amplifier gain.
All transistor parameters are sensitive to changes in operating conditions, e.g., temperature, bias current and supply voltage. Their values also vary across transistor production lots. Therefore, the differential amplifier 20 finds its most effective use in circuits that can accommodate significant changes in the approximate gain expression of R.sub.C / R.sub.E. In applications that demand a more stable and accurate gain, the differential gain can be accurately set by the use of negative feedback, e.g., by the addition of feedback resistors 36 and 38 as shown in broken lines in the differential amplifier 40 of FIG. 1B. However, negative feedback generally requires the addition of frequency compensation circuits to achieve closed-loop stability. As a result, the amplifier's gain bandwidth is reduced. Therefore, closed-loop amplifiers are not an attractive option in circuits that operate at the highest attainable speed.
An example of such a circuit is a residue amplifier that is typically used in subranging analog-to-digital (A/D) converters. These converters are among the fastest of all A/D converters and are used in a variety of high-speed data acquisition systems, e.g., television video digitizing, medical imaging and radar detection. The residue amplifier responds to the difference between the converter's analog input and the output of a coarse-bit quantizer wherein the quantizer output is first modified by a reconstruction D/A converter. The amplified difference is fed to a fine-bit quantizer and the output of both quantizers is combined to form the A/D converter's digital code.
A large bandwidth in the residue amplifier is essential for realizing superior A/D resolution and high conversion speed. At the same time, stable and accurate gain of the residue amplifier is required to avoid conversion errors due to mismatching between the difference signal range and the range of the fine-bit quantizer.
Exemplary subranging A/D converters are described in the following references: William T. Colleran et al., "A 10-b, 75 MHz Two-Stage Pipelined Bipolar A/D Converter", IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 28, No. 12, December, 1993, pp. 1187-1199 and Takahiro Miki, et al., "A 10-b, 50 MS/s, 500-mW A/D Converter Using a Differential-Voltage Subconverter", IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 29, No. 4, April, 1994, pp. 516-521. No attempt has been made in the former reference to stabilize the gain of its residue amplifier. In the latter reference, on-chip replica circuits are used with external control amplifiers to force a match between the difference signal range and the range of the fine-bit quantizer.
An exemplary differential subtractor (residue amplifier) for use in a two-step parallel A/D converter (subranging A/D converter) is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,207. This subtractor is arranged to limit the difference in emitter currents of a differential pair and to maintain substantially equal base-emitter voltages in the differential pair. However, this structure is still vulnerable to the gain-modifying effects discussed above. | {
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The present invention relates to a new and distinct perennial variety of Westringia fruticosa, which has been given the variety denomination of ‘WES04’. Its market class is that of an ornamental shrub. ‘WES04’ is intended for use in general landscaping and as a decorative plant.
Parentage: The Westringia fruticosa variety ‘WES04’ is the result of a controlled pollination breeding program from 2004 to 2009 in Cobbitty, NSW Australia. ‘WES04’ is a progeny of said breeding program which resulted from the cross pollination of male parent line Westringia fruticosa ‘x2003.7.5’ (unpatented) and female parent line Westringia fruticosa ‘x2003.7.2’ (unpatented). Controlled pollination of the parents occurred in September of 2004 and resulting seed from said cross was sown in March of 2005 in accord with standard greenhouse propagation practices. In October of 2005, the resulting young plants were transplanted into 10 cm nursery containers and relocated to an outdoor trial area for field observations. Progeny were further observed for desired commercial characteristics, some were subsequently eliminated and remaining candidates were transplanted into the ground for further observation. In October 2009, ‘WES04’ was selected for its rotund (or ball-shaped) growth habit, very compact size, gray foliage color and white flowers. The cultivar was named ‘WES04’.
Asexual Reproduction: ‘WES04’ was first propagated asexually by division in the state of Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia in October of 2009 and has since been asexually propagated by division through six successive generations. The distinctive characteristics of the inventive ‘WES04’ variety are stable from generation to generation; clones of the variety produced by asexual reproduction maintain the distinguishing characteristics of the original plant. | {
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This invention relates to a stop valve for shutting off a flow of fluid, and in particular to a stop valve having a main valve body formed with a central aperture and a secondary valve body to close or open the aperture. | {
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Integrated circuits include analog and digital circuits made up of circuit components, such as transistors, diodes, and resistors. Sometimes, the function of one component is provided by another component, such as when transistors are configured to provide the function of a diode or a resistor.
In some logic circuits, referred to as ratioed logic circuits, resistors are connected as loads to transistors. In a ratioed logic circuit inverter, a resistive pull-up is connected to a transistor pull-down. The resistance value of the resistive pull-up is chosen to provide a low output voltage in one logic state and to charge the output to a high output voltage in the other logic state. A higher resistance value provides a lower output voltage and reduces power consumption.
In some semiconductor processes, providing a resistor with a higher resistance value consumes a large amount of valuable real estate on the integrated circuit chip. To reduce the amount of real estate used, the resistor function can be provided with a transistor, such as by connecting the drain of a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistor (MOSFET) to its gate. In some processes, providing a higher resistance value with a drain-to-gate connected MOSFET is difficult. | {
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Metabolic syndrome, a condition thought to be caused by a combination of obesity, sedentary lifestyle, diet and genetics, has been found to increase the risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The main characteristics of this syndrome are abdominal obesity, atherogenic dyslipidemia (elevated blood triglycerides, reduced HDL cholesterol), elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance (IR) (with or without glucose intolerance), prothrombotic and proinflammatory states and endothelial dysfunction. During the past 20 years, metabolic syndrome has become highly prevalent in North America, currently affecting an estimated 50% of the population older than 60 years.
