Abstract: An electric breast pump utilizes an electric motor to drive a piston vacuum pump to draw a negative pressure or suction up to 250 mm Hg at a flexible collapsible breast cup. The suction cycles between the set maximum and atmospheric under the control of a magnetic valve that is opened and closed by a vacuum sensor. The valve opens and closes a bypass to atmosphere. The speed of the electric motor can be selectively varied to increase the frequency of the suction cycles, which can vary between 20 to 44 cycles per minute. The breast cup collapses during a part of each cycle to simulate the peristaltic action of a suckling infant.

Abstract: A power supply Active Bleed Voltage Balancing Circuit for attachment to the outputs of a regulated power supply having at least a first output and a second output to shunt load power from an output that has become unloaded and has an output voltage that is rising past an acceptable limit. The Active Bleed Voltage Balancing Circuit has an inductor with a first terminal coupled to the first power supply output. The second output voltage exceeds the first output voltage. An oscillator driven totem-pole driver alternately drives the inductors second terminal to the power supply second output and then to ground. The duty cycle ratio is adjusted to equalize the volt-seconds applied in each position. An alternative circuit uses a multiple winding inductor with a 50/50 duty cycle and with balancing achieved by adjusting the turns ratio to equal the ratio of the output voltages.

Abstract: An activating pin which comprises a valve part, the piston part comprises within it a channel, the cross-section of said channel is, at least one part of said piston part, consisting of sectors, wherein in each sector the distance between the center point of the channel cross-section and the outermost limiting surface of the channel is larger than the corresponding distance measured along the line separating the sector from an adjacent sector, and said valve part is positioned movably with respect to said piston part between a first valve position and a second valve position for enabling the conduction of gaseous and/or liquid media through said channel when said valve part is in said first valve position, and inhibiting the conduction of gaseous and/or liquid media through said channel when said valve part is in said second valve position.

Abstract: The present invention provides a bitstream generation apparatus that enables an efficient editing of video objects in providing a finished audio video production. Audio and video data is encoded and an elementary encode unit correlates the audio and video data into video objects. The video objects can be assembled by an editing unit into a desired scenario of reproduction. An editor can re-arrange the scenes that are formed by the video objects with the assistance of a correction unit and an interleaving unit that can divide the pieces of audio data and the pieces of video data that form the video objects into new video objects which can be interleaved into the reproduction order of video objects without requiring a re-encoding of the entire set of video objects that constitute sequences of scenes for the audio video product.

Abstract: A flow control valve is disclosed wherein a housing defines a flow chamber with an inlet and an outlet. Disposed within the flow chamber is a telescoping poppet comprising an inner poppet and an outer poppet. A first spring is selected to bias the outer poppet to seal closed the inlet below a predetermined fluid flow rate. Above the fluid flow rate, the force of the fluid against the outer poppet compresses the spring, breaking the seal and allowing fluid to flow into the fluid flow chamber. Inside the outer poppet is an inner poppet which telescopes from the outer poppet. A second spring biases the inner poppet predominantly within the outer poppet, but an increased pressure in the outer poppet collapses the second spring and extends the inner poppet in a fully extended position. Fully extended the inner poppet seals shut the outlet of the fluid chamber. In operation, the first spring shuts the valve below a predetermined flow rate guaranteeing zero flow until a minimum flow rate is present.

Abstract: The present invention relates generally to a stringed musical instrument with a modified bridge and acoustic damper. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the modified stringed instrument is a guitar. The guitar has a face and an interior compartment. The guitar comprises a bridge, two acoustic dampers, and a pivot rod. The bridge is attached to the face of the guitar and comprises a mounting plate and a riser. The riser is attached to the mounting plate by at least one sound post and comprises a width and at least one pair of opposing angled string recesses across the width of the riser. The string recesses are rounded. The bridge has a plurality of string pegs attached to the mounting plate. Each string peg corresponds to a string recess and is attached to the mounting plate at an angle offset from a line extended from its corresponding string recess. The acoustic dampers comprise a first acoustic damping side attached to a second acoustic reflective side.

Abstract: A method for mitigating multipath effects in radio systems which is based on searching for and finding a maximum likelihood estimate of range for a received signal is provided. In determining the maximum likelihood estimate, the correlation process uses a high resolution step method in processing the received signal sample values to develop an estimation statistic. The estimation statistic using the correlations of the received signal is based on a new derived representative set of coefficients formed from a nonlinear combination of parameters of the received signal transformed into a linearly solvable invertible parameter set allowing solution of the maximization process of the estimation statistic over a reduced dimension search space. Additionally there is a method of constraining the relative amplitude of received secondary signals to obtain a refinement of the optimal solution of range.