Insulin resistance, one of the characteristics of metabolic syndrome, is defined as an impaired ability of insulin to stimulate glucose uptake and lipolysis and to modulate liver and muscle lipid metabolism. In animals and humans, insulin resistance syndrome leads to compensatory hyperinsulinemia and to various defects in lipid metabolism such as enhanced secretion of atherogenic, triacylglycerol-rich very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL), increased liberation of nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) from adipose tissue and increased accumulation of triacylglycerols in the liver.
Current therapies in prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes include diet and drugs. Dietary strategies designed to diminish the risk of heart disease associated with insulin resistance syndrome and type 2 diabetes are currently not well established. The most common approach is the recommendation to lower intake of total calories, especially fat and sugar, and to increase intake of fibers. The typical pharmacologic approach to the treatment of this disease focuses on drugs targeting obesity, glucose-lowering medications (e.g., metformin and acarbose) and more recently, insulin sensitizers such as PPAR-α and PPAR-γ activators, fibrates and thiazolidienodiones (TZDs). Unfortunately, therapies involving existing drugs have limited efficacy or tolerability and show significant side effects. There exists a need to provide a safe and effective method of treating metabolic syndrome and the diseases associated with it.
In the United States alone, approximately 24 million people suffer from diabetes with approximately 1.3 million being diagnosed with the disease each year. An aging population, rising obesity rates and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle have been attributed to the increase in incidence and prevalence. Furthermore, a rapid increase of type 2 diabetes in persons 30-39 years of age and in children and adolescents has been of special concern. Global prevalence rates are expected to increase from 6.4% and 285 million in 2010 to 7.7% and 439 million by 2030.
Clinical treatment goals for type 2 diabetes are directed towards lowering blood glucose levels to forestall diabetes related complications. More recently, the use of pharmacotherapies and their negative impact on cardiovascular risk have caused concern over available treatment modalities. An increased risk of myocardial ischemia has been identified with thiazolidinedione use, while earlier studies have linked Sulphonylureas to increased cardiovascular risk. Of further concern have been the contrasting outcomes of the ACCORD study which reported that lowering blood glucose to normal levels was associated with increased mortality, but the ADVANCE study did not report such findings. Such controversies in the results may suggest that treatment strategies for type 2 diabetes are not fully understood.
This begs the question if improving glycemia is sufficient to provide clinical merit in the treatment algorithm for diabetes. Currently, several therapeutic strategies include metformin in the management algorithm for type 2 diabetes with mono, di and tri therapy needing to be added to the algorithm. Therapies involving existing pharmaceuticals have limited efficacy or tolerability and show significant side effects. Many of the side effects of pharmaceuticals are thought to be associated with nutritional deficiencies caused by medications taken over a period of time ultimately resulting in a cascade of biochemical changes due to drug associated nutrient depletion. Unfortunately, long term treatment with metformin has been reported to cause vitamin B12 deficiencies. Despite the available treatment modalities, the risk of cardiovascular events has increased 2-4 fold in patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. As a patient's beta cell function declines, intensified treatment beyond the initial monotherapy regimen is required. The prevalence of obesity is also a concern in these patients and is thought to be a driver of cardiovascular events.
The “State of Diabetes in America” report on diabetes management evaluated current management strategies and found that, despite advances in diabetes care, blood sugar levels of millions of Americans were not controlled putting them at risk of diabetes related complications. It is possible that effective combination therapies that consist of pharmaceutical drugs and nutraceutical products may provide a new treatment algorithm that would be beneficial to diabetic patients who do not respond to drug therapy alone.
A 2005 report from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) stated that 2 out of 3 Americans with type 2 diabetes did not achieve the AACE recommended blood sugar control goal of ≦6.5%. Nationally, an average of 67% of people with type 2 diabetes had blood sugar levels exceeding the AACE recommended goal. These numbers have a direct impact on cardiovascular disease risk factors for this population of subjects. NHANES 1999-2000 reported that only 7.3% of all adults diagnosed with type 2 diabetes were within acceptable range for the cardiovascular disease risk factors of HbA1c, blood pressure and total cholesterol. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) acknowledges the importance of nutritional medicine in medical practice and in their guidelines identifies “complementary” or “integrative nutritionals” as products that may be used in combination with FDA approved therapies.
Needs exist for compositions and methods that provide anti-diabetic and anti-hyperlipidemia benefits to diabetic subjects currently on medication but not meeting ACCE and ADA recommended targets for blood glucose, HbA1c, blood pressure and total cholesterol. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a quantity-of-light adjusting device for adjusting a quantity of light by driving an iris, or to an optical apparatus having the quantity-of-light adjusting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The video apparatuses such as video cameras have made conspicuous advancement of late. As a result, these apparatuses, especially camera-integrated video tape recorders, have come to be equipped with automatic quantity-of-light adjusting devices in general.
The conventional quantity-of-light adjusting method which has been employed for such a camera-integrated video tape recorder is as described below with reference to FIG. 5:
Incident light representative of an image of a shooting object comes through a lens optical system 1. The incident light is imaged on the pickup image plane of an image sensor 3 after the quantity of the light is adjusted by means of iris blades 2 of a quantity-of-light adjusting mechanism (hereinafter referred to as iris). The object image which is thus formed on the image sensor 3 is photo-electrically converted into an pickup image signal. The pickup image signal is sent to a camera signal processing circuit 4. The camera signal processing circuit 4 performs various processes such as a gamma conversion process, etc., on the image signal to obtain a chrominance signal C and a luminance signal Y.gamma. as a video signal. The video signal is further processed by a camera encoder 5 which conforms, for example, to the NTSC system and is then outputted to the outside from a camera part in the form of a composite video signal.
Meanwhile, a luminance signal Y obtained also at the camera signal processing circuit 4 is sent to a detection circuit 6 for generating a control signal for the purpose of controlling the iris blades 2 in such a way as to make an exposure apposite to the luminance state of the image plane. The luminance signal Y is sent also to an AF (automatic focusing) block 7 for focusing. At the detection circuit 6, the luminance signal Y is subjected, for example, to an integrating detection process. After the integrating detection, the luminance signal is sent to a comparison circuit 8 which is disposed within a microcomputer 14. The comparison circuit 8 compares the luminance signal with a reference value (an apposite exposure value). A difference thus obtained is sent to a multiplier 9. The multiplier 9 then multiplies the difference by a coefficient corresponding to the position of the iris blades 2. The output signal of the multiplier 9 is sent from the microcomputer 14 to a driver 10. The driver 10 makes this signal from the microcomputer 14 into an apposite voltage. The driver sends the voltage to an actuator 11 to drive the iris blades 2.
The actuator 11 and the driver 10 are arranged as shown in FIG. 6. The iris driving signal outputted from the microcomputer 14 is integrated by an operational amplifier 21 and is then applied to a driving coil 22 of the actuator 11. As a result, a magnetic field is generated at the driving coil 22. The magnetic field causes a magnet rotor 23 to rotate. An arm 24 is mounted on the rotor 23. The tip of the arm 24 then moves the iris blades 2 to vary the aperture position of the iris. Further, the arm 24 is pulled by a spring 25 and its movement is arranged to be brought to a stop by one of stoppers 26. When the rotor 23 rotates, an electromotive voltage is generated at a damping coil 27. The voltage is fed back to the operational amplifier 21 for feedback control over the iris. Further, a magnetic flux density for a Hall element 28 changes when the rotor 23 rotates. The output of the Hall element 28 comes to the operational amplifier 29 to be amplified there. The amplified output of the Hall element 28 is sent to the microcomputer 14 as information on the position of the iris blades 2, i.e., as an aperture value.
In order to arrange a video camera in a smaller size, the size of a quantity-of-light adjusting device also must be reduced. However, the reduction in size of the quantity-of-light adjusting device makes it hardly possible to have a sufficient number of turns of the damping coil. Then, it becomes hardly possible to obtain an adequate performance for adjustment of the quantity of light.
To solve this problem, a device has been proposed as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 2-239782. This device is arranged to omit the damping coil and to perform feedback control over the speed of the rotor by using, in place of the damping coil, the output of the Hall element which detects the angle of rotation of the rotor. However, analog information obtained from the analog signal of the Hall element is directly used for the feedback control. | {
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Integrated arrangements may include multiple conductive levels over a semiconductor substrate. The conductive levels may be vertically stacked relative to one another such that some conductive levels are under other conductive levels. The conductive levels may comprise wiring or other conductive structures. It may be desired to form an interconnect which extends from a conductive structure of an upper conductive level, through one or more of the lower conductive levels, and to an underlying structure (for instance, a diffusion region associated with the semiconductor substrate). It can be difficult to form such interconnects. If the interconnects serpentine around conductive wiring within the lower conductive levels, the interconnects will be long and will have higher resistance (i.e., increased IR drop) than would shorter interconnects. If instead the interconnects are formed to directly pass through underlying conductive levels, the interconnects will advantageously be short and have desired low resistance. However, the wiring within the underlying conductive levels may end up serpentining around the interconnects and accordingly will be lengthened and have higher resistance than if the wiring were shorter.
It would be desirable to develop new integrated arrangements in which interconnects extend from a conductive structure of an upper conductive level, through one or more lower conductive levels, and to an underlying structure; while avoiding the problems discussed above. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present disclosure relates to acoustic noise in a system, and more specifically, to reducing acoustic noise in a system. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Test Systems are designed to diagnose production faults of assembled printed circuit (PC) boards which go into electronic products. Test equipment for testing various PC boards has been in use which allows in-circuit testing of the PC board, where testing is done on one element on the board to determine if a particular element on the board is working properly. In a different test of the PC board, functional testing of the PC board can be accomplished where the PC board is allowed to function as a whole to determine if the entire board is functioning properly. A typical test of a PC board then, includes incircuit testing which is then followed by a functional test of the PC board. This two-stage testing has heretofore typically been done on test equipment requiring two test fixtures or on an extensive; elaborate test fixture due to the following constraints.