Abstract: The present invention provides a plasma display panel in which the fluorescent substance layer or the reflection layer is formed easily and accurately even for a minute cell structure, and in which the fluorescent substance layer or the reflection layer is formed evenly in the channels between the partition walls formed in stripes, or such a layer is formed also on the sides of the partition walls. To achieve this purpose, a fluorescent substance layer or a reflection layer is formed by applying a fluorescent substance ink or a reflection material ink continuously onto the channels, the ink being spouted out from a nozzle which runs along the partition walls. The nozzle may be directed to one side of the plurality of partition walls while running. Pressure may be put upon the ink having been applied onto the channels so that the ink sticks to both sides of the partition walls.

Abstract: An arc tube is a connected bulb composed of three U-shaped bulbs set annularly and connected by a bridge connector to include one discharge path. A reflector is set in a space enclosed by the three U-shaped bulbs, the bottom end of the reflector being fixed to a holder. The reflector has a conical part, and a cylindrical part whose height is greater than a height of a clearance between the pair of legs of each U-shaped bulb, and smaller than a height of the U-shaped bulb. At least within the height of the clearance between the pair of legs, a diameter of the reflector is greater than both a width of the clearance between the pair of legs and a width of each clearance between neighboring U-shaped bulbs, improving light distribution of the arc tube. A reflector may have a reflective body and a restrictive member integrally formed.

Abstract: A program conversion apparatus includes: the constant division unit 12 for specifying instructions in the serial assembler code 42 that use large constants which cannot be arranged within the operation fields of object VLIWs and for dividing the specified instructions into divided constant use instructions for storing pieces of the large constants into the specialized constant buffer 107 of a VLIW processor and divided constant use instructions for performing operations using the stored constants; the dependence graph generation unit 20 for generating a dependence graph based on the execution order of each instruction in the serial assembler code 42 after the division process by the constant division unit 12; and the instruction relocation unit 21 for relocating the instructions according to the dependence graph to generate parallel assembler code.

Abstract: The modular multiplication apparatus includes a residue calculating unit, a multiplier division unit, a partial product calculation unit, an accumulation unit, a correction unit, and a control unit. The residue calculating unit recurrently calculates intermediate values in sequence. The residue calculating unit obtains the multiplicand as the intermediate value first time, and at the second time and after, calculates residues or congruent values of the modulo P multiplication of the intermediate values being preceding intermediate values left-shifted s bits. The multiplier division unit divides the multiplier into a plurality of s-bit partial multipliers in order from lower bits. The partial product calculation unit calculates partial products of intermediate values and partial multipliers in sequence. The accumulation unit and the correction unit accumulate the partial products while correcting them under the control of the control unit. The residue calculating unit includes a table unit.

Abstract: A multimedia optical disk is provided. The multimedia optical disk includes a data area for storing objects which include moving picture data and at least one of audio data and sub-picture data. The multimedia optical disk also includes an index area for storing reproduction orders of the objects. Route information in the index area includes a sequence of addresses of objects whose alignment represents a reproduction order. Chain control information in the index area corresponds to the route information. The chain control information, being effective in reproducing objects specified by the alignment of the sequence of addresses (objects specified by the alignment of the sequence of addresses are called a chain), instructs the reproduction apparatus to have a navigation control of the chain. A piece of moving picture data having a certain time period is reproduced at the same timing as a piece of audio data and a piece of sub-picture data.

Abstract: Capacitor element (20) formed by winding both anode and cathode electrode foils connected with lead terminal (10) via a separator is placed in bottomed cylindrical shape outer case (30) made of aluminum and the like. On the outer periphery of the round rod portion (12) of the lead terminal is fitted tube (100) made of a flexible material in a movable manner. The lead terminal fitted with the tube is drawn through sealing body (110) fitted on the inner periphery of the opening of the outer case (30) outside. The sealing body includes an elastic ring (113) made of a flexible material, as fitted on the outer periphery of sealing plate (112) made of a rigid material more rigid than the tube. The lead terminal fitted with the tube is inserted in each of a pair of through-holes (111) provided on the sealing plate.

Abstract: An electrodeless discharge lamp and an electrodeless discharge lamp apparatus which prevent the devitrification are provided, where the devitrification occurs due to the use of, as a luminescent substance, a metal halide, particularly a compound made up of a group IIIB metal and a halogen. The inventors recognize the cause of the devitrification as follows: atoms of the metal are dissociated from the luminescent substance and precipitate on the surface of the arc tube wall to melt it as the luminescent substance is excited and emits light. Based on this recognition, a substance is added to the interior of the arc tube to prevent the melting of the arc tube wall and extend the life of the lamp. More specifically, the added substance is another metal halide which contains a halogen, but the valence of the metal of the added metal halide is larger than that of the luminescent-substance metal halide.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a construction tool for laying out components of a structure.