In in-circuit testing, wires in the test equipment are used to connect signal sources and supply a stimulus to the device under test and a data response is carried back to the test system so that in in-circuit testing there is control over the signal source and the effects of a probe from the test system to the device under test are not of concern. In in-circuit testing there is maximum current flow through the wires, overdriving the device under test so that results at a previous node can be overridden.
In functional testing there is a stimulus supplied to the input end of the whole board under test and data is read at the output end of the board under test. Digital circuits are switching circuits which go from zero to one at a high clock rate and placing a probe on each point in the device under test will cause capacitive loading of the high clock rate digital circuit. Increased capacitance will load the circuit and will produce undesired responses on the rising and falling edges of digital signals so that the probe delays effects expected by the device under test and the fast edge response of the digital signal is altered. As the transient response observed at the device under test does not reach valid logic levels immediately, the delay can result in improper functional operation of the device under test. Also, wired in the test equipment are used to connect probes or sensors to the test system at different test points. Test signals are distorted by the impedance loading of the wires of the test equipment. Functional testing, therefore, should be done with as little loading effect as possible being perpetrated by the test instrument. To overcome this problem in functional testing, an inductor has been used in series with the device under test to change the resonant frequency so that signal quality is not affected by increased capacitance. Increased impedance to the test system and the wires minimizes the effects of the test system on the device under test and serves to isolate the device under test from the test system thereby allowing proper functional operation of the device under test.
Therefore what has been desired in the prior art is to reduce the capacitive loading of the test equipment on the device under test for functional testing and to still allow the test system to receive signals back from the device under test through the inductor for in-circuit testing.
However, the prior art implementation does not allow pulsing large direct current as generated by in-circuit testing. In the prior art, the inductor used in series with the device under test was so large that it did not saturate which delayed and distorted pulsing signals received in incircuit testing and therefore the inductor functioned to decouple the device under test from the test equipment in in-circuit testing.
Until now, these two tests, in-circuit testing and functional testing, have been performed by a test system having two test fixtures so that the loading effects of the in-circuit test system did not effect the functional testing of the PC board. This has been costly and inefficient, typically requiring the use of two test fixtures to properly test a PC board.
One manufacturer has attempted to minimize the problem by providing a two-stage test fixture whereby in-circuit testing is done on one plane with very short probes so that during in-circuit testing all the probes are connected to the board under test. For functional testing, the board under test is released half way up so that only longer probes remain in contact with the board under test to break the connection between the test system and the board under test so that there is no capacative loading. This still requires physical movement of the board under test to accomplish the two desired tests and requires the use of very expensive test equipment. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to artificial putting greens and more particularly, to an adjustable and folding putting green which is characterized by a playing surface frame and a flexible playing surface, both of which are adapted for folding into an enclosure for storage and extension from the enclosure in playing configuration. The playing surface frame is further provided with spaced adjusting levers which are selectively attached to the playing surface and may be manipulated individually or in concert to vary the topography, contour or terrain of the playing surface and simulate actual putting conditions on a golf course. A rotating cup member is provided at the target end of the playing surface frame and includes cups located in varying positions to create a variety of putting conditions. A player support is hinged to the opposite end of the playing surface frame to facilitate a support or stand for the putter.
The game of golf has long enjoyed great popularity among people of all ages. An integral part of the game of golf is putting and extensive practice is required in order to gain proficiency in the art of putting on a golf course. Accordingly, it has become customary to practice putting indoors on a flexible material resembling an artificial grass-like ground covering sold under the trademark "Astroturf" or on carpet in an office or home, as well as on the golf course. Unfortunately, these artificial surfaces seldom accurately duplicate the actual conditions found on a golf course, since the topography and contour of the greens may vary widely on any golf course.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various devices are known in the art for simulating putting greens in order to practice putting. An early "Putting Green" is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,384,723, dated Sept. 11, 1945, to W.F. Brodzik, et al. The putting green is constructed of a pile fabric wherein the piles are characterized by tufts of angora, mohair or other natural or synthetic fiber having substantially the same characteristics of resilience and stiffness. A "Variable-Surface Game Table" is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,170,694, dated Feb. 23, 1965, to J.P. Dolce. The table includes a substantially horizontal playing field for supporting rolling spherical elements and is characterized by selectively actuating an adjusting mechanism to variably raise and lower the surface areas of the field and create a surface contouring effect. U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,917, dated Apr. 17, 1973, to George D. MacLean, details a "Variable Contour Golf Putting Device". The device includes multiple hingedly interconnected base sections extendible to form an elongated golf putting surface, along with a flexible, continuous associated surface covering. The apparatus is adjustable for varying putting surface contours and is collapsible to an easily portable package by interconnecting adjoining base sections with hinges located alternately at the top and bottom surfaces thereof. Also provided are multiple pegs and blocks for supporting adjacent base sections at different selected elevations. A "Variable Contour Miniature Golf Surface" is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,949, dated Aug. 27, 1974, to Georges Henning. The golf device is characterized by a foldable unit adapted to play mini-golf by putting thereon and arranged to play a multi-hole game therewith by arranging the same into a desired number of different configurations. A variable mini-golf unit includes multiple floor sections interconnected by multiple connecting ramp sections, each section being pivoted end-to-end and having lateral side walls to form a continuous floor path and having legs pivoted to each floor section to selectively elevate the latter relative to other floor sections. Angularly adjustable deflection bars are pivoted onto the floor sections and the floor path to vary the difficulty of putting a ball into a hole, the sections being of progressively increasing width to facilitate folding one within the lateral confines of the side wall of the other, to form a compact package. A "Portable Golf Game" is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,391, dated June 24, 1986, to Leo P. Carolan, Jr. The golf game includes a planar playing surface formed of multiple segment portions, one end of the playing surface having a location thereon for placement of a cup for receiving golf balls. Walls extend substantially normal to the playing surface located partly around the edge thereof, with predetermined locations indicated on portions of the playing surface and at least one obstacle member for placement on the playing surface at the predetermined location and increasing the difficulty of play. At least two of the playing surface segment portions are selectively joined to form a container for containment of the other segment portions and the obstacle members.
It is an object of this invention to provide an adjustable and folding putting green which is characterized by a playing surface frame assembled in hinged segments and adapted for folding in stored configuration and extension to present an adjustable practice putting surface in functional configuration.
Another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable and folding putting green which includes an enclosure, a playing surface frame characterized by hinged segments provided with a playing surface, with multiple adjusting levers mounted in the playing surface frame for selective attachment to the playing surface and adjusting the contour of the playing surface to simulate actual putting conditions.
Still another object of this invention is to provide an adjustable and folding putting green for practicing putting in the game of golf, which putting green is characterized by an enclosure, at least two playing surface frame segments hingedly connected for folding in the enclosure in stored configuration and extension from the enclosure in playing configuration, a playing surface adjustably mounted on the playing surface frame segments and multiple adjusting levers pivotally mounted in the playing surface frame in alternating, spaced relationship, and adapted for selective attachment to the playing surface and adjusting the contour of the playing surface and simulating actual putting conditions on a golf course.
Another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable and folding putting green which is characterized by an enclosure, a hinged playing surface frame provided with an adjustable playing surface, which playing surface and playing surface frame are hingedly foldable into the enclosure in stored configuration and extendible from the enclosure in playing configuration, multiple levers pivotally and adjustably provided in spaced, alternating pivoting relationship in the playing surface frame for selectively engaging the playing surface and adjusting the contour of the playing surface and a rotating cup member located inside the enclosure for adjusting the cup position in the adjustable and folding putting green. | {
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HIV-1 (human immunodeficiency virus-1) infection remains a major medical problem, with an estimated 33.6 million people infected worldwide. The number of cases of HIV and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) has risen rapidly. In 1999, 5.6 million new infections were reported, and 2.6 million people died from AIDS. Currently available drugs for the treatment of HIV include six nucleoside reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors (zidovudine, didanosine, stavudine, lamivudine, zalcitabine and abacavir), three non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (nevirapine, delavirdine and efavirenz), and five peptidomimetic protease inhibitors (saquinavir, indinavir, ritonavir, nelfmavir and amprenavir). Each of these drugs can only transiently restrain viral replication if used alone. However, when used in combination, these drugs have a profound effect on viremia and disease progression. In fact, significant reductions in death rates among AIDS patients have been recently documented as a consequence of the widespread application of combination therapy. However, despite these impressive results, 30 to 50% of patients ultimately fail combination drug therapies. Insufficient drug potency, non-compliance, restricted tissue penetration and drug-specific limitations within certain cell types (e.g. most nucleoside analogs cannot be phosphorylated in resting cells) may account for the incomplete suppression of sensitive viruses. Furthermore, the high replication rate and rapid turnover of HIV-1 combined with the frequent incorporation of mutations, leads to the appearance of drug-resistant variants and treatment failures when sub-optimal drug concentrations are present (Larder and Kemp; Gulick; Kuritzkes; Morris-Jones et al; Schinazi et al; Vaccaand Condra; Flexner; Berkhout and Ren et al; (Ref 6-14)). Therefore, novel anti-HIV agents exhibiting distinct resistance patterns, and favorable pharmacokinetic as well as safety profiles are needed to provide more treatment options.
Currently marketed HIV-1 drugs are dominated by either nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors or peptidomimetic protease inhibitors. Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) have recently gained an increasingly important role in thetherapy of HIV infections (Pedersen & Pedersen, Ref. 15). At least 30 different classes of NNRTI have been described in the literature (De Clercq, Ref. 16) and several NNRTIs have been evaluated in clinical trials. Dipyridodiazepinone (nevirapine), benzoxazinone (efavirenz) and bis(heteroaryl)piperazine derivatives (delavirdine) have been approved for clinical use. However, the major drawback to the development and application of NNRTIs is the propensity for rapid emergence of drug resistant strains, both in tissue cell culture and in treated individuals, particularly those subject to monotherapy. As a consequence, there is considerable interest in the identification of NNRTIs less prone to the development of resistance (Pedersen &Pedersen, Ref. 15).
Certain azaindole derivatives have demonstrated inhibitory activity against HIV. Such compounds, include the compound of formula 8:
which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,476,034, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
In order to promote the development and production of effective new drugs and treatments for HIV, such as the compounds of U.S. Pat. No. 6,476,034, new methods of preparing these drugs which are more cost and time efficient are required. The present invention seeks to provide such methods. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention has utility in packaging electronic equipment, particularly in data processing systems where signal transmission may occur at very high clock speeds, for example, above 100 MHz.
It is known to interconnect electronic printed circuit boards in a card cage or other form of chassis, utilizing, for example, coaxial and multi-coaxial cable, ribbon cable, fiber optic cable, and the like. In this way, power, data, and control signals may be conducted between circuit boards.
In data processing systems wherein signals are transmitted at very high clock speeds it is desirable to have cabling which provides a matched signal length. That is, two or more signals generated simultaneously into a cable should arrive simultaneously at the other end of the cable. The term "signal skew", as used hereinafter, refers to the extent one such signal arrives ahead of another through a transmission medium. Because of the very high speed operation of the logic circuits in such a data processing system, incorrect logic states can result if signals are delayed relative to other signals.
It is also desirable to provide a cable which is substantially immune from noise. In addition, the cable should have minimal signal attenuation.
In dense electronic packaging configurations, utilizing high speed logic, wherein a significant amount of heat may be generated, it is also desirable to minimize cable interconnections which would block the flow of a coolant fluid, such as air, through the packaging structure. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to user health assessment. The present invention more specifically relates to determining the effects of risk factors on user health.
2. Description of the Related Art
Keeping track of various aspects of personal health is an important part of living a long and productive life. To that end, various services are available to assist people in tracking different aspects of their health. For example, numerous web services provide general health information to a user. These informational services provide articles, discussion forums, and other educational information. These web services allow users to search, retrieve, and review content of particular interest or applicability. For example, one existing web service provides specific information for diabetes while another service provides information related to controlling blood pressure.
Other web services provide calorie information for foods that a user might eat. Such services allow users to list those foods consumed by the user and calculate a corresponding breakdown of the calories. This type of service is inconvenient, however, in that it requires a user to track all foods that are eaten throughout the course of a day much less a single meal. Most users, too, do not take the initiative to provide their meal information to the meal tracking service to access calorie information. These meal tracking services typically return the number of calories consumed and little additional information. The usefulness of such services is thereby reduced.
Some web services allow a user to submit a question to a practitioner with experience related to the subject matter of the question. The web service will then “post” or otherwise publish the answer to the user's question after some period of time. These web services do not consider any personal information about the user when addressing their question and may provide only broad-based and generalized information that is unlikely to be individually tailored to the requesting user. Further, the answer is posted by the web service and is not kept confidential between the user and the practitioner.
There is a need in the art for a health service that provides health information specific to the needs and health risks of a particular user. Such a service should offer ease of use not only for the end user but also for the entity providing the health information tailored for the particular user. | {
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Recently, a video telephone system (video chatting system) in which users can converse on the phone while seeing the faces of their partners has been generally used with convenience using a personal information processing terminal such as a PC (Personal Computer). In order to realize comfortable communication with conversation partners in the video chatting system, technologies of displaying images of the contacting partners to users as if the users were speaking to the conversation partners face-to-face have been proposed. For example, PTL 1 proposes a technology of displaying, on a display screen for a user, an image of a conversation partner in which depth of the display screen and depth of a direction of a line of sight of the user are reflected according to a change in the line of sight (a position of the eyes) of the user. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to multichip modules (MCMs) that include substrates with a number of semiconductor devices positioned at different locations on the surfaces thereof and, more specifically, to multichip modules that include routing elements overlapping portions of the multichip module substrate or one or more of the semiconductor devices on the substrate. In particular, the present invention relates to a routing element that provides additional circuit traces and that may be used to decrease the lengths of circuit paths across a multichip module.
2. Background of Related Art
Multichip modules have been developed to combine the functionalities of two or more semiconductor devices on a single carrier substrate, such as a circuit board. Conventional multichip modules have included a relatively large carrier substrate with a number of different semiconductor devices occupying different regions on one or both sides thereof. The semiconductor devices may communicate with one another or be connected with terminals of the carrier substrate that, in turn, facilitate communication between the semiconductor devices of the multichip module and external electronic componentry. In either event, electrical signals are typically conveyed by circuit traces that are carried by the carrier substrate.
As the feature densities of semiconductor devices continue to increase, the number of bond pads on semiconductor devices may also increase. In addition, the ever-increasing feature densities of semiconductor devices may be accompanied by decreases in the size of semiconductor devices which, in turn, may result in multichip modules that include increased numbers of semiconductor devices, again increasing the number of bond pads for a particular carrier substrate. Thus, the carrier substrates of state of the art multichip modules must carry ever-increasing numbers of circuit traces to keep up with the ever-increasing numbers of bond pads for which the carrier substrate must provide electrical connections.
To accommodate additional circuit traces, additional conductive and dielectric layers are typically added to carrier substrates. The increase in the manufacturing cost of carrier substrates, however, does not increase a proportionate amount for each additional layer. Rather, while carrier substrates with four layers cost only about 50% more than two-layer carrier substrates, six-layer carrier substrates are about ten times as expensive as two-layer carrier substrates due to decreased yields. Similar cost increases accompany further increases in the complexity of carrier substrates. As additional layers are often added for the purpose of providing relatively few additional circuit traces, the increased cost of a carrier substrate with these additional layers is difficult to justify in this cost-competitive industry.
In addition, due to the ever increasing numbers of circuit traces that are carried upon and within multichip module carrier substrates, the complexities and pathlengths of the circuit traces are also ever increasing in order to minimize electrical interference between traces.
Accordingly, there appears to be a need for apparatus to accommodate electrical connection of increasing numbers of bond pads without requiring an increase in the number of layers and, thus, the complexity of a multichip module carrier substrate. There also appears to be a need for apparatus that electrically connect mutually remote pads or terminals while providing the shortest possible pathlength therebetween. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to bracing devices and particularly to load stabilization devices capable of preventing the incidental and often injurious shifting of cargo within a freight-carrying car such as a truck trailer or train car.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Devices known as dunnage bars have long been used to brace or support cargo items within cargo carrying areas of land, air and sea vehicles. Such devices are particularly required where partial loads are contained within train boxcars, truck trailers and the like, the free space within such vehicles allowing the potentially damaging shifting of cargo on movement of the vehicle. Containerized freight disposed within a truck trailer, for example, is subject to forward/rearward shifting during normal operation of the vehicle. A dunnage device can thus be used to brace a cargo item against shifting movement along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, that is, along the direction of motion thereof. Further, a dunnage bar or similar device can be used to brace multiple cargo elements within a portion of a storage hold by disposing one or more dunnage bars transversely of the storage hold to effectively form a temporary restraining wall within the cargo hold to prevent shifting of cargo contained therein.
Dunnage devices are described by Teachout in U.S. Pat. No. 969,002 and by Sharp in U.S. Pat. No. 3,214,027, these devices being used in environments similar to that for which the present invention is intended. Astrom, in U.S. Pat. No. 891,897, describes a trench brace which is utilized to shore timbers and the like in excavations, the bracing function thus described being similar to the bracing function of a dunnage device and thus falling within the intended use environment of the structure of the present invention. Similar load stabilization and bracing devices are described in the patent literature and are available for use. However, prior art structures have typically been either expensive and difficult to use as well as generally inappropriate for all but a few bracing situations. The more recent cargo bracing or bulkhead systems are structurally complex and difficult to assemble by a single worker, such prior devices and systems also often fail to provide the necessary compressive forces needed to prevent the shifting and tipping of cargo contained within a freight storage compartment of a moving vehicle. The present invention provides an effective dunnage brace capable of resisting shifting, sliding and tipping movement of cargo items, the present structure being relatively inexpensive, light in weight and structurally simple while exhibiting maximum strength and providing maximum stability to a load which would otherwise be loosely contained within a cargo hold and therefore subject to potentially damaging movement on movement of the vehicle. Accordingly, the invention intends improvement over the structures of the prior art and exhibits advantages thereover as will be more fully referred to hereinafter. | {
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Patent Document 1 discloses a canister that is mounted on a vehicle. The canister comprises an inflow port that is coupled to a fuel tank in the vehicle, an outflow port that is coupled to an intake flow passage of an internal combustion engine in the vehicle, and an atmosphere port that communicate an interior of the canister with an exterior of the canister. In the canister, air flows into a gas flow passage that leads to the atmosphere port from the inflow port, with the air containing an evaporated fuel that is generated in the fuel tank when the vehicle is not in motion. The evaporated fuel is adsorbed to an adsorbent made of a granulated activated carbon or the like that is arranged inside the gas flow passage. As a result of an intake through the canister during an operation of the internal combustion engine, air that entered from the atmosphere port performs purging of the interior of the canister. Then, the evaporated fuel that is adsorbed to the adsorbent is desorbed from the adsorbent and flows into the intake flow passage of the internal combustion engine through the outflow port. | {
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This invention relates to machines for the working of elongated objects. These elongated objects can be profiles made from wood, plastics or metal, i.e. extruded aluminum profiles. The means comprises sections for: feeding in profiles, working the profiles and then feeding out the worked profiles. Optionally, between the working section and the feeding out section a means for cutting worked profiles may be provided to alter the length of the profile. The means also comprises arrangements for linear movement of the profiles through the sections.
Working of wooden, plastic and metal profiles mainly includes threading, hole-making and making of slots and grooves. In certain applications the geometric shape of the holes, grooves and/or slots may vary or have unusual shapes, for example, when working hollow aluminum profiles for use as window frames or the like.
It is already known to work profiles in a machine which comprises sections for feeding in the profile, working it and feeding the worked profile out after the working operation is complete. This machine also comprises moving arrangements for the linear movement of the profile through the sections where working occurs. The profile to be worked is clamped by fastening means, so-called clamps, which grip the profile. In order to achieve sufficient stability of the profile during the working, it should be clamped on both sides of the working area. The working tools which are used to work the profile, i.e. milling cutter or drill, are mounted in motor driven spindles. During working, the tools move relative to the profile along the length axis of the tool. Where the particular hole is intended to also be elongated in, for example, the length direction of the profile, the profile is moved during working. This compound working operation is made possible when the clamps which hold the profile during the working are so-called roller clamps, i.e. the profile is clamped between rolls which can rotate around their own axes and thereby make it possible to move the profile during working while restraining the worked object in one or more directions. Where multiple working operations are desired, the working tools are positioned linearly or sequentially along the working section. Accordingly, where more than one operation must be accomplished on the profile, the working section can become undesirably long. It is therefore an object of the present invention to reduce the length of the work area required to work the elongated object.
Additionally, important factors in the working of profiles are speed and precision. Accordingly, it is a further object of the present invention to make possible the working of the object with greater precision and also with less time consumption. This is achieved by the apparatus of the present invention which allows for clamping the elongated object in close proximity to the working tool holders, thereby increasing the precision of the working operation, and further allows for the performance of simultaneous multiple working operations on the elongated object with the working tool holders in close proximity to each other and the elongated object.
Other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood however, that the specification and drawings are intended for the purposes of illustrating the preferred embodiments and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to integrated circuits. More particularly, this invention relates to integrated circuits that provide high capacitance.
Very often, electrical circuits require a high capacitance ranging from a few tens of picofarads to a few thousand picofarads (i.e., nanofarads). Such high capacitance is used, for example, to compensate a servo loop or to delay signal timing. However, integrated circuits typically can provide capacitance only in the tens of picofarads because of the practicalities and economics of integrated circuit fabrication.
A common solution is to add an external or discrete capacitor to an integrated circuit requiring high capacitance. However, this requires a connection from the external capacitor to an integrated circuit package pin, which in many instances may not be available. Moreover, physical space for the addition of an external capacitor may also not be available depending on the component density and packaging of the system or device in which the integrated circuit is used.
As used herein, the term “integrated circuit” does not necessarily refer to a complete integrated circuit chip, but can instead refer to an integrated circuit portion of an integrated circuit chip. However, an integrated circuit does not refer to more than one integrated circuit chip.
Another known solution is to use area ratios of transistors on an integrated circuit to effectively “multiply” existing capacitance in the circuit to provide a desired high equivalent capacitance. However, capacitance multiplication is very sensitive to variations in transistor current gain, which in turn is sensitive to process variations and operating temperatures. Thus, known integrated multiplier circuits cannot be reliably fabricated with a specific effective capacitance, nor is an effective capacitance of known multiplier circuits likely to remain constant during subsequent circuit operation. Furthermore, only low multiplication factors (less than about 40) are possible because of transistor size limitations on integrated circuits.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to be able to provide an integrated circuit having a high equivalent capacitance that does not require additional components external to the integrated circuit.
It would also be desirable to be able to provide an integrated circuit having a specified high equivalent capacitance that is substantially unaffected by transistor current gain variations. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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According to a known traditional method, a monocrystal is manufactured by so-called CZ (Czochralski) method by use of a dopant-added melt prepared by adding volatile dopant to a semiconductor melt (for instance, see a patent document 1). According to the CZ method, a monocrystal is manufactured by, under conditions where temperature, atmosphere and pulling-up conditions are controlled, pulling up seed crystal from a dopant-added melt in a crucible while rotating the seed crystal and by solidifying the seed crystal.
According to the patent document 1, volatile dopant is added to a melt in order for the monocrystal to have a target resistivity, and the volatile dopant is doped to the melt by conducting a subsequent doping at least one time after elapse of time (t) in order to compensate a loss of the volatile dopant due to evaporation of the volatile dopant from the melt.
In addition, a method usable for predicting resistivity profile of the monocrystal manufactured in the above manner has been also known.
According to the method usable for predicting resistivity profile of the monocrystal, the resistivity profile of the monocrystal is predicted based on a dopant concentration (Cs) calculated from the following formula (1) (formula of Sceil), in which: (Cs) represents the concentration of dopant in the monocrystal; (ko) represents a segregation coefficient; (Co) represents an initial concentration of the dopant in the semiconductor melt; and (I) represents a solidification rate.Cs=ko×Co×(1−I)(ko-1) (1) Patent Document 1: JP-A-2004-149411 | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to electrical power wires and, more particularly to, devices for metering electric power wires.
It should be noted in passing that in the metering of power and energy, the two terms are often used interchangeably. In strict terms, this is erroneous. The familiar “power” meter on a customer's premises actually measures the amount of energy consumed over a period of time. A customer is changed by the energy consumed. Power is the rate at which energy is being delivered to, and consumed by, the customer.
Current metering technology is bulky and the required wiring of the current transformers, which monitor the current carried by the wires to the customers, is confusing. A particular problem is the identification of all the load-carrying wires with the current transformer signal leads. Up to now, an electrician must identify the individual leads among a thicket of similar looking wires. This makes installation of power metering a complex and error-prone process. Such problems discourage the retrofitting of metering to sites where metering to individual consumers is not done but highly desirable. For example, many apartment buildings have only a single metering device for the entire building, though individual billing is highly desirable due to issues of environmental responsibility, legislative constraints and pressure to lower costs. However, the electrical wiring of such buildings is not conducive to retrofitting metering. Extensive rewiring is required with conventional metering, which makes the task in a finished building nearly impossible or extremely difficult.
To avoid or ameliorate the problems of conventional metering, the present invention provides for an electrical metering device at the power distribution cabinet. Power distribution cabinets are located near the end of electricity distribution networks to supply customers, such as homes and businesses, with electricity. Electrical wires from the power distribution cabinets provide the link from the electricity distribution networks to the customer's premises. The present invention allows for the monitoring the amount of energy supplied to each customer by an economical arrangement which is simple to install, easy to calibrate and is accurate. Rearrangements to supply power to customers are easily accommodated.
The present invention provides for such an improvement. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
